MovieChat Forums > Parallels (2015) Discussion > Why doesn't anybody notice the building ...

Why doesn't anybody notice the building is empty?

posted 10 years ago by dreamsareedible
24 replies | jump to latest

This building is located in the downtown district, surrounded by other buildings and pedestrians.

If this building jumps every 36 hours, doesn't anybody ever hear it shake and rumble with its lights going off and on as they pass by? What if someone is just leaning against the walls or door, would they jump as well? Isn't that how Tinker jumped when he planned to blow up the building?

Also, wouldn't the city notice its empty and you know, lock it up or even demolish it, or better yet renovate it and make it a functional office building?

Don't get me wrong, I love the movie and its premise. But I just can't help notice why on some Earths the building is in the middle of a metropolis, yet it can safely and discreetly operate as a parallel universe portal without anybody noticing.

[–] super16g 10 years ago

It leaves its copy behind. To people walking by it just sounds like an alarm going off in an opd abandoned building. Tinker went inside.

[–] RLIsbell 10 years ago

Tinker did not go inside...he leaned against it.

Robbie

[–] dreamsareedible 10 years ago

Right, so all it takes is for someone to lean against the building OUTSIDE to be able to travel with the building.

Meaning, any regular bystander, like a homeless man just chillin', could travel unknowingly. My question is, if this is the movie's logic, wouldn't have everyone noticed the building by now? Like the city, or the country.

[–] LibertarianSoldier 10 years ago

The question that needs to be answered before this one is: How often does any given earth has THE building in it's presence?

The next question is, where does the original build go to?

IN the Earth that the main casts are from, the building was already abandoned long before it was THE building. Remember, it's only THE building for 36 hours, then it goes somewhere else.

I think it's safe to assume that the building that existed on these earths are different. Most would probably be abandoned, like the nuked earth they visited first because of the superstition the building has. It's probably safe to assume many worlds have thought this building is strange, which is why most earths have it abandoned and untouched. No one wants to go near it, things disappear occasionally when near it...

But then you ask my first question, how often does the building go to the same earths? Is it timed? Is it in a loop? Is it completely random? Who knows....

But I think, when THE building appears for 36 hours, the building that was there was replaced - temporarily - by THE building. Now, this may cause issues in some worlds where the building is occupied. Perhaps in those worlds, any occupants unlucky enough to be in it will not exist. Perhaps they exist on a spiritual level and experience a sort of waking dream for those 36 hours. They may freak out after the 36 hours are up, they leave that building and never return. Maybe that's why in most earths, that building is abandoned and untouched....

[–] therefdotcom 10 years ago

"The question that needs to be answered before this one is: How often does any given earth has THE building in it's presence?

The next question is, where does the original build go to?

IN the Earth that the main casts are from, the building was already abandoned long before it was THE building. Remember, it's only THE building for 36 hours, then it goes somewhere else.

I think it's safe to assume that the building that existed on these earths are different. Most would probably be abandoned, like the nuked earth they visited first because of the superstition the building has. It's probably safe to assume many worlds have thought this building is strange, which is why most earths have it abandoned and untouched. No one wants to go near it, things disappear occasionally when near it...

But then you ask my first question, how often does the building go to the same earths? Is it timed? Is it in a loop? Is it completely random? Who knows.... "

good point.

"But I think, when THE building appears for 36 hours, the building that was there was replaced - temporarily - by THE building. Now, this may cause issues in some worlds where the building is occupied. Perhaps in those worlds, any occupants unlucky enough to be in it will not exist. Perhaps they exist on a spiritual level and experience a sort of waking dream for those 36 hours. They may freak out after the 36 hours are up, they leave that building and never return. Maybe that's why in most earths, that building is abandoned and untouched...."

yeah, but its like a 12 story office building. if it replaced a similar building temporarily, all business, all workers, everything in that building would be out of function and not reachable for 36 hours, which would cause issues for those people's customers, partners and ultimately the authorities to check out whats going on, to then find that building empty. in fact, the shown trip to "technically advanced dimension" would not end like it happened. authorities would have been there within hours.

let's face it: nice idea, but ultimately very flawed. not considering the other, self generated script related logical problems.

[–] ray-in-de-house 10 years ago

He did go inside, he said so in the film

[–] HeavyHorseArcher 10 years ago

Maybe people do jump but they don't know about the 36 hour rule so they get stuck after one jump?

I don't have any explanation for your point about the city not attempting to demolish it or whatever...

[–] iamahero 10 years ago

This was my biggest gripe. And Why weren't they living inside the building in the post apocalyptic world if it was indestructible? They wouldn't have to worry about another bomb going off. Who cares if the original "man with the bomb" came out of it. Was that the only reason to not live there? So many things we are expected to overlook in this film/pilot episode.

[–] HeavyHorseArcher 10 years ago

Because the people who go in keep disappearing without a trace?

