History DeconstructedCharacterArchetype / Film

DeconstructedCharacterArchetype in {{Film}}.
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!!The following have their own pages:
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* ''DeconstructedCharacterArchetype/MarvelCinematicUniverse''
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* ''Film/{{Barbie|2023}}'': Ken, and the other Kens to a lesser extent, do this with SatelliteCharacter and SatelliteLoveInterest. Ken only exists to be with Barbie, and her lack of interest brings up a host of insecurities and resentments. Meanwhile, he and the rest of the Kens are all stuck on the beach, doing nothing but hanging around while the Barbies do everything else. [[spoiler: Once Ken comes back from the real world with a misinterpreted view of the patriarchy, he teaches it to everyone else and they use it to take over Barbieland.]]
* ''Film/TheBreakfastClub'' takes a very good look at what many of the "stock" characters of teen movies (especially those of TheEighties) would be like if they existed in real life, and what their real motivations would be like. Most American teen movies since have used elements of this film's deconstruction wholesale for their own characterization, to the point where, in many cases, what had once been deconstruction is now [[OnceOriginalNowCommon the norm]].
** Andy, the JerkJock, only behaves that way in order to fit in with the rest of the team and to impress his father, who raised him on stories of how he acted like that back when he was in school. He wishes that, one day, he'd get injured so that he wouldn't have to wrestle again, and thus never have to worry about [[WellDoneSonGuy living up to Dad's expectations]].
** Claire, the AlphaBitch, is a StepfordSmiler who feels that her life is empty, and that her parents only use her as a tool in their endless arguments. And she's hardly the "queen bee"--in fact, it's peer pressure that essentially molded her into the snobbish bitch that she is, and she feels miserably forced into it.
** Brian, the StereotypicalNerd, hates how [[EducationMama his parents]] have destroyed his social life by pushing him so hard to succeed, and is so obsessed with his grades that [[spoiler:he [[DrivenToSuicide tried to kill himself]] (or [[AxesAtSchool worse]])]] after getting [[TheBGrade an F in shop class]]. [[InsufferableGenius His attitude]] is also little better than that of the "popular" kids that he hates, as shown when he talks about how he took shop class because he thought it was an easy A that only "losers" like Bender took (as opposed to his advanced math classes).
** Bender, the {{Delinquent|s}}, is like that not because he's a bad person ''per se'', but as a result of his tough, working-class upbringing and his [[AbusiveParents abusive father]], both of which have taught him that violence is an acceptable solution to problems. His badass image is also [[MilesGloriosus easily disarmed by Andy]], even though he's armed with a knife.
** Allison, the CreepyLonerGirl, intentionally acts crazy and theatrically in order to [[AttentionWhore get attention]], something her parents don't give her. She doesn't bother to hide her blatant thefts and eccentricities, and her withdrawn persona is actually just a ploy to get people to give her more attention.
** Mr. Vernon, the DeanBitterman, is scared that these kids are the next generation. Carl the janitor [[NotSoDifferentRemark points out that neither of them were any different when they were young]].
* ''Film/TheFrighteners'' provides us with FBIAgent Milton Damners, who is the local AgentMulder and paranormal case specialist... and he's a deconstruction of Mulder because the mental scarring of all the cults he's been sent to investigate and the torture he suffered within them has driven him insane (and it's also implied that the Bureau tossed him at them in a SurprisinglyEliteCannonFodder fashion because he annoyed them with his "spooky" crap -- which only got worse the crazier he became). He is the one member of law enforcement to fully believe that there is something supernatural going on, but he is completely useless because he [[InspectorJavert believes protagonist Frank Bannister is the killer]] and keeps trying to piss him off and eventually kill him. Bear in mind that the real Mulder was TheProfiler and would have probably tried to play along with Frank's story that a local SerialKiller has come back from the dead to continue his spree if nothing else but trying a BluffingTheMurderer ploy.
* ''Film/FullMetalJacket''[='=]s Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, despite being perhaps the most famous DrillSergeantNasty in cinematic history, is actually the trope gone wrong. His non-stop insults and abuses wear down the psyche of Private Pyle, [[spoiler:whose signs of mental instability go unnoticed by the sergeant. When Pyle finally snaps and waves around a rifle, Hartman continues to shout at him instead of calling on other officers to detain him. Pyle promptly shoots him before killing himself.]] Like with ''Watchmen'', this backfired enough that every drill instructor in fiction since has had the same personality, teaching style, and even usually [[Creator/RLeeErmey voice]] as [=GySgt=] Hartman.
* ''Film/FunnyGames'':
** Georgie's rage against the killers and escape from the house seemingly establishes him as a potential KidHero, but the fact that he is an inexperienced child going up against two psychopathic adults means that he is unable to meaningfully fight back.
** Paul is seemingly a FairPlayVillain as he decides to give the Farbers a chance to win against Peter and him. However, Paul then demonstrates his MediumAwareness by speaking with the audience, acknowledging that his "fair play" is actually for the audience's sake as killing the Farbers immediately will result in a short movie. Essentially, Paul has to deliberately handicap himself with ContractualGenreBlindness just so the story can continue like a normal PsychologicalThriller would. [[spoiler:This is proven to be the case when Paul later pulls out his StoryBreakerPower to win as the film is nearly over at that point and Paul consequently feels no need to maintain the pretense of fairness.]]
* ''Film/TheGodfather'': Michael Corleone, the VillainProtagonist of the trilogy, deconstructs TheDon:
** ''Part II'' shows how incredibly ruthless one has to be to run a criminal organization, to the extent that it will make you paranoid over time and cost you your family, friends, partners, and loved ones. It's certainly a stressful, unglamorous life.
