History TooDumbToLive / Film

* Ed from ''ShaunOfTheDead'' takes this to new levels. The characters need to get past a horde of zombies, and do so by acting like zombies to avoid drawing attention. When they are nearly to apparent safety, Ed's phone goes off... ''and he answers it and starts cheerfully talking on the phone, less than ten feet from dozens of zombies.''

** Commented upon in the [[Series/MysteryScienceTheatre3000 MST3K]] episode by Crow.

* Anyone in the 2008 not-remake of ''Film/PromNight'', especially Claire (Jessica Stroup) who sees the killer coming for her and ''just stands there'' and [[PoliceAreUseless the local police]], whose bumbling and ineptitude cause all the deaths in the movie.
* [[DamselScrappy Parker]] in the 2010 ''OpenWater'' knockoff ''Film/{{Frozen}}''. Granted, the guys weren't the brightest bulbs either (especially Dan, whose decision to bring the skiing-impaired, fair-haired maiden on ''a skiing vacation'' set the whole chain of events that led to them getting trapped on a ski-lift in motion - on his defense, though, it was at ''her'' insistence), but she takes it too far. She is also the sole survivor of the flick due to a gigantic AssPull.

* Jesse from the second ''AlienVsPredator'' movie. Her companions already killed the Alien in the stairwell, but she runs away and screams, forcing her companions to chase after her through a more heavily Alien-populated section of the hospital. Then she dies when she gets into the path of the Predator's disc blades. The Predator wasn't even ''trying'' to kill her, she just runs straight into the middle of a fight between the Predator and Aliens and gets hit ''by accident''. WhatAnIdiot.

* [[spoiler: [[DrillSergeantNasty Hartman]] ]] from ''FullMetalJacket''. When [[spoiler:Pyle]] is in the middle of a nervous breakdown and holding a rifle, he decides that, rather than call the [=MP=]s, he should insult the poor guy. It doesn't end well for him.

* The location of ''Film/DeepBlueSea'' implies this form of mentality in the project designers. Genetically-enhanced super-sharks with improved brain functions? Why don't we build the research lab for them in ''the middle of the ocean'' where [[TemptingFate nobody can reach us]] and where, if the overly-sophisticated defense system breaks down, said sharks can escape into the wild and [[GoneHorriblyWrong spread their super-genes around the world]]. [[spoiler:And then SamuelLJackson stands in front of an open pool to give his RousingSpeech, and is eaten by a shark at its climax. It's not clear if the movie [[RealityEnsues did that last bit on purpose]].]]

* Hud from ''{{Film/Cloverfield}}'' may qualify. Whether his friends are being attacked by parasitic creatures or a gigantic monster is hovering over him with a hungry look in its (many) eyes, it never occurs to him to just ''put the damn camera down and '''do''' something!'' Naturally, [[spoiler: another character loses her life to save him from the parasites]] while his hands are full, and [[spoiler: the hungry monster ends up eating him]]. On the Podcast/{{Rifftrax}}, Kevin Murphy describes Hud as "straddling a fine line between ''dumbass'' and ''inanimate object.''" There's a reason one of the [[FanNickname/{{Film}} Fan Nicknames]] for the monster is "Darwin".

* AlfredHitchcock's ''Film/TheBirds'' has Melanie going up to a room she knows is filled with birds. The result is [[spoiler: that she is nearly killed by dozens of attacking birds.]] When the actress asked, "Hitch, why would I do this?", he replied, "Because I tell you to."

* Multiple characters in ''BurnAfterReading'' more than qualify, but Chad Feldheimer goes above and beyond the call of duty, and [[spoiler:definitely earns the title since he ends up getting shot in the head before the second act is even over.]]

** Orga from ''Film/{{Godzilla 2000}}'' is a particularly infamous example. He tries to swallow Godzilla only to [[spoiler:be killed by Godzilla's Nuclear Pulse.]] Ok, how dense do you have to be to not realize that trying to eat the dinosaur with extremely powerful radiation-based abilities is a ''bad'' idea?

** To top it all off, Gabriel is actually shocked and suffers a HeroicBSOD when he learns that [[spoiler:he DID, in fact, lead the bad guys to his comrades and they all died because of his stupidity. [[TheDragon Asmodeus]] even points out, "If you didn't want them dead, why did you lead us to them?"]]

