[andrewflnr]

Explaining a concept to a friendly listener is an entirely different challenge than convincing even an honest skeptic of something. Metaphors are good for the former, dangerous at best for the latter (but beware the continuum between them).

And of course entertainment is yet another game. Any sort of serious argument in a work of entertainment is probably trying to fly under the radar of skepticism anyway... Dang it. Point is, fiction is not usually a good model for rational discussion.