** ''Part III'' further emphasizes this point, particularly from the perspective of someone from the classic American Mafia like Michael. He is fully aware that times have changed; the American Mafia is in constant decline and many businesses that the classic Mafia ran are now legal, so legalizing would be the best way to ascending to a higher level. Clearly, people like Michael are stuck in the past. It certainly doesn't help that the most powerful "criminal" figures are not strictly gangsters, but rather [[WhiteCollarCrime white-collar criminals]] operating (mostly) within the law.
* [[Franchise/{{Halloween}} Laurie Strode]]. Having been the TropeCodifier for the FinalGirl in ''Film/Halloween1978'', three of the four [[AlternateTimeline alternate continuities]] served up by the sequels -- the one created by ''Film/HalloweenH20TwentyYearsLater'', that of Music/RobZombie's remake of ''Film/{{Halloween II|2009}}'', and that of ''Film/Halloween2018''[[note]]The timeline created by ''Film/Halloween4TheReturnOfMichaelMyers'' reveals that [[BusCrash she died in an unspecified accident]] in 1987, a year before the film takes place, to explain why she's nowhere to be seen.[[/note]] -- offer their own versions of how her life turned out. None of them are pretty.
** In ''[=H20=]'', she changed her name and moved to California to escape the trauma of the events of the first two films. It wasn't entirely successful, as Laurie is now an [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic]] plagued by [[ShellShockedVeteran post-traumatic stress disorder]] who needs psychiatric medication. Michael coming back and following her causes her to finally snap, such that, at the start of ''Film/HalloweenResurrection'', she's been institutionalized.
** Most of Zombie's ''Halloween II'' consists of Laurie's downward spiral of nightmares, panic attacks, alcohol abuse, and insanity, her final mental breakdown coming when she finds out that she's Michael Myers' [[LongLostRelative long-lost sister]]. In the theatrical cut, [[spoiler:she was thrown in an insane asylum with the implication that she's now as crazy as Michael and has turned into the female version of her brother]], while in the [[ReCut director's cut]], [[spoiler:she committed SuicideByCop]].
** In the 2018 film, Laurie became eternally paranoid of being killed in her own home after the traumatizing events she went through. This turned her into a CrazySurvivalist living in a fortress of a home filled with traps and security systems, surrounded by a tall fence, and [[GunNut boasting an arsenal of weapons]] that she has spent many years training with in preparation for a rematch with Michael. She had actually hoped that Michael would one day break out of the asylum, just so that she could kill him. Her declining mental health has destroyed every relationship she's ever had; she's been divorced twice, and her daughter Karen (who was taken away by social services at the age of twelve) can't stand her and wants nothing to do with her. Laurie also seems to think Michael has a long standing grudge towards her and would come right after her if he got out but it becomes evident that Michael thinks nothing about her any more then of his other victims he has targeted and wouldn't have even gone after her if outside forces had intentionally put her in his line of view.
*** Film/HalloweenEnds itself is a deconstruction InvincibleVillain for Michael Myers. After the four year gap of 2018 and Halloween Kills, age and injuries have more then ever caught up with Michael. Michael struggles against his victims and needs help. [[spoiler: At one point Cory is even able to overpower Michael and steal his mask. By the time of the climax Michael is almost unceremoniously defeated by having a fridge fall on him, stabbed in the chest and have his throat and wrist slashed. For that matter Michael almost weakly and pathetically tries to grab for his mask when Laurie takes it off his face. The movie very much plays into the idea of despite the image surrounding Michael, he is just a normal man who can still be killed like any other person. This deconstruction is further solidified when they drive Michael's dead body around town to parade that he is just human before they dump his body into the grinder. ]]
** ''Film/Halloween5TheRevengeOfMichaelMyers'': Tina comes across as a deconstruction of the Final Girl by showing what happens when the wrong type of girl ends up in that role. During the sequence where she enters Rachel's house looking for Rachel, Tina wanders and has a clear confused expression on her face the whole time. When she later leaves with Samantha, she casts a knowing look back at the house as if to indicate she knows ''something'' is wrong. The trouble is, Tina doesn't have the emotional fortitude or willingness to recognize the situation she is in until it is far too late, and she ends up [[spoiler:dying in a HeroicSacrifice to save Jamie that later ends up being a SenselessSacrifice when Jamie gets abducted.]] So Tina seems to be aware on some level that she was heading into the role of the FinalGirl but ended up rejecting it because she wasn't strong enough to handle it.
* ''Film/GranTorino'' is towards Creator/ClintEastwood crime movies what ''Film/{{Unforgiven}}'' (above) was for Eastwood's western movies. Like many of Eastwood's gruff AntiHero personas, Walt is a curmudgeonly, irreverent GrumpyOldMan. However this attitude is shown to have alienated him from his family, who can't bear to deal with him because of it and he has no connection with anyone until he slowly forms a bond with Thao. When Thao and his family are bothered by his gangbanging cousin and friends, Walt's attempts at intervening and stopping the gang (like you would expect of an Eastwood movie) only make the situation worse. In the end [[spoiler:Walt stops Thao from killing the gang members because Walt who had killed people during the Korean war, knows how much of a toll that takes on a person to live with that. Like Unforgiven the movie makes a point of showing how their is nothing glamourous about murdering a person no matter how just you think it is and to make that choice will haunt you. Walt instead of the usual type of solution you see in a Eastwood movie where he kills the gang members in some major gun fight instead defeats the gang members by tricking them into shooting him in front of a bunch of witnesses thus getting them sent to prison for good. This also doubles as a SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome since there is no way Walt who is dying of lung cancer and even still a 80 year old man, is just going to somehow take out a whole bunch of arm gangbangers by himself]].
