Hi! I host a video series called Plot Hole or Not Hole, in which I interview storytellers about perceived plot holes in their own work. The goal is to go straight to the source, find out whether the person who scripted the plot thinks the alleged hole actually qualifies as one, and see how they explain it. Naturally, I've spent a lot of time on this subreddit, and I've seen many mentions of potential plot holes in 2001's Ocean's Eleven, which is turning 25 this year and getting a prequel and another sequel. So I thought some folks here might enjoy my chat with screenwriter Ted Griffin about the movie's infamous "duffel bags filled with flyers" plot twist, as well as some other commonly cited supposed plot holes in Ocean's Eleven and other famous movies. We discussed a particular post on r/FanTheories, and Ted weighed in on whether he thinks the theory is valid.

I'd be happy to hear your thoughts. Or suggestions for films, shows, or other media to cover next!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0j7REk7kKo

(TL;DR - at bottom)

Marking as Potential Spoiler because I don't want to be that guy.

I know it's wrong. I know this isn't the case but it's a theory.

Antaan was introduced in Lanterns Ep 2. It's clearly setting him up to be Atrocitus, one of the few survivors of the Massacre of Sector 666. But I'm starting to think he's actually Abin Sur. Here's my thinking on the situation:

Abin Sur transported the survivors of Sector 666 to Earth, and intergalactic backwater. Fakes his death so that he can stay and care for the survivors. In doing so, he has his ring find a replacement to care for the rest of 2814. It chooses Hal Jordan. Eventually Hal does something to break his oath, which causes Abin, now disguised as Antaan, to distrust him. He waits for another Lantern to take his place. John Stewart is chosen as a protege. Anataan discovers a Manhunter is after them. He uses John to try and find it.

Atrocitus is fueled by hate and trauma. It doesn't feel entirely in character for him to lay low, unless maybe he's already building the Red Lantern Corps. Abin is always seen as a more compassionate figure, so putting him in a place where he makes a sacrifice to care for others does make sense. He would have temperament and stay low. He would see their suffering as a failure of the corps and internalize it himself.

Why did Abin need a ship? It's stated that he did crash a ship in Nebraska. He was transporting a mass amount of people, meant to be under the radar. Instead, a Manhunter caught wind, tracked him. He faked a death to go into hiding and govern, but also if he "dies", and the ship exploded perhaps the Manhunter would assume that the other survivors are dead. It buys them time and freedom.

Hal steps into the role and becomes a Lantern. Maybe Abin's actual last words are related to "Hail in Rushville."

The show already plays fast and loose with established comic canon, so I really don't think this would be seen as a "drastic alteration" by the writers of the show. I don't like the idea of this, but I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility considering the writers and the overall take on Green Lantern mythology.

TL;DR - I think Paul Ben-Victor's character, Antaan, is Abin Sur in disguise and not Atrocitus. Though smart money says he is Atrocitus.

Been hearing a lot of Antaan=Atrocitus lately, and lots of manhunters being one of the main cast. Most of my this is comic inspired.

Here are the facts we know:

1. Guys on the ranch have funding
2. The town is weird
3. People don't get sick/injured
4. Antaan spoke of a massacre (many assume to be of sector 666)
5. The word "Manhunter" comes up a lot, and in the comics, the Manhunters operate as more of a collective.
6. DC has two types of Manhunters, one is an enemy of the Green Lanterns, and the other a member of the Justice League who likes Oreos.
7. Tom King is sort of a show runner, and he's all about reckoning with Trauma
8. The Sheriff is Kerry Kane

My Theory:

1. Kerry Kane is too close to "Kate Kane" aka batwoman from the comics. I believe Batman sent her there
2. Batman is funding the ranch outfit to patrol the town, which is filled with white Martian (manhunters).
3. The White Martians don't know they're Martians, and believe themselves people. Like in Justice League. Lulled into a trance. They're super-human, but are in a dormant state. Grant Morrison's JLA will detail how this is possible. Just go with me on this.

1. Antaan is J'onn Jonzz, the Martian Manhunter. The massacre John Stewart saw was the white Martians massacring the Green Martians, of which J'onn is the sole survivor.

2. Tom King is well known for writing about the consequences of war, cost of victory, ptsd, trauma, etc. Atrocitus is not a Tom King-esque villain. He just gets mad. J'onn Jonzz is right up King's alley. He defeat the white Martians, but at great cost to him and his people, and lives with guilt.

3. The real question: who wants to wake the white martins up?

But... if I'm wrong and Atrocitus is in the show, we better get Dex-Starr. Real ones know.

Look at their appearance. They both have spiky hair and guts has kinda pointy ears, plus in the battle fo dordley, Zodd helpedd Guts by giving him his sword. I know that they had met once before and that Zodd respected guts for his skill as a warrior, but I think there was also something personal about It. Migth Zodd had sacrificed Gut's biological mother while she was pregnant to become an apostle? More abotu Zodd here.

There’s literally nothing that I’m aware of to support this theory, but I think a lot of story elements work together really well to justify the plot line that the Fire Nation had been planning the Airbender Genocide for generations.

Firstly, consider the things that line up well enough to justify this.

If a Fire Lord from generations before Sozin wanted to make a plan to put the world under the thumb of the fire nation, they would conduct the plan almost to the literal T the way things played out in the show.

Firstly, wait for the fire nation born Avatar to be reincarnated. Then, use his position as basically a religious messiah and fighting powerhouse to extend the power of the fire nation, while also holding the moral high ground since the Avatar is on their side.

Roku was literally asked to accompany Sozin in this, and he refused. Likely, the fire nation was still able to increase their power for some time purely because Roku was native born from there.

Next, genocide the people who would have the next Avatar, and all of this is made perfect because the next up in the cycle are the peaceful Air Nomads.

