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Book/TV/Movie tropes you just can't stand anymore

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  • SquireSquire Member Posts: 511
    edited August 2017
    Artona said:

    I meant - if movies show that every punch can knock you out, it has some internal logic to also show that being knocked out is nothing serious. ;)

    Yeah, Hollywood has a strange way of portraying injuries in fights. No matter how the person is getting hit, thrown through walls or whatever, nobody shows any signs of fatigue or injury until the fight reaches its conclusion, which suggests that the blows people are taking aren't causing any injury whatsoever... then, the same attack that, two minutes ago, just made the person go "ooh!" and carry on like it's nothing, will suddenly drop them. Makes it hard to judge who's winning a fight until the fight's over. Usually it's when one of the characters does a really dramatic move (usually in slow motion) - because despite the blow being no stronger than previous blows, a jumping spinning somersault kick is somehow better than a normal kick to the head.

    Sorry, I'm ranting now, I'll stop. :D
    Post edited by Squire on
  • mlnevesemlnevese Member, Moderator Posts: 10,214
    So all I need to do in order to win every fight in real life is learn how to fight in slow motion? :)
  • mlnevesemlnevese Member, Moderator Posts: 10,214
    So I need to learn how to fight in slow motion in a montage while I experience flashbacks from a fatherly figure... did I get it right?
  • ArtonaArtona Member Posts: 1,077
    Don't forget about dragging. And sparks.
    Sparks are essential.
  • Balrog99Balrog99 Member Posts: 7,367
    mlnevese said:

    So I need to learn how to fight in slow motion in a montage while I experience flashbacks from a fatherly figure... did I get it right?

    You forgot about the prophecy! You know, the vague prophecy about somebody who's going to save the world that ends up being you...
  • DreadKhanDreadKhan Member Posts: 3,857
    Iirc, being white is all you need to be a White Saviour. Just make sure you're in a slightly insulting story about good whites sacrificing to help the obviously incompetent minorities!
  • ArdanisArdanis Member Posts: 1,736
    As long as you wear fire-proof vest, you should be fine.
  • SquireSquire Member Posts: 511
    mlnevese said:



    The prophecy part is easy at least... If you look long enough there are prophecies for just about anything you may need...

    "...and is it not written that the one who sitteth alone in his mother's basement, hath no social life and no girlfriend, and moveth the images of light with his fingertips shalt one day saveth the world from utter ruin?" ;) (because all prophecies must be written in Ye Olde Biblical Speak)
  • Balrog99Balrog99 Member Posts: 7,367
    Squire said:

    mlnevese said:



    The prophecy part is easy at least... If you look long enough there are prophecies for just about anything you may need...

    "...and is it not written that the one who sitteth alone in his mother's basement, hath no social life and no girlfriend, and moveth the images of light with his fingertips shalt one day saveth the world from utter ruin?" ;) (because all prophecies must be written in Ye Olde Biblical Speak)
    Mayhaps we should'st consult the Book of Armaments?
  • ZaghoulZaghoul Member, Moderator Posts: 3,938
    edited August 2017
    Hehheh. The Book of Armaments, a strange book as it speaks mostly of fighting, death, and ruin. If we dig deeply though a strange wisdom appears throughout...

    Chapter 13, verse 23: And he who hast no life shalt one day saveth the faithful from death eternal."

    Chapter 14, verse 7: And let he who fighteth with sword be granted wisdom to changeth the olde order, to lay down his sword and fighteth slowly, with wisdom granted from upon high.

    But here is the strange part I found. Was it a prophecy of the computer and WWW?

    Chapter 16, Verse 16: Both savior and destroyer shalt appear as the most holy oracle of knowledge, and he who seeketh knowledge from this oracle shalt be given choice to do both great good or great evil.

    EDIT: Mannn, now I'm tryin NOT to write like this on other threads. :*B)
    Post edited by Zaghoul on
  • SquireSquire Member Posts: 511
    @Kamigoroshi hahaha, good one! As soon as you start making wedding plans, or show a picture of your loved ones, everyone else better start prepping for your funeral!

    More flags:
    "This is too easy, I expected stronger resistance!" *a billion soldiers appear and point guns at them*

    "We'll be fine as long as Contingency XYZ doesn't happen!" *camera cuts to show Contingency XYZ about to happen*

    Sometimes it's acts, rather than words, that cause a flag-death, like when the 'cowardly character' tries to escape - usually following an argument about whether they should be brave and go forward or just run - and gets brutally and painfully murdered.

