Reader here!
Have you ever been watching a movie or TV show, and something happens that completely takes you out of the moment, because A) it’s just silly, and B) it happens again and again on film.
For example, in just about every horror movie, there’s a girl running away, and inevitably, at some point, she’ll fall down. Or a character makes a phone call, and the number ALWAYS starts with “555.”
After scenes of building romantic tension characters are about to smooch for the first time, when someone or something interrupts them. Every damn time.
I found myself thinking about this, oddly enough, while watching the Flyers game last night. During a commercial break, there was an ad that read something to the effect of “It was only yesterday that you were taking her to her first hockey game. Now, you’re watching her first game.” A good commercial, but then, something at the end happened, that occurs in every hockey movie, from “The Mighty Ducks” to “Slap Shot.”
A goal is scored, and a buzzer goes off. That never happens in real life, but it’s a cliche that takes place in every hockey movie, usually on a penalty shot, in a shootout, or with seconds left to go on the clock. You know what I’m talking about. It’s like there’s a buzzer or siren attached to the goal light, and for dramatic effect, it always goes off when the big goal is scored.
Here’s an example from the 1986 classic “Youngblood, starring Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze!”
It’s one of those things that I shouldn’t care about, but it always annoys me!
It’s like how a character that wears glasses is always portrayed as being ugly, but as soon as they (slowly) take off their glasses, suddenly, they’re magically the hottest person walking the planet!
Or if two people are fighting it out, and they both go down to the ground, the one on the bottom will struggle, until they look over, and see a weapon juuuuuust out of reach. But in the end, they’re able to stretch out, grab it, and end the fight with one big blow.
Maybe in a horror movie, there a character in a bathroom alone doing something mundane, like brushing their teeth. All seems to be normal, until they open the medicine cabinet to get something, close the door, and out of nowhere, the big bad is standing behind them in the reflection!
Oh, and in action movies, the hero usually suffers some major injuries that (barely) hamper them. I’m speaking, of course, of the gunshot or stab wound to the shoulder, that our hero generally just shakes off and carries on, to take down the baddies. With a witty wisecrack, to boot!
And then, if a character on the side of good dies with their eyes open, the hero always takes a moment to close their eyes, by magically passing their hand over their dead pal’s face.
Ahhhhhh, Hollywood.
Are there any repetitive tropes in movies or TV that drive you nuts every time you see them?
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