* Big Bob Carter from ''Film/TheHillsHaveEyes1977'' deconstructs the type of hero popular in cinema at the time: a masculine, often conservative and masculine man who acts as a defender of middle class values, with this archetype having been popularized by actors such as Creator/JohnWayne and Creator/CharlesBronson. Like many of these characters, Big Bob is a cop and family man, but his masculinity is shown to be harmful to his family, and he's quite intolerant of anyone who isn't a traditionally masculine man; he consistently refers to minorities with hateful slurs and speaks of them with disdain, treats the women in the family as incompetent and emotionally abuses them, and constantly bullies his hippie son-in-law for not being a traditional man. [[spoiler:Tellingly, he's also the first to die, specifically because he insisted on venturing into the desert alone because he thought he could handle the danger.]]
* ''Film/InALonelyPlace'' deconstructs not only the typical FilmNoir protagonists, but also the majority of roles played by Creator/HumphreyBogart, and shows how awful being that kind of person would be: Dixon Steele, a character who in any other film in the genre would likely be a KnightInShiningArmor style hero, is instead portrayed as TheFriendNobodyLikes with possible mental illness. Tellingly by the end of the movie [[spoiler:Dixon despite being proved of his innocence has still destroyed his relationship Laurel because she can no longer deal with his aggressive violent behavior.]]
* ''Film/Joker2019'':
** Arthur Fleck, the man who becomes ComicBook/TheJoker, is easily one of the crudest, bitterest deconstructions ever portrayed of what it means to be the ButtMonkey and TheChewToy. From the aggressors' perspective it can be very funny, but seeing the context from the opposing side can be quite a [[invoked]] TearJerker perspective. Bullies generally believe they get away with humiliating and mistreating more vulnerable, passive, and shy people than themselves. The point is, this is not the case. Arthur demonstrates that dealing with physical and psychological abuse on a regular and consistent basis will bring inevitable and negative repercussions.
** For that matter, in contrast to most versions of the Joker, where Joker is portrayed as a charismatic, larger than life {{Supervillain}}, this movie realistically shows what would happen in real life if a mentally unhinged man dressed up as a clown and committed crimes and it would be nothing like how we see in the comics or most movies and be more akin to a real life shooter tragedy. Also like as mentioned above, the movie shows how horrible and miserable one's life would have to be for him to become The Joker. This Joker is portrayed more as a sad tragic man who just simply needed proper care and treatment. By the end of the day the movie shows how it could have all easily been avoided.
** To a lesser degree, Thomas Wayne deconstructs the NonIdleRich. Rather than being a [[UnclePennybags worldly man who wishes to help Gotham]], he's really a selfish UpperClassTwit with a shallow understanding of the poor, and whose crusade is mainly about personal glory.
* Pai Mei of ''Film/KillBill'' deconstructs the [[OldMaster old kung-fu master]] character we've all seen in martial arts movies a thousand times before. Rather than being a good-hearted old man teaching self-defence techniques to the righteous; he's a racist, sexist, miserable old bastard who teaches deadly techniques to whackjobs and prospective assassins. [[TrainingFromHell His training methods amounts to torture]] and [[spoiler:after he [[EyeScream takes his cruelty too far one day]] against Elle Driver (who is just as psychotic as he is), she poisons his dinner that evening and kills him.]]
* ''Film/ScoobyDoo'' begins with deconstructing everyone's archetype which leads to their break up.
** Fred is a deconstruction of TheLeader. In this position he is given all the credit for stopping the ghost, even though his part was no bigger than the rest of Mystery Inc.'s. This leads him to come off as a pompous {{Jerkass}} to his friends.
** Velma is a deconstruction of SmartGirl. While her genius does help solve the mystery, she's given no credit whatsoever for her part. Also, she's more aware of the rest of the cast's flaws and delivers it through BrutalHonesty, none of which is appreciated.
** Daphne deconstructs DamselInDistress. Her constantly getting captured gets her viewed as TheLoad by the gang and she's really sensitive about people bringing up her frequent kidnappings. After the breakup, she takes self-defense classes so she can rescue herself if needed.
** Shaggy and Scooby deconstruct OddFriendship. Shaggy and Scooby both try their best to keep the gang together, but due to their lack of common ground with the gang, the attempt fails and they spend the next 2 years of their life unfulfilled.
* ''Film/{{Scream}}'', as a satirical [[{{Postmodernism}} post-modern]] "{{meta|Fiction}}" take on the SlasherMovie genre, has its fair share of this.
** Over the course of the series, Sidney Prescott evolves from a straight FinalGirl into a deconstruction of such. Even in [[Film/{{Scream 1996}} the first film]], she snaps at reporters trying to exploit her trauma (there's a quick scene of a shameless tabloid journalist, [[TheCameo played by]] [[Film/TheExorcist Linda Blair]], asking her "[[IfItBleedsItLeads how does it feel to be almost brutally murdered?]]"), she [[DeadpanSnarker snarks]] at the [[TooDumbToLive stupid mistakes]] that SlasherMovie victims often make (though to be fair, this is a series where [[WorldOfSnark everybody does that]]), and she breaks the [[SexSignalsDeath "virgins don't die"]] rule by having sex [[spoiler:with the killer]] and still surviving. In [[Film/{{Scream 2}} the second film]], her life has grown to be defined by her status as the survivor of a massacre, and while this has brought her fame, fortune, and [[RippedFromTheHeadlines movie deals]], it also means that she is constantly having to look over her shoulder for [[HereWeGoAgain the next wannabe Ghostface]]. And then she has to repeat the entire experience, watching her friends getting slaughtered all over again [[spoiler:by [[MamaBear the pissed-off mother]] of [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes the last killer]], looking for payback against Sidney for [[YouKilledMyFather killing her son]]]].
