I'm looking for an idiom which describes a situation whereby superfluous things detract from other more important/prominent things.
The way I want to use it is like this:
In practical terms, such details are superfluous to the overall schema
and vision of the narrative because they distract our attention away
from the most important ones.
Best Answer
We used to refer to such a thing as a red herring.
However, that was before red herring prospectus was coined.
Today, most may be unaware of the original idiom.