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I have an idea for a question, however, I am reasonably certain no-one is going to be able to give a solid, definitive answer to it because I am reasonably certain it hasn't been explained in film and isn't something that the director is likely to have explained out of film.

Should I still ask it?

Note: I do not like giving my potential questions away on Meta because I have a paranoid fear that someone out there will not be as caring and loving as I am of Movies.SE and will question snipe me and post it themselves (YES, I'm looking at you!) but take this question, which is much lamer and less interesting than my real potential question, as an example:

"In Despicable Me, where did Gru get the 'dog' Kyle?"

Ok, not a great example as this may be a question others would ask the director or they would address themselves in commentary, but suspend disbelief and imagine they wouldn't.

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  • I find we live in time where EPs, writers, directors, and actors/actresses are far more willing to discuss the nature of their work, due to modern technology coupled with the demands of the people of internet and thus the way "marketing" has shifted towards fulfilling those goals. So I do think that there is a lot more information available than there ever was and there are surely some cases, where I was doubtful, but people found interviews and such that I had missed/didn't know existed and I was glad to see there was/were an answer(s).
    – Darth Locke
    Commented Jan 1, 2019 at 18:49
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    Thanks @DarthLocke, indeed I get rather irk'ed when I see answers / comments on here that are along the lines of "This is never mentioned in film hence there is no way of knowing." There are heaps of ways to find out extra details in this modern age.
    – RyanfaeScotland
    Commented Jan 2, 2019 at 9:46

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Technically YES but......

...you have to be ready for the answer to be "We don't know".

If you KNOW the answer does not exist then, to be honest, I'm not sure what the point of the question would be other than for the sake of posting it.

On the other hand if a reasonable case can be made for "We don't know..." followed by a sensible inference based on information in the movie then that's acceptable as an answer.

The general ethos of SE is that questions should have explicit answers based on definite information and sources. Now there are instances where this is not possible because the information does not exist (or does not yet exist)...but Movies & TV doesn't always adhere to that ethos strictly...we have some flexibility.

In case of doubt...you could always ask the question in Chat before posting it on the main site...but it seems that you have issues with disclosing the question beforehand.

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  • Thanks Paulie_D, I figured this would be the case and yes, I'd totally be ready to accept a "We don't know" answer, even if it was less than satisfying conclusion.
    – RyanfaeScotland
    Commented Jan 2, 2019 at 9:47

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