** By the third film, she's [[ProperlyParanoid living in self-imposed isolation]] bordering on CrazySurvivalist levels, working from home under a fake name. She suffers [[ShellShockedVeteran recurring nightmares]] about Ghostface killing her, and when she visits the set of ''[[ShowWithinAShow Stab 3]]'', a recreation of her old home in Woodsboro, [[HeroicBSOD she has a mental breakdown]] as her memories of the first movie come flooding back. The passage of time and the settling of [[BigScrewedUpFamily her family drama]] (and, presumably, years of therapy) mean that she's gotten better by [[Film/{{Scream 4}} the fourth film]], where she's written a bestselling autobiography about her life and having the inner strength to move on from the nightmares she's experienced. She even returns to Woodsboro as part of the healing process... only to run into another Ghostface, [[spoiler:who turns out to be her own cousin, Jill. [[AttentionWhore Jealous of Sidney's fame]], Jill launches into a killing spree and tries to frame Trevor for it so that she can come out of it looking like a final girl, with all the same media attention that this had previously earned her cousin.]] For a real FinalGirl, the horror wouldn't end when the credits roll - she'd have to live with the experience forever, and may God help her if she's cast in the sequels. No matter what she does, no matter how much time passes, [[IronWoobie poor Sidney Prescott]] will always be haunted by the most traumatic moment of her life.
** ''Film/Scream3'' deconstructs the archetypal "SerialKiller with a FreudianExcuse" villain seen in numerous horror movies, including the first two films. At the climax, Ghostface [[TheReveal unmasks]] and launches into a MotiveRant detailing why [[spoiler:he wanted to kill his half-sister Sidney. Roman Bridger grew up hating her and their mother Maureen because he felt that Maureen loved Sidney more and essentially abandoned him, viewing him as [[ThatManIsDead an unwelcome reminder of her old life]], and that the fame Sidney got after the massacre [[AttentionWhore should've been his]].]] An infuriated Sidney, who's now hearing this spiel for the third time in her life, responds with a blistering ShutUpHannibal speech [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech calling the killer a selfish brat]] who [[NeverMyFault can't take any personal responsibility]], and is only killing people for pleasure and [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse trying to rationalize it after the fact]]. Tellingly, Sidney's speech causes a VillainousBreakdown in Ghostface, who yells at Sidney to stop talking before flying off the handle and attacking her.
--->'''Sidney''': God, why don't you stop your whining and get on with it? I've heard this shit before! Do you know why you kill people, [[spoiler:Roman]]? Do you? [[ForTheEvulz BECAUSE YOU]] ''[[ForTheEvulz CHOOSE]]'' [[ForTheEvulz TO!]] There ''is'' no one else to blame! Why don't you take some ''fucking'' responsibility?!
** The series in general also deconstructs the StockSlasher by showing how an ordinary person could pull off the seemingly supernatural feats attributed to SlasherMovie killers. Unlike such {{Implacable M|an}}en as [[Franchise/{{Halloween}} Michael Myers]] or [[Franchise/FridayThe13th Jason Voorhees]], Ghostface is perfectly human, and thus perfectly able to be harmed, overpowered, and killed by the heroes, forcing them to rely on stealth, speed, and sneak attacks to get the jump on their victims. OffscreenTeleportation is justified by [[spoiler:there being [[TwoDunIt two killers]] in every film except the third]]. Unlike other slasher killers, Ghostface will happily use guns, especially after TheReveal when there's no use in stealth anymore, with the [[Film/ScreamVI sixth film]] also having the killer opportunistically [[UseTheirOwnWeaponAgainstThem use one victim's own gun against him]]. During the climax when the killer is against the ropes, they become pathetic heaps when the reality of what they've done sinks in, such as the first film's [[spoiler:Stu crying about [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes how mad his parents will be]]]], or [[Film/Scream2022 the fifth film]]'s [[spoiler:Richie pathetically and weakly [[AintTooProudToBeg begging for his life]] just before the FinalGirl finishes him off]]. Finally, the killer coming BackFromTheDead for the sequel is justified by Ghostface being a LegacyCharacter, with a new person wearing the mask in each film. When the killers in each film die, [[KilledOffForReal they stay dead]].
--->'''[[spoiler:Stu]]''': "My mom and dad are gonna be so mad at me!"
* [[FourEyesZeroSoul David]] of ''Film/ShaunOfTheDead'' deconstructs:
** The DoggedNiceGuy. He always fancied Liz and never got over rejecting him for Shaun in high school, so he began dating Liz's friend Dianne to position himself as a NiceGuy ideal boyfriend and belittling Shaun even though Liz is happy with him (she just wishes he was a little more active). When the ZombieApocalypse hits, he is [[TheLoad nothing but a contrarian millstone]] and even refuses to come to Shaun's aid when he is attacked by a zombie (excusing it with "I didn't want to cramp your style"). It comes to a head when [[spoiler:things really start going to hell for the group in the Winchester. Dianne call outs David by revealing she ''knew all along'' that he was just a manipulative predator trying to get close to Liz, which recontextualises his previous actions (essentially, [[MurderTheHypotenuse let Shaun get killed by a zombie]] and then [[ComfortingTheWidow seduce the mourning Liz]]). Then, he loses his temper after Shaun punches him and [[ItWorksBetterWithBullets tries to shoot Shaun]], which everyone else treats as a MoralEventHorizon, dashing any remaining hope he had of getting with Liz. He is DevouredByTheHorde not long after, and [[AssholeVictim nobody feels bad for him]].]]