* Raymond Cocteau in ''DemolitionMan'' [[spoiler:frees a dangerous psychopath in order to get rid of an enemy, but he has it implanted in his brain that he can't ever harm him.]] However, he also allows him to bring other criminals inside his home [[spoiler:who don't have the don't-harm-Cocteau rule implanted]]. It doesn't end well for him.

* Half of Gotham in the 1989 ''Film/{{Batman}}'' movie seems Too Dumb to Live. It was already common knowledge that the Joker had murdered many people, but that didn't stop them from [[spoiler:diving at the cash he offered in public. He even said into a microphone, "Now comes the part where I relieve you, the little people, of the burden of your failed and useless lives," but they're too engrossed to listen. A minute later, many are dead. And some who aren't dead yet ''still'' grab for cash]].

* [[DamselScrappy Parker]] in the 2010 ''OpenWater'' knockoff ''Film/{{Frozen}}''. Granted, the guys weren't the brightest bulbs either (especially Dan, whose decision to bring the skiing-impaired, fair-haired maiden on ''a skiing vacation'' set the whole chain of events that led to them getting trapped on a ski-lift in motion - on his defense, though, it was at ''her'' insistence), but she takes it too far. [[spoiler: She is also the sole survivor of the flick due to a gigantic AssPull]].

* Will Stanton in the film ''Dark Is Rising''. At the end of the movie, he and the other Old Ones are [[spoiler:forced to retreat into the Great Hall, where their enemy the Rider cannot enter unless invited]]. Will then proceeds to throw open the doors when he hears his parents and sister calling him [[spoiler:only to learn that it was just the Rider who -- oops -- is now able to enter]]. Evidently Will thought his completely ordinary family was able to somehow get to a mysterious place which seems to be in an alternate time/dimension.

* ANYONE who buried anything in the burial ground in ''PetSematary'' after seeing the initial results (heck, after the initial ''warning'' for that matter). You'd think that after seeing what happened to [[spoiler:Church the cat]] they would have stopped, but the guy then proceeded to [[spoiler:bury his hit-by-a-truck toddler son Gage, who then came back and killed his wife]]. [[WhatAnIdiot If that wasn't enough yet,]] he then [[spoiler:'''buried his wife there''', and she mercifully put an end to his chain of idiocy]].
** This is easily explained by the book. The burial ground calls out to people, and at one point the main character mentions that he feels great when going off to bury [[spoiler: Church]]. Besides, the main character is [[spoiler: insane with grief after Gage dies and just loses it when his wife and Jud get killed as well.]]
** Then came the movie ''Pet Sematary Two'' (yes, there was a second movie), which was more of the same, but [[spoiler:with most roles reversed either gender-wise or species-wise, plus a much higher body count, reanimated or not]] and a MUCH higher "creepy" factor in that the plot dared to bring up the utterly stay-up-all-night-thinking-about-it scientific side of the undead people/animals, courtesy of Dr. Chase Matthews the veterinarian: first the kids Jeff and Drew buried [[spoiler:Zowie the dog]] after [[spoiler:he was shotgunned by Drew's abusive stepfather Gus]], and upon [[spoiler:Zowie's]] return didn't really feel like there was anything wrong when [[spoiler:the dog]] acted nasty -- [[spoiler:Zowie]] was probably just irritable from being away from home for a bit. Of course more burials took place, including [[spoiler:Gus himself]] and [[spoiler:Jeff's actress mother Renee, who is taken from her grave much like Gage in the first book/movie]]. Interestingly, [[spoiler:the undead Gus even does some of the burying, effectively enlisting Clyde the bully (who he killed while undead) as his henchman]].
* The military, law enforcement, and basically the government in general in the 2008 remake of ''Film/TheDayTheEarthStoodStill'', though pretty much all of government in all of fiction is guilty of this trope, and it's not an entirely unexpected reaction to aliens being suddenly real. [[spoiler:Klaatu comes to Earth and reaches out his hand to the protagonists. Clearly, putting a bullet in him is the appropriate response. Only later do they realize he was able to shut down their defense network on a whim, and so they decide imprisoning and (implicitly) ''torturing'' him is a good idea. Klaatu's decision, after consulting a spy on Earth, is naturally that HumansAreBastards and have to go, so the swarm of nanobots beings devouring every man-made object in its path. The military bombs it to hell and back, only to see it grow larger. The Secretary of Defense at least grows a brain at this point, but the president orders even more bombing as if the opinion of his military adviser isn't worth considering.]]

