Why Why Why?

Sam has been going through a "Why?" stage. Yes, we've been through them before, with both kids, but Ben and I agree that this is by far the worse one. Maybe it's just that we have blocked some of the others from our memory, but I don't think so. This time it's so difficult because the questions are more complex, and as usual, one answer leads to another question, and so on. I also think that many of the questions are brought on by Sam being exposed to movies, games, and books that are slightly above his understanding level since he is the youngest in the family.

The constant questions have been driving us crazy for weeks, but seem to have hit a new level of craziness with his recent obsession with Ghostbusters. He's watched both Ghostbusters 1 and 2 a couple of times each, and every time he asks more and more questions. But it's a movie, based on fantasy, and so the answers are not always complete or definite.

Here are some examples:
Why is did they change into dogs? (Answer: the ghosts did that.)
Why is the slime bad? (Because bad ghosts put it there.)
Why do they keep ghosts in the machine? (So they can't get out)
Why don't they want the ghosts to get out? (Because they might be mean.)
Why are they mean?
And ON and ON and ON.

And I'm ignoring all the questions about what ghosts are, which was a long and involved discussion, after which I'm pretty certain everyone ended up more confused then when the conversation started.

And he gets obsessed with the tiny details that don't make any difference to the plot. There is a joke in Ghostbusters about "But they don't even allow pets in the building." And Sam wants to know why. And he's not satisfied until you've covered apartment living, renters vs. owners, etc. And then, since he's still kind of confused, he'll ask about it again the next time he sees the movie, or even if it just happens to enter his mind while he's playing.

All of my examples are from Ghostbusters, since these questions are the most difficult to answer, but these questions are constant all the time - in the car, riding bikes, reading books. And after spending all day every day together, it can get to be exhausting. I know he's learning and trying to figure things out, so we try to be patient and answer every question, but it is getting old.