Your Least Favourite Tropes

Victor Mildew wrote:The sexy female assassin.

Our male hero lead gets introduced to a group of normal people to aid him on his journey. All are pretty bland people except for the one absolutely strawberry floating drop dead gorgeous dark haired olive skinned big fitted athletic woman. She's more of a background character. She turns up at his hotel room, he's about to float her! BUT WAIT, SHE'S TRYING TO KILL HIM NOW! SHE'S BOTH SEXY AND DANGEROUS

But this is the best trope

Person A has something urgent to tell Person B, but Person B keeps interrupting (usually because they've had some kind of a falling out). Person A persists in saying "but I've really got to tell you this important thing!" The scene ends without Person A being able to tell Person B what they had to say.

Stop pleading for permission to impart the information, just come out with it!

Someone acting completely out of character for no other reason than to make the audience think they're a traitor/corrupt/the murderer etc.

Not a trope as such but the trend of writers/directors/actors stating "oh yeah, this character is gay/bi/pan/ace." That's great, I'm all for representation but throwing out a token "this character is gay" when there was literally nothing to point to that isn't really representation. It's trying to appear inclusive without actually being brave enough to follow through on it.

I'm not sure if it counts as it doesn't come up very often so not sure it can be counted as a trope but asexual erasure/the broken asexual. I get it's not the most recognised orientation (or lack thereof depending on your point of view) but asexuality isn't a disease that needs fixing, it's not someone being confused until they 'fixed'. People who have don't feel sexual attraction and/or have no interest in sex aren't weird, we exist and are just as valid as any other orientation.

Memento Mori wrote:Someone acting completely out of character for no other reason than to make the audience think they're a traitor/corrupt/the murderer etc.

Always a red herring.

Outrunner wrote:Not a trope as such but the trend of writers/directors/actors stating "oh yeah, this character is gay/bi/pan/ace." That's great, I'm all for representation but throwing out a token "this character is gay" when there was literally nothing to point to that isn't really representation. It's trying to appear inclusive without actually being brave enough to follow through on it.

I'm not sure if it counts as it doesn't come up very often so not sure it can be counted as a trope but asexual erasure/the broken asexual. I get it's not the most recognised orientation (or lack thereof depending on your point of view) but asexuality isn't a disease that needs fixing, it's not someone being confused until they 'fixed'. People who have don't feel sexual attraction and/or have no interest in sex aren't weird, we exist and are just as valid as any other orientation.

It's just more box-ticking exercises. Every advert, TV series, panel show, film, etc has to have a mix of races, one or more non-heterosexual characters, someone with a disability, etc. It's laughable how contrived it all is, and how unnecessary it is. You can bet someone will complain though if any 'group' isn't represented.

On that subject, the now obligatory hot lesbian scene in tv shows and films. Why does a character being gay have to = titillation (pardon the pun). They can be gay without a AND THEN THEY LEZZ UP! scene for no real reason.

Hugh Grant.

These days you get arrested and thrown in jail if you say your cast is English.

Cuttooth wrote:These days you get arrested and thrown in jail if you say your cast is English.

.....really?

Yeap these days, they'll arrest you and throw you in jail.

I thought I'd have heard about this.

Victor Mildew wrote:

Cuttooth wrote:These days you get arrested and thrown in jail if you say your cast is English.

.....really?

Yeah, these days mate.

When one half of a couple tells the other that they love them, and the other goes all weird and distant, because it's too soon to be saying that, and then they break up. This only happens on TV, but it's become so ingrained that scriptwriters think it's a real thing, so they keep including it.

Lotus wrote:

Outrunner wrote:Not a trope as such but the trend of writers/directors/actors stating "oh yeah, this character is gay/bi/pan/ace." That's great, I'm all for representation but throwing out a token "this character is gay" when there was literally nothing to point to that isn't really representation. It's trying to appear inclusive without actually being brave enough to follow through on it.

