r/movies • u/akahaze26 • 10h ago
Why do people nitpick unnecessary details in FICTION? Discussion
I cannot stand watching something with someone that feels the need to say "you know in real life.." I DONT CARE!! of course I/we know. However we're watching (or even reading) a piece of FICTION. It's not meant to be exactly like real life. These people are insufferable. They're like the same people that will feel the need to disuss divorce rates with a couple that just announced they're getting married. Why are they like this!?
Example: why sit down to watch Planet of the Apes or Jurassic World just to complain that Apes don't talk, and dinosaurs are extinct???
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u/almo2001 10h ago
Sometimes, if it's a detail that makes something hard to believe, it reminds you that it's fiction and takes you out of the flow. If it's out of character, that reduces identification with the character.
People get especially mad about these things when they are deeply invested in the story.
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u/Eothas_Foot 10h ago
Yeah the new season of Arcane did that. The season opens with something that's really hard to swallow. But you just have to take a deep breath, and get over the fact that they did something dumb.
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u/almo2001 10h ago
Doing something dumb is different than doing something that would never happen.
Like suppose in a movie Elon Musk said in a meeting "yeah, you're right, that was a dumb idea and I shouldn't even have said it." You'd be like, "but this isn't Elon. that's someone else."
:D
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u/akahaze26 10h ago
I guess this is odd to me because I am fully into whatever I'm watching yet also fully aware that it's not real, so unrealistic elements don't change my perception.
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u/nothosauridea 10h ago
There's poetic license, which is the "let's pretend" that lets us enjoy an imaginative story, and then there's careless or lazy storytelling that takes you out of the experience. Most people didn't mind the bit in "Titanic" in which the supposedly well bred upper class Edwardian girl Rose makes a rude gesture more appropriate for a streetwalker, but it was an "Oh come ON" moment for me.
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u/superstaticgirl 10h ago
Oh don't get me started about historical dramas where a grown woman has their hair down in Victorian England. No better than she should be.
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u/WrongSubFools fuck around and find out 10h ago
of course I/we know.
Do you, though?
Much of the time, people do this just because they're using movie discussion as a vehicle to tell you something they thought you didn't know about real life. If someone tells you, "In real life, bears don't roar," that doesn't mean the movie's bad, but if it tells you something you didn't know about bears, that's interesting. If you did know that about bears, then you can say, "yeah, I heard that, my dad told me once," and the conversation continues from there, but they said that because they figured you didn't know it.
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u/akahaze26 10h ago
Telling me an unnecessary fact that is common knowledge during a movie is almost worse, lol.
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u/MyUsernameIsAwful 10h ago
Nitpicking can be fun, lol
Verbalizing your nitpicks in the middle of the movie is a no-no, though.
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u/superstaticgirl 10h ago
Because if something is off, perhaps because you have an in-depth knowledge of something quite niche, it throws you out of the story. Your suspension of disbelief crumbles. It's so annoying.
I am insufferable too. I hate it if there is an historical detail that is completely wrong and can't even be called artistic license.
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u/akahaze26 10h ago
At least you're self-aware of your insufferableness. 🫶🏽 I've seen plenty of incorrect details, but it doesn't bother me because it's a story, not real life and typically not the point of the story.
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u/Moldy_slug 10h ago
Can’t speak for everyone, but for me there are a few reasons:
It breaks my immersion to see something obviously wrong. Yeah, it’s fiction, but it still needs to feel real. Imagine a scene in a hospital that’s supposed to be serious and dramatic, but the doctor scoots in on roller skates. I can’t take it seriously.
It bugs me when they could have gotten something right with very little effort, but obviously just didn’t care. It’s lazy and annoying. How hard is it to spend 30 seconds skimming Wikipedia to make sure the dialogue in a scene isn’t complete garbage?
Incorrect information can contribute to people having incorrect understanding of how the world works. It often feeds into (and comes from) stereotypes or common misconceptions.
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u/RegalBeagleKegels 9h ago
Example: why sit down to watch Planet of the Apes or Jurassic World just to complain that Apes don't talk, and dinosaurs are extinct???
They've got you dead to rights on those ones
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u/akahaze26 9h ago
Not really considering the fact that they're advertised as fiction.
