Issues around Movie mistake questions

Question

I found this question recently which is truly a movie mistake question and it has got already 2 closevotes:

Why didn't Simran get into bogey from first door in DDLJ?

I have got a question and a suggestion regarding this issue.

Question: What does the tag plot-inconsistency serve for? I thought it points out movie mistakes.

Suggestion: I believe movie-mistake questions dont fit well to the Q&A format. It just gives rise to lengthy discussions. Movie mistake questions are not allowed here This should be added to the FAQ section explicitly so that new users can be led correctly.

Answer 1

I think you have to take the banality of the question itself in context (I haven't looked at your linked question specifically). If the question is one of genuine concern about understanding some plot device or the writer's/director's choices in story telling, then yes perhaps it has some value in the context of learning or film appreciation.

But… if the purpose of the question is just to show off a bit with a conversation starter ("hey, look what I found!"), then I don't think it has a constructive place on this site.

I'm not a big fan of the plot-inconsistency tag because it already suggests that the question is just fodder to point out unintentional errors or other imponderables. I've suggested generally closing these questions from the beginning, but it never became policy:

Yes, that was a plot hole, and?
What's trivia and where do we draw the line?

Answer 2

There's kind of a fine line for these questions, and it's somewhat subjective. It's more of a matter of what's interesting and compelling and might have a genuine reason, rather than those like the one provided where it's just a plot hole.