alt title(s): Wall Bangers
Demonstration courtesy of Jonathan Gabriel.
This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly.
It should be thrown with great force.
Get away from the book by any means you can. Or, if you've been unfortunate enough to pay money for it already, fling it against the wall. It'll make a really satisfying thwack! when it hits. Just make sure no pets or toddlers are in the way.
Something went
wrong.
The writer asked for too much
Willing Suspension Of Disbelief, perhaps. Maybe a character is carrying an
Idiot Ball, or has suddenly become
Too Dumb To Live. Maybe the series pulled out
Green Rocks or
Voodoo Sharks once too often, used a little too much
Scotch Tape, blatantly
Did Not Do The Research, or unleashed a
Ret Con that made everyone's eyes roll out of their head. However it happened, the audience has been dealt a Wall Banger.
Wall Bangers certainly wreck episodes and turn away a few fans, but repeated instances can indicate a show is about to, or has
already,
Jumped the Shark or entered its
Dork Age.
The origin of the term is attributed to Samuel Goldwyn, who described a script as having made a "Hell of a bang, when I threw it against the wall." Alternatively, it's from banging your head against the wall (or desk, or other hard surface) at the sheer stupidity of it all.
The website
Wrestle Crap was created to chronicle
Professional Wrestling's wall bangers; it's since become so popular that the word "wrestlecrap" has become a slang word for such things in many fan circles.
Declaring them
Dis Continuity is a common reaction to Wall Bangers. See also
Ass Pull,
Red Herring Twist, and
Shocking Swerve. See
They Just Didnt Care for derivative works. If an entire film or series is like this, it is probably a case of
So Bad Its Horrible. If the author(s)
agree, you might be in for
Canon Discontinuity (with an option on
Discontinuity Nods), an
Authors Saving Throw, or a full-on
Continuity Reboot. In most cases will lead to a
Face Palm.
Sometimes, very rarely, you come across something that you consider to be a
Wall Banger. But upon later evaluation, realize a greater respect for it. This is
Fridge Brilliance.
See
Dethroning Moment Of Suck which includes some of what your fellow tropers view as the worst of these. The
Crowning Moment Of Awesome is the polar opposite of this. Compare and contrast with
Narm.
Due to the size of the original page getting too far out of hand, the entries have been separated into their own categories by medium.
Examples within the following pages will be highly subjective. Read at your own risk, and if somebody rants about a show you like, please refrain from making Justifying Edits. If they're wrong, just delete it.