I could literally imagine a long ago past fire lord considering a genocide on the water tribe and deciding the elemental disadvantage would be too much. A genocide on the Earth Kingdom would be hard because they’re socially much more developed and capable(with large towns and communities that live together). And finally, this long past fire lord realizes that the next avatar in the cycle after fire is literally going to be born in the most defenseless and least militarily organized cultures of the world. Perfect.

After this genocide, the fire lord could plan similar ones on the water tribe’s benders, which is what we see occurring in the present day of ATLA.

This definitely comes off as very fan theory heavy, but the order in which the fire nation made all of these decisions really speaks to a long term plan being bought to fruition.

Even Sozin and Ozai as character’s seem to come across as way better written if this motivation-was behind their actions.

Why does Sozin ask his old friend to help him in conquering the world? Why does he turn on Roku so aggressively? Because as the fire lord, he learns of a plan set in motion for generations that is his birthright duty to maintain. This speaks to more fire lord family secrets . Maybe once you become coronated, you learn of this plan and the fact that the fire lords have been working through it for generations.

Why does Ozai let the next comet’s coming and conquering of the Earth kingdom go to his head to the point he thinks himself a god? Because he’s allowed to reap the rewards of a plan that was in motion for over 200 years.

All in all, this probably comes off as fanon, but I’m a big fan of the fire nation’s actions and depravity being a result of upholding a conniving plan from generations before we even start the story. I’d love to know if there’s anything that suggests this was intentional or if the idea comes across a bit contrived.

Edit: More connections spurred on from a comment:

Thinking on it more, this theory also explains how the fire lord and the avatar just “happened” to be life long best friends.

Maybe a part of this plan could be that the monks learned of who the avatar was long before he was actually told(Roku does seem to learn of it at a decently older age than Aang and way way older than Korra).

Then make the unknowing avatar and the future fire lord grow up side by side and become best friends. This would increase the chance that the avatar would assist the fire lord later in life. Finally, inform Roku that he is the avatar, get him close to the fire nation royal family (married into perhaps), and then hope that the future firelord can manipulate the avatar later in his life when it matters.

Every time I rewatch the ending, the romantic in me wants to believe he’s finally free. But realistically? There is absolutely zero chance a greedy corporate network that literally legally owns a human being would just let their trillion-dollar IP walk out a painted door

Think about it. the door he walks through at the edge of the sky doesnt lead to the outside world. it just leads to Dome 2.0.

Christof is a manipulative control freak, but he's not stupid. Once the network realized truman was getting suspicious and unpredictable, they started building a larger, grittier "real world" set right outside the original dome to give him the illusion of escape

The evidence: look at the shadow cast on the sky-wall when he takes his final bow. the lighting coming from the "outside" is still perfectly artificial and spotlight-esque. also, sylvia rushing down the stairs to meet him? tbh I bet that was just an actor hitting her cue for the new "Truman: the Aftermath" spin-off. He just traded a sunny prison for a slightly bigger, darker one.

My theory : it's in his head and he's a sociopath murderer who's holding her hostage-

he's a depressed nobody at first, always friend zoned (maybe even red pill and incel-y). He accidentally kills his cat with one of the (many?) meds he's on (from his grandma) and it causes him to have a psychotic break. He has a guilty conscience from this and sinks into an even lonelier depression. He finds out Nikki doesn't like him romantically and he loses his mind. Kidnaps her and holds her hostage (duct tapes her in, r@pes her, forces her to watch stuff with him, leaves her to pee and poop herself, has her begging to die, maybe drugging her too). Here's some other reasons I think many scenes are a figment of his imagination and that he's a psychopath murderer; 

1-when she has a meltdown (the first one) in the diner, no one else reacts to her screaming. Like she's not actually there and he's thinking it all (she's stuck in his house)

2-when he calls the willow phone number, it sounds like his own voice talking to himself and then you hear the real Nikki (hostage) screaming for her life through his mental blocks/dissociation but he hangs up to block out his guilt. It's a fight club convo with his real life. Potential DID

3-the witch store guy doesn't react much to his bloody clothes and tells him to kill himself and a bunch of other unrealistic dialogue (just his inner thoughts). In the mirror reflection the shop keeper doesn't exist, bear is just standing alone

4-all the cat stuff coming up is his mind's moments of guilt and grief for the actual only thing in the world who loved him more than anyone (maybe he fucks around with the body or even eats it, out of mental sickness), because he left the oxys out and it died. Could be catalyst to a psychotic episode

5-the 2 people closest to Nikki in daily life who could probably tell that she was not acting herself when they did make public appearances (she was probably scared of making him upset) started trying to talk to him to question him and maybe they knew too much and he killed them. It's confirmed the film is from his pov so likely a lot of the scenes weren't accurate of her actual behaviors/reality but that she was not hiding the danger she was in well or her mental duress 

6-when the real Nikki asked for him to kill her and relieve her from it, he got dark for a minute and offended like it was "so bad to be with him". Maybe he really did kill her at this point. (See more on point 8)...his response was a key moment for this theory

7-He eventually killed himself in the same way he killed his cat out of all the guilt

8-for a few moments after he takes the pills, Nikki stops talking and maybe disappears (maybe he killed her a while ago and the reality is he's just been alone for a while and the meds reveal the true quiet because he falls into a deeper state of oxy sleep and it quiets the figment)

9- at the very end, once he's died, we as the audience see the objective reality starting from that moment which is cued by her crying stopping and then we see the true depiction of a very real and tortured and defiled Nikki realizing her captor is dead and she can escape him finally

10- he kills Ian because he finds out about them hooking up and hates him for it

11- he hates his dreams because of the guilt of what he's doing and because of the meds so the insomnia increases. She moves erratically at night like a sleep paralysis demon because he's probably having disrupted sleep and guilt.