** The "[[JerkassHasAPoint jackass who has a point]]" normal to comedy and horror films (example of the latter: [[Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968 Harry Cooper]]). He is too much of a {{jerkass}} with not enough of a point, prioritizing [[CommanderContrarian insulting Shaun and his ideas]] just for the sake of being a contrarian [[spoiler:and the aforementioned obsession with Liz that everyone can see]] or supplying different ideas and completely undermines himself. By the final act, the [[PrecisionFStrike most precise and venomous]] use of labeling him "[[PhraseCatcher a twat]]" is [[spoiler:Liz being upset about, among many things, partially agreeing with what David is saying (namely that Shaun's mom is a ZombieInfectee and they need to shoot her, a responsibility [[KickTheDog he]] immediately [[StakingTheLovedOne hoists on Shaun]]).]]
* As part of ''Film/{{Unforgiven}}'''s GenreDeconstruction of Westerns as a whole, William Munny is a deconstruction of Creator/ClintEastwood's earlier Western character(s), namely those from the Film/DollarsTrilogy. The film examines in detail the viciousness and amorality of the archetypical Western outlaw, and finds the elderly Munny filled with guilt and self-loathing at the monstrous things in his past. When Munny reverts back to his old ways in the climax, it is less of a triumphant audience cheering moment and instead treated as a horrific thing.
** English Bob can be seen as a deconstruction arc type of the heroic gunslinger. At one point there is a story he told his writer about how he killed a gunslinger named Two-Gun Corcoran in a duel to protect the honor of a woman he was harassing, only for Little Bill to reveal to the writer that the real story was that Bob (who was actually very drunk when he did it) only challenge Two-Gun Corcoran to a duel because Corcoran had sex with a woman Bob had liked. When it came time for the duel, Bob only beat Two-Gun Corcoran through the sheer dumb luck of Corcoran accidently shooting his foot and then having the gun blew up in his hand. He could also be one for the RemittanceMan: Bob ''acts'' like a badass English nobleman adventurer but [[OohMeAccentsSlipping his posh accent slips up a few times when he's surprised or angry]], plus all his exploits are revealed to be fabricated or deeply immoral; he is probably not a real nobleman and he'd be an UpperClassTwit if he were.
** Little Bill is a deconstruction of the typical town sheriff in a western story. He is trying to maintain peace in the town but his passive attitude towards Delilah's attack in the beginning is the whole reason the story kicks off and all the trouble that follows. He is also shown to be a vicious tyrant bully who abuses his authority.
** The Schofield Kid is one for TheGunfighterWannabe. He's just a jumped-up little hanger-on who throws around unimpressive {{Badass Boast}}s about how he's killed five men with the Schofield revolver he took his name from. [[spoiler:He can't see or shoot for shit, and his kill count is a total lie. After killing Quick Mike, his first ever kill, he is driven to drink and cries, and leaves the film an emotionally traumatized shell of a young man. In early drafts of the script, [[DrivenToSuicide he couldn't even live with being a murderer]].]]
* Many films have taken issue with the ManicPixieDreamGirl archetype
** ''Film/HeLovesMeHeLovesMeNot'': For the first half the protagonist appears to be a typically sweet, hopelessly romantic manic pixie dream girl, only for the film to reveal that she is in fact a violent, insane {{Yandere}} whose innocent romantic spirit is symptomatic of her complete and utter detachment from reality.
** ''Film/AnnieHall'': The title character is a cheerful Bohemian, who turns out to be a spoiled, unfocused, pseudo-intellectual, neurotic child in an adult's body; a horribly broken person. Which gives her something in common with Creator/WoodyAllen's character, who is likewise horribly broken, just in somewhat different ways.
** ''Film/EternalSunshineOfTheSpotlessMind'': Joel is instantly drawn to the quirky, free-spirited Clementine, but she warns him that he shouldn't expect her to "save" him and she's "just a fucked-up girl looking for her own peace of mind". Their relationship ends up falling apart when Joel learns the hard way that MPDG-ness often also means [[DramaQueen high maintenance]] and Clementine grows bored with Joel's more grounded personality. Joel sums up Clementine and the film's deconstruction of it during his tape recording for Lacuna:
--->'''Joel:''' I think if there's a truly seductive quality about Clementine, it's that her personality promises to take you out of the mundane. It's like, you secure yourself with this amazing, burning meteorite to carry you to another world, a world where things are exciting. But, what you quickly learn is that it's really an elaborate ruse.
** ''The Sterile Cuckoo'': Pookie fulfills all of the requirements of a MPDG, including breaking the lead character out of his shell, but towards the end of the film it's revealed that she is much more damaged and vulnerable than anyone has expected. She completely breaks out of the traditional mold at the ending, where [[spoiler:she and her boyfriend break up, and she is literally PutOnABus.]]
** ''Film/RubySparks'': The titular character starts out as a completely fictional WishFulfillment love interest in Calvin's book. When she [[ArtInitiatesLife becomes real]], their relationship doesn't go as ideally as it did in Calvin's book/imagination because she turns out to have her own opinions and life separate from Calvin's and his attempts to control/rewrite her into the SatelliteLoveInterest he wants are depicted as incredibly creepy and possessive.
** ''Film/FightClub'': Marla Singer could perhaps best be described as what happens when the Manic Pixie Dream Girl grows up. Marla is dirty, living in poverty, and clearly suffering some form of mental illness, and gets into a fairly unhealthy relationship with Tyler. Marla actually infuriates the narrator because she simply doesn't care about anything. After TheReveal, [[spoiler:Tyler/The Narrator is really a GenderFlipped version of this to Marla]].
** ''Film/FiveHundredDaysOfSummer'': Summer Finn is seen as an MPDG by the protagonist Tom, who puts her on a pedestal as his ideal girlfriend, but his image of her soon clashes with the fact that she's an actual human being. Specifically, she's not interested in anything serious, [[spoiler:and she eventually leaves Tom for another man]].