* Eddie Kim, BigBad of ''SnakesOnAPlane''. Unleashing the titular [[ExpospeakGag Œdipus-complex-afflicted ophidia on the Œdipus-complex-afflicted high-speed atmospheric vehicle]] earns him the death penalty for multiple counts of murder and attempted murder. And it was all [[HeKnowsTooMuch to silence a witness]] who [[spoiler:survives anyway]].

* The whole race of Romulans in the latest installment of ''Film/StarTrek''. [[spoiler: Their whole sun goes supernova thus destroying Romulus in the process?]] Sorry, but you must be plain dumb in order to let ''that'' happen (according to Star Trek Online, they caused it by testing weapons that were banned due to this specific reason). Not only do they possess a whole '''star empire''', which means they have more planets then just the one being threatened by the super nova, they should also have the technological possibilities to detect super novas '''in time'''. It's not like they happen as a total surprise. It shouldn't have been a problem at all to evacuate a planet in time. And to let Spock as the ''only person'' in the goddamned empire try to prevent it because they were too busy arguing. That's beyond dumb. Maybe more so, since the ship and technology Spock uses were built on Vulcan, which means ''somebody'' had sufficient advance notice and time to prepare a response.

** The shark himself, for [[spoiler:eating an explosive]].

** In traditional horror fashion, pretty much everyone else is just as dim. Everyone who finds evidence that the titular stepfather isn't who he says he is steadfastly refuses to notify anyone of note and putt around with the killer knowledge. [[spoiler: Special commendation goes the supposedly GenreSavvy son who, despite being paranoid as sin, ignores several anvilicious clues that he's -right-. The cops at the end may also be considered this, if not 'Too Out of Shape to Live'; They fail to apprehend a man who has been stabbed, beaten, and thrown out a second story window. You could SEE THEIR LIGHTS APPROACHING while he was still sprawled out on the ground recovering.]]

* Rose in ''{{Film/Titanic}}''. From pretty much the moment the ship hits the iceberg, she has the IdiotBall superglued to her hand. Though Winslet's performance is a little vague, Jack's later dialogue ("When did you realize I [[spoiler: didn't steal the necklace?]]") seems to indicate she DOES believe Cal's frame job, however briefly. We're then given the impression she knows, from what Andrews told her for no discernible reason other than to set this up, that the lifeboats are totally inadequate and it's imperative to get off the ship before they're all gone. She then spends the rest of the sinking running around the boat, trying to save Jack, who convinces her to just GET IN THE GODDAMN BOAT ALREADY, jumps back out, runs DOWN in a sinking ship, and generally slows Jack down. Admittedly he and Cal play hackey-sack with a mini-IdiotBall throughout this (to the point you wonder what Cal has on him that the valet doesn't just say "Screw both of you" and get on the lifeboat offered) but Jack pretty much sums up Rose when he tells her "You're so stupid!"

** The US Army in ''Film/TwentyEightWeeksLater''. They allow unsupervised access to an asymptomatic infected, who consequently infects someone. [[spoiler:Then they evacuate another one to Europe where the whole thing starts all over again.]]

* Balian (OrlandoBloom) in ''KingdomOfHeaven''. [[spoiler:It makes more sense in context and is more like a case of lazy writing, but Balian's inaction is the prime reason behind the Big Battle of the film. His refusal, on many occasions, to kill a blatantly evil and dangerous character (a French Templar named Guy de Lusignan, played by Marton Czokas), is the prime reason behind the siege and the Big Battle of the film. Guy and his conspirators are the ones that provoke the war between Muslims and Christians, and their intentions are made clear (in-story, i.e. to other characters and not just to the audience) from the outset, and yet Balian doesn't make a move, and he refuses to do anything when his advisors/friends repeatedly express their concern. He doesn't come off as noble, more like an idiot and a passive character. Many characters die as a result of his course of action (or, rather, inaction), but he survives the film. In the film's epilogue with King Richard I he should probably say: "I'm the blacksmith, and the main reason you have to retake Jerusalem from Saladin, I'm the one that should be thrown in a dungeon full of Twilight merchandise." This film is not worth watching for this very story element]], it's a classic case of a story where if the main hero acted within common sense, there wouldn't be much of a story to be told.

* ''The Boogens'' features an entire ''cast'' of this. The titular monsters may actually be smarter than the humans and dog, and they're not actually depicted as anything other than hungry. [[spoiler:Sadly, probably the stupidest of the humans are the alpha couple, and thus survive.]]

