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“Bakes Muffins Part-Time 3 Days A Week But Lives In A 2500 Sq Ft Loft”: 40 Overdone Film Tropes That Audiences Are Tired Of Seeing
Interview
When writing a screenplay, it’s inevitable that some tropes will present themselves. When executed well, audiences can’t help but love a girl next door, a knight in shining armor, or a trusty sidekick. But there are some tropes that viewers have had enough of.
Reddit users have recently been calling out the film and TV tropes that cause them to lose interest, so we’ve gathered some of their thoughts below. From "awkward" girls who look like actual models to former cops who come out of retirement, be sure to upvote the tropes that make you roll your eyes as well. And keep reading to find a conversation we were lucky enough to have with the Reddit user who sparked this discussion in the first place!
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#1
All the men are diverse in age and attractiveness, and the two to three total women are twenty-something bombshells.
troufaki13 1 year ago
With perfect bodies, perfect hair, perfect makeup all the time. And the ones that don't have all of those are usually the comedic side kick
RELATED:
#2
The ex-cop/FBI agent that comes out of retirement because the entire government can't catch a criminal.
#3
The main character bakes muffins part-time 3 days a week but lives in a 2500 sq ft loft penthouse in the chic part of town.
To learn more about how this conversation began, we reached out to Reddit user Fake-And-Gay-Bot, who originally posed the question, “What single trope can cause you to fully lose interest in a movie/show?” They were kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda about what inspired them to start this discussion in the first place, sharing, "I was talking with my friends Toby, Robin, and Erica, all writers, about what kinds of tropes ticked us off over lunch. Toby, for example, dislikes when fantasy species are designed to be discriminated against (i.e Tieflings).”
#4
She was a busy business lady that only had time for business. He was some jackass womanizer with chlamydia. Will these two incompatible people go through a series of unlikely events, fall in love, have some minor misunderstanding, then get together in the last few minutes? Find out this fall
#5
The "clumsy, nerdy, awkward girl" who are normally played by the hottest actresses out there...
troufaki13 1 year ago
Curly hair with glasses = nerdy, straight hair, no glasses = hot (I have curly hair and I wear glasses, so... 🤣🤣🤣)
We also asked the OP about any tropes that they personally can’t stand. "When disabled characters lose the disability,” they shared. “The mute character was on a vow of silence the whole time. The wheelchair bound character gets 5-second surgery an episode after getting bound to it. The blind character can see using special sunglasses. Why disable the character if they're not actually disabled?"
#6
Fathers that are stupid/literally cannot parent for comedic value. The “useless dad” trope.
Dan Padgett 1 year ago
This one triggers me badly. I was a SAH dad for 3 years with a new born. I have more time so deal with the kids more. So yeah, I get triggered.
#7
If an entire conundrum can be solved by just someone waiting 1 minute for the other person to explain but chooses not to.
Irritates me to no end and I'd much rather stop watching the movie.
“Often, the character will not have to suffer real consequences while disabled,” the OP went on to note. “The mute will never have to get someone's attention, the wheelchair bound won't arrive at their regular workplace to find there's no accessibility, the blind character won't have to make any kind of lifestyle change to accommodate, even in the meantime between being fixed.”
“Many superhero films, like Daredevil (the titular character, blind) or X-Men (cyclops, pseudo-blind), have a disabled character that can operate just as well as a non-disabled character, as if they don't have the disability,” they added.
#8
"If I kill him I'm no better than him"
Motgerfucker you just smoked 19 of his henchmen and put 5 more in a wheelchair for life, end his a*s.
And of course the bad guy gets let go, but decides at the last second to try to kill the good guy, justifying a bullet between the eyes, usually by either the good guys sidekick, or the bad guys henchmen that he just got done betraying.
FluffyPanda 1 year ago
Not to mention the occasional car of a working class person that gets hurled into a brick wall, missing the villain.