12-we know he was taking his grandma's pills because he left the pills out (cat got into them) and he googled them in his search history earlier in the week. Side effects are hallucinations. The lighting might show times he's under more influence than others and might peak with the more absurd hallucinations and his violent acts (grey lighting and his under reactions could be the Flat Effect from psychosis/schizophrenia). Her inhuman and anti-physics movements (walking backwards or unnaturally) make more sense as a hallucination since curry was clear this wasn't a paranormal possession at all

13- he can't drink on the meds and never drinks (no shot, no Pina colada, takes the kissing dare)

14- she's so eager to please him not because she's obsessed with him, because she's scared of his reactions. Her moods seem erratic because his are or because she's being drugged too 

15- the orange cat theme carries through because he has apophenia or they're figments of his imagination (on the wand box, on his walls, on shelves in the house). People with psychosis see connections and patterns and meaning where there aren't any. The ticking cat clock is the last thing he's looking at while Nikki yells in the phone about losing her necklace and there's a big static scratch ending on the phone call and then he's in the witchy store (the store that we later learn may not exist). He then sees the orange cat and uses it as a "sign" to buy the wand. He may assign supernatural power to it because of the sign and this signals the beginning of his drug psychosis. 

16- curry hinted the magic and fantasy aspect might not be real and the movie may be psychological

17- imagining a magic wand wish is something that would happen during a psychosis. So is the feeling of always being watched, which he (the narrator) tells us Nikki is always doing 

18-he may have taped the door because of paranoia from drug psychosis, not necessarily to trap her in. Both would make sense

19- she could also be schizophrenic because she was called freaky Nicky and the theme of polarity could signify her two sides switching back and forth. They could be two addicts shut in and in psychosis together hurting each other but there are more clues that point to her victimization and his obsession

20- "spark the middle, break in half " on Willow box, drugs expression for dealing : "score the middle, break in half". He offered to drive her home and spiked her drink and continued to date drug and rape her. Maybe he undressed Sarah's body too instead of burying her. 

I dunno.. Only just watched it through the one time so far but this was the running theory I started noticing throughout and I was genuinely shocked when it never came up fruition but maybe I've gotten some stuff wrong. He's giving red pill who's obsessed and won't stop until he gets what he wants- whether she wants him back or not. I think the glimpses of the real and scared/angry Nikki are little breaks in his dissociation of the sick reality he's made in his home.

I have a theory.

In Hungry Shark World, the sharks aren't naturally occuring sharks. All of them, including the ones named after real sharks. Instead, they are genetically enhanced bioweapons.

Look at how there are prehistoric animals in the game. Now how would a tropical animal like Megalodon or an air breather like Liopleurodon stay hidden for so long?

Notice how the NPC sharks aren't as pristine or brightly colored as the player shark. Additionally, sharks don't need to eat constantly nor do they enjoy human flesh, which directly contradicts the player shark but aligns with the NPC sharks.

The playable orca in the game is much, MUCH larger than the NPC orcas. Not only that, but the playable orca shows visible signs of abuse in captivity, such as a floppy fin.

And the nail in the coffin is that each playable creature is treated like a singular individual with a personality instead of an entire species.

In the game you play as different people going through obstacle courses that are meant for whatever object they're riding on, I believe these people are damned souls in Hell. Some of the characters I've noticed could represent one of the 7 deadly sins.

Irresponsible Dad, sounds like sloth, it's possible when he was alive he neglected his child which led to his son's death, now in the afterlife his sins are carried onto his back, manifested into the appearance of his son as a reminder of what he did.

Business Guy, by this guy's appearance and name I assume he was very wealthy, could be greed.

Effective Shopper, this one's obviously gluttony.

Pogo Stick guy, I believe this man is pride, I think that when he was alive he was a racer but thought he was better than anybody else so as punishment he's become the most difficult character to operate.

Wheelchair guy, just here me out, I think he is wrath and once a Vietnam veteran that became crippled in the war and when he came home he was treated unfairly by the people which led to an anger that built up inside him.

Think about it, they're both (presumably) immortal entities with the ability to shape people's perceptions of the world around them who also gain power off of the emotions of children, taking the form of something children would be drawn to in order to make that easier.

With Pennywise, it's fear, where with Barney, it's happiness and creativity.

Now I want to see them fight. Who do you think would win?

JUST WATCHED THE MOVIE FOR THE FIRST TIME 🔥
Feel free to comment your opinions as well.

Just wanted to make a quick post. Take my opinion with a grain of salt as well. But I truly think they brainwashed him into believing he was someone he wasn't. And he accepted his fate in the end.

1. The Historical Timeline & MKUltra (The Foundation)

The Pitch: Shutter Island isn't a progressive psychiatric hospital; it's a prototype **MKUltra "black site"**testing the boundaries of human suggestibility.
The Evidence: The movie takes place at the height of Cold War paranoia. The hospital is heavily funded by the government's Defense Department. Teddy explicitly mentions to Chuck earlier in the film that he is tracking un-American mind-control experiments funded by Washington.

2. The Doctor’s Dark Origins (The "Paperclip" Connection)
The Pitch: The presence of Dr. Naehring (Max von Sydow) proves this is a mind-control facility, not a healing center.
The Evidence: Naehring is an admitted former Nazi doctor. Historically, the US government brought Nazi scientists to America via Operation Paperclip to run chemical and psychological warfare programs. A legitimate medical board wouldn't hire a literal Nazi specialist unless they specifically wanted someone who knew how to "eviscerate" the human psyche.

3. The “George Noyce” Paradox
The Pitch: George Noyce may be the closest thing Teddy gets to an independent warning that the entire situation around him is manufactured.
The Evidence: When Teddy finds Noyce in Ward C, Noyce tells him, “This is a game! It’s a maze… and it’s for you!” He warns Teddy that everyone is playing a role and that Teddy is being manipulated.
The disturbing part is that Noyce is later proven right about that. The investigation really is staged. Chuck really isn’t who Teddy thinks he is. The staff really are participating in an elaborate scenario built specifically around Teddy.