* In ''LethalWeapon 2'', the bad guy who is responsible for killing Riggs's girlfriend and a bunch of their cop buddies is involved in a major shootout. He's a South African diplomat, so when they have him dead to rights, he pulls out his passport and intones, smugly, "Diplomatic immunity!" [[spoiler:He gets shot in the head for his trouble by Roger Murtagh, who delivers the immortal line, "It's just been revoked."]]
** And to lay the icing on the TooDumbToLive cake, just before saying this line, the bad guy in question had just [[spoiler:gunned Riggs down]], which anyone watching a buddy cop picture knows is going to get you killed no matter which half of the [[ByTheBookCop law-abiding]]/[[CowboyCop loose-cannon]] partnership it's done to.

** Then there was the scene meant to be a {{crowning moment of heartwarming}} in which Frank is dangling from a glass roof. The glass starts to crack[[spoiler: and Frank decides to make a {{heroic sacrifice}} because there is no way the glass can support Jason and his weight. FridgeLogic sets in when you realize Jason is holding onto two steel support beams that could have easily held the weight of the sled, the entire party, and probably an elephant.]]

* Each member of the Film/MysteryTeam, but especially Charlie and (later) [[spoiler: Jason]]. Jordy also qualifies.

* Very much Frank of ''State of Grace''. A mafia boss who goes to extreme lengths to [[spoiler:kill his own friends and relatives]] just to satisfy the requests of another gang, against which he fears to lose in case of a mob war. It's really no surprise that he ends up being topped by [[spoiler:Terry, his last remaining childhood friend, with even more added irony cause Terry was actually an [[ReverseMole undercover cop]] and was having qualms about busting Frank and the others.]]
* Makes the perfect couple with BondVillainStupidity in ''AHistoryOfViolence'', where all the mobsters, including their boss, dies horribly by the hand of the protagonist [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim due to their inability to just kill him off at the first occasion.]] The result is particularly hilarious when we learn, just before the last shooting, [[spoiler:that in spite of all the talking and the stalking the villains performed earlier, their intentions was REALLY and JUST and PLAINLY to see the protagonist DEAD]]. Bonus points for the fact that they even know he was the ultimate {{Badass}} from the very start.
* A variation (arguably) in ''TheVanishing''--Rex Hofman isn't too ''dumb'' to live, per se, as much as he is too ''obsessed'' to live. After spending years trying to discover the truth behind his girlfriend's mysterious disappearance in a crowded public place, he finally tracks down Raymond Lemorne, the man behind it. But if he kills Lemorne, he'll never find out what happened; his girlfriend may even still be alive, for all Rex knows. And he can't involve the police because there's no evidence against him. The only way he can ever find out what happened to his girlfriend, the all-consuming question he's been trying to answer for years, is to take a drug-laced cup of coffee that Lemorne offers him. [[spoiler: He does. And wakes up [[FateWorseThanDeath in a coffin]], [[BuriedAlive the sound of dirt thudding on the lid above him.]]]]

* In ''Omega Man'': [[spoiler: Richie subscribes to the popular "Children are Too Dumb to Live" concept. After Neville cures Richie of the plague, Richie asks if he will cure the Family (the bad guys). Neville declines on the reasonable basis that they are homicidal maniacs who worship the plague and prescribe the death penalty for those who are not afflicted by it. So Richie decides, on humanitarian grounds, to walk into the lair of the Family and tell them about how he was cured and they can be too. It is a relief to see Richie exit the gene pool. Too bad he brings down the hero as a result.]]
* Josh Dalton from ''{{Insidious}}'' definitely qualifies. Not only does he spend most of the movie as the AgentScully, arguing with his GenreSavvy wife, [[spoiler: when he finally does accept the weirdness and go into the Further to save his son, he breaks every rule he was told to follow, culminating in him stopping ''ten feet'' from his body to yell at a ghost that's been stalking him since childhood ''to possess him specifically''. The ghost, of course, possesses his body, resulting in the deaths of his family and every other character in the film. And Josh is likely stuck with a FateWorseThanDeath.]] NiceJobBreakingItHero.

** Not that dumb, actually. They'd noticed that the aliens were everywhere except over the water, so it was a reasonable assumption that fleeing by boat would be safest

* In general, [[AdultsAreUseless parents in horror films, when they ignore every sign possible that something is trying to hurt their child, to the point that it looks like]] [[AbusiveParents emotional abuse.]]

