"It's Only a Movie"

When someone raises the faults of a movie's depiction of its subject a certain sort of person responds with the retort "It's only a movie!"--or words to that effect.

Their meaning seems to be that as the movie is "only a movie" what the movie presented was not to be taken seriously and that the person who said something about it suggesting that it was at all to be taken seriously is a fool to do so, making what was merely flippant actually insulting.

This is all the more the case in that the response is so lazy and dishonest as to be an insult to the intelligence of anyone to whom they are responding. After all, does the person who says "It's only a movie" themselves abide by their own standard--never, ever taking any aspect of any movie seriously? And even if they do so do they actually understand the implications of that position, that no one can legitimately do so? That movies mean nothing as art? That they have no impact on perceptions?

Are they really ready to stand by all that?

Almost certainly not. Rather their intent was to shut down the other party, and (perhaps unintentionally, but very likely intentionally) do it in this pointedly disrespectful way.

Consider, then, how much respect someone who does that deserves in return.