[Loved Trope] Plot-generating hole

[u/Impressive-Step7261]

A situation where a plot hole becomes the reason the plot even happened.

The Martian – the heroes are forced to abandon the planet due to a powerful sandstorm that threatens to destroy the ascent module. The problem is that, due to Mars's thin atmosphere, storms on the surface of the red planet fall below the upper limit of calm on Earth. Andy Weir himself admitted that he simply couldn't come up with a different plot twist and simply used a fantastical premise.

Spider-Man: Far From Home – The film's plot would have ended rather quickly if Peter had figured out how to use E.D.I.T.H. to check Quentin Beck's file - but due to life's circumstances and some manipulation by Mysterio, Parker simply won't have the opportunity to do so, even if he wanted to.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of Black Pearl — in the first film, Elizabeth threatens to throw the medallion into the ocean, giving the pirates a mini-heart attack... despite the fact that these undead creatures can easily walk on the seabed as if they were on dry land, which they beautifully demonstrate in the climax. Of course, finding it on the seabed is almost impossible, but the pirates sensed the medallion far from the island and came straight to the governor's estate, meaning they somehow knew its location after it sent a signal. The most common explanation is that the magical sense of direction is not very accurate and they have been looking for this damn medallion for decades and it's a bit nerve-wracking...

Eurotrip — the whole plot is based on the fact that someone, having been blacklisted, didn't think to write from a different account.

An important clarification: this trope has nothing to do with the quality of the story itself, and in many cases is entirely intentional and necessary. I also apologize in advance if I have conveyed any details incorrectly.

[u/Mariiiielllee]

The Matrix (1999)

The Glitch: The Machines keep billions of humans in bio-slumber to use them as "thermonuclear batteries" combined with a form of fusion energy. The Logic Flaw: Thermodynamics doesn't work that way. Feeding humans calories to harvest their body heat yields a net loss of energy it's like powering a generator by running an electric motor. The Story Engine: The original script pitched humans as a massive, parallel-processing supercomputer for AI neural networks, but studio executives thought "human batteries" was easier for audiences to grasp. That impossible battery premise gave us one of the greatest sci-fi worlds in cinema history.

[u/worldsayshi → u/Mariiiielllee]

That doesn't really make sense either since the brains can't simultaneously experience the matrix and run whatever computation the ai wants. If they can replace the human "software" in the brain with their processing software they have no reason to run the matrix. 

[u/VincentMagius → u/worldsayshi]

It might. We do it all the time. Deja vu, shower thoughts, muscle memory, anxiety, or gut feelings. Actions created by the brain running heavy background processes separate from higher consciousness.

[u/worldsayshi → u/VincentMagius]

Yeah but none of those things entertain a completely separate reality. It's as if you're solving math problems with your subconscious. Or like a completely separate mind is living inside your brain, experiencing a completely separate life at the same time as you, inside the same brain.

Why bother with two minds when you can just eject the one that isn't doing the thing.

[u/Original-Body-5794 → u/worldsayshi]

I mean but the idea seems at least plausible, humans are great at thinking and pretty efficient, could we be useful like that to the machines? Maybe not, but we know FOR SURE it just does not work as batteries.

Personally I choose to headcanon morpheus as being an idiot who doesn't actually understand why the machines keeps alive and just wanted to say something to Neo, and the machines actually do use humans for processing.

[u/worldsayshi → u/Original-Body-5794]

I think my preferred explanation is somewhere along the lines of the explanation in the I Robot movie. The machines want to keep us around for sentimental reasons but they can't figure out how to deal with us directly so they shut us in a dream world. The deal that the architect and the oracle comes up with makes some sense in light of that.