4. The "Perfect" Anagram Deception
The Pitch: The doctors claim Teddy created the names "Andrew Laeddis" and "Rachel Solando" as clever anagrams because he is crazy.
The Evidence: It is vastly more plausible that a team of highly trained, government-funded psychological operatives spent weeks crafting perfect linguistic anagrams to break a man’s mind, rather than a severely traumatized, unmedicated psychiatric patient randomly inventing perfect letter-for-letter word puzzles in his head. They forced the math onto him to make him doubt his own name.

5. Weaponized Truth Serums (The Hallucinations)

The Pitch: Teddy only starts seeing "visions" of his dead wife and burning rooms after he arrives on the island and begins taking the hospital’s aspirin and smoking their cigarettes.
The Evidence: The facility systematically dosed him with hallucinogens (like early forms of LSD being tested in MKUltra). They planted the fake "Rachel in the cave" to tell him exactly what they were doing, knowing that the drugs would make him look entirely unhinged if he tried to repeat the truth to anyone else.

EDIT: Someone sent me down another rabbit hole after posting this (myself lol). The National Security Archive recently published declassified testimony from Sidney Gottlieb, the CIA chemist who ran MKUltra. It is eerily similar to Shutter Island. Senate investigators confronted him with records describing an unwitting subject being secretly given LSD, developing a severe paranoid reaction, being diagnosed as mentally ill by an unsuspecting psychiatrist, and consequently being discredited. Another operation reportedly induced paranoia that could allow the subject to be committed to an institution. Gottlieb also acknowledged extensive psychochemical experimentation in hospitals and mental institutions.
This obviously doesn’t prove my interpretation of Shutter Island. But considering the film takes place in 1954, I find the parallel pretty fucking interesting.

National Security Archive — Sidney Gottlieb/MKUltra testimony

Ben the titular character has a watch that can turn him into various aliens. he started with 10 hence the name but over time gained more.

in the sequel show alien force, Bens watch has been recalibrated to show complete holograms of each alien he transforms into.

there’s moments where Ben says he wants an alien form, the hologram shows a different alien, he looks right at it, transforms into said alien on the hologram and then is surprised when he is that alien. this happens multiple times.

one example is an episode where he tries to create peace between two races of aliens on the same planet. they seem the same except one set of aliens is blue and the other red. he wants humangasour and type of large dino looking alien. the watch shows a different alien, lodestar. Ben literally looks at the watch, mistransfroms and is surprised it happened.

this made me come to the conclusion that Ben needs glasses.

It's a meta-thing, but some parts of the song is eerily about MCU Iron Man and his potential future:

The first clue is about Endgame:

" (...) When he traveled time

For the future of mankind."

Which is about the multiversal time heist.

Then then here comes the darker parts:

"Now the time is here,

For Iron Man to spread fear.

Vengeance from the grave,

Kills the people he once saved."

If Doom really is going to be a resurrected Tony Stark (or just his body, using it by Doom), then this part is about his transformation from hero to villain.

"Nobody wants him,

They just turn their heads.

Nobody helps him,

Now he has his revenge."

It's more like about Doom himself, but also can be about Tony's old friends abandoning his new persona, his plans and obsessions.

"Heavy boots of lead,

Fills his victims full of dread.

Running as fast as they can,

Iron Man lives again!"

The last part is obvious. Doom always wears his armor, which is definitely a scary one.

And the last lines are the most chilling ones: while Iron Man is alive, he's a villain now, a dark version of the original one.

I know this might be a silly theory, but listening to the song about a sinister Iron Man is now, before the Doomsday movie, definitely gives you the chills.

I’m rewatching The Dark Knight and reflecting on Batman’s ability to hack all of the city’s cell phones to turn them into sonar sensors. I don’t know about telephone networks, but it seems like that would require privileged access into every provider’s main processing system. Being an Intelligence Community informant would help explain why (1) tax reviews didn’t identify that the youngish billionaire nearby was a possible suspect for the vigilancy, (2) Batman was able to quickly get direct, privileged access into main provider networks, and (3) Lucius wasn’t at all bothered by the accountant’s threats of blackmail.

As for why Intelligence instead of FBI? Intelligence has a longer/broader vision, relatively deeper pockets (per capita monitored), and generally more qualified decision makers. Or Mossad. Either/or.

Just thinking out loud.

I’ve been piecing together a theory about how Marvel plans to handle Robert Downey Jr. in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, and I think it solves the problem of bringing back Tony Stark without ruining his Endgame sacrifice.

Here is the exact sequence of events I think we are going to see:

1. The RDJ "Doom" is actually a broken Doombot

The Victor von Doom we see RDJ playing isn't the true main villain. Instead, he is an incredibly advanced Doombot. This Doombot variant is a completely broken man. His original universe was entirely devastated and lost to Incursions, leaving him severely traumatized, cynical, and desperate to fix reality by any means necessary.

1. The True Doctor Doom is hiding in the shadows

The real Doctor Doom of the MCU is someone else entirely—a separate, hidden entity. This true Doom is using the broken, RDJ-faced Doombot as a proxy and a psychological weapon to do the messy foundational work of conquering the multiverse, keeping his own hands clean until the events of Secret Wars.

1. The Secret Wars Soft Reboot fixes him

We all know Secret Wars is rumored to end with a soft reboot that merges multiple universes into one cohesive main timeline. When this cosmic rewrite happens, all the actors who are staying with the MCU will have their characters' histories rewritten.

During this universe merger, the broken RDJ/Doombot character will be fundamentally restored. The reset will fix his broken mind and rewrite his reality, effectively turning him back into the main universe's living Tony Stark/Iron Man for the future of the MCU.

