Main Tropes Index

It's really good when I can just link to TV Tropes, because then I know you'll have hours of reading without me having to do anything else.
-- David Morgan-Mar

A common complaint of people who take courses like Media or Film studies is that they never look at a TV program, advertisement or film the same way ever again.

Analysing a medium in depth and pulling it apart by the seams teaches you to watch things critically - analysing every aspect and codifying them inside your mind.

Most tropers, academics, directors or writers who do this start to find new ways to enjoy media. The subtle blends of plots, the new spins on old stories. The rare and welcome times where a plot you weren't expecting appears. But it is never the same.

Enjoyment comes from a balance of Recognition and Surprise - we enjoy things that we can relate to and have seen before, but we also like to be surprised. Total recognition is cliché, total surprise is alienating. Browsing this website will replace surprise almost entirely with recognition and you will begin analysing everything and taking a totally new enjoyment from media - or reality. (At the cost of the old enjoyment)

Remember the MST3K Mantra.

Not to mention the amount of time you will spend browsing the website in your first few weeks of visiting. Some editors spend 7 hour+ periods just reading through the thousands of pages. This effect is best shown by this

xkcd comic. On the plus side, if you can't think of anything to give up for Lent, this site works.

You have been warned.

Note however, that there are ways to avert this fate, mostly by:

Noting that many tropes are not bland cliches of the genres but more or less plot devices and progressions (similar to but more defined than literary devices) that have been around for a long time, and there's no inherent loss of complexity through the use of them (most of the time)
Noting the inherent creativity of many shows; it may use tropes (hell, you'd be hard pressed to find a show that doesn't) but that doesn't mean that the story suffers for it: it's still a good plot and it's still very well made. You'll be focusing on the show, not the tropes, if this is the case. You're failing to appreciate the material if you immediately assume the show is unoriginal if there is a trope involved. If the show doesn't have any creativity beyond tropes, then you probably knew it before you visited this site.
As an addendum to the above, remember that many shows are more complex than just a series of tropes.
Remembering that thinking about what you watch and acting critically towards it makes you an active, intelligent viewer, pulling you away from the Lowest Common Denominator who just buys on whatever the media push on him.
In short, embrace the tropes, either by using the above-mentioned techniques, or by simply accepting the use of tropes and laughing about it.
Only think about tropes when at this website or when watching horror movies (or Lampshade Hanging/Obvious tropes).
Try ruining your life before you really get into the site. Then, either check the site--what, is sleeping on park benches going to become less comfortable because you frequent TV Tropes?--or build your life back up again, so you'll know what to avoid. Then go on the site.
If all else fails, just try not to think about it. While you're at it, don't think about The Game.

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