Basically, what the title says. What’s something you think is overused, or weird, or just plain dumb in books, movies, shows, etc?
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Not really a trope, but Shaky Cam in action movies (or any movie, but action movies tend to overuse it.) It doesn't add to the action, all it does is make the scene confusing and unwatchable. I'd like to watch a movie without taking dramamine.
Anything having to do with a fight scene. Ex: That's not how you punch. That's not what would happen if you got hit there. Why is blood coming out of your mouth no matter where you got stabbed? Why did such a shallow wound leave you on the ground? Why do you talk sooo much to someone you're trying to kill?
Forced romance, totally unnecessary.
I also hate the "tall, dark and handsome" trope.
I hate forced romance! I really want a show/book/movie to have plot and maybe no romance at all if it is completely unnecessary! I am trying to live by these words as I write my own books — forced romance is not necessary. Also the second thing. What about a cute, lovable dork? That’d be more my type
I can't stand high school movies where the characters pretty much do everything except go to school. In most of them, the "smart one" of the group is still just a slacker that occasionally studies for a test. Like did any of the people working on the show/movie ever go to school?
Useless teen with super-powers overthrows villain's whole system.
The only story who did the "teen hero" thing right was the Hunger Games.
All the interesting guys falling for boring girl with 0 personality. Divergent and the Twilight saga come to mind...Sophie from KOTLS barely avoided this trope.
Dead parents as the backstory.
No, give us villain parents or hurt parents, or even parents that are involved in the plot. You don't need to be alone to have character arc.
Villain parents are interesting. But does the Heroes of Olympus and Percy Jackson fit under the teens with superpowers who always seem to lose and then suddenly win and overthrows a bunch of evil emperors? They’re great
Well not really a trope, but I watched this one movie where someone instantly dies from being shot in the arm. They didn't bleed out or anything just *gunshot* *character dies*
Yes. Or persons getting shot in the leg or the stomach and it "hurts a little", and then same person starts to walk away. I hurt my back this morning while putting on my socks. I'm not running anywhere today, can't imagine how that would - could - should work with a gunshot wound?
Rebellious female characters written to be uninterested in romance ending up in a heterosexual relationship/crush. Catherine called Birdy and Little Women do this -_-
Ugh it’s the WORST! Just let me have a book that doesn’t have romance… that’s not for little kids
When a character "snaps" or gives up all of their ideals for no apparent reason. If you want a character to slowly go insane, fine. But do your goddamn research to make it accurate, and figure out a logical reason for the insanity, such as a childhood trauma that gets brought back up. Not "omg i just killed someone lets become a complete pyschopath".
This is a really good point I haven’t really thought about
Movie/tv show news commentators: the female commentator’s job is to ask questions from the male commentator so that he can explain things to her.
M: Breaking news! A moose has been spotted in New York.
F: Did you say a moose?
M: Indeed. [goes on with the story]
F: That’s fantastic! What would we do without [whatever], Frank?
M: Well, Jeanie, [explains options]
and so on.
Let's reverse it. Or just females who know what they're talking about without male interference.
Forced inclusion. I don't mean including characters from marginalized groups, but when the author tries to "fill a quote" of certain representation. This usually means a shallow representation, or based entirely on harmful stereotypes or characters that we only know they're gay or something like that. Humans are much more complex than just being part of the opressed.
True. I think Rick Riordian (Percy Jackson author) does inclusion nicely, in more of his later books.
LOUD MUSIC. talking. LOUD GUNFIRE. whisper. LOUD MUSIC. GUNFIRE. EXPLOSIONS. EXCITEMENT?
Not a trope in a strict plot device way, and thankfully not a problem in books, but damn I hate it.
ABSOLUTELY. We have to sit with remote in hand to turn volume down, then up, then down... We finally just got into the habit of putting the damn subtitles on.
A couple of them.
1. Actor is "playing" an instrument/singing, but it is cringey-fake.
2. Car tires somehow squeal...in the dirt.
3. Character falls from an unreasonable height, gets up and keeps on going.
4. Characters stand around *just long enough* for the relatively small fire to get out of control when snuffing it out with the blanket right next to them would have worked fine.
Tropes to see more of:
1. White slave owners getting obliterated by former slaves/allies.
2. Women pwning their fields of expertise.
The characters falling one really gets me. The only movie I excused it on was The Hobbit, because dwarves are practically made out of rock anyway.
adult situations, I don't see people doing dishes or paying bills or working their a*s off.