Why this works perfectly:

• It protects the Endgame sacrifice because Earth-616 Tony stays dead.
• It explains why Marvel is paying RDJ hundreds of millions of dollars—it’s not just for a two-movie villain stint; it's a long-game strategy to bring back Iron Man permanently.
• It delivers a massive, comic-accurate "Doombot twist" that nobody in the general audience will see coming.

What do you guys think? Does this timeline make sense for Phase 6?

P.S. Thanks gemini for making the msg more clear

I rewatched A Clockwork Orange, and it was the 3rd time I’ve ever seen the movie. I’ve always wondered when it took place as it’s always been left ambiguous in the movie. However today I pieced together a few things from the movie to pin down the year to 1999.

There’s a shot in the movie at the police station after Alex first gets captured and interrogated that shows a calendar. The calendar shows January of 19XX. I’m using “XX” because the last two digits of the year are cut off by another piece of paper. This Calendar shows that January 1st is on a Friday. Since 1971 when A Clockwork Orange came out, January 1st fell on a Friday only in 1971, 1982, 1988, 1993, and 1999. The car that Alex drives earlier in the movie is referred to as a Durango ‘95, I’m led to believe that he is referring to the year the car was made. If that’s the case, then 1999 is the only possible year that the movie could take place.

What do you all think of this conclusion?

EDIT: since further thinking about it, Alex is in prison for 2 years before being let back out in society. If the movie pre-incarceration takes place in 1999 then that means the second half of the movie takes place in 2001. 2001 and Stanley Kubrick, hmmm

The 2005 Skull Island tries to realistically explain how an island could exist for millions of years with dinosaurs and other creatures which realistically wouldn't thrive in such a small island even if it used to be bigger before the movie takes place like not enough resources or space to prevent inbreeding.

The 1933 movie however just goes by classic adventure story logic like the island has dinosaurs and a tribe because fun movie magic.

But I have a theory that could explain how it all makes more sense.

First, the 1933 island cannot have huge dinosaurs as there's not enough space they would inbreed, need more resources and all that. Plus the stegosaurus exists with a t-rex and they never did IRL.

Carl Denham has the map of skull island as he originally got it from a Norweigan Captain in Singapore who got it from members of the Skull Island tribe who he met in a canoe seemingly trying to escape the island who died.

Why would they want to escape the island? Because the island is a dumping ground for resurrected prehistoric beasts and the people themselves like an unethical Jurassic Park experiment was going on.

With Kong no such ape species like him ever existed he was a mutant gorrila and formed bonds with the tribes as they were both primates. We also see only one of each large creature on the island too. Then there's the elasmosaur-like creature in Kong's lair which lives in a small pool of water not the sea. The pterodactyl attacking Kong is way too big as well.

We all know Rocket Power as that show from the late 90s and early 2000s which convinced us it was rad to let your children skateboard and surf in dangerous locations that certainly weren't their property without any supervision whatsoever that also had a sick as fuck theme song. It also helped teach us that you can bully the living shit out pudgy nerdy kids as long as you "accept" them into your group and call them your "friend."

The internet is rife with Rocket Power lore and conspiracy theories (does the N on Sam's shirt stand for a slur?, is Reggie an early representation of trans characters in children's television? Is Twister developmentally delayed due to his mother drinking during pregnancy?) These theories have been debated ad naseum, so I'm here to present a new one.

The Shore Shack is a drug front.

Oh yes, I'm sure a business that sells cheap burgers and surfboard wax can afford rent on a busy California boardwalk. Raymundo stands around all day, a deadbeat father and person, doing little to nothing until he goes on wacky misadventures with his friends. Tito meanwhile, apparently runs the food portion of the business but really seems to exist to drop sometimes vaguely threatening nuggets of Hawaiian wisdom on us all. There is little to no business at the shack, which Tito interestingly lives directly above. And yet...the Rockets do not lack money. On the contrary, they live and travel freely. And in one episode, Raymundo was considering selling the Shore Shack for an amount high enough to let them live in the mansion section of town.

Wait, what?

A burger shack worth that much? And if it makes that much money, why does Tito live in a tiny apartment above it?

Because Tito is watching over the goods. He isn't Ray's business partner, he's his handler, and after the fucks up Ray got into in Hawaii, the cartel has no patience. Last time they took his wife's life, this time, it'll be the kids.

It all goes back to Hawaii. Tito and Ray have a history there, one they've run from. They've started a distribution ring on the mainland. It's clear that Tito is the brains and brawn of the operation with his ancient Hawaiian secrets serving as gentle reminders for Ray to keep his ass in line (ancient Hawaiian secret: loose lips earn cinder block shoes).

Also, Ray is clearly sampling his own goods. He's high throughout the duration of the entire show. Tito too. This is why the kids are free to roam the streets like action sports rapscallions. Their focus is on the drugs, both using and selling.

Also, they are probably lovers. Tito gives while playing the living shit out of the ukulele.

