History Headscratchers / Equilibrium

** Apart from the fact that Preson's life would be forfeit once the puppy was discovered, the movie obviously treats the [[FacelessGoons helmeted mooks]] as [[WhatMeasureIsAMook morally valueless]]. Even though they are all (presumably) on Prozium and [[PunchClockVillain just doing their job]], they are shown, almost without exception, to basically be unthinking killing machines for a Dystopian government. You could make the argument that it's not really their fault, but you could make it for Preson, too.

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** Canon: "Nonconformity in your desk arrangement, Cleric? Why don't you put it back before someone thinks you're... Getting Ideas." Extrapolation: "[[LogansRun We've got a runner!]] Aim to kill!"

** Ironically, that can't be the original Mona Lisa, which is smaller and painted on wood, not canvas (probably the filmmakers Main/DidNotDoTheResearch). Still, the scan doesn't say that it's the original, only that it's "verified" -- I interpreted that as "verified to be EC-10 material".

**** That's actually true. According to the Commentary, they were going to use a slightly less well-known painting, but decided to go with one they knew everybody would recognize.

***** Also, the reason they're removing the material is because it risks evoking an emotional response. Someone on Prozium has their emotional responses negated or at least heavily dampened. Accordingly a scanner is required to determine if this item would produce an emotional response and would therefore amount to infringing material, since the BigBad can't risk his mooks making an assessment for themselves whether any emotional response takes place.
***** Which begs the question: how can a scanner determine whether non-Proziacs would find a painting purdy? Does it have an AI simulation of a human mind in there? Considering that this film is set TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, that means we have some incredible technological breakthroughs scheduled for this afternoon at half past three.
***** It's a painting, which can be analyzed by components used in the paint, age of the materials, whether or not brush strokes are detectable, or maybe even if it is missing an official government watermark. Heck maybe they are just checking to see if it's older than, say, 100 years Before Prozium since artifacts from that era would be likely candidates for destruction.

**** The potent image can easily be an ''in-universe'' explanation, too. It helps with the image the government projects, and it also requires people to follow a strict routine, enforcing discipline the same way a Marine Sergeant Major might [[GenerationKill bitch out Marines for having their shirts untucked]] when they're ostensibly doing more important things to prepare for an invasion.

**** It's not the wrong part; the scene that's shown in flashback is deliberately crafted to put an emphasis on which hand Preston uses to both take a gun from Brandt, and which hand he uses to hand one back; they're not the same hand. He switched them during the scene on the car, expecting that he would end up breaking the law at some point, and then gave Brandt's gun back to him so he wouldn't have it when the trace was run. There's another problem with it, though; he switches one gun with Brandt, but when he killed the sweepers to save the dog, he used ''two'' guns. Can't they tell that more than one gun was out there on that night?

**** Consider more or less any team-based multiplayer FPS. After playing a given map a couple of dozen times, you will find yourself doing much better, partly because you know the terrain better, but mostly because you've learned to predict where enemies will be and when, purely from experience. You can sometimes find yourself uncannily predicting where and when another player will pop up, and shooting them before they get the chance to retaliate. Some FPS developers, most notably Bungie, have used statistical analysis of their maps to determine which places are deadliest, to whom, and for what reasons. The fact is, despite an apparently very large volume of space to work with, the vast majority of people can consistently be found in a relatively small percentage of that space, narrowing down the possibilities dramatically. Grammaton Clerics function the same way, except instead of having to learn each new location they visit from experience, they have been taught to infer the disposition of enemy forces from a relatively small input by breaking down the complexities of battle into a series of known movements, kind of like chess or kung fu. They know that for any given space and number of opponents, there is only a limited number of sensible locations for those opponents. The reason that opponents in non-sensible locations don't fudge up the math is that those locations are suicidal.
**** The ''explanation'' is an example of RuleOfCool. [[AwesomeByAnalysis Use maths to dodge bullets]]! the viewer can either [[HandWave go]] [[MST3KMantra with]] [[SuspensionOfDisbelief it]] [[VoodooShark or]] not, but it's the context of the the film that's how GunKata works.

*** I think the big twist puts a new layer in the above theory. Dupont ( and Brandt) are acting obviously like they aren't on meds [[spoiler: to intentionally reduce Preston's uncertainty about the rebellion and to make him seek to join it which would speed up their masterplan!]]

** Canon: "Nonconformity in your desk arrangement, Cleric? Why don't you put it back before someone thinks you're... Getting Ideas." Extrapolation: "We've got a runner! Aim to kill!"

** Yes; it was a large part of why he got the role. (Incidentally, it's also not random; much like Dupont's angry outburst detailed above, its an indication that he's not on his meds. He even says he needs to have his meds "adjusted" early on, suggesting he's at least under-medicated.)

**** Artificial insemination.
**** It may be called 'making love' but that's just a name, love certainly isn't required for procreation. It's a biological imperative that your body will impose on you pretty effectively no matter how much your emotions are inhibited.