    And whatever you do, do NOT boast about how well-trained your soldiers are, and how easily they'll be able to deal with a situation, or you'll soon be notifying their next-of-kin.
  • ArdanisArdanis Member Posts: 1,736


    "I'll marry XXX when this is all over." -> Five minutes later and that character is dead.

    I actually double hate this, because up until maybe a year ago I didn't know what they meant by "seeing a death flag". So I googled, and realized there were a lot of flags I wasn't conscious about. So far so good, except after that I now *was* conscious of them, and it killed a couple scenes/episodes for me. Damn.
  • mlnevesemlnevese Member, Moderator Posts: 10,214
    That's how I discovered the truth in the 6th Sense movie about the first 1/3 of the movie...
  • FardragonFardragon Member Posts: 4,511
    edited September 2017
    I realised what the 6th Sense twist was going to be in the opening sequence.

    I've become way too genre savvy. It's like having a built in auto-spoil function without an off switch.
    Post edited by Fardragon on
  • batoorbatoor Member Posts: 676
    edited September 2017
    Protagonist or antagonist has a firearm pointed straight at another character..Yet still manages to walk close enough for the other person to disarm him...

    Though I'll admit this happens so often I don't even think that much about it anymore.
  • ZaghoulZaghoul Member, Moderator Posts: 3,938
    I'm always glad to see a movie or show that turns things around giving no clue at all to how the ending will be. May bug the tar outa me at the end but gives something new to discuss afterwards.
  • mlnevesemlnevese Member, Moderator Posts: 10,214
    It's a rare movie nowadays you can't guess the twist if you know what you're looking for... you may even ignore what is being said if you're paying attention to gestures and situations.
  • DreadKhanDreadKhan Member Posts: 3,857
    BillyYank said:

    batoor said:

    Protagonist or antagonist has a firearm pointed straight at another character..Yet still manages to walk close enough for the other person to disarm him...

    Though I'll admit this happens so often I don't even think that much about it anymore.

    At which point, my son and I yell at the screen: "A gun is not a melee weapon!"
    It bothers me more when someone with a gun deliberately and needlessly enters their opponents reach. :/ Who would be such a ninny?
  • mlnevesemlnevese Member, Moderator Posts: 10,214
    What about the endless ammunition gun that just decides to get out of ammo in the most dramatic moment?
  • ArdanisArdanis Member Posts: 1,736
    edited September 2017
    Zaghoul said:

    I'm always glad to see a movie or show that turns things around giving no clue at all to how the ending will be. May bug the tar outa me at the end but gives something new to discuss afterwards.

    There's a workaround of sorts, that I've found - when looking up the things to watch, put them onto list and forget for a while. Then after half a year or so I usually already forget the synopsis, the reason I wanted to watch it, and even the genre itself - the only thing I do know is that it must've been interesting enough for me to add it to my watch list. As a result, I figure things out as I blind watch it, which is both interesting in its own way and also somewhat distracts from picking on the tropes.
    BillyYank said:

    batoor said:

    Protagonist or antagonist has a firearm pointed straight at another character..Yet still manages to walk close enough for the other person to disarm him...

    Though I'll admit this happens so often I don't even think that much about it anymore.

    At which point, my son and I yell at the screen: "A gun is not a melee weapon!"
    Maybe it was a gunblade disguised as a normal gun? ;) Or maybe he was out of ammo, who knows...
  • ZaghoulZaghoul Member, Moderator Posts: 3,938
    edited September 2017
    mlnevese said:

    What about the endless ammunition gun that just decides to get out of ammo in the most dramatic moment?

    The Dirty Harry movies turned this into pure entertainment. B)
    This line is classic:
    "I know what you're thinking. "Did he fire six shots or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?"
    Post edited by Zaghoul on
  • FardragonFardragon Member Posts: 4,511
    edited September 2017
    mlnevese said:

    It's a rare movie nowadays you can't guess the twist if you know what you're looking for... you may even ignore what is being said if you're paying attention to gestures and situations.

    Curiously, I read an article the other day attacking Jurassic World for NOT sticking to the Tropes! "That Colin Trevorrow - he knows nothing about filmmaking because he killed off a character unjustly!!!"

    Shutter Island is another example. Everyone was saying how much it freaked them out, but I spotted the big twist in the opening sequence, and then spent the film nodding along as more evidence emerged that I was right. Not just me either - my wife had exactly the same experience.

    Dunkirk was a more interesting film. Even though we know the end (because history) it tried telling the story in a different way.
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