Pirate Clark - Rage, blaming everyone else, anger. He's kinda bloodthirsty but was calm when he was alone with his Standard counterpart (himself basically). Hunger maybe

Redheaded still life - fear. She runs away from pirate clark twice. She runs from pirate clark because she has likely witnessed him eating another still life and therefore she's traumatized i(f still lifes can even have trauma), nontheless she never chases anyone (her running torwards clark in the christmas tree scene was likely her running away from pirate clark and she just so happened to be running torwards clark because he was in the way. This also explains why she screams while "chasing" clark)

Archibald leland sutter still life - happiness, and panic. He panics when pirate clark eats clark but he looks happy even though hes frowning. My theory is that he was watching children open their presents during Christmas and he was the one collecting the paper and throwing it in the trash bag. This explains why hes in a chair (relaxing on christmas) and why he has a lamp (lamps tend to be in the corner of rooms and so do trash collectors on christmas). Seeing children happy made him happy too, and thats why he willingly listens to clark when he asks him to turn on his lamp because hes in such a good mood!!!! Jolly feller. Archie is the 🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐

Bearded still life - either hes braindead or embodies depression because hes sitting there unresponsive and kinda looks sad. Good thing hes being eaten alive

Wall Dad still life - protectiveness. Hes being protective to his home and theoretical children which is why he pursues Ravi the EVIL INTRUDER... M........ its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fault its all ravis fa

I suspect the original script was not meant to be involved in a greater Batman franchise and was possibly even meant to be an original character. I believe this because some things do not add up:

1. They said originally Robert DeNiro's character was going to be his character Rupert Pupkin from The King of Comedy. That film came out in/takes place in 1982 in which case if he was supposed to be Pupkin then Joker would have to take place decades later.
2. Which leads to my next point - why does the film take place in the early 80's? Literally nothing about the film necessitates it taking place in a different time period. In fact, I find it dubious that a main plot point was the comedy club filming Arthur's stand up set and sending it into DeNiro's talk show. I think it makes so much more sense for that plot point that he was filmed by an audience member and the clip went viral. I think it makes more sense for the rest of the film as well that it takes place in the modern digital age. I believe it was changed to the 80's in hopes of connecting it to a broader Batman universe.
3. Arthur refers to the three men on the subway as "those Wall Street guys". So Gotham has a street with the same name and connotation as real-life New York City?

Zootopia (2016): The film has very few characters who actually antagonize our protagonists, Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde and the other residents of the titular city other than Gideon Gray, Travis and the Junior Ranger Scouts who bullied Judy and Nick in their childhoods, Duke Weaselton’s small role and Chief Bogo, Mr. Big and Mayor Lionheart’s roles of antagonism by their individual protagonist centred morality, (Well-intentioned extermist in Lionheart’s case, by-the-book cop in Bogo’s case and being a mafia boss in Mr. Big’s case.) as well as Manchas from his savageness and despite Dawn Bellwether being the overarching main antagonist, and one behind the savage predator crisis to create a new society where prey dominate over predators and overthrow Lionheart as the city’s mayor, but she never reveals her villainy or feuds with Nick and Judy until the very end of the movie and never reveals the motive for her evil goals, all the movie’s conflict other than that just primarily comes from Judy trying to prove herself to be a good cop to Chief Bogo and the city in general while solving the missing mammal cases, Nick trying to overcome his traumatic childhood to show the world that he can be in so much more than just the sly and shifty fox stereotype and Nick and Judy’s relationship in general which starts off as toxic at first due to their differences and Predator and prey biases caused by the scouts incident for Nick and Judy’s bullying from Gideon, but evolved into a healthy Friendship and relationship as the story progressed as the duo learn more about each other and they are not so different after all. So while not a complete plot-irrelevant villain, since she still drives the force of the plot but as a plot device and not real villain, Bellwether barely does anything to contribute to the film’s other conflicts nor does she feud with Nick and Judy until the very end, but most since her sheep henchmen do so for her.

No antagonist:

Zootopia+ (2022): There are no real villains or antagonists in the series other than Tru Tru’s antagonism towards Fru Fru and her friends in “The Real Rodents of Little Rodentia”, the police and citizens’ antagonism towards Duke Weaselton in “Duke the Musical”, the criminals’ antagonism towards Mr. Big and Koslov in the flashbacks in “Godfather of the Bride”, the tigers and Chief Bogo’s antagonism towards Gazelle and Clawhauser in “So You Think You Can Prance” and the customers, Gerald and Flash and Priscilla’s antagonism towards Sam in “Dinner Rush” but there are overall no villains or antagonists in the series, with its conflicts coming from other factors. “Hopp on Board” is the only episode with no antagonistic type characters since its conflict just comes from Bonnie and Stu trying to save her daughter Molly.

Plot-irrelevant villain (Continued):

Zootopia 2 (2025): Downplayed, while the film does include main villains/big bads, Milton Lynxley and PawBert Lynxley, the secondary villains, Cattrick and Kitty Lynxley and the Posthumous overarching Ebenezer Lynxley as well as the heavy, Mayor Winddancer, Captain HogBottom, Truffler, Zebros, Higgins, Bloats and Officers Chevre and Bucheron ruthless and somewhat egocentric but well-intentioned extremists or obliviously evil cops and the city’s current mayor manipulated by Milton and Cattrick into going after Nick, Judy, Gary and Nibbles when framing them on Bogo’s fanging as a murder attempt and tricking the cops into assuming that Nick, Judy and Gary were dangerous criminals who should be caught and arrested or worse killed at all costs and sending them after the protagonists as a direct result, until they quickly redeem themselves and make amends and take accountability for their wrongdoings as a direct result by taking two year court ordered therapy with Dr. Fuzzby as well as probation in the cops’ cases to avoid getting fired or losing their partners if they don’t pass it and Winddancer leaving office as mayor to resume his acting career or become a cop to be the hero he is in his movies having a new mayor elected in the meantime, the secondary villain, PawBert (Similar to Prince Hans in Frozen and Bellwether from the first Zootopia movie.) barely does anything to contribute to the events of the plot and its main conflict that is more prominently caused by Milton, Ebenezer, Winddancer and those cops, as well as the conflict between Nick and Judy regarding their emotional struggles and differences, or even actually reveal his own villainy and feud with the protagonists until the third act, and his goals were to manipulate Gary and Judy into helping him solve the Lynxley Conspiracy and pretending he turned good and betrayed his family for real so he can burn Agnes’ original pendant destroying all evidence of her being Zootopia’s true founder to earn the impression of his family and be accepted into them, in addition to manipulating Judy into turning against Nick because of their differences and force him to watch her death as revenge on both the fox and bunny for ruining Gary’s previous attempts at stealing the Weather wall journal that would lead to his plans happening a whole lot sooner, and would choose to betray Judy and Gary at the weather wall when Nick and Nibbles corner them knowing the truth over PawBert’s villainy after Nick witnessed what happened at the lodge, (PawBert saving Judy but leaving him to be arrested rather than going back to save him from prison and manipulating Gary and Judy to go along with it.) by injecting Judy, Nibbles and Nick with snake venom and leaving Gary out in the cold to be arrested by the still deluded cops to be framed on it and while he succeeds with Nibbles and Judy, Nick and Gary bravely manage to overpower and defeat them all temporarily and save Judy and Nibbles with the anti-venom nearly getting killed and injured while doing so and PawBert feuds with the heroes and remains evil until his defeat and arrest, but other than that plays no other role in the other conflicts happening in the movie.

