History Film / Mope

* AmbiguousDisorder: It's never stated what disorder Steve suffers from, but real life reporting on the man states narcissistic personality disorder, which fits very well with his depiction in the film.

* AcceptableEthnicTargets: Rocket Carbone ''thinks'' he's doing this by casting Tom as a Japanese tourist and Steve as a "Mandingo" for his comedy feature, but it quickly becomes pretty uncomfortable.

* BadBoss: Joyce is shown, despite a few mild sympathetic qualities, as a scumbag who has his introductory mopes in absolutely terrible working/living conditions, pays them both half of what he'd pay another mope (that's just $40 per scene, each, despite Tom also doing ''web design'' for them which is usually an incredibly lucrative field of work), has according to Chris's account subjected some of the more experienced mopes to unpleasant gay fetish scenes too and comes alarmingly close to, if not crossing right over, the line of rape when shooting Tampa, even performing in the scene himself.

* BlackAndNerdy: Unlike Tom, Steve doesn't have any technical skills which can help prop up his mediocre prowess as a performer. However, he still has nerdy traits like a diehard fan level of knowledge about porn movies and an odd attempt at a signature in his "monster gloves". It gradually becomes apparent that these traits are not mere tells of a nerd, but rather evident of an obsessive, unbalanced and delusional mind.

* WaitingForABreak: Here, the day job is mope (which has basically the one solitary benefit of occasionally being able to have sex with women, versus so many downsides) and the break is top tier male pornstar.

''Mope'' is a 2019 [[{{Biopic}} biographical]] [[{{Dramedy}} tragic comedy]] about the brief (2007-2010), bizarre careers of Stephen "Steve Driver" Clancy Hill and Herbert "Tom Dong" Hin Wong as they attempted to break out from the lowest entry-level rank of pornographic actor, the titular "mopes", into famous and lucrative starring roles with their own production company in LA. Enjoying an impressive fandom-gained knowledge of the industry (and in Tom's case, web development and other technical skills) but suffering from amateur performing skills and mediocre endowment, they struggle to make any kind of break. They manage to land roles as mope actors who also have to do disgusting clean up and prep tasks (like washing away bodily fluids) in a fetish-oriented studio known as Ultima Entertainment, at first having to do demeaning work including GroinAttack and [[{{Cuckold}} cuckoldry]] kinks. In return they are poorly paid, sharing the same rate as one ordinary mope would "enjoy", and take room and board at the studio, as offered by owner/director Eric Long.

They do eventually get to perform the scenes they've dreamed about with female stars, Tom's technical acumen helps prevent Ultima from going under, and they get aspirations above their stations. Steve suffers from a delusion that they can be the best actors in the industry, who women masturbate to and men envy, and hopes that either other studios can give them a chance or his adoptive father may bankroll their own startup company, Driver Dong Films. Tom on the other hand remains more pessimistically realistic, acknowledging their poor talents and feeling they should enjoy their lowly careers while gradually saving for the larger goal. After a series of setbacks and revelations, their hopes and dreams get shattered in a decaying friendship and a horrific conclusion to their short time in the industry.

* HappinessInMinimumWage: Minimum wage in a legal sense doesn't really seem to apply to mope paygrades, but by the standards of those, Tom and Steve definitely suffer poor wages but are content for the time being to work with them.

* AddledAddict: Tampa is a meth addict who ends up sharing Steve's room. He intends to curate her into a marquee talent for his startup, and presumably help her clean up in the process. But as a desperate last bid attempt to stay at Ultima, he offers her services to them and they and up using her for a very unpleasant anal gangbang scene. Her inability to relax and act for the camera is disquieting, and the fact that she has to request for anti-depressant and pain relief medication (but can only get another beer from the cheapskate Eric) casts another seedy light onto this part of porn industry.

They do eventually get to perform the scenes they've dreamed about with female stars, Tom's technical acumen helps prevent Ultima from going under, and they get aspirations above their stations. Steve suffers from a delusion that they can be the best actors in the industry, who women masturbate to and men envy, and hopes that either other studios can give them a chance or his father may bankroll their own startup company, Driver Dong Films. Tom on the other hand remains more pessimistically realistic, acknowledging their poor talents and feeling they should enjoy their lowly careers while gradually saving for the larger goal. After a series of setbacks and revelations, their hopes and dreams get shattered in a decaying friendship and a horrific conclusion to their short time in the industry.

* PornStash: Eric complains that all Steve uses the laptop for is to watch more porn, as opposed to say, learning how to edit the product. The real life Clancy Hill spent his house arrest sentence maxing out many credit cards (and never paying them off) to buy tons of DVDs and downloadable scenes, feeding his unhealthy obsession with the industry.

* KatanasAreJustBetter: Steve's instability leads him to have an obsession with a prop samurai sword (which he sharpens past regulatory standards). It's shown as fun and quirky (if a little carelessly on his part) at first, but at the end of the film it's an implement of murder.

