Copy Catting, Thoughts on Plot Holes and

I have been quite blessed to grow up in a family that is very much into the arts. My parents and my five siblings and I all have pleasant discussions on literature, music, and movies.

However, I have gotten to the point where I simply cannot watch movies with two of my brothers. I can barely even talk about books with them.

My brothers love to shatter stories.

They think that it is their life's mission to point out and exaggerate plot holes in absolutely every story they ever encounter. These boys could probably find a plot hole in the Bible. This is so frustrating to me, because I just so desperately want to believe in everything. I fall in love with characters, I breathe the air that they're breathing, I feel their hearts shattering, their joy consuming their bodies...it's all so real to me.

Another thing my dear brothers do is point out how many stories (whether it's movies or books) mimic another work. Nothing annoys me more when they start on how they believe that Harry Potter is just a retelling of Lord of the Rings.

UGH. NO. NO. NO.

Within all stories, there is the over-all (or under-lying) theme of Good vs. Evil. It's in Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Harry Potter, Divergent, Hunger Games, everything. That theme is the core theme of our very existence. So, of course, aspects of all these stories are going to be the same.

Additionally, what is the difference between being inspired by and copy catting? There is a very thin line between the two, I believe. However, I think they are both distinguishable though it is a case-by-case basis sort of thing.

My sophomore English teacher once said, "It is the reader's job to believe in the universe that the author creates." Of course, it's the author's job to create a believable universe, but we readers must give enter into the story and suspend disbelief. Perhaps it is better to say that the author's job is to make the unbelievable believable. Just the same, the reader must discard all he thinks he knows and enter into the creation of the writer. As readers, we must not let things like desperately searching for plot holes and blame for copy catting deter us from entering into the writer's story.