#9
Presenting casual stalking and the denial of boundaries as romantic. Notebook I'm looking at you. (Not saying all movies that do this are bad, but it really makes me cringe)
Edit:
Yall are right the notebook IS a bad one
Yes I know its an older trope, but it can still be seen in some newer media
Stardust she/her 1 year ago
Many Bollywood movies (especially the older ones) romanticise being after a girl and harassing her untill she finally caves in. I hate that trope so much that I’m willing to strangle the person who came up with i t
As far as tropes that Fake-And-Gay-Bot actually does appreciate, they told Bored Panda that they’re a fan of “Morally intelligent Anti-Villains”. “The kind of villain that doesn't even need to mind control you, because he's already convinced you,” the OP explained. “The type of villain that has such a good point, you begin to wonder who the villain really is. Death the Wolf, Joker, and Gus Fring are some nice examples.”
#10
Controversial, but shows/movies that rely on awkwardness, like the Office or Elf. I get terrible second hand embarrassment and I just can't.
#11
Being mildly impacted by lethal injuries. Likewise, when in subfreezing temperatures, not succumbing to hypothermia when soaking wet. Not always enough to shut it off, but it always stands out and strains the illusion.
We were also curious why this OP thinks film and TV writers continue to use the same tropes over and over. “I believe it's easier to write a story when focusing on archetypes and plot narratives, many of which tend to be very common or something the writer picked up from their favorite media,” they told Bored Panda. “People who grew up with stoic, justice-serving vigilantes might base some characters off of them. Typically, an ensemble is based on an assortment of archetypes who bounce off one another."
#12
They can't figure out how to give their female characters depth without falling back on some kind of rape/sexual assault.
Fish Fingers 1 year ago
I read a book last week, written by a woman, the main character is a woman, and it STILL included the handsome boyfriend saying 'Don't worry, I'll do the thinking...' And that was it. No snappy comeback, no annoyance, nothing.
#13
The virgin being the chosen girl. Why can’t the blonde s**t save the day for once? They can be smart too. I need my character representation.
The OP went on to note that they look for ways to create new ideas, subverting and deconstructing classic archetypes, with their own writing. “The passionate, determined fighter only wants to work hard, not smart, and his potential is lost until he realizes it,” they shared. “The invincible ‘I'm the real hero’ villain can genuinely be reasoned with. The hero is driven by less noble motivations, like fear, trauma, or greed.”
“Think of tropes like cooking ingredients,” they continued. “What goes well on a steak might not fit as well in a cake. Every tool has its use, every trope has its place. Your story is a sculpture, best not to use a giant chisel for every nook and cranny.”
#14
The main character is about to get killed. The antagonist is sitting there pointing a gun at them about to shoot them, but they first have to give a 30 second speech. This gives the love interest/forgotten side kick/child with developing fighting skills to come kill the enemy instead. Follow it up with a quote from them saying “you think I’d miss this party?”.
#15
Something that can be fixed right away with just a conversation
If you think about your favorite films and TV shows, you’re guaranteed to come up with some archetypes and classic tropes that are present in them. But when the writing is done well, you will be so focused on the characters themselves that you won’t be rolling your eyes about them being a classic manic pixie dream girl or anti-hero. Keep upvoting the tropes you’ve seen enough of as well, and let us know in the comments if there are any more that immediately make you lose interest in a film or show. And if you’d like to check out another Bored Panda article discussing this same topic, look no further than right here!
#16
Abuse of men getting downplayed as a joke
starsailor (they/he) 1 year ago
yeah. man slaps a woman, he's satan incarnate (true, never hit your partner). woman slaps a man, what did he do to deserve it? or haha funny! it is never okay to hit your partner, no matter your or their gender.
#17
kill animal or pet for cheap shock value
Moosy Girl 1 year ago
This is the one that actually makes me turn off movies or stop watching tv shows nowadays. Looking at you ‘The Silence’. >:(
#18
Cutting the palm of their hand in order to use their blood for some goofy b******t like it’s not one of the worse possible places to cut.
One of the ones that never fails to make me laugh however is something insane happening in front of a lone hobo, then the guy looks at the bottle he was drinking and tosses it over his shoulder
#19
The fat "comedic relief" character.
PleasantCrocodile 1 year ago
Or the fat character who is obsessed with food. Luckily a little less common nowadays.
#20
Refuses to solve the problem because one person may die so instead they risk the lives of millions
#21
Shaky cam, I hate shaky cam
Glen Ellyn 1 year ago
I've quit watching more than one movie because of shaky cam. There's no way I'm going to sit through two hours of shaky cam.
