Basic Trope: A character reacts to a dramatic event by watching it like a play or movie.
- Straight: When Alice and Bob start arguing about who ruined the paint job of their expensive new car, Paula sits down, watches them, and starts eating popcorn.
- Exaggerated:
- A cataclysmically devastating interstellar war breaks out. Paula invites a bunch of her friends, and they act as if it were just another fun-filled movie night, complete with snacks. In addition, they don't react when lasers and ships start flying around them!
- Paula sets up an entire theater to watch the action, complete with seats, ushers, and a concession stand, and sells tickets to her friends to see the show.
- Back in ancient times, spectators actually munch on popcorn while watching an execution take place. In fact, concession stands are also present - as is a vendor selling balloons.
- Downplayed: Paula stops to watch Alice and Bob for a while.
- Justified:
- Paula was the one who ruined the paint job because she thinks it's fun to see Alice and Bob argue.
- Paula actually thinks Alice and Bob are rehearsing for a play.
- Inverted:
- Paula watches a play in which Alice and Bob argue. She believes it's real and tries to resolve the argument.
- Paula is finishing her popcorn when Alice and Bob get into a fight.
- Subverted: It turns out that Alice and Bob were actually rehearsing for a play.
- Double Subverted: Later, when Alice and Bob argue about infidelity, Paula watches it like a movie.
- Parodied:
- Grabbing popcorn to watch someone else eating popcorn.
- Paula not only eats popcorn, after the argument she lights up a cigarette.
- Paula grabs popcorn to watch Alice and Bob argue over popcorn.
- Alice and Bob, still arguing all the way through, begin to eat some of the popcorn, which Paula gladly shares.
- Alice and Bob, still arguing all the way through, try to eat some of the popcorn, which Paula refuses to share, triggering a second argument between the two and Paula. Said argument is followed by Parker, who watches it with some popcorn.
- Paula asks the audience to Pass the Popcorn.
- Zig Zagged: Straight, then it turns out that they were actually rehearsing for a play. When an actual argument occurs, Paula goes to get some popcorn, sits down and watches, but when Alice and Bob see her, she offers to discuss the issue over some popcorn.
- Averted: Paula either ignores the quarrel or interferes appropriately.
- Enforced: The popcorn is Product Placement.
- Lampshaded:
- "I saw Alice and Bob argue yesterday. It was fun."
- Parker asks Paula, "Where'd you get that popcorn?" And she answers, "From that vendor over there." Then the camera pans over to a popcorn vendor.
- Invoked: Alice and Bob secretly like it when Paula eats popcorn, so they pretend to fight in a way that makes her do so.
- Exploited: Paula is on a diet, but seeing Alice and Bob fight is a reason to cheat on it.
- Defied:
- "Paula, this isn't a play! Either take this seriously or piss off!"
- Paula starts munching on popcorn, and an unamused Quentin promptly bats the bowl out of her hands, much to her dismay.
- "You're going to fight alongside me or against me, but so help me, you will fight!"
- Discussed: "If Paula watched us arguing, what would she think of us?!" "I think she'd find it amusing, sit down and have some popcorn."
- Conversed: ???
- Implied: We just hear munching offscreen as Alice and Bob fight.
- Deconstructed: Alice and Bob get really upset at Paula treating their argument lightly, and now they are no longer friends with her.
- Reconstructed: Seeing Paula treat their argument as theater make Alice and Bob realize how trivial their argument is, and they decide to make up. Paula loves how beautiful their making up is, so she makes a second batch to share with them.
- Played For Laughs:
- Paula gets too fixated on the argument to look what she's eating. Ronald puts dead flies in the popcorn, and Paula doesn't notice. Cue I Ate WHAT?!.
- Alice and Bob see that Paula has brought popcorn. Popcorn is their Trademark Favorite Food, so both of them immediately forget the argument and eat some.
- Paula tries to break up the fight, goes to grab a bag of popcorn then tells the two to continue.
- Played For Drama:
- This is used repeatedly to show how little Paula cares about other people and their problems.
- Seeing Paula stand there eating popcorn and using their problems as entertainment pisses off Alice and Bob a whole damn lot. At the very least they just yell at Paula to stop. Probable worse-case scenarios include them disavowing their friendship with her or ganging up on her so she can "see if she finds it funny now".
- Alice and Bob, who were not calm to begin with, completely lose it when they see Paula beholding them like a spectacle and the dilemma they were arguing about goes From Bad to Worse.
- Played For Horror:
- Paula is a crazy stalker and she watches Alice and Bob's argument through the feed of a Spy Cam she installed in their home, with the popcorn adding to her Dissonant Serenity.
- Paula is lacking in empathy, but not in the "generic asshole" sense, but rather in the sense that she is The Sociopath. If Alice and Bob's argument escalates to physical abuse or even murder, things that would make your average nosy jerk decide to intervene somehow, she remains acting like The Snack Is More Interesting.
- Alice and Bob snap when they see Paula standing there eating popcorn and murder her.
- Untwisted: Paula makes popcorn for a movie, except the movie's content is shocking and the real entertainment for her is Alice and Bob's reactions.
So Alice and Bob are arguing again? Excuse me, could you please Pass the Popcorn? Thanks! *munch*