The main reason for PawBert’s betrayal was to relive Nick of the anti-hero role that he played in the Zootopia movies up until then, and finally have him admit what a bad friend and bad communicator he was being to Judy no excuse said and realize how much damage his habit of trying not to relive his traumatic childhood caused to his life and he fears losing his friends more than his traumas and tearfully apologize to and reconcile with her for it as a direct result going such lengths to save her from PawBert and Gary from the deluded cops in the process, and get Judy to finally face the consequences for her unhealthy bunny hero complex and going such lengths to solve cases and conspiracies, and nearly sacrifice herself so needlessly many times due to her guilt over her past mistakes that almost allowed Dawn Bellwether to win and dislike of being called a dumb bunny due to her past bullying from Gideon and rebuffing Nick and his advice regarding her obsession with her heroics and tearfully apologize to and make amends with Nick for it as well as for choosing to leave him behind to be arrested over a miscommunication from him and not accepting that they are different, and as a karmic overkill for his own behavior, whicj she saw as uncaring, it wasn’t in reality, finally explaining to him get bullying from Gideon, accepting her and Nick’s differences and that it’s okay for her to be misjudged for being a dumb bunny every now and then and that the fate of the world was never meant to lie entirely in her paws, everyone has a part to play in it, in addition to also reliving Captain HogBottom, the cops and Mayor Winddancer of the secondary antagonist role that they played in the movie up until then, despite mostly happening offscreen in HogBottom and the cops’ case and have them get their heel realizations over the revelation that Nick, Gary and Judy were innocent all along and the Lynxleys tricked them and the fact that they allowed the Lynxleys to take advantage of their ruthlessness and gullibility and guilty until proven innocent morality to manipulate them into becoming their personal army and committing police brutality and protocols cops shouldn’t commit and almost killed Nick and Judy and wrongly misjudged them for their emotional insecurities by letting their ruthlessness, egos and immaturity cloud their common sense so they reform and make amends by aiding Nick, Judy and Gary and Nibbles in arresting the Lynxleys and collecting the evidence needed to clear their names and bring the clan to Justice and apologize for their actions in terms of Winddancer abdicating his position as mayor and resuming his acting career like mentioned before and the cops who committed the police brutality leaving the field as cops to do two-year court ordered therapy in the place of Nick and Judy who are meanwhile allowed to work on the field as cops and re-arrest the 200 dangerous prisoners Nick and Nibbles had to free from prison to escape, and Winddancer most likely blackmailed Bogo into approving of this and turning over a new leaf and reconciling with Nick and Judy himself. Zootopia 3 will mostly likely focus more on the tensions between Nick, Judy and Winddancer, HogBottom and the other cops being resolved since earning the forgiveness of Nick, Judy, Gary and Nibbles for their mistakes won’t be easy for Winddancer if he remained mayor, HogBottom, Bogo and those other cops, since their Freudian excuse for their wrongdoings was no excuse, just as it also was for Nick, Judy and PawBert.

The film’s other antagonists like Dawn Bellwether, Chief Bogo in the first act and Antony Snootley and the 200 criminals who escaped from prison also barely do anything to contribute to the plot whatsoever other than Bogo unwillingly setting Nick and Judy up to be framed at the beginning thanks to his Temper issues and overly misjudging Nick and Judy and just exist as one-note characters. Winddancer and Cattrick and Kitty also don’t contribute to much of the movie’s conflict alongside the rest of the heavy like Captain HogBottom and those deluded cops and PawBert himself, but just serve as the associates to Milton supervising everything that was happening from afar, that is until the climax where Cattrick and Kitty do brawl Gary and Nibbles with their father Milton until the reformed Winddancer comes to their rescue and beats up and defeats Cattrick, Kitty and Milton so they would get arrested while Nibbles and Gary rush to help Nick and Judy defeat PawBert sealing his fate as well.

A couple of TOS episodes mention the Old Ones, right? The backstory of What Are Little Girls Made Of is basically the story of the shoggoths. TOS is full of Lovecraftian themes. Michael Chabon ran with that idea in Picard Season One.

I reckon that both the Star Fleet and Klingon emblems are versions of the Elder Sign, worn as protection against Lovecraftian horrors from beyond spacetime.

By Zetetic

This is a theological interpretation, not a literal claim. I am not saying Tolkien intended this. I am offering one lens among many. I welcome your thoughts.

“Page by page, I seek Providence. The Ring represents the sins of mankind. I have the evidence.”

The Ring symbolises the sins of mankind. It offers an illusion of power and control, but when left unpunished, it becomes an addiction which slowly isolates the sinner and eventually consumes him whole.

It fulfils the wishes and desires of its “master” more than anyone or anything. It demands absolute loyalty. That loyalty leads to a slow decay in one’s life and personal connections.

It is a parasite that always finds a new victim once it has consumed its former one to the point of being beyond repair. It chooses its own master rather than the master choosing to wear it.