When a likeable character unnecessarily reveals something personal about their life -- e.g., they just got engaged, their wife is expecting, they just got accepted at a prestigious school like Juilliard -- you know they are doomed. They will die (probably heroically) before the end of the film.
After learning from fashion historians, the whole historic costume designing.
Corsets, particularly, always having to be shown being tight-laced by default, each time, and no chemise or anything between the skin and corset.
A man and woman always having to be attracted to each other just because they meet, no matter the circumstance. (Dante's Peak, The Mountain Between Us (I can't say that with a straight-face XD. There was a "mountain" between them alright )
An unconventional looking girl/boy needs a makeover to be socially acceptable. (Although I do relate to Amelia in The Princess Diaries when her makeover led to more teasing, cos that's what usually happens, and didn't really make her more popular.)
Characters do stupid stuff they don’t actually have to do, and the movie could have been resolved in like 20 mins if they just got right to the point. (No specific examples, but I’ve seen this type of thing so many times.)
I've seen this many times as well. Just communicate and fix the stupid problem, guys.
Horror movies where a doll comes to life and kills people. How many movies can possibly be based on this stupid trope? It's a f*****g doll - f*****g step on its head.
Reminds me of "If Veterans Were In Horror Movies" on YT - Evil doll rides on tricycle, guy kicks it over with the words" It's a kid's toy, it's f*****g ridiculous! Who the hell is afraid of that?"
"Sir you robbed a bank"
"I used to go to church"
"What?"
"My child was bullied!"
"Ok but that doesn't explain why you robbed a bank"
"MY WIFE WAS KILLED IN A HIT AND RUN! BY A DOG!"
"JUST TELL ME WHERE THE MONEY IS"
"It all changed when the fire nation attacked"
"For God's S- Fine. Just keep the damned money"
For context: Bringing in unnecessary plot points to the story that make no sense and do absolutely nothing to explain the motives for actions protrayed by not only the villain but literally the entire cast. Throwing Money at the problem does not solve it. Write your films better
"It all changed when the fire nation attacked" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Bury Your Gays, the Gay Best Friend, etc
Also autistic characters always as cishet white guys who are obsessed with trains.
the only difference is i like space 😭 but yeah i get what you mean
slow motion action scenes
Yes, but The Matrix is iconic and incredible and it always will be.
The main character is a white man. His best friend is a man of color. Best Friend is tortured at length because of some crime situation. Main Character rescues Best Friend, learns something important.
I've seen this one twice recently. I won't watch it again.
Action movies where everyone has the ability to outrun fiery explosions.
Also fiery explosions - most explosives don't explode with a fireball
There are no ‘popular mean girl clique’ in a college or high school. We’re all just a bunch of young human beings trying to get through the day without passing out from exhaustion. Also, books where the parents and families of teens are never around. Also, movies where the hero never gets killed/injured with sheer luck, but all the minor characters die by being slapped across the face. So annoying. And why tf canthe villain/hero just kill each other without all the dramatic dialogue
I wrote that in an another article already, but the worst case of "Plot Armour" can be found in "Fury" with Brad Pitt - he would have died so many times if it wasn't for the writers displaying the Wehrmacht and SS as complete idiots or his tank as indestructable
Character has:
Dead parent(s)
undiscovered magical powers
Character:
Goes into a magical world (usually by accident)
HP and Land of Stories did it well, but the rest? Ugh
KOTLC avoided this by not killing off Sophie's parents and I am so thankful.
How press photographers act, or the amateur cameras they use. Have none of the directors ever seen the news ?
1 Shootings with firearms, when by now it is known that they mostly have poor range and accuracy of fire. (Western movies)
2 Car explotions. Really?
3 Too many bullets in the pistols magazine.
4 Jumping through glass, unharmed.
Hawkeye jumping through glass in the Avengers, and he lands on the floor like he is in a ton of pain...perfection.😂
not that i hate it, but it's definitely overused. Disney ALWAYS kills off the parents of the main character or if not, childhood trauma, and that forms our inspirational hero.
The overly zealous description of some one or something. I’ve read books that took several paragraphs if not pages to fully depict the character or scene. That makes me lose interest in a story quickly.
If someone coughs they will be dead soon!
