Plot hole
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A plot hole is a gap in a storyline that goes against the flow of logic set-up by the plot or that undermines the basic premises of the story. Plot holes are usually seen as weaknesses and flaws in a story, and writers try to avoid them (except in certain deliberate circumstances, usually for humorous effect) to make their stories seem as realistic and lifelike as possible.
The viewing or reading audience notes a plot hole when something happens during the story that seems highly unlikely, or would be impossible to imitate in real life. It is usually seen as a mark of good writing or directing when a storyteller presents a story in such a way that the audience does not notice plot holes, or willingly chooses to overlook them in favor of enjoying the story.
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
[edit] Examples
- A well-known plot hole occurs in the 1969 film On Her Majesty's Secret Service. When James Bond meets Ernst Stavro Blofeld, neither man recognizes the other, despite a previous confrontation in 1967's You Only Live Twice. Blofeld had recently had plastic surgery to change his appearance, though this does not explain why he did not recognize Bond, and in any case did not look that different.
- In Superman II, Superman mysteriously regains his powers without explanation despite his mother telling him the process was irreversible. No explanation is given due to scenes involving Marlon Brando being cut. This plot hole is resolved in Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut with the inclusion of Brando's scenes.
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day : In The Terminator, it is stated that only objects with living tissue can pass through the time displacement field; however in Terminator 2, the T-1000 managed to go back in time despite being made entirely of liquid metal. Many fans have attempted to explain this plot hole away, the most popular being based on the mimicking abilities of said liquid metal, and in the novelization an organic transport casing was described. However, no official confirmation has been given.
- The 2004 remake of The Stepford Wives has a large plot hole occurrence when Walter destroys the Stepford Program implanted in the wives (and Roger)'s brains. This resets them, showing it was all just a chip controlling their brains. However, earlier in the film it shows that one of the wives can dispense money from her mouth, as an ATM, and other scenes suggest that the alterations include substantial physical alterations.
- The 2000 film Battlefield Earth is notorious for containing an alarming number of plot holes, which are quite ludicrous even outside the framework of the story. For instance, primitive cave-dwellers with no working knowledge of electronics or science learn to operate AV-8B Harrier jets more effectively than most extensively-trained military pilots in less than a week's time, without any explanation as to how or why. Additionally, these jets were still active and fully-fueled after being in storage for over 1000 years (jet fuel has a shelf-life of four years) on an Earth that had been completely plundered of all resources by an alien race.
- In the video game Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, a somewhat large plot hole lies right before the final scene, where the player confronts the last boss. In a cut scene, a giant submersible fortress, in which the player is trapped, was supposed to displace the Statue of Liberty and crash through half the island of Manhattan right before the final scene. The scene was removed, due to potential issues with the 9/11 incidents. Instead, the player wakes up on the roof of the Federal Hall, in front of the final boss.
- "Miniryu no Densetsu" (ミニリュウのでんせつ, Miniryū no Densetsu?, lit. "The Legend of Miniryu") was the second episode of Pokemon to be banned by 4Kids Entertainment; this was the 35th episode of the original Japanese series. The removal of this episode leads to multiple plot holes, as Ash captured 30 Tauros in this episode. The Tauros appear in later episodes, even being used in Pokémon Tournaments by Ash; only one episode very briefly mentions where they came from.
However, plot holes have been known to occur even in established classics -
- In Orson Welles' Citizen Kane, a group of reporters is trying to discover the meaning of Kane's dying words: "Rosebud." However, nobody was present to hear this. When Welles was informed of this, he reportedly stared for a long time before saying, "Don't you ever tell anyone of this."[citation needed]
- Howard Hawks' The Big Sleep is a Film Noir classic that has been revered for its overly convoluted plot noted for a major plot hole that has baffled both audiences and the makers and even the writer of the source novel, Raymond Chandler. In the film, a chauffeur is found dead in his limousine which is fished out of the docks. In a later scene, a character admits to knocking the driver in the back of his head and escaping with a roll of film. However, this still doesn't explain how the driver and his car was mysteriously found in the bottom of the sea. This plot hole was present in the source novel as well and when he was asked who killed the driver, Chandler's reply was, 'Damn! I don't know either.'