#22
There might be a monster/ghost/demon in the basement, I better go check it out.
Tucker Cahooter 1 year ago
Without turning the lights on first too. It is obligatory to search all basements carrying just a candle
#23
When a character is repeatedly hyped as being insanely intelligent, but then they just have a decent vocabulary and aren't particularly insightful or clever.
Katie Lutesinger 1 year ago
It's probably because the writer's estimation of "super smart" is someone being the same level of intelligence as themselves. Which means more than one writer has accidentally outed themselves as not too bright. It's particularly telling if the "genius" just magically knows the answer all the time even though the lead-up to them figuring it out either doesn't exist or makes no sense.
#24
The a*****e teenager that talks s**t to their parents because "teenagers are moody". I didn't know anyone like that growing up.
Rebelliousslug 1 year ago
I didn’t know any parents that let their kids get away with that growing up
#25
Uptight woman, subversive insubordinate man, they hate each other... but there's sexual tension.
F**k all of that, it just encourages creeps.
You're not dangerous and different Rodney, you're just a loud, incompetent d**k.
I don't love/hate you I just hate you.
We will not end up together, and it you keep bothering me ~~my foot is going to end up kicking your a**e~~ I will contact HR
#26
Bad geography throws me every time. Like when a movie says its happening in some specific city but the skyline is clearly a different city, even when the location has no particular relevance to the plot. Like, okay? Why say your characters live in New York when they're clearly in Vancouver? Why not just say Vancouver or not say the name of the city at all?
Also stuff like in Captain America Civil War where there's a bombing in Vienna and the authorities catch up with him in Bucharest and he's pursued by German police. Like... what? Why would Romania allow a bunch of German police to operate in their borders? And why would German police be the ones pursuing him for a terrorist act in **Austria**? Bucky gets apprehended and brought to Germany, where he's imprisoned by Americans. Why???
#27
The ugly girl (or guy) is made pretty (or handsome) for some douchebag who makes a bet. The ugly girl/guy is actually not at all ugly.
PleasantCrocodile 1 year ago
Just once, I want to see a character try on a pair of glasses, stunning everyone around them with how smart they now look.
#28
I can’t stand seeing specialists being cast as masters of multiple highly specialized skill sets or areas of study. I understand that it’s a popular action movie trope, but you also see this in the medical and academic fields.
Con O Cuinn 1 year ago
The hacking scene in ncis where two of them are typing frantically on the same keyboard. One of the stupidest things I've ever seen
#29
faked reactions by judges on America's Got Talent.
You have the magician who is clearly intentionally fumbling around and messing up the trick. Even a 3 year old can see it is an act, but the judges are sitting there faking disgust that they can't believe this talentless hack made it to the live show.
Or you have a stage magician with some very basic illusions yet the judges act like this guy has actual magic powers and cant even conceive of how it might be a staged illusion.
They are supposed to be experts in performing arts, have some class and act like it.
Talitha Jansen 1 year ago
Honestly, American talent shows and reality shows are off putting to me. The emotions are always so over the top, the hosts can never act but they pretend to never the less. Everything is just so blown up.
#30
Smart people making dumb decisions for drama. I have stopped watching several shows because of this
Talitha Jansen 1 year ago
Smart people make dumb decisions too, not everything they do is smart. We're human, we're faulty.
#31
Watching the first episode of Suits with my roommate ages ago. Early in the episode the main character just puts a baseball cap on another random person and walks away. The random person just walks with this new random baseball cap until the prof pursuer takes it off him in the hopes of finding the main character.
My roommate just lost his s**t at that. Like what kind of person just lets someone else puts a baseball cap on him and keeps it there instead of immediately taking it off and going "WTF". He refused to watch the rest of the episode after that, he was f*****g livid. I wish I took his warning because that show really was bad and I should have not bothered watching it after that too.
#32
Stupid parents. Smart kids.
Katie Lutesinger 1 year ago
It's transparent wish fulfilment for kids, naturally, but just as naturally it's annoying to adults.
#33
“Wait! I can explain this very obvious and easy to explain scenario”
“Nope. You’re dead to me. Now stare speechless as I’m meander my way out of your life slowly.”