** ''Film/SunsetBoulevard'': [[WhiteDwarfStarlet Norma]] [[{{Yandere}} Desmond]] takes a lot of the symptoms to their logical conclusion, with the twist that the protagonist [[AbhorrentAdmirer isn't interested]]. From the start it's clear that [[CloudCuckooLander she doesn't have both oars in the water]] as she's living in a decayed BigFancyHouse, deluding herself that she'll make a comeback with a [[HerCodenameWasMarySue terrible]], {{Glurge}}-filled screenplay of Theatre/{{Salome}}. She [[LoveAtFirstSight quickly bonds]] with the narrator, agrees to his commission him ([[ConArtist to her disadvantage]]) and quickly throws his life into chaos, leading him to CharacterDevelopment. [[ClingyJealousGirl But]] [[StalkerWithACrush not]] [[GildedCage in]] [[ManipulativeBastard a]] ''[[FaceHeelDoorSlam good]]'' [[FaceHeelDoorSlam way]].
** The Korean version of ''Film/MySassyGirl'': The titular girl's "quirky traits" tend to have harmful consequences and she definitely has issues and motivations unrelated to Gyeon-Soo and he later finds out [[spoiler:she has been using him as a substitute for her dead boyfriend.]] Instead, he is the one who recognizes she is damaged and gains a strong desire to fix her.
** ''Film/ILoveYouAliceBToklas'': Nancy is a hippie that teaches protagonist Harold Fine to enjoy life and having all types of humorous romantic situations (which culminate with him becoming a RunawayGroom). The deconstruction is that, now that Harold is around Nancy for longer than a few (dope-filled) hours at a time, he is able to clearly see that she is a very shallow person and the hippie lifestyle is nothing more than a stoner hand-to-mouth existence that tries to sound spiritual. In the end he chooses to abandon Nancy ''and'' refuses to go back to his old life, finding them both empty.
** [[WebVideo/NeedsMoreGay Rantasmo]] has [[http://channelawesome.com/may-needs-more-gay-rantasmo/ argued]] for ''Film/{{May}}'' being a deconstruction of the archetype, in a manner not unlike ''(500) Days of Summer'', albeit [[DarkerAndEdgier as a horror movie]] told from [[PerspectiveFlip the Dream Girl's point of view]]. Adam and Polly are only attracted to May for her 'quirky' qualities that flatter their egos, but eventually, it stops being charming and May goes from quirky to [[CreepyLonerGirl just plain weird]], causing them to leave her once they realize that they don't like some of the layers to her personality that come with her quirkiness... at which point, she goes from weird to outright terrifying. May's oddball nature is likewise a product of her inability to form real and lasting connections with others due to a lifetime of bullying, with the only 'person' she cares about being [[LonelyDollGirl her doll Susie]], itself a literally perfect, idealized image of femininity that she keeps in a glass box -- ironically no different from how Adam and Polly fetishize her surface elements and ignore everything else about her. The film's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbN_uoGQysc trailer]] even starts out like it's for a RomanticComedy, only to rapidly switch to horror halfway through.
* ''Film/PunchDrunkLove'' deconstructs the typical Creator/AdamSandler character. Sandler's character is, like always, antisocial, [[ManChild emotionally immature]], and prone to uncontrollable fits of anger. Instead of that being a source of comedy, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome it leads to awkward, embarrassing situations, and the character leads a lonely, depressing life.]] Creator/RogerEbert discussed this in his [[http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20021018/REVIEWS/210180308/1023 review]] of the film.
* Sarah Connor in ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' is a deconstruction of the ActionMom trope. While ''very'' badass, it's out of necessity, as she's ProperlyParanoid about robot assassins coming from the future to hunt her and her child. She is thus constantly training to keep herself in peak ability, as one mistake at the wrong time could cost her life. Additionally, her knowledge of her son John Connor as TheChosenOne has deteriorated their relationship, as she's spent more time training him for his future military career than she has to caring for and comforting him. By the time they meet again in his pre-teens, he's uncertain whether she actually loves him or just wants him to live long enough to defeat the machines. Additionally, Sarah's [[CassandraTruth attempts to warn of]] and ward off a robot apocalypse and [[CrazyPrepared overzealous preparation]] for the same have taken her to the logical conclusion: a padded cell in a [[BedlamHouse mental hospital for the criminally insane]].
* The movie ''Film/{{Heat}}'' is such a treatment of the GentlemanThief stock character. Neil [=McCauley=] has the charm and all the connections, but he's painfully lonely, and won't get close to anyone for fear that the cops will be right around the corner. The one major job he's involved in goes terribly awry, and results in over half of his team being killed by the cops. [=MacCauley=] gets more violent as the film progresses, culminating in his revenge overriding his need to escape. [[spoiler:He ends up proving his own adage right when he flees (and leaves his girlfriend) after he sees Vincent Hanna pursuing him, and winds up dead at the end of the film.]]
* ''Film/{{Inception}}'' is a deconstruction of the {{Determinator}}. The eponymous act involves placing a single, simple idea deep into an unwitting subject's subconscious - that they will ''never'' be rid of. This single idea will define them for the rest of their lives, and both the primary protagonist and antagonist demonstrate how it can backfire. ''Spectacularly''.
* ''Film/TheSocialNetwork'' takes the SelfMadeMan archetype that is idealized in American culture and puts it through the wringer. In a few short years, the main character goes from a nerdy nobody at [[UsefulNotes/IvyLeague Harvard]] who can't keep his girlfriend to the world's youngest billionaire with [[Website/{{Facebook}} his creation]], and gets everything that he could possibly want... but it's also heavily implied that a lot of people got ruined or otherwise screwed over in the process, that he possibly stole the idea for his website in order to get to that point, that his flawed personality traits are ''precisely'' what allowed him to rise to the top, and that, even with all his material wealth, he's no happier than he was before. And he still doesn't get his girlfriend back. This is hardly the first time that [[Film/TheGreatGatsby1974 such themes]] [[Film/CitizenKane have been]] [[Film/WallStreet explored]] - indeed, it's not even the first time that [[Creator/AaronSorkin the film's screenwriter]] has [[Film/CharlieWilsonsWar done this]].