I'm not sure if it counts as it doesn't come up very often so not sure it can be counted as a trope but asexual erasure/the broken asexual. I get it's not the most recognised orientation (or lack thereof depending on your point of view) but asexuality isn't a disease that needs fixing, it's not someone being confused until they 'fixed'. People who have don't feel sexual attraction and/or have no interest in sex aren't weird, we exist and are just as valid as any other orientation.

It's just more box-ticking exercises. Every advert, TV series, panel show, film, etc has to have a mix of races, one or more non-heterosexual characters, someone with a disability, etc. It's laughable how contrived it all is, and how unnecessary it is. You can bet someone will complain though if any 'group' isn't represented.

Sure this has been mentioned already, but I hate it when someone holds back from telling someone something important, but they still make it bindingly obvious that they need or want to tell them something.

"Barry?"

"Yes Denise?"

"...... oh, nothing..."

THIS DOESN'T HAPPEN IN REAL LIFE

*Story opens with unexplained High intensity action scene building to cliffhanger*

*Cut to black*

“X hours earlier”

Lotus wrote:

Outrunner wrote:Not a trope as such but the trend of writers/directors/actors stating "oh yeah, this character is gay/bi/pan/ace." That's great, I'm all for representation but throwing out a token "this character is gay" when there was literally nothing to point to that isn't really representation. It's trying to appear inclusive without actually being brave enough to follow through on it.

I'm not sure if it counts as it doesn't come up very often so not sure it can be counted as a trope but asexual erasure/the broken asexual. I get it's not the most recognised orientation (or lack thereof depending on your point of view) but asexuality isn't a disease that needs fixing, it's not someone being confused until they 'fixed'. People who have don't feel sexual attraction and/or have no interest in sex aren't weird, we exist and are just as valid as any other orientation.

It's just more box-ticking exercises. Every advert, TV series, panel show, film, etc has to have a mix of races, one or more non-heterosexual characters, someone with a disability, etc. It's laughable how contrived it all is, and how unnecessary it is. You can bet someone will complain though if any 'group' isn't represented.

To be clear, I'm 100% fine with inclusion. My frustration is when a character is announced as gay/ace or whatever outside of the medium they appeared in. JK Rowling "Dumbledore was gay" awesome, oh, you're not going to actually address it in any of your work.

And honestly, I'd like more representation, you'd be surprised how much it helps. My own example: I'm asexual, if there had been asexual characters on screen (acknowledged asexuals, not just hinted at or assumed) it may have helped me by (1) letting me know asexuality is a thing and (2) that its normal and healthy. Instead, for years I just felt wrong and broken and it 100% affected my last relationship. Now since the end of that relationship I discovered the term asexual, I feel a lot happier in myself. But when it comes to representation asexuals are painted as ill (a tumour in 'House'), a cautionary tale (don't date asexuals, you'll never have a fulfilling relationship) or out right erased (the character Jughead in 'Riverdale').

I'm not wanting asexual representation in every single book, TV show or film, but some representation would be nice (estimates are that we make make up 1% of the population) and it would be great if that representation is positive. Oh and I'd like more than the director, in an interview, just saying "oh yeah, character X was asexual" and thinking that's enough

Skarjo wrote:"I've designed an algorithm that...."

Immediately describes something that has nothing to do with algorithms.

Computer UIs that have lots of unnecessary bleeping and animation, usually followed by the digital "enhancement" of an image that has pixels the size of postage stamps into one of crystal clarity (usually done in multiple sweeping phases, again with lots of superfluous noises).

BonalityMatrix wrote:

Skarjo wrote:"I've designed an algorithm that...."

Immediately describes something that has nothing to do with algorithms.

Computer UIs that have lots of unnecessary bleeping and animation, usually followed by the digital "enhancement" of an image that has pixels the size of postage stamps into one of crystal clarity (usually done in multiple sweeping phases, again with lots of superfluous noises).

Lots of gooseberry fool going on across multiple monitors, but the content being worked on is in a tiny window, and they're only using the keyboard.