** YMMV. Ofelia likes fairy tales, and the movie is set up like one. In some fairy tales (but not all), the main character will fail to listen to advice, or do something they were told specifically not to do. In some cases the tale ends here, otherwise the main character must do something to redeem themselves in the eyes of their quest-giver. So Ofelia is just acting in accordance with the fairy-tale princess that she believes she is.

* David and Jack in the beginning of ''Film/AnAmericanWerewolfInLondon'' exemplify this trope by, after being warned of danger, wandering off the road in the middle of the night, presumably without any food. Without the werewolf they still would have been lost for a long time. {{YMMV}} on many of the other deaths, which could be explained as stupidity by panic.

* The whole race of Romulans in the latest installment of ''Film/StarTrek''. [[spoiler: Their whole sun goes supernova thus killing millions in the process? Sorry, but you must be plain dumb in order to let ''that'' happen (according to Star Trek Online, they caused it by testing weapons that were banned due to this specific reason). Not only do they possess a whole '''star empire''', which means they have more planets then just the one being threatened by the super nova, they should also have the technological possibilities to detect super novas '''in time'''. It's not like they happen as a total surprise. It shouldn't have been a problem to evacuate that planet in time at all (although it's a shame about the buildings and the capital). And to let Spock as the ''only person'' in the goddamned empire try to prevent it because they were too busy arguing. That's beyond dumb.]]

* ''BatmanReturns'' gives us The Ice Princess who is shown to be a ditz when she can't remember whether the lights come on and then pushes the switch or vice versa, but the real crown jewel is when she stands on the edge of a building; it's no wonder The Penguin so easily got Batman framed.

** Then came the movie ''Pet Sematary Two'' (yes, there was a second movie), which was more of the same, but [[spoiler:with most roles reversed either gender-wise or species-wise, plus a much higher body count, reanimated or not]] and [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel a MUCH higher "creepy" factor]] in that the plot dared to bring up the utterly stay-up-all-night-thinking-about-it scientific side of the undead people/animals, courtesy of Dr. Chase Matthews the veterinarian: first the kids Jeff and Drew buried [[spoiler:Zowie the dog]] after [[spoiler:he was shotgunned by Drew's abusive stepfather Gus]], and upon [[spoiler:Zowie's]] return didn't really feel like there was anything wrong when [[spoiler:the dog]] acted nasty -- [[spoiler:Zowie]] was probably just irritable from being away from home for a bit. Of course more burials took place, including [[spoiler:Gus himself]] and [[spoiler:Jeff's actress mother Renee, who is taken from her grave much like Gage in the first book/movie]]. Interestingly, [[spoiler:the undead Gus even does some of the burying, effectively enlisting Clyde the bully (who he killed while undead) as his henchman]].

* A variation (arguably) in ''TheVanishing''--Rex Hofman isn't too ''dumb'' to live, per se, as much as he is too ''obsessed'' to live. After spending years trying to discover the truth behind his girlfriend's mysterious disappearance in a crowded public place, he finally tracks down Raymond Lemorne, the man behind it. But if he kills Lemorne, he'll never find out what happened; his girlfriend may even still be alive, for all Rex knows. And he can't involve the police because there's no evidence against him. The only way he can ever find out what happened to his girlfriend, the all-consuming question he's been trying to answer for years, is to take a drug-laced cup of coffee that Lemorne offers him. [[spoiler: He does. And [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel wakes up]] [[FateWorseThanDeath in a coffin]], [[BuriedAlive the sound of dirt thudding on the lid above him.]]]]

* Several characters in both versions of ''Film/DawnOfTheDead''. Since they're in the middle of a mass zombie outbreak, most of them die.

* In ''StarWars'': ''ANewHope'', you'd think Admiral Motti would have known that dissing the faith of the big scary Sith Lord and personal hatchetman of the Emperor, Darth Vader, in his face is a ''very'', ''very'', '''''very''''' bad idea.

* ''[[{{Film/Jaws}} Jaws: The Revenge]]''. The widow Brody is convinced that Jaws is still alive and going after her, so where does she go? Nebraska? Oklahoma? Some other place that's far away from the ocean? Nope: ''THE BAHAMAS.''

* In ''StarWars'': ''ANewHope'', you'd think Admiral Motti would have known that dissing the faith of the big scary Sith Lord and personal hatchetman of the Emperor, Darth Vader, is a ''very'', ''very'', '''''very''''' bad idea.