* TheHero (Cameron Vale) of the first ''Film/{{Scanners}}'' movie deconstructs TheChosenOne: he's the only [[MageSpecies "Scanner"]] with the power to stop Daryl Revok, he's an absolute [[PsychicPowers psychic]] badass... and he is completely devoid of personality beyond his mission to stop Revok, which he has been raised to do by an (unknown to him) EvilMentor.
* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
** Anakin Skywalker's arc as TheChosenOne in the prequel trilogy deconstructs Luke's arc in the original trilogy. Like Luke, Anakin is told at a young age that he has great powers, but eventually, [[TookALevelInJerkass he becomes extremely arrogant and distrusting of everybody around him]], and he loses his friends and loved ones in his attempts to assert that power. Makes sense, since in-universe, [[{{Reconstruction}} Luke is in many ways Anakin done right]]. He even ultimately helps get Anakin back on track.
** The idea of the Darth Vader {{Expy}} was deconstructed in ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' with someone who deliberately tried to be one: Kylo Ren. Ren only tries to copy Vader's superficial appearance and penchant for the Dark Side while lacking Vader's strength, maturity and discipline, which are largely responsible for making Vader such an admirable villain, he ultimately ends up as an inferior knockoff of the Dark Lord and feels insecure about it. For added irony [[spoiler:while no clone, he is Anakin's grandson and Luke's nephew]].
** In ''Film/TheLastJedi'': [[spoiler:DJ is a deconstruction of the LovableRogue archetype popularized within the series by Han Solo and Lando. DJ's a genuinely funny and charming guy, but ultimately he's a hardened criminal at heart and when the situation takes a turn for the worse, he has no qualms about selling out the heroes to the bad guys in order to save his own neck.]]
* The Irish film ''Film/MyNameIsEmily'' deconstructs CloudCuckooLander. The titular character Emily Egan is one such girl. Except she's odd because her mother was tragically killed in a car crash, her father steadily broke under the strain and ended up in a mental hospital, and she's spent ages going in and out of different foster homes. Her quirkiness is off putting to everyone around her and is a mark of her utter detachment from reality.
* ''Film/LastActionHero'': Jack Slater is your typical 90s ActionHero. He's a [[InvincibleHero nigh inverable]], [[DeadpanSnarker smart alik]], [[BondOneLiner witty]], [[HeroicBuild ripped]], and [[CowboyCop badass cop]]... except he's sick of it. He tired of repeatedly surviving implausible, stressful scenarios while everyone around him dies, his son was murdered by his psycho arch-nemesis, his marriage is in shambles and he has a cashier at his drug store calling him at the police station so that his colleagues think he has a life and make everyone think his ex-wife still cares about him when she's already moved on without him, and he's depressed that his teenage daughter is obsessed with being an ActionGirl and fears that she'll end up dying young and alone. He makes this very clear when he goes into the real world and blames [[Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger the guy who gave him his face]] for everything wrong with his life.
* ''Film/TheLastSeduction'': Bridget is the FemmeFatale, running off with her husband's drug money before seducing another man to kill him for her. As the title implies, it takes the trope a lot further than other noir films, showing such a character would in fact need to be TheSociopath, and her mark an easily manipulable idiot.
* ''Film/HighSchoolMusical'': Troy Bolton is the BigManOnCampus. The films show how much pressure everyone puts on him to be "the basketball guy" and the stress that results from it. Everyone berates him for having an interest in singing because that's not what guys like him are "supposed" to do. Part of his attraction to Gabriella is that she allows him to be who he is rather than what everyone expects him to be.
* ''Film/StopLoss'' deconstructs AFatherToHisMen by showing what happens when the man in question goes AWOL, and his troops have to fend for themselves because they're so used to depending on him. What's more is that it's shown the Father To His Men can still have problems of his own - such as PTSD and guilt over the numerous people he's killed.
* ''{{Film/Vertigo}}'' deconstructs TheLostLenore. [[spoiler:Scottie is so broken up over Madeleine's death that when he meets a woman who looks like her, he ends up forcing her to dress and do her hair like her. It's highlighted how disturbing such a thing is, and Judy begs Scottie to accept her as she is rather than his fantasy in a letter... but after thinking about it, she realizes Scottie is so obsessed about Madeliene that it's useless to tell him, and destroys the letter, letting Scottie invoke this trope and preparing a truly devastating DownerEnding]].
* ''Film/{{Logan}}'' deconstructs ChildSoldier and HumanWeapon with [[ComicBook/{{X23}} Laura Howlett]]: Laura is pretty much what you'd ''actually'' get if you tried to train a child into an emotionless killing machine. When introduced she's virtually feral, responds violently when she feels threatened, and all but panics at the sound of a passing locomotive. Laura also shows extensive signs of stunted emotional development, evidenced by many behaviors, such as punching every button on an elevator, ordinarily associated with a child much younger than her age. And while she's certainly a highly-skilled and frighteningly efficient killer, she's ''still'' just an eleven year-old girl fighting grown men twice or more her size; Laura can be subdued by sheer weight of numbers, and when an opponent ''does'' land a solid hit on her ([[spoiler:such as X-24 throwing her against a wall]]) she goes down hard.
* ''Film/RedSparrow'': The FemmeFatale and TheBaroness are both deconstructed through the Sparrow training program: while other spy stories have showcased the woman that uses seduction as a weapon as one that is perfectly okay with being sexually open as long as she gets away with her mission objectives and is relentlessly dominating and "a natural", this film showcases that there's a whole lot of denigrating and even brutal sexual work involved in the training alone, never mind actually applying it on the field. [[spoiler:The [[Literature/RedSparrow book version]] of the story actually has a Sparrow trainee committing suicide because she couldn't take the constant sexual assaults anymore.]]
