MovieChat Forums > Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008) Discussion > A missed plot point

A missed plot point

posted 10 years ago by Occult_Detective
7 replies | jump to latest

This is probably my favorite Kevin Smith film after Clerks. But I noticed something while watching it this time around - If Zack was serious about getting into porn, why didn't he just get in touch with Brandon and Bobby Long? It's what meeting Brandon that inspires Zack to do a porno, but since they are scrapped for cash but had a couple of great ideas, he could have easily gotten in touch with Brandon and asked how to go about getting into the business and marketing their film. At the end, we see that the characters return and are shooting a movie under Zack and Miri's own company.

Now days I get that they could have just uploaded it online to various porn sites, but if they were serious about getting into the business, I'm surprised at most this is an idea he never even speculated. Especially after their first studio gets destroyed and they lose everything they worked on.

I guess the most simple explanation is that they wanted to be totally independent, it just seems like that is a strong connection that they never even considered (as characters, I mean. I'm sure it occurred to Kevin while writing it.)

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[–] William222 10 years ago

Good point. Though it doesn't bother me as much as this plot hole:

Zack and Miri lament that they can't film the porno in their apartment, since the power is cut off. So they raise money to rent that decrepit "studio" space, which is soon demolished, along with all their equipment. Why the hell didn't they just use that money to get the power turned back on??

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[–] Occult_Detective 10 years ago

Yeah that bothers me as well. Smith has said that his movie subtly retells his story of making clerks, but as a porno. (and now they're apparently actually making a movie CALLED "Shooting Clerks" about that.) So I guess he just wanted to show that these characters were as indie as could possibly be, and probably ignorant to what's right in front of them.

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[–] summerishere77 10 years ago

I've thought about this, didn't they ask their friend for the money? He may have figured it was easier to ask for money to rent a space VS 'Hey can you pay my bills?' With as far back as they were on everything (rent/lights/water) it may have been cheaper to rent that space instead.

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[–] wylierichardson-966-922691 9 years ago

That is a valid point, but the real plot hole, for me, had to do with Zack and Miri. The plot twist of them agreeing to do an amateur porn flick to raise emergency cash is plausible, but the idea of them already being room-mates, without any kind of romantic connection, seems curious. Usually when 2 folks of the opposite sex live together, it's in that context.

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[–] TheBeardedWonder 8 years ago

So a man and woman living together without dating is now a plot hole? Good lord IMDb, you never cease to amaze me...

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[–] MasterMoron 8 years ago

In real life doing gay porn is how you get your foot in the door in the porn industry. Even if he had gotten in touch with Bobby Long and he was able to set Zack up with a porn director, he would likely need to start with a gay porn, which Zack probably wasn't willing to do.

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[–] ozzholliday-178-356038 8 years ago

I'm going to miss this great movie discussion

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