MovieChat Forums > The Invention of Lying (2009) Discussion > On what does this world base its calende...

On what does this world base its calender?

posted 12 years ago by Dezante
11 replies | jump to latest

Apart from the very big plothole, that this world would exist nothing as ours, since how our world is shaped is unfathomably based on deceit and lies throughout our entire history (or at least since when we actually invented lying (I wonder who that bastard was, and how much fun s/he had with it)), I wonder from what they calculate their calender, with no religion or birth of a saviour. It must of course be some incredible co-incidence that they (seemingly) write the same year as our world does, I just wonder what that pivotal moment on which they base theirs could be.

[–] jmarkoff2 12 years ago

There is absolutely no way to explain the plot holes in this film: calendar dates, Mars, Black Death, Napoleon etc. But those plot elements aren't the focus of the movie, the satire of modern society is. I ignore the flawed logic, use my imagination, and laugh.

[–] ntsci 12 years ago

Lying wasn't invented. Lying is a basic aspect of survival and is very common in nature (e.g., a mother bird pretends to be wounded to lure a fox away from her nest). But for the purpose of discussion the film, we'll ignore that.

In terms of their calender, well there is no reason to suppose that Jesus didn't exist in that world and the world dates itself from his birth, but instead of telling everyone that he was the son on God, he focused on moral values instead... and perhaps would have been more successful in imparting moral rules of conduct that he was in our world where the morality is often obscured by his deification.

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RIGOLETTO: I'm denied that common human right, to weep.

[–] tad-32 11 years ago

You should consider the possibiity that the 'divinity' of Jesus may have been forced on him and added to his story after the fact by the powers-that-be that saw an opportunity to use his story to control people. <sarcasm> "What? A decent human being that suggested we all be nice to each other? Humans are flawed disgusting creations of GOD!" </sarcasm>

[–] billypilgrim-249-462536 12 years ago

The same thing we base our calender on now, except without any of the christian history?

[–] Bartholmumet 11 years ago

"Apart from the very big plothole, that this world would exist nothing as ours"
How is this even minor plothole let alone a major one?
It is unlikely that their world would follow the same as our world history, however, just because it is implausible it is still possible.
Also seeing how this world didn't exist in the film you could say that it is not the same history as anything as it is not a parallel universe only one world exists.

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Just because you're
paranoid it doesn't
mean that they're
not watching.

[–] tad-32 11 years ago

Calendars existed WAY before saviors and religion. They were important to decide when to plant and when to harvest crops, so kind of critical to our survival.
That's how they came about.

A world without lying might have a slightly different calendar, but they would have one.

[–] ntsci 11 years ago

The op does have a point because they call the middle ages the middle ages etc.. so they appear to use our dates for years.

However the OP like many on this board misses the point that this film is a satire and is not intended to be taken literally. Its a bit like saying the coconuts used by the knights in Monty Python and the Holy Grail were a big plot hole because there are no coconuts in England. A Satire doesn't require plot coherence.

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RIGOLETTO: I'm denied that common human right, to weep.

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] ntsci 11 years ago

I seem to recall they used the number 13th century, so its not just middle, but I migth be wrong.

but as i stated before, don't take the film too seriously... its a satire.

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RIGOLETTO: I'm denied that common human right, to weep.

[–] peze80 9 years ago

Just wanted to say that I like your point, ntsci. Where you mention coconuts in Monty Python. Too many people take the so called "plot holes" in this movie too seriously ;)

[–] taticat 9 years ago

Honestly, I am not clear on what OP is determining to be 'religious' about a lunar and/or solar calendar. The same observations could be gotten based upon when it was time to mow the corn versus time to plant sheep (or whatever farmers do), rainy/hot/autumnal/frigid observations of weather patterns, etc... All of that is just simple observation. Where is a god in there?