Difference between revisions of "2623: Goofs"

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(Explanation)
(I wanted to clarify the significance of the last two words of the title text as being another layer of misunderstanding by the goof's author)
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The title text describes an actual anachronism. The film is set in 2018, but there's a billboard for the movie "Avengers: Age of Ultron". That movie came out in 2015, while the next film, "Avengers: Infinity War", came out in 2018. Assuming the movie was filmed before 2018, the filmmakers wouldn't have known what films would be current at the time it would be released. They could have chosen to set it 3 years earlier, but again, unless the specific date it significant to the plot, it's common to set a film at about the same time it's released.  
 
The title text describes an actual anachronism. The film is set in 2018, but there's a billboard for the movie "Avengers: Age of Ultron". That movie came out in 2015, while the next film, "Avengers: Infinity War", came out in 2018. Assuming the movie was filmed before 2018, the filmmakers wouldn't have known what films would be current at the time it would be released. They could have chosen to set it 3 years earlier, but again, unless the specific date it significant to the plot, it's common to set a film at about the same time it's released.  
  
The title text also mentions the possibility of a self-reference -- the billboard could be for this film itself, since it's being released at the same time it's set.
+
The title text also mentions the possibility of a self-reference -- the billboard could be for this film itself, since it's being released at the same time it's set. This assertion that in-universe self-reference is plausible is probably another example of the goof's writer failing to understand the basic "premise of fiction", since most movies don't exist within the fictional world they portray. 
  
 
===Goofs===
 
===Goofs===

Revision as of 19:40, 23 May 2022

Goofs
The film is set in 2018, but when Commander Bremberly chases the hologram through Times Square, there's a billboard for Avengers: Age of Ultron. Depending on the date, that billboard would have been advertising either Infinity War or this movie.
Title text: The film is set in 2018, but when Commander Bremberly chases the hologram through Times Square, there's a billboard for Avengers: Age of Ultron. Depending on the date, that billboard would have been advertising either Infinity War or this movie.

Explanation

Ambox notice.png This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Created by a WILLING SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF- Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.
If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks.

IMDb is the Internet Movie Database, a web site that contains detailed information about movies and TV shows. One of the sections in many entries is "Goofs". This may list bloopers, inconsistencies, implausible actions, anachronisms, etc. in the movie. The comic makes fun of this with several goofs that simply point out differences between something in the movie and reality; but since the movie is fiction (in this case, a science fiction film which includes a space detective, a cybernetic dog, blimp drones, and a hologram kissing scene), it's not expected to exactly mirror reality.

In the first goof, the street doesn't actually exist in the city in which the movie is set. Unless the address is important to the plot (Manhattan has a number of streets with well known character, e.g. the main theatre district is on Broadway, Fifth Avenue is a major shopping district, Wall Street is known for large financial institutions), screenwriters often just make up street names.

In the second example, they point out that there's no real harpoon store at the location where the characters obtain a harpoon in the movie, and the nearest actual harpoon store doesn't have a display window like the one in the movie. Movies usually take liberties with details like this for plot expediency, it's not considered a goof. The text's reference to the "nearest harpoon store" may also be a mistake in itself; when I try googling "Manhattan harpoon stores", all I get are links related to Harpoon Brewery -- breweries and taprooms that serve this beer.

In the third example, the background of a scene is actually a view of Downtown Vancouver. For financial reasons, many movies are not filmed in the same location where they're set, and Vancouver frequently stands in for many cities.

The title text describes an actual anachronism. The film is set in 2018, but there's a billboard for the movie "Avengers: Age of Ultron". That movie came out in 2015, while the next film, "Avengers: Infinity War", came out in 2018. Assuming the movie was filmed before 2018, the filmmakers wouldn't have known what films would be current at the time it would be released. They could have chosen to set it 3 years earlier, but again, unless the specific date it significant to the plot, it's common to set a film at about the same time it's released.

The title text also mentions the possibility of a self-reference -- the billboard could be for this film itself, since it's being released at the same time it's set. This assertion that in-universe self-reference is plausible is probably another example of the goof's writer failing to understand the basic "premise of fiction", since most movies don't exist within the fictional world they portray.

Goofs

There is no entry for a film featuring an agent Glennifer on IMDB. Randall is clearly failing to do basic research.

On the real IMDb, each item in the Goofs section would be listed under a category such as "Errors in geography" (which might apply to the three goofs listed in the main cartoon) or "Anachronisms" (which might apply to the goof in the title text). However, no such category is displayed here.

Transcript

Ambox notice.png This transcript is incomplete. Please help editing it! Thanks.
[An excerpt from an Internet Movie Database web page showing a list of goofs from a film. Each item has some small illegible text below it, which on the real IMDb would say something like "7 of 72 found this interesting | Share this". The first and third items have a faint yellow tinted background. The third item is only partially visible at the bottom of the "screen".]
[Heading:]
Goofs (78)
[List:]
The space detective's office is on Chestnut Ave, but Lower Manhattan has no street by that name. Agent Glennifer pursues the cybernetic dog onto what is clearly Ludlow Street.
The agents destroy the blimp drones in Union Square with harpoons from a store display rack. The nearest harpoon store is several blocks away and has no outdoor displays.
The apartment in the background of the hologram kissing scene actually exists in downtown Vancouver. We called the owners, who confirmed they had no residents named [...]
[Caption below panel:]
Sometimes the IMDB "Goofs" section really seems to struggle with the whole premise of fiction.


