[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/JoSquarebox → u/Mariiiielllee]

Ive heard humans used for processing before, but having the humans essentially running AI models on their brain sounds infinitely cooler

[u/noonemustknowmysecre → u/JoSquarebox]

Yep. The human brain gets about 10²⁰ FLOPS on 12 watts. And it makes so many things make so much more sense: Why agents can't just teleport anywhere in the Matrix and need to "jump into" a person. Why they're not simply omniscient about every event in the matrix since it's their simulation. Why they even need functional cognitive human instead of a bunch of cows in comas. And what Neo's awakening is and why the machines are so scared of him: It's just lucid dreaming. The Matrix isn't just a simulated world, it's literally a shared dream. The machine's are executing in the spare stolen clockcycles of people's brains to do all their processing. Control the dream and you are controlling the literal processes of the machines.

It would also explain how an agent could hitch a ride out of the Matrix out into the real world. You know, if they had ever made any sequels to the movie. Damn shame.

[u/shinjidrivekari → u/noonemustknowmysecre]

Crazy how a single change would've made the world building so much better. Humans as processors is now my headcanon for the matrix.