History Headscratchers / TheInventionOfLying

*** ''Every'' character is a {{Jerkass}}? No, the idea is that society in general is like this and there are no polite conventions at all. The date scene combines this and SoWhatYouAreSaying -- which is a discredited trope ''anyway'' -- to WallBanger-y effect: "Hi, Mom. Yeah, I'm just on a date. No, not very good-looking." WHY WOULDN'T SHE JUST SAY "NO"?

* The bank tells him that there must be a mistake - he ''must'' have $800 available, and they give it to him. If people can be mistaken, how come no one in the entire world thinks the protagonist must be mistaken about the Man in the Sky?

* That some people see this movie as a valid critique of religion. OK, so in his sans-lying world, Mark can make up a religion and everyone will believe it. But how does that relate to our world where people can question things?

* The idea that, if we were all just "honest with ourselves", we would view all male-female romantic relationships in terms of eugenics, full stop. Um, no, sorry, love and other emotions may be messy and difficult to measure scientifically, but that doesn't make them "lies". And saying "I shouldn't be your lover and have your children because you're fat" isn't somehow "true" — it's still just aesthetic opinion.
** That said, in a world like that, establishing relationships ''initially'' might be difficult — you could argue that the first "I love you" in a relationship is a lie. (Maybe. If you feel like pushing it.) Also, there ''are'' lots of superficial people who, in our world, lie about their commitment, say they find you beautiful when they don't, etc — but their automatic filtering from the dating pool by their honesty would only be a ''good'' thing for ultimately finding one's SoulMate (and for those people to motivate themselves to change). Jennifer Garner's character's problems with Gervais's weight and looks, and Rob Lowe's I'm-rich snobbery are simply their characterizations, not some consequence of "honesty". (Does Gervais think his real-life long-time partner Jane Fallon is being "dishonest" with him for loving him?)

* In a world where no one had lied until the twenty-first century, and there had (also? — depending on your view of religion) never been religion of any kind, the ButterflyEffect would have made things radically, radically different. None of the film's creators bothered to deal with the AlternateReality possibilities.

** Ultimately, perhaps Gervias is subconsiously trying to be fair to religion, which the movie otherwise attacks, by creating StrawMan atheists who are {{EvilutionaryBiologist}}s. Maybe.

** Ultimately, perhaps Gervias is subconsiously trying to be fair to religion, which the movie otherwise attacks, by creating StrawMan atheists who are EvilutionaryBiologists. Maybe.

**** Well, if one is on a date with person they are not interested in, it is best to let that person know you are not interested in them, is it not? Better than those dumbass mind games [[strike: women]]people play in real life.