** Fanwank: Prozium suppresses some emotions more intensely than others. Emotions like pride and ambition are somewhat left alone so that people still have motivation to work and contribute, while emotions like rage, envy, despair and duplicity are supressed to much higher degrees. Consider why Prozium was adopted in the first place: as a means for reducing violence and conflict. The greatest precursors to conflict tend to be the craving for someone else's possessions (envy), an overdose of passion (rage), or the realization that you have nothing to lose (despair).

* At the very beginning. With the Mona Lisa. These items are being destroyed for their emotional response. Which, in almost all cases, is the exact same from a copy of a painting as it is from the original, or at least from a copy in the same medium. So WHY do they need to check before burning that it's the original? It can't be for the satisfaction of a great victory 'cos, y'know... Prozium. Out-of-universe, it gives shock factor to the audience at the destruction of such a famous piece, but in-universe, well... [[ItJustBugsMe that]].
** It might not matter to most of the proziacs (their leadership most certainly cares), but it would most certainly affect the resistance trying to protect said artwork. What better way to convince them to forsake emotion than to prove they can't protect these blasphemous relics and plunge them into despair? At the least, it's an important blow against their morale.

*** Maybe the "scanner" is a ''recorder'', and they're documenting the raid, "verifying" the presence of EC-10 material ''for the record''. Librian society seems to prize rules, documentation, and making sure things are done "by the book".

***** Which begs the question: how can a scanner determine whether non-Proziacs would find a painting purdy? Does it have an AI simulation of a human mind in there? Considering that this film is set {{twenty minutes into the future}}, that means we have some incredible technological breakthroughs scheduled for this afternoon at half past three.
***** It's a painting, which can be analyzed by components used in the paint, age of the materials, whether or not brush strokes are detectable, or maybe even if it is missing an official government watermark. Heck maybe they are just checking to see if it's older than, say, 100 years Before Prozium since artifacts from that era would be likely candidates for destruction.

*** Of course its not if it where Vulcan mind-melding everyone would be psychically connected.

*** True, but the number of times people apply such [[HollywoodTactics one-dimensional tactical thinking in fiction]] does not make this particularly noticeable. The thing that ''is'' noticeable is that this is the only case where they depict characters who [[DangerouslyGenreSavvy actually devise a method of taking advantage of such oversights]].

**** The ''explanation'' is an example of RuleOfCool. [[AwesomeByAnalysis Use maths to dodge bullets]]! the viewer can either [[HandWave go]] [[MST3KMantra with]] [[SuspensionOfDisbelief it]] [[VoodooShark or]] not, but it's the context of the the film that's how GunKata works.

*** Okay, to that situation, try pointing your right arm at something directly behind it. It's much harder than crossing your left arm over to point at the same thing.

*** To this troper it made sense even without the knowledge or suspicion that Dupont would turn out to be the BigBad. Many real life dictatorships combined two seemingly incompatible features: very strict laws and a lack of the rule of law. Hence people in the positions of power could get away with a lot more than the commoners, and Dupont is still officially a Vice-Counsel, which sounds high-ranking enough. The guards' inaction could also be explained by a healthy dose of [[NineteenEightyFour Doublethink]] on their part.

* why in the super-advanced future dystopia land, Christian Bale doesn't have central locking for his car and has to physically put the key in the lock to open it. Petty yes, but also very annoying.
** because in the future having your car go "chirp-chirp" when you locked it would be silly, and we can't have silly; silly is an emotional response.

** THIS troper understands that humans can, by their very nature, look out for themselves, particularly fully trained adult humans carrying automatic weapons and wearing battle armor. A domesticated animal, on the other hand, requires human protection to survive. Me, I wipe out the humans just like Preston, only I probably wouldn't look anywhere near as cool doing it. Oh, and this scene is about raising emotions in the VIEWER.
** He was struggling with his new found emotions. Puppies look cute and helpless and brought forth a lifetime of suppressed nurturing and protection while the officer investigating was just another drone. A person incomplete, lacking that which made him human and instead he was simply a machine. Killing him was a relief from his pointless life; not that any rational decision was made you understand, it was just an overwhelming need to save the defenceless.

** Everyone in the room is most likely some kind of special guard that's in on it. Special responsibilities = special privileges. The guards outside the door? I don't know, maybe they don't usually need to be there but are there since everyone knows who's coming.

<<|ItJustBugsMe|>>

**** The ''explanation'' is an example of RuleOfCool. [[AwesomeByAnalysis Use maths to dodge bullets]]! the viewer can [[YourMileageMayVary either]] [[HandWave go]] [[MST3KMantra with]] [[SuspensionOfDisbelief it]] [[VoodooShark or]] not, but it's the context of the the film that's how GunKata works.

** This. It would just end up like Miranda from {{Serenity}}, though not as extreme; people would either just slow down and do as little as possible work just to get paid enough to survive, or alternatively do random shit due to the lack of fear.