Take me to dinner first 1 year ago
Or when someone literally dying and trying to say something and the others are just "oh he's in so much distress, let me put his mask back"
#34
Character dies at the end of story for no reason just because of shock value and they "Needed" to kill someone
#35
Disobedient stupid children who ultimately end up getting their parents killed or put them in danger
Samuel Pelatan 1 year ago (edited)
Or the mirror : Parents doing s**t because they refuse to listen to/believe children
#36
Cop with family problems. Yeah, we get it. The job's soo important that they've sacrificed family time and regret it. And now they want to be the parent they failed to be in the past, but... this new case is so important.
Con O Cuinn 1 year ago
Well cops do have abnormally high rates of DV in their relationships...
#37
"Will they won't they". I liked watching New Girl, but when they completely restarted the main characters' relationship I was like, "Oh, so it's going to be like that."
Dear producers,
Please let your characters grow.
Nonya Business 1 year ago
New Girl got me too. Like, instead of celebrating the growth of two characters with a wedding it became time to watch the main character realize they have feelings for a person for the 15th time.
#39
The plot twist where the seemingly innocent character is revealed to be the villain behind the stages and goes into a monologue as to why he / she had their motives, bringing up a boring backstory about how their efforts were never appreciated or how they spent time in secrets learning skills to outwit the hero.
censorshipsucks 1 year ago
I actually like this. I don't care for the monologue but the surprise baddie is always interesting for me. I actually quite enjoy trying to guess it. As far as I know, one clue is they never use apple products. Apparently apple won't let you.
#40
Pregnancy plotline!
I don't care who it is, or even if I love the show. I stop watching. It's sooo boring.
What do you think ?
Stardust she/her 1 year ago
I hate it when the story ends with “it was just a dream.” It feels like you wasted your time and energy getting invested in the characters and relationships only for it to turn out to be not real. The story never mattered and there were zero consequences the whole time so you’re just better off not reading the book/ watching the movie
censorshipsucks 1 year ago
understandable but inception was cool in my view because it just wasn't clear at the end if it WAS just a dream.
Load More Replies...
Bernd Herbert 1 year ago
Here are mine: 1. If the whole plot is about a wedding, I'm out. Can't think of a more mundane topic to spend time and money on. 2. Rape jokes when it comes to male prisons. I don't think rape is funny at all, regardless of the gender of the victims
TotallyNOTaFox 1 year ago
For me it's "Virtue Signaling" without any second thought about the quality of the product. I don't mean every thing that has a woman / LGBQT or in other form diverse protagonist with that - there is content that does it very well. But if the only selling point is "Look, we made this but with an all female cast / different skin tone character" and not good character development, good visuals or overall good writting it's basically worthless or just does more harm to the represented group.
censorshipsucks 1 year ago
I don't think I've seen a movie like that. Can you give examples? Don't say the ghostbusters with women, I really liked it and found Hemsworth a believable bimbo.
Load More Replies...
Stardust she/her 1 year ago
I hate it when the story ends with “it was just a dream.” It feels like you wasted your time and energy getting invested in the characters and relationships only for it to turn out to be not real. The story never mattered and there were zero consequences the whole time so you’re just better off not reading the book/ watching the movie
censorshipsucks 1 year ago
understandable but inception was cool in my view because it just wasn't clear at the end if it WAS just a dream.
Load More Replies... Bernd Herbert 1 year ago
Here are mine: 1. If the whole plot is about a wedding, I'm out. Can't think of a more mundane topic to spend time and money on. 2. Rape jokes when it comes to male prisons. I don't think rape is funny at all, regardless of the gender of the victims
TotallyNOTaFox 1 year ago
For me it's "Virtue Signaling" without any second thought about the quality of the product. I don't mean every thing that has a woman / LGBQT or in other form diverse protagonist with that - there is content that does it very well. But if the only selling point is "Look, we made this but with an all female cast / different skin tone character" and not good character development, good visuals or overall good writting it's basically worthless or just does more harm to the represented group.
censorshipsucks 1 year ago
I don't think I've seen a movie like that. Can you give examples? Don't say the ghostbusters with women, I really liked it and found Hemsworth a believable bimbo.
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