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!
#1
All the men are diverse in age and attractiveness, and the two to three total women are twenty-something bombshells.
Image source: Altruistic_Dust123
#2
The ex-cop/FBI agent that comes out of retirement because the entire government can’t catch a criminal.
Image source: The_Spyre
#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.
Image source: SeaTie
#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
Image source: Joham22
#5
The “clumsy, nerdy, awkward girl” who are normally played by the hottest actresses out there…
Image source: Icy_Note_8154
#6
Fathers that are stupid/literally cannot parent for comedic value. The “useless dad” trope.
Image source: fieldsofjade
#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.
Image source: charthrowawayliet
#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.
Image source: Pyrochazm
#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
Image source: birdy_737
#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.
Image source: SolutionsNotIdeology
#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.
Image source: spill_oreilly
#12
They can’t figure out how to give their female characters depth without falling back on some kind of rape/sexual assault.
Image source: gin_a
#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.
Image source: Only-Cat8526
#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?”.
Image source: Jimbo19091
#15
Something that can be fixed right away with just a conversation
Image source: Beginning-Match592
#16
Abuse of men getting downplayed as a joke
Image source: blaizken_420
#17
kill animal or pet for cheap shock value
Image source: plz-be-my-friend
#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
Image source: MJVinci22
#19
The fat “comedic relief” character.
Image source: MandaMoo
#20
Refuses to solve the problem because one person may die so instead they risk the lives of millions
Image source: Veldora12
#21
Shaky cam, I hate shaky cam
Image source: StubbySpartan
#22
There might be a monster/ghost/demon in the basement, I better go check it out.
Image source: fudgedundee
#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.
Image source: Gloomy-Flamingo-1733
#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.
Image source: JFeth
#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
Image source: Sherpa2730
#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???
Image source: tenehemia
#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.
Image source: Individual-Fail4709
#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.
Image source: BeatMeElmo
#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.
Image source: robotmonkeyshark
#30
Smart people making dumb decisions for drama. I have stopped watching several shows because of this
Image source: TheWalkingBlondeJoke
#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.
Image source: ChocolateBunny
#32
Stupid parents. Smart kids.
Image source: buzzkill007
#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.”
Image source: Aerhart941
#34
Character dies at the end of story for no reason just because of shock value and they “Needed” to kill someone
Image source: amcoolerthanu
#35
Disobedient stupid children who ultimately end up getting their parents killed or put them in danger
Image source: SirCletusIII
#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.
Image source: mailordermonster
#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.
Image source: MrMToomey
#38
Resurrection and fake-out deaths
Image source: Cold_Hour
#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.
Image source: RabbiAndy
#40
Pregnancy plotline!
I don’t care who it is, or even if I love the show. I stop watching. It’s sooo boring.
Image source: oneofyrfencegrls
Follow Us
