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I came across a question that was closed and the reason given was that plot holes are off-topic. I decided to go through meta and found the only reference being

Yes, that was a plot hole, and?

To which the accepted answer was

This type of sophistry is just a rhetorical questions disguised as being clever. Close as "not constructive."

Given by a user who has 0 answers, 0 questions and more down-votes than up-votes, a year ago.

So I would like some elaboration on this, seeing that there are lot more users who are vested in the site as well as more questions to base on.

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    actually that's @robertcartaino one of the SE employees.
    – DForck42 Mod
    Commented Jan 8, 2013 at 18:08

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While I totally agree with DForck42's answer, there still has to be made a difference between a question pointing out a mere plot-hole or asking about a totally irrelevant fact that doesn't contribute to the appreciation of the movie and a question that was really asking about some part of the plot the OP didn't understand, which only later turned out to be a mere plot-hole.

But this has to be decided on a case by case basis. For your particular question, I neither would impute the former to you, nor does it really look like the latter to me. But I wouldn't have closed it (though I had other maybe related problems with this question as pointed out in my comments).

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To me, a plot hole question is a question about something that happens in a movie that isn't explained in the movie that doesn't add any appreciation to the film. For this particular question, it was asked where he got the car, because it's not explicitly shown. The issue is, why does it matter? What does answering this question really add to the appreciation of the film? What understanding would you gleam from the answer?

To me, this question boils down to nothing better than a trivia question. Maybe that's what I should have called it instead of a "plot hole".

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    I read the FAQ and it doesn't say anything about plot hole questions. Now it does cover "trivia", except it seems like a very subjective quality and it seems like the asker should be given the opportunity to explain why the answer matters. Commented Jan 8, 2013 at 19:15
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    @Donald.McLean Plot holes are a form of trivia. Trivia, to me, is the broad subject that plot-holes, easter eggs, etc are a part of.
    – Tablemaker Mod
    Commented Jan 8, 2013 at 20:06
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    I disagree. Plot holes are only trivia if the hole is, in fact, trivial. Otherwise, they are perfectly relevant. Commented Jan 9, 2013 at 4:53

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