I have always had a fascination with mistakes in movies with continuity errors (items switching positions between shots), equipment or crew visible (either clearly like in Harry Potter, or in reflections), factual errors (later era planes or ships used in a period piece), to downright illogical use of the surroundings (flat land suddenly becomes a large drop-off in Jurassic Park). Since I took a class on film in college, I have a better understanding of how it came about that these errors have occurred. The Lord of the Rings trilogy flipped the screen a lot, which most of the time is not noticeable because the human body is symmetrical (the same on either side). But when you have a leaf on your cloak that points one way, it becomes painfully obvious. The reason for doing this is the camera angle shows them looking one way. Another shot has them looking another way, but if you flip the image, it makes it look like they are looking in the same direction.
Often times you will see one actor in a certain position for one take over another actor's shoulder, and when the shot changes to the other side, the first actor's position has changed. It will continue to flip until the scene ends. This happens because the two scenes are not always filmed at the same time. The actors do not always remember what they did exactly in the previous scene, and it is changed up. In Back to the Future, there is a deleted scene in which Marty holds Doc's hairdrier, pointing it at his father in bed like it's a ray gun. The scene uses shots with the hairdrier in Marty's belt, but also uses shots where he is holding it at his side after he used it in the deleted scene.
If you ever see a person's title as "Script Supervisor" it is typically their job to make sure the continuity is kept. You could say it is their fault for a lot of the mistakes you see, but some of the blame could be laid on the actors for not remembering which hand they held a glass during a scene, or the director, or the editor for not noticing something was wrong. It is possible that once it is in the editor's hands, there is no going back to shoot it again for reasons of time, money, logistics, etc.
Many people catch these errors as they are watching it, sometimes because it is blatantly obvious, other times because they have a good eye or lucky enough to be focusing on that part of the screen when it happens. Other times you have to look up on imdb.com or youtube for examples of the mistakes and goofs in the films.
But the mistakes you see in movies and how people react to those mistakes or you pointing out the mistakes tells a lot about how people deal with lies and the truth. There is no denying that movies are a lie. Even if they were based on a true story, the movie is still a lie. In the movie The Invention of Lying where in a world where everyone tells the truth, movies are simply a person sitting in a chair reciting historical facts.
In any normal sense, we would not listen to someone telling a blatant lie about how they rescued Luke Skywalker from the evil Klingons only to marry Jessica Alba, but we will listen and watch a film about Luke Skywalker, or a movie about Klingons, or a romantic comedy where Jessica Alba gets married. We know it is not true, but we suspend our disbelief.
Any film has mistakes in it for one reason or another, but for those who catch the mistake the first time, it suddenly jars them out of the movie. You are no longer enjoying the movie, or engrossed in it, but you have to point out the obvious: they screwed up and the lie is not perfect. The reaction of some is that of "Why are you ruining the film? Why can't you just enjoy it?"
There are many reasons to point out the mistakes in the film. It can be fun to see how something is not perfect. You see this often when stories about celebrities falling from grace captivate audiences. It can be for cinematic purposes in learning the process of film making, or how it was done wrong so the mistake is not made in the future. I have never seen someone pointing out mistakes in a movie simply for the fact to point out "This movie sucks! His arm keeps moving!"
Any person who claims this is the reason and just wants to enjoy the film loves to be lied to. They may not like it if they are lied to in their personal lives, but if the government lies to them, or their bank lies to them, or the courts lie to them, they are fine with that. If you try to point out the lies, and the huge gaping holes in a government official's lie, they tell you to shut up. Do like their lie, and they do not want to be broken out of the same trance they are in as if they were watching a movie. Often times, that is the reason given for the popularity of reality shows because the audience feels as if they are involved in the show themselves. They vote for their favorite singer, or they vote someone out of the house, or they experience the ups and downs of the people portrayed as they go through it, and in that mutual experience, they feel connected. Even if the show is a lie, and even though you are simply watching television, people are hooked on that feeling of belonging.
I have talked about this before of the difference between reality shows in the UK vs in the US. The UK will show cameramen because that is what happened, while the US will blur out or not use shots with other cameramen because it breaks the illusion of what the scene is about: a person having an emotional breakthrough while losing weight. So the show is tightly scripted and edited to tug on your heart strings, and make you feel involved when you really are not. So to say that a viewer has no control over the show, and the interviews are scripted, or edited, or questions asked in a certain way to get the desired answer, all of that will take a person out of that illusion and many do not like that.
For entertainment purposes, it may be a valid point, but in the case of the real world, where your very life depends on you not being tricked, conned, manipulated, or imprisoned relies on you realizing you are being lied to, it is important that these lies are exposed. Some will lash out and be angry that you are not following the lie, and you are ruining the experience, but many more will see the truth, and point out that the emperor does indeed have no clothes.
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