[–] Naldoman 10 years ago

Yes, the Roach Motel. "They check in, but they don't check out."

[–] acooke-768-771521 10 years ago

They did not live inside the building because they were afraid of this building. Maybe there is a history of people going into the building and disapearing. There was a hint of fear when the on guy chided the others for going into the building chasing after the kids.

[–] mobocracy 10 years ago

Also, wouldn't the city notice its empty and you know, lock it up or even demolish it, or better yet renovate it and make it a functional office building?

I think making the building be the same in all universes is a conceptual blunder on the writer's part.

It leads to a lot of questions like you ask -- wouldn't the building attract the usual attention a vacant building on expensive downtown real estate gets?

But more importantly, if the building never changes it implies an awful lot. That kind of 1960/1970s modernist style has always existed. That kind of 1960s/1970s modernist style is considered "normal" in all possible multiverse instances, including divergent multiverses where such styles never evolved or even if there had never been a city at that location.

If the building *didn't* remain constant throughout multiverses (ie, at each jump it blended in with the multiverse) then you might surmise that the jumping phenomenon was somehow spatial -- ie, being in the building's footprint would be enough to jump.

But it may be that's on purpose, and it leads to some kind of clue about the mystery. The building is probably no older than the 1960s based on its architectural style, which could mean that the jumping phenomenon is no older than that building.

It's hard to say where that could go, but its possible that "dad" was responsible for creating the jumping phenomenon in that building, which would lead to a lot of interesting ideas about what's on the top floors, who dad is, where is he from, etc etc.

[–] EarthCrisis 10 years ago

The building may change in other Universes, We only see it how we do because there is some kind of perception filter the building is using. It may look different to people who have not been in the building, addressing it being abandoned, maybe only within those 36 hours it is abandoned or closed, that would not call for it to be renovated or destroyed. These are in no way canon and are just my way to fix certain plot holes. When Tinker tried to blow up the building maybe some shield activated to protect itself, protecting the building but causing the gateway to his universe to be corrupted. I really hope this becomes a series as it was meant to be, maybe with some plot hole repair it will be.

[–] mobocracy 10 years ago

I thought it was a plot hole when I started my reply, but as I wrote it I began to think that maybe it's not a plot hole but more of a clue about nature of the jumping phenomenon and its origins.

I agree I hope it becomes a series. The director's mini series, The Lost Room, was really good and the writers (who also wrote this, one of them being the director) showed a real knack for the kind of Twilight Zone style of reality.

[–] theemaster 9 years ago

The director's mini series, The Lost Room, was really good and the writers (who also wrote this, one of them being the director) showed a real knack for the kind of Twilight Zone style of reality.

yep the lost room was awesome.. and this reminded me of it.. it is the lost room.. rebadged/tweaked a little and more slider'ish..

[–] therefdotcom 10 years ago

hahaha. just had a picture in mind with this thing standing in ancient venecian times and people with huge white wigs standing there completely baffled.

[–] therefdotcom 10 years ago

lol. i was thinking the same thing.

[–] dustymaze 10 years ago

Didn't anyone pay attention to the opening sequence of the movie? It shows the building in a number of different "locations" on the other Earths... a frozen wasteland, various city skylines, an empty wetlands, a futuristic looking downtown, even submerged in a stormy ocean with only the top few floors above the surface and nothing else around.

[–] Hopstimop 10 years ago

Do you know how many buildings are empty in my city, just because some greedy companies own them and have no intention to do anything with them, due to corruption, manipulation of real estate market etc.?

Just because a building is empty, doesn't mean you can do what the duck you want with it. Even if you are the government.

[–] erobs82 10 years ago

"Greedy companies" typically do not benefit from owning empty buildings, since they cost money to own and operate. Sounds like the issue in your city is market based. An owner may sit on a property until a viable tenant or redevelopment project comes around, but again, it's rare for a vacant property to benefit the owner.

[–] victor-200 9 years ago

Obviously, you have never heard of a thing called a "tax shelter."

www.google.com/search?q=tax+shelter

Operating an investment at a loss, in order to reduce taxable income.

''I'm fortunate the pylons were not set to a lethal level.''

[–] captlupin 9 years ago

It could be it does look different in each earth but you see it as the building from your earth so you can get back to it.

[–] jamjohnx3 9 years ago

Too much of the building's history and mechanics aren't explained to really address the issue. If Polly's theory of it puncturing all universes at once is true then whoever put it there has pretty strong mojo that most likely releases some influence that keeps people from messing with the building. The fact that it's untouched in the nuked Earth means that it must be immune to outside forces.

As far as people not noticing it being a portal to alternate realities - not only does no one expect this when approaching an abandoned building, the only way to confirm it is to be inside at the right time when it jumps...and once that happens, you're in another reality with no control over where you go next. In other words, the only way to prove it is to disappear and never return. It would be like trying to prove there's an afterlife.