- Powell and Pressburger's The Red Shoes features a deliberate plot hole which was pointed out in the script stages by Emeric Pressburger but left for the overall effect. In the final scene, Vicky Page, the protagonist who stars in a ballet for the Red Shoes suddenly runs out of the theatre and on to the railway tracks near the theatre killing herself. However the ballet had not started yet and her character within the ballet only acquires her shoes during the beginning of the performance. There was no logical reason for Vicky to wear the red shoes before the performance begins.
[edit] Examples of plot holes used for comic effect
- In The Emperor's New Groove, Yzma and Kronk are struck by lightning and fall to the bottom of a chasm. A matter of moments later, they appear waiting for the protagonists inside a palace. When asked how they accomplished this feat, they openly acknowledge that it makes no sense; that the makers of the film did it for the sake of the story like the rest of Hollywood, even if it's nonsense. The story then proceeds unabated.
- In Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation, a plot hole (which in the film is a physical hole) is used to transport Babs, Buster and Byron back to Acme University. Babs makes the comment "A plot hole. I wondered how the hack writers would get out of this one."
- Another term for a plot hole came up in The Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror X" in the "Desperately Xeeking Xena" short. Professor Frink was asking Lucy Lawless about some plot holes in Xena: Warrior Princess, in which she replied to all of them, "A wizard did it." From then on, people have used "A wizard did it!" to explain plot holes. In another Simpsons episode, "Pygmoelian", Moe says, "When the set fell on my head, why did I go back to my old face? Why didn't I grow some third face? It don't make no s..." and then the show ends. This is a reference to how earlier in the episode, Homer and Moe exposed the plot of the soap opera, It Never Ends, and the woman cut him off at one point that she designated with "Cut him off... nnnnnnow."
- A number of cliché plot devices, including several plot holes, are used in the Stargate SG-1 episode 200. One of the plot holes is how the SG-1 team manage to escape from being chased by the Replicators and trapped from the Stargate by an army of Jaffa, with only seconds before they will be trapped on the planet forever. The scene cuts to the team walking down the ramp from the gate back at base with Cameron commenting on how difficult that was.
- Plot Holes are a running gag in the webcomic Bob and George. Typically at the end or changing point of a storyline, two characters not involved talk about the plot holes. They comment on how these impossible situations can be resolved. This is immediately followed by a large noise, which one character comments that it's the sound of the plot holes being forced shut.
- In the Pokémon episode "The Crystal Onix", Team Rocket gets caught in a trap they set for Ash and friends. They somehow get out, and Misty asks, "How did you escape?" and James answers with "That's a secret you'll never know!" Jessie remarks that, "The writers can't even figure it out!" In another episode, "Hypno's Naptime", Team Rocket uses a rather weak plan to try to get Pikachu, but later in the episode, they come up with a stronger one, and Meowth asks, "Why didn't we do this in the first place?" then Jessie says, "We had to fill a half-hour show!"
- In an episode of Futurama entitled "The Day The Earth Stood Stupid", Fry tricks the evil giant brain by writing a story "full of plot holes and spelling errors" the brain thinks is real. He ends up saving the day when the brain decides to leave Earth "for no raisin".
- In the anime Excel Saga, conspicuous plot holes are constantly used as a recurring gag in the series; in fact, the character entitled "The Great Will of the Macrocosm" is personally responsible for resetting the show's timeline whenever some irreversible catastrophe (such as the death of a major character) occurs.
- In the TV series Invader Zim episode "The Most Horrible Xmas Ever" the main character Zim explains away a hole in the story line in which he has a new sidekick known as Minimoose. He states "oh, that's my sidekick, Minimoose. Yep, been here the whole time." The episode was originally to have featured a series of scenes from previously episodes with Minimoose (deliberately) badly edited into them. The hole happened as a result of Nickelodeon canceling the show, resulting in only select episodes being produced. The episode entitled "Nubs of Doom" would have explained Minimoose.
- In Batman 1960's series-one epsiode has Catwoman knocking out her henchman Leo in a cave. a few seconds later the Dyamic Duo pass by the spot twice-once after Catwoman and once to rescue Catwoman black persian cat; in neither of the latter scenes is Leo seen on the ground-nor do the Dyamic Duo arrest him!