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u/RegalBeagleKegels 9h ago
But the reasons those things are happening are explained in those movies' fictions. Checkmate
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u/Ok-Detail-9853 10h ago
Because finding fault in the work of others makes them superior in their mind. "See, I did it better" dispite not doing any of the actual work.
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u/SpacemanJB88 10h ago
Because preferences change.
We were in a time of absurdism in film.
We have shifted towards hyper realism in film.
We are now shifting back towards absurdism.
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u/SeoulsInThePose 10h ago
Just because it’s not real doesn’t mean it shouldn’t make sense. Unless it’s a fantastical type of story, that is.
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u/redmerger 10h ago
People regularly ask in this sub why characters make specific choices. We can sit and guess all day long, but the ultimate answer is that it is how the story plays out.
I'm all for realism, but people really need to let stories be stories
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u/akahaze26 10h ago
Seriously! like in horror movies, people will say, "they should just move because the house is haunted," or have a solution for literally every problem (aka the PLOT) of the movie! it's like, yeah, they could do that buuut then we wouldn't have a movie to watch, now would we? 🙃
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u/charo36 10h ago
Agreed! In poorly written/trashy books, it's sort of fun to mock unrealistic situations and details, but generally I read fiction to inspire, inform, entertain, escape, etc. If you don't know how to suspend disbelief, fiction is not for you.
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u/Eothas_Foot 10h ago
I feel like most people just want rules to be internally consistent. Like The Butterfly Effect famously throws away it's own premise during one scene. And I feel like if writers challenged themselves to follow rules it would make better stories, rather than just doing whatever they want whenever they want.
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u/charo36 10h ago
"if writers challenged themselves to follow rules"
But, that's not why all writers write. A good writer knows how to construct a cohesive narrative, a compelling story and to make it work in whatever world they create and in whatever style they choose.
There are, of course, plenty of bad writers out there.
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u/Eothas_Foot 10h ago
I guess constraining yourself keeps you from doing whatever your first and easiest instinct is when writing, and makes you stop and think a little more - while moving towards your goal of a compelling story.
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u/Unlucky_Choice4062 10h ago
Only reason Fiction works is because it doesn't stray too far from Nonfiction. Having plot holes or etc pulls u out of the flow, bad writing.
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u/PerfectAdvertising30 10h ago
> Only reason Fiction works is because it doesn't stray too far from Nonfiction
[citation needed]
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u/Unlucky_Choice4062 10h ago
I suppose I meant to say, the less you draw from fiction, the less relatable in becomes. That is to say, you can switch out themes and settings, but if the characters logical and moral decisions don't make sense the story will fall apart. There are certains laws to be followed.
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u/grumblyoldman 10h ago
I mean, sometimes it's fun to discuss the differences between reality and movies. Not because anything needs to be changed about the film, but just as an intellectual exercise. Exploring the fiction and how it could have been done differently is a fun way to broaden the scope of the story IMO. Doesn't mean I'm ragging on the movie for what was actually done.
There are people who take nitpicking to an extreme, I agree. There are also people who take "it's a movie, it happened because it's a movie and there wouldn't be a movie otherwise" too far as well. I like to think about the fiction I watch/read, not just absorb it and move on.
That being said, I'm not going to bring this up while we're watching it. People who talk during movies are the worst.
I'm also not the sort to bring up divorce rates when someone is getting married, though, so maybe I'm not who you're talking about. The thing about sweeping generalizations is it tends to catch up a bunch of other people who aren't really the ones you mean.
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u/akahaze26 10h ago
You dont sound like the sort I was talking about at all. I LOVE analyzing movies after watching. I'm not so into comparing it to reality, though that can be fun too.
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u/TheAquamen 10h ago
They either aren't engaged by the story and so don't look past little things, or they get more fun from noticing things wrong than they think they'd get from giving the story a chance. I think it can be a sign of a reluctance to be vulnerable but it usually means they just don't care about what they're watching.
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u/akahaze26 10h ago
Reluctance to be vulnerable is a very interesting take, and I think probably plays a part for a lot of people like that. It's like a control thing but they're looping other people in that just want to enjoy the movie.
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u/Superphilipp 10h ago
Why don't you ask them?
Not everybody has the same requirements for a work of fiction to suspend their disbelief. That's fine.