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Discussion

I'm getting a 404 error when I try to go to the comic by number. But it shows up on the main xkcd.com home page. Barmar (talk) 16:39, 23 May 2022 (UTC)

https://xkcd.com/2623/ works for me. Sollyucko (talk) 16:52, 23 May 2022 (UTC)

Any New Yorkers here to confirm if there's a harpoon store a few blocks from Union Square? If not, that needs to be listed here as a "goof"... I really do love that line suggesting "harpoon stores" are common enough but the nearest one doesn't have an outdoor display. Ids1024 (talk) 17:18, 23 May 2022 (UTC)

Remember that it needs to be a harpoon store that was operating in 2018. I think there was a Whalers Я Us near Union Square before it permanently closed during Covid. 172.71.30.33 20:27, 23 May 2022 (UTC)
This comment is facetious, right? 108.162.221.81 04:38, 24 May 2022 (UTC)

There may not be a store explicitly called a "harpoon store", but there is at least one diving equipment store that has harpoons. 162.158.78.65 17:27, 23 May 2022 (UTC)

Yeah, harpoons might be sold at a store that doesn't exclusively or even primarily only sell harpoons, though that wouldn't necessarily change there not being a source for them at the location of the movie scene, let alone the fact that a store that carried them probably wouldn't have them on an outdoor display rack.--172.69.70.39 23:36, 24 May 2022 (UTC)

I'm glad Randall Munroe also hates CinemaSins. Lordpipe (talk) 17:32, 23 May 2022 (UTC)

WHERE does he reference CinemaSins? As a fan of both I'd LOVE to see some indication Randall is even aware of CinemaSins, :) NiceGuy1 (talk) 04:11, 28 May 2022 (UTC)

Nobody tell Randall about [[1]] Kev (talk) 17:41, 23 May 2022 (UTC)

IMDB is also referenced in: 2441, 155 (ish), and 1460 (in the title text) 172.70.174.91 20:34, 23 May 2022 (UTC)Bumpf

Do any Muppets movies contain billboards for themselves? That feels like something a Muppets movie would do. GreatWyrmGold (talk) 20:48, 23 May 2022 (UTC)

I don't remember any in A Muppets Christmas Carol. But it's been a while since I saw it, so... 172.70.90.145 22:13, 23 May 2022 (UTC)

as soon as i saw the "goofs" section of the explanation itself i started wheezing harder than i had at any other explainxkcd page ever. whosoever idea that was, you are a genius --172.70.34.171 02:09, 24 May 2022 (UTC)

I just dropped by to say "Bravo!" to whoever worked on the GOOFS section. (I didn't check the page history.) Nitpicking (talk) 02:39, 24 May 2022 (UTC)
I did check the page history but couldn't figure out who started and added to "Goofs." I agree that the section is genius. 108.162.221.81 04:38, 24 May 2022 (UTC)
It looks like it was Kev how added the "goofs" section Kvarts314 (talk) 10:19, 24 May 2022 (UTC)
Yes he added the first entry, but others have added the rest. I'm uncertain I think it belongs here, but it is funny. Maybe move it down under the transcript?--Kynde (talk) 11:50, 24 May 2022 (UTC)
IMO, it has the same 'status' as a Trivia section (it is one of those in almost every regard, after all), which is traditionally placed post-Teanscript. But I'm not a prescriptionist, at least not in this case, just saying I think it'd be consistent. If you even need my anonymous support for such a trivial within-page move. 141.101.98.11 11:57, 24 May 2022 (UTC)
In my opinion it does not "nothing to explain the comic" - quite the contrary: It's the best way to explain what the comic is about. See https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SelfDemonstratingArticle and https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ComicallyMissingThePoint Elektrizikekswerk (talk) 13:17, 24 May 2022 (UTC)
You people are the reason I always press "Go to this comic explanation" first thing I visit. Love you all!172.68.50.91 18:04, 24 May 2022 (UTC)

Random movie goof validates Randall, as expected:
I picked "The Game", one of my favourites, but also because it's set in SF and has many outdoor scenes.
Sure enough, there were several trivial goofs, but not location-wise.
Check this one out: 'In the end credits, rigging grip Michael Santoro's name is spelled "Micheal".'
Followed by this: 'In the end credits, there's an extra space between actor André Brazeau's first and last names.' Beechmere (talk) 04:22, 24 May 2022 (UTC)Beechmere

This is why there are now different types, so you can jump over the borring to those with plot points, or errors by characthers... --Kynde (talk) 11:52, 24 May 2022 (UTC)

"Spaceballs" is a notable exception to "Most movies do not exist within the fictional world they portray." When will then be now? Soon! 172.70.175.146 14:27, 25 May 2022 (UTC)

As is the Muppet Movie - Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem are able to find and rescue our stranded heroes by reading the screenplay 172.70.126.49 15:43, 14 July 2022 (UTC)

As an IMDb contributor - mainly Trivia and Goofs - I feel targeted here, LOL! Thankfully I don't submit such nitpicky things, and obviously future and alternate versions of real life places are allowed these (maybe the street was renamed and another harpoon store opened up in the meantime). NiceGuy1 (talk) 03:59, 28 May 2022 (UTC)

Recently, a lot of spam posts were found in the Template:sandbox page, including some "goofs". 172.69.134.99 00:53, 10 April 2023 (UTC)

Also, comics almost never come alive and edit other comics, but this indeed happened. 172.69.22.74 02:04, 10 April 2023 (UTC)
Now there are five comics "alive". 172.69.22.153 03:02, 24 April 2023 (UTC)