He will also most likely die, when he / she is a new character introduced in a series.
Characters that are autistic being depicted as white, cis males that are socially awkward, only have a special interest in trains, and being shown as a savant at math.
All characters in movies that wear glasses or braces that become instantly beautiful after they are removed (usually in a transformation sequence or montage)
Protagonists that can only shine because everybody around them is close to being brain dead or if they are meant to be likeable by displaying everybody around them as absolute worst.
THIS is why Encanto was a good movie. No matter how much Mirabel longed to fit in, she always wanted her family to be the best they could.
the fact that most of us deities are potraied as either good or evil, some of us are netral you know!
If I remember correctly the deities in Shintō are neither clearly definied as good or evil, they just act according to their personalities in different situations with the definition of good and bad being based on the result. (It was a long time ago that I heard of that, so it may not be that accurate). It's quite visible in japanese content compared to US/European media creations when it comes to deities
Everything the Hallmark Channel makes ;p
In high school movies:
The smart guy - nerd, glasses, bullied, the whole shebang
The hot guy - an athlete of some sort, not really that smart but has the whole school fawning over him.
The popular social media girl - basically same as the hot guy, minus the athlete and constantly on phone, documenting everything, checking her stats. Bonus points if she's rich.
The popular cheerleader girl - bffs with the social media girl, usually has a fight with her by the end of the movie. Either is in a relationship or has a crush on the hot one.
The ugly girl - glasses, pimples, "bad" hairstyle. Good at studying, so her and nerd become good friends. Also has a crush on hot guy. Ends in one of two ways: either hot guy breaks up with one of the popular girls to choose her or she realizes the nerd is who she loves. Takes of glasses and changes her hair for *instant glow up*
Just once I'd like to see an attractive, athletic guy who can also top the class. And a girl who doesn't need a glow up to be happy.
Is the 'take off her glasses and wins a beauty contest' still around? I take off my glasses all the time and never transform into anything. LOL.
dystopian movies
The Hunger Games was horrible, stupid and made no sense. People let the capitol basically kill their kids for 74 years until someone volunteers for their sister? The president who killed everyone of the victors or their families or sent them into sexual servititude couldn't do the same to katniss? Stupid, stupid, stupid
Makes more sense if you've read the books. But a lot of people see the film based on a book, never read the book, and talk like they know everything about the book anyway. Even the best film adaptations leave out a good third of the book info, or make pointless changes that "make more sense cinematically" or save money, but compromise the integrity of the story. Always read the book first, if you can.
Movies where people are held hostage, tortured and die anyway. Why? and sometimes I feel like it gives someone with warped mind ideas, as in copycat
The pronouns that could solve a mystery. Not... him.you know... HIM. No we don't, why don't you use this opportunity to tell the heros, who are established as not being from here. It can usually solve like 20 minutes of movie
wings of fire and warrior cats.
im sorry to those who like it.
A monkey. Whenever a monkey is in a movie you know it's going to steal important keys, or someone's toupee, or get lost in the city and cause havoc in the upscale shops. I hate monkeys but I hate monkeys in movies more.
Unreliable Narrators, specifically mentally ill unreliable narrators. Unreliable Narrators isn't a bad trope, I just like to know what's going on, and it feels like a cheap way to build suspense, like everything is going wrong, but AHA this was the plan all along. Second, mentally ill unreliable narrators just kinda feels like, "look at this character, they can't even comprehend the world around them properly, isn't it so sad?" And it feels forced and poorly written.
People in hospitals. After being treated, they get worse while in the hospital and get saved, most of the time. In the real world, you probably get worse when being back at home.
A monkey. Whenever a monkey is in a movie you know it's going to steal important keys, or someone's toupee, or get lost in the city and cause havoc in the upscale shops. I hate monkeys but I hate monkeys in movies more.
Unreliable Narrators, specifically mentally ill unreliable narrators. Unreliable Narrators isn't a bad trope, I just like to know what's going on, and it feels like a cheap way to build suspense, like everything is going wrong, but AHA this was the plan all along. Second, mentally ill unreliable narrators just kinda feels like, "look at this character, they can't even comprehend the world around them properly, isn't it so sad?" And it feels forced and poorly written.
People in hospitals. After being treated, they get worse while in the hospital and get saved, most of the time. In the real world, you probably get worse when being back at home.
