Line #17 Headscratchers/Chronicle


1	'''As a Headscratcher subpage, all spoilers are unmarked [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff as per policy.]] Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.'''
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3	* Why the hell did the cops at the hospital set up the (expensive, and identical to Andrew's) camera to film Andrew while he was unconscious? There's already a security camera in the room. Seems like an AssPull to keep a hi-res digital camera close to the main action.
4	** Or in the confusion, someone put his camera there and accidentally turned it on. Or it was left in the closet or something, and Andrew woke up enough to turn it on by TK.
5	** The cops put it there and turned it on. When Richard goes in one of them tells him not to disturb the camera because they "need it for their investigation." They probably saw the security footage of the robbery, including apparent TK abilities, or at any rate something unexplainable involving the perpetrator, and if it happens again they need it on record. Hell, more than likely they are involved with some government agency that is aware of the meteor-whatever, who have been following the situation since the cave in.
6	*** If the last part is true, then they'll likely take him in for causing his son to nearly become a threat to humanity.
7	* The kids [[NotUsingTheZWord never compare themselves]] to, say, [[ComicBook/SpiderMan Peter Parker]] or the ComicBook/FantasticFour, and no one uses the words "superpower" or "superhero". It's next to impossible that the boys, having lived all their lives in America, with normal access to TV, cinema, etc., have no concept of superheroes or have never been exposed to any form of superhero media. Perhaps they simply don't exist on this Earth?
8	** Maybe they just don't pay much attention to comics and the like. Andrew's a shut-in, Steve's probably preoccupied with his school work, student government campaign, and football practice, and we don't know Matt's hobbies.
9	*** Yeah, shut-ins and nerds HATE superhero stories.
10	*** Yeah, all shut-ins are nerds and all nerds cares about superheroes.
11	*** It's possible that they were referenced off-screen.
12	** It does raise a similar question: why no references to Franchise/StarWars beyond the red lightsaber toy? You think they would relish the idea of comparing themselves to Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader, and the story does pretty parallel Yoda's speech about fear leading to suffering. [[ExecutiveMeddling Maybe they weren't allowed to make too many outside references to avoid legal attention?]]
13	** Don't they put on Star Wars music while force-lifting the Legos?
14	** The film didn't show everything the characters did 24/7. It is not impossible for them to have debated it off-screen until one of them went [[Series/{{Misfits}} "In what kinda fucked-up world would that be allowed to happen?"]], and the film-makers simply didn't want to waste time and strain suspension of disbelief by showing it.
15	*** Either copyright or it was referenced off-screen. Take your pick.
16	*** Yes.
17	* What was Andrew doing in the time between blowing up the hospital room and trying to throw his father out? There was enough time for the news crews to begin filming and broadcasting it and Matt driving to downtown Seattle from the suburbs, getting around several police roadblock already in place. That must have taken Matt an hour at least, when you'd expect Andrew to do his thing in seconds.
18	** Well, It is down town, so the news crews could have already been there. Maybe (its possible there was a slow news day) they were reporting on Andrew's earlier robbery. As for Matt, we don't know where his girlfriend's house was in relation to the hospital, or when his nose started to bleed. its possible it started before Andrew's father arrived. Some of the scenes are probably out of exact order so they would make sense to the viewer.
19	** It seems that the explosion happened while Andrew was unconscious. It could be that, for a while, he was still out of it. Only when the noises of the sirens and helicopters grew (or Matt arriving on the scene) did he wake up. He then saw his father lying next to him, flew into a rage and zipped out the hole in the side of the building.
20	** Actually, you clearly see Andrew's eyes opening a second before the explosion; plus, he grabbed his dad's fist in mid-swing. However, it's possible that Andrew got around to doing quite a bit before Matt arrived; first of all, assuming the blast didn't kill them, he'd have had to take care of the cops that were guarding his room; then he'd have to keep the nurses and other hospital staff from interfering; then, his dad might have tried to make a run for it (assuming he was able to do so, under the circumstances) meaning that Andrew would have had to chase him through the corridors; finally, Andrew may have been in a bad enough mood to torture his dad before he decided to kill him- we don't exactly see the full extent of his injuries once Matt rescues him. Also, Andrew was badly injured and disoriented from painkillers, so that might have slowed him down a good bit.
21	** If you look closely at Richard as Matt brings him to the ground after saving him, Richard appears to have a severe head injury of some kind. The implication being that Andrew did indeed physically assault him before trying to kill him.
22	* How come Andrew goes through all the trouble of robbing a gas station instead of just stealing the medicine directly?
23	** He probably didn't know exactly what type of medicine his mom was taking.
24	*** Pharmacies and hospitals also tend to have better security than gas stations.
25	*** It's explicitly stated that the Pharmacy doesn't actually ''have'' the medication she needs; Andrew must pay $750 before they will even order it for next-day delivery.
26	*** It probably would have already been too late anyway, since his mom died not that long after.
27	* Wait, was Andrew's mom aware of Richard's abuse? I'm pretty sure both Richard and Andrew tried their best to keep it from her but I doubt she didn't hear fighting and yelling in the other rooms or notice Andrew's bruises.
28	** Given her illness, she was likely sleeping whenever the abuse happened, or her medication was strong enough that she wasn't lucid enough to really realize it. Or most tragically, she WAS aware, but due to her state she wasn't able to do anything about it.
29	** If she's aware, has she ever tried talking to her husband about how he treats Andrew?
30	* So Andrew knows what apex predators are but doesn't know the word hubris?
31	** He didn't ''already'' know about apex predators. He came across them in his research on natural selection. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLAmhTvwINw The scene]] where he first mentions them begins with "I've been doing a lot of reading". Maybe if he had been researching pride or self-confidence, then he would have come across hubris.
32	** It also seemed like he was only joking around about not knowing what "hubris" means. He follows that up by pretending not to know what "seriously" means, after all.
33	* How did the lightning strike that killed Steve not kill Andrew. He's not invulnerable he was still hurt by the explosion at the gas station and as close as Andrew and Steve were the heat from the lightning should have fried his camera and burned him to death.
34	** The bolt probably isn't strong enough to take even Andrew down, as he's MadeOfIron.
35	** Maybe the lightning was coming at Andrew, which he's able to deflect in time. But accidentally sends it towards Steve who didn't see it coming.
36	* Why the hell would Matt and Steve not report Richard to the police for abusing Andrew? For two guys wanting to be a friend to the emotionally unstable outcast Andrew, that seems like the first thing they would be inclined to do once they find out about it.
37	** It would be very easy for Richard to use his son's mental/emotional instability against him ("his mum just died, he's very upset", etc.). Also, Andrew was keeping his telekinesis a secret from his dad. Pretty sure he wouldn't have wanted the police finding out about it via the camera recordings (which would be the most solid proof; Andrew did say at the start of the film that he was "recording everything", too.
38	* Given that Matt picks up his cousin Andrew for school most days, that would mean that Andrew's parents have at least one sibling in the area whom they are in contact with and who is wealthy enough to give their child a vehicle. Richard can't afford afford medication for his wife because he's on disability, but is Matt's parent just ignoring their sister or sister-in-law's plight? There's no indication that Andrew's family is receiving or has even asked for help from family.
39	* Out-of-universe question: Why did the creators call it ''Chronicle''? The only connection I can see is that Andrew could be said to be chronicling ... something--but that doesn't seem important to the story.

Context Headscratchers / Chronicle