* BadBoss: Joyce is shown, despite a few mild sympathetic qualities, as a scumbag who has his introductory mopes in absolutely terrible working/living conditions, pays them both half of what he'd pay another mope (that's just $40 per scene, each, despite Tom also doing ''web design'' for them which is usually an incredibly lucrative field of work), has according to Chris's account subjected some of the more experienced mopes to unpleasant gay fetish scenes too and comes alarmingly close, if not crossing right over, the line of rape when shooting Tampa, performing in the scene himself.

* SelectiveObliviousness: Having [[spoiler: killed his best friend, wounded others, burned his last bridge in the industry and became a fugitive]], Steve appears very muted in his car but calls Tom, of course going straight to voicemail, and [[spoiler: while apologetic to Tom, seems to think he may still be alive and that Eric could forgive him, so they could still fulfil their dreams of being stars]].

** Eric Joyce also has shades of this. It's no wonder why his extreme material isn't carried by most porn stores, but he considers himself an artist.

* AmbiguouslyBi: Steve eventually describes Tom as "much more than a best friend, (but) a life partner!" (albeit this could be interpreted merely as his poor social skills causing him to describe a business partner in such a fashion). Later, shortly before [[spoiler: his demise]], he has a fantasy about a girl he and Tom can "be monagamous with", as he had wished for earlier. Now, of course in the porn industry sexual partners and work colleagues heavily overlap, and people will promiscuously share their partners both on and off camera. But it does seem suspect that Steve specifically fantasises about one individual girl he'll share with Tom.

* BadBoss: Joyce is shown, despite a few mild sympathetic qualities, as a scumbag who has his introductory mopes in absolutely terrible working/living conditions, pays them both half of what he'd pay another mope (despite Tom also doing ''web design'' for them which is usually an incredibly lucrative field of work), has according to Chris's account subjected some of the more experienced mopes to unpleasant gay fetish scenes too and comes alarmingly close, if not crossing right over, the line of rape when shooting Tampa, performing in the scene himself.

* {{Cult}}: Ultima is basically shown as a version of one, with Eric creepily describing the staff as "family", the staff accept terrible working conditions, and even within the morally lax standards of the porn industry, the company wallows in sleaze and grotesqueness. Albeit, it is considerably easier to leave this cult than most examples.

* GiftedlyBad: Both Tom (mitigated by his technical skills) but especially Steve. From director comments, to female (and male) talent reactions, to poor feedback from other people they force their work upon, they are at best very mediocre performers in the art of sex, and certainly don't have what it takes to be the next Lexington Steele. They can even be poor at random fetish work, e.g. by breaking the fourth wall when the camera is on them. In the words of Rocket:

* RaceLift: Eric Jover was a young, reasonably good looking Asian man. In this film, Eric Long is a balding, middle aged, bespectacled, not very good looking white man.

* WaitingForABreak: Here, the day job is mope (which has basically the one solitary benefit of occasionally being able to have sex with women, versus so many downsides) and the break is top tier male pornstar.

->Did you guys think this was your big fucking break? Do you know how I know you're a mope? Because you don't know you're a ''fucking mope!''

* FanDisservice: One of the most fundamental aspects of the movie, showing in no uncertain terms how unglamorous work in the porn industry can be, especially on the very lowest notch of the totem pole. For example, rather than being surrounded by harems of beautiful women, Tom and Steve are more often than not forced to stand in close proximity to other sleazy, unattractive and frequently overweight men[[note]]one of whom is a registered sex offender[[/note]], with barely one female in sight.

** [[ArmoredClosetGay Armored Closet Bi]]: If it is in fact true, this colours his retaliatory punch against Rocket [[ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne(who accuses him of being gay amongst other insults)]] as over compensating.

** [[ArmoredClosetGay Armored Closet Bi]]: If it is in fact true, this colours his retaliatory punch against Rocket [[ITakeExceptionToThatLastOne(who accuses him of being gay amongst other insults)]] as over compensating.

* UncleanlinessIsNextToUngodliness: Played with. Steve, perhaps due to having such a transient lifestyle, is said to smell very badly and often skip showers. Also, inside his car it's an absolute pigsty. However, despite being naive and over-eager, he isn't shown to be a bad person initially. Played straight when information about his DarkAndTroubledPast comes to light, and he falls from whatever small amount of grace he's built up as the movie progresses

* UncleanlinessIsNextToUngodliness: Played with. Steve, perhaps due to having such a transient lifestyle, is said to smell very badly and often skip showers. Also, inside his car it's an absolute pigsty. However, despite being naive and over-eager, he isn't shown to be a bad person initially. Played straight when information about his DarkAndTroubledPast comes to light, and he falls from whatever small amount of grace he's built up as the movie progresses.