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People Share 44 TV & Film Clichés That Work In Fiction But Flop In Real Life
Most of us skeptics by nature blame films, *cough cough* romance movies, for being far-fetched and nothing like real life. However, the scriptwriters are not to blame for why you don't get flowers sent to your office. Yet, they are to blame for the expectations they raise. Either way, it's widely accepted that certain things that work in movies simply don't work in real life. These are the so-called film tropes — a set of cliches overused in movies.
One of which is when a leading actor (ref Tom Hanks in The Terminal (2004)) hops in a random taxi they caught on the street and asks the driver to take them home. Just home, no address or anything. As if the cab driver knows where each of his passengers' homes is. Funnily, this movie trope was "exposed" in How To Be Single (2016) with a snarky comeback from a taxi driver. Yet, this is just one of the many movie tropes that have been used, recycled and used again in filmmaking.
Horror movie tropes arguably rank second (if not first) in frequency. A cabin in the woods is probably the most prevalent theme in teen screams. However, tropes in movies go beyond the romance and horror genres. When a user on AskReddit asked, "What happens in movies or TV that seems to be normal and you think to yourself 'that is not what people in real life do'?", thousands of trope-hunters revealed the most common movie tropes recurring on the silver screen.
Below, we've assembled this movie tropes list from the many answers people left in the thread, revealing the most frequently recurring cliches/tropes in films. Make sure to give the cliches you see way too often an upvote and write down any more movie tropes or 'things that don't happen in real life yet do in films' missing from the list in the comments!
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#1
"A Woman Rejects A Man And He Keeps Pestering Her With Gifts And Attention Until She Changes Her Mind. In Real Life, That’s Called Stalking And She Won’t Appreciate It"
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#2
"Women Can Be In The Jungle For Weeks, And They Don't Have Hair Growing Anywhere. Men Immediately Begin To Grow A Beard"
#4
"Being A Young, Aspiring Artist Living Alone In A Nice, Spacious Apartment In A Prime Area Of A Big City Like New York Or LA"
#5
"Women Running Around In Heels With Perfect Hair And Makeup, And The Dirt And Sweat Making Their Hair And Makeup Look Even Better"
#6
"School Buses Honking And Waiting For Kids Who Are Still In The House. If I Wasn’t At The Bus Stop When The Bus Arrived, It Would Drive On By. It Didn’t Stop. It Didn’t Honk"
#8
"Having Highly Confidential Conversations About 4 Foot Away From The People They Are Talking About, And Not Being Overheard"
#9
"Everyone Has One Paper Bag For Groceries, And It Has A Celery Stalk And Loaf Of French Bread Sticking Out The Top"
#10
"Running Upstairs In Horror Movies. If There Was Something Chasing You, Wouldn’t Head For The Door To Get Outside?"
#12
"If A Simple Miscommunication Happens, No One Stops And Clarifies With The Other Person. Like If One 10 Sec Conversation Can Derail An Entire Plot Thread I'm Not Interested"
#14
"People Splashing Cold Water In Their Faces And Looking In The Mirror To Indicate A Character Is Upset"
#16
"On The Phone Making Plans: 'Ok, Meet Me At 5?' 'Sure.' And That’s The Whole Plan. Where Are You Meeting?"
#19
"Absolutely Everything Related To Pregnancy And Especially Childbirth. You Don't Just Instantly Rush To The Hospital"
#21
"Hitting Someone On The Head With A Whiskey Bottle To Knock Them Out. Pretty High Risk Of Killing Them"
#24
"Going To A Friend's Place, Staying There For All Of 30 Seconds To Talk About Something Plot-Relevant, Then Just Leaving Right Away"
#25
"Scenes Where Someone Is Painting Something, Like A Wall Or A Chair, Wearing Nice Clothing, With No Tape, Coverings, Or Paint Splatter Anywhere"
#26
"Taking Turns Talking. Like In Cop Shows When One Cop Begins An Explanation, Then The Next One Picks Up The Story At A Seamlessly Convenient Spot"
#28
"Every Time Anyone Sneezes People Assume They're Sick, Like Don't They Ever Get Random Sneezes"
#30
"Getting Fired From An Office Job And Walking Out With A Box That Has A 3-Foot Tall Plant Sticking Out"
#32
"Just Asked A Random Girl: "Hey Wanna Get Dinner Tomorrow? I'll Pick Up At 5". You Dont Have Her Adress Or Her Phone Number"
#37
"Dreaming Of Kissing A Beautiful Woman, But Actually You're Just Being Licked By An Animal"
#40
"Soldiers Running Towards The Enemy Instead Of Hanging Back And Setting Up Suppressing Fire"
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