The Ring is accustomed to the darkness and only shows its true colours upon absorbing light and fire. It absorbs the light in one’s life until there is only darkness and misery left.

It provides invisibility to isolate its ‘master.’ He escapes judgement and presence, gaining nothing in return. It allows him to commit mischievous and evil deeds with ease, leading to a gradual decline in self-esteem and respect from others. It takes away everything until it is the only source of company.

Romans 6:23 (NIV)

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This shows the folly of the Ring. It only offers the death of the soul.

The Rings of Power were distributed by Sauron to exert control over the other races and trap them in the cycle of addiction, greed and soulless immortality. This eventually led to their own demise, and he gained more power over Middle-earth.

The One Ring moved on from host to host. It betrayed its own creator by leaving him. It tends to spread and destroy the strong and merciful, just like sin, just like how Sauron wanted it to be, a Trojan Horse designed as a false gift to trap and destroy other races. His lust for absolute power became the reason for his demise. His own ring worked against him.

Proverbs 26:24–25 (NIV)

“Enemies disguise themselves with their lips, but in their hearts they harbor deceit. Though their speech is charming, do not believe them, for seven abominations fill their hearts.” That is the trap set by Sauron to gain power over the other races. He used charming gifts to destroy them.

Gandalf and Frodo abstained from touching the Ring. They knew how it corrupted Bilbo. It only offered the illusion of power in return for absolute loyalty. It was like a parasite which wasn’t worth the trouble.

Frodo carried Bilbo’s secret about the existence of the Ring, as he didn’t want to corrupt a pure community with greed and obsession towards it.

In Gandalf’s own words, “Let it be a warning to you to be very careful with it. It may have other powers than just making you vanish when you wish to.” This was his knowledgeable stance towards the powers of the ring.

Gandalf voluntarily stayed distant from Frodo. He didn’t want to trouble other hobbits who disliked him. He spent time studying the origins of the Rings of Power. He was deeply concerned by the effect that the Ring had on Bilbo. He feared that Frodo might share the same fate if he didn’t gather enough information to convince him that the Ring is dangerous.

In Tolkien’s own words, “It was over nine years since Frodo had seen or heard of him, and he had begun to think that the wizard would never return and had given up all interest in hobbits.” This shows Gandalf’s mindfullness for being absent from Frodo’s life.

The Ring has a will of its own. It bends and twists in its own way to slip out of one’s fingers or grip them tightly when it pleases. It seems to become heavy and beautiful when one tries to give it up or throw it away.

Frodo felt it stirring, alive and eager to trap him as it had trapped so many others. Gollum murdered Déagol to steal the Ring from him, even though he loved him. He was not a monster. The Ring made him do it. It became beautiful and elegant when it saw Gollum and decided to tempt him, to make him its new “master”.

“It did not seem always of the same size or weight; it shrank or expanded in an odd way, and might suddenly slip off a finger where it had been tight.” This showcases The Ring’s own will to slip off or tighten as it pleases.

The Ring corrupted the race of men, who were the most ambitious, the weakest, and the most corruptible. They were eventually so obsessed by it that they were consumed and became Nazgûls, undead slaves, who were once only loyal to their Rings of Power. Now their loyalty shifts towards the Lord of the Rings.

In Gandalf’s own words, “Nine he gave to Mortal Men, proud and great, and so ensnared them. Long ago they fell under the dominion of the One, and they became Ringwraiths, shadows under his great Shadow, his most terrible servants.” This is the result of their loyalty towards the Rings of Power. Their loyalty shifted to the Dark Lord.

Gollum lied, constantly blamed others, defended himself and his fondness for the Ring. He was afraid of being guilty for his own demise and the demise of others at his hands. He hated and loved the Ring at the same time, just as he hated and loved himself.

“Gollum is a liar, and you have to sift his words. For instance, he called the Ring his ‘birthday-present’, and he stuck to that. He said it came from his grandmother, who had lots of beautiful things of that kind. A ridiculous story.” This shows the guilt of Gollum towards the harm he caused others and his defence for all allegations against him.

Gollum ignited anger and hatred in even the most amicable and tolerant folks like Gandalf and Frodo. He wasn’t worthy of any respect from anyone. He was a liar, a fraud, an imbecile, a thief, and a murderer. Even the all-merciful and kind Gandalf had to torture and threaten him to get the truth out of his foul mouth.

Bilbo displayed great strength by being the only known creature to survive the Ring’s wrath. He resisted its pangs for absolute loyalty by being kind, generous and merciful towards others. He loved others instead of loving the Ring. He refused to do evil deeds and harm others with his powers, making him stronger than Gollum ever was.

“I endured him as long as I could, but the truth was desperately important, and in the end I had to be harsh. I put the fear of fire on him, and wrung the true story out of him, bit by bit, together with much snivelling and snarling.” This was how Gollum incited hatred in even the most merciful of folk.

Gandalf was scared of the Ring and abstained from touching it. The Ring has a greater tendency to corrupt the powerful, the wise, the loving and the merciful, like Bilbo and Gollum. He was afraid of becoming a tyrant, as he knew that the world wouldn’t survive a second Sauron.

“Do not tempt me! For I do not wish to become like the Dark Lord himself. Yet the way of the Ring to my heart is by pity, pity for weakness and the desire of strength to do good.” This shows Gandalf’s fear towards the Ring.

The Ring is the embodiment of sin itself. It passes from the sinner to others. When left unpunished, it corrupts the mind until there is nothing left except loneliness and self-hatred. It makes one invisible to others. It incites hatred in others. He eventually fades away from the world just like Gollum; only a few can resist. They do so through love, kindness and generosity; only a few can fight it back and become free from it. Bilbo was one of those individuals, and he made Gandalf and Frodo proud because of it.