8 Famous Movie Plot Holes With Shockingly Simple Solutions

1. Why Does Buzz Lightyear Freeze If He Thinks He's A Real Space Ranger? - Toy Story

Buzz Lightyear Out Of The Box
Pixar

The "Plot Hole"

The main plot in Toy Story revolves around the fact that Buzz Lightyear, a toy, believes himself to be a real-life space ranger - and he's the only toy around who seems to think in this manner, otherwise we might not have a story.

To the annoyance of Woody, a cowboy doll, Buzz goes about acting as if he's a real hero, and refuses to accept that he's actually just a plastic plaything. If that's so, though, why does Buzz "freeze" like all the other toys when a human being enters the room?

The Simple Solution

The writers of Toy Story have steered well clear of this point, because it's not necessary that they really explain it, and they obviously didn't want to get involved in the endless semantics surrounding an rather pointless issue. That said, there's a reasonable explanation lurking at the heart of this "plot hole" anyway: in Buzz's case, the reaction to "freeze" is purely instinctive - pre-programmed, if you will, into his subconscious.

Consider that, for a moment, Buzz thinks he's a real space ranger - that doesn't necessarily mean that he thinks he's a real human being, though. Technically, he has no real concept of what an actual human being is, otherwise he'd be going insane upon realising that he doesn't have a heart, doesn't need to eat, and doesn't go to the bathroom. Which means that he's in a class of his own entirely, and one with its own set of rules.

Though we know that all toys, by default, opt to conceal themselves from human beings, it's no surprise that it comes instinctively to Buzz, because - ultimately - he is still a toy. This doesn't, however, clash with his belief that he's a real space ranger: for all that we know, his concept of being a space ranger might actually account for his "freezing" - when enemies that look like human beings make themselves known to him, freezing is presumably what Buzz has been "pre-programmed" to do. It's just a matter of perspective.

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