-->'''Dominika:''' ''[to Uncle Vanya]'' You sent me to whore school.
* ''Film/MeanGirls'':
** It deconstructs the AlphaBitch with Regina George, emphasizing how one must be a VillainWithGoodPublicity and a BitchInSheepsClothing in order to hold that role in an actual high school. She is utterly cruel, but she is also good at hiding her cruelty behind [[LovableAlphaBitch a glamorous, seemingly friendly image]] that has genuinely made her one of the most popular girls in school, such that Janis and Damian, the only characters who truly hate her and see her for what she is, are among the outcasts. In fact, as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i6b0gtsWeM this video]] by ''WebVideo/TheTake'' explains, her dominance of the school's social life is similar to how many real-life [[TheGeneralissimo dictators]] exercise their power and fend off threats to their rule, and her downfall comes about through processes similar to those of dictators who are overthrown -- complete with a direct comparison to [[UsefulNotes/GaiusJuliusCaesar Julius Caesar]].
** And while Regina becoming a FallenPrincess in the third act is treated as her rightful comeuppance, it comes at a terrible cost for the protagonist Cady, who had to start imitating all of Regina's worst qualities in order to knock her from her perch -- a deconstruction of the hero who seeks to take down the mean popular kids. When the TitleDrop comes, it's referring not to Regina and her friends, but to ''Cady''.
* In ''Film/KongSkullIsland'', Packard is AFatherToHisMen and has moments where he does care for his men and takes each of their deaths personally, but right when his squad is about to sent home to their families, Packard (who has no life outside of combat) immediately accepts a highly dangerous mission without stopping to think about the men. From then on, especially after the first confrontation with Kong, Packard becomes obsessed with getting revenge on Kong, repeatedly and carelessly putting his men's lives at risk and leading to the deaths of many more. His search for Chapman becomes increasingly clear that it's not so much about Chapman's wellbeing but for [[spoiler: the weapons at Chapman's crash site.]]
* In the film version of ''Film/CrazyRichAsians'', [[UptownGirl the socioeconomic differences]] between Astrid and Michael is what destroys their relationship. Astrid constantly tries to appease their rich family and continually downplays themselves to not embarrass/humiliate Michael. Meanwhile, he is constantly put down by her family and social circle for being a commoner and all that stress results in him cheating on Astrid.
* ''Film/TheRock'': John Patrick Mason is a pretty cool Film/JamesBond {{Expy}}, isn't he? He's got everything! Played by Creator/SeanConnery? Check. Badass DeadpanSnarker? Check. Prone to one-night stands? Check. Skilled at escaping death through creative means? Check. Left embittered and cynical after being secretly held as a political prisoner for years because the consequences of international espionage finally caught up with him? Ch--wait, what? Sleeps around so much that he winds up with an illegitimate adult daughter who hates his guts? Uh...
* ''Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse'':
** Orm in ''Film/Aquaman2018'' feels that he is TheUnfavorite compared to Arthur, as almost everyone in his inner circle ends up liking Arthur more than him, such as Mera, Vulko and (as Orm rightfully suspects) his own mother Atlanna. But that doesn't mean that [[spoiler: Atlanna or Arthur]] ''doesn't'' genuinely love or care for him at all.
** In ''Film/Shazam2019'', the wizard Shazam is TheChooserOfTheOne, trying to find a worthy successor for his power. However, his "pure of heart" criteria is so strict and rigid that for decades (if not centuries), he is unable to find someone as he doesn't realize HumansAreFlawed. In addition, his harsh rejection of Sivana, who was only a child at the time, would cause the child to have a FreakOut in a moving car, unintentionally distracting his father and causing a car accident. Sivana would hold a grudge against Shazam well into his adult years and would end up releasing the Seven Deadly Sins.
* ''Film/TheShapeOfWater'': Col. Strickland is a merciless dressing down of the protagonists seen in old school monster movies. He's a StandardFiftiesFather and devout Christian studying an anomalous creature. All of those qualities combine to create an amoral and downright sadistic bigot driven by a need for satisfaction his home life can't give him, and unable to recognize that the creature isn't the monster he believes it to be.
* ''Film/JamesBond'':
** The Creator/PierceBrosnan set of Bond films show a few reality checks on the franchise itself, namely the fact that 007 is openly described as [[WhyWeAreBummedCommunismFell "a relic of the Cold War"]] by the new M in ''Film/GoldenEye''. Later on, the Creator/DanielCraig set films show what a cynical, lonely, paranoid, and broken man Bond is and has to be in order to do his job as a ProfessionalKiller. In ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'' and ''Film/{{Spectre}}'', they even start to question Bond's relevance in an era dominated by cyber-espionage. [[spoiler:''Spectre'' later reconstructs the Bond films, stating that yes, spies like 007 are still needed to do the reconnaissance that drones and technology can't do, particularly when such missions involve stateless entities and lone wolves now that the dragon that was the Soviet Union is defunct]].
** In ''Film/{{Spectre}}'', C/Max Denbigh deconstructs the ObstructiveBureaucrat trope, showing how the head of a government agency actively involved in shutting down [=MI6=]'s operations and advocating for [[BigBrotherIsWatching mass surveillance]] [[spoiler:is later revealed to be on the titular NebulousEvilOrganization's [[TheMole payroll]]. Also, Bond and M's suspicions about the data feeds from the "Nine Eyes" surveillance project being used for darker purposes are proven correct, as [[MoleInCharge C]] is using his position as a cover to give control of the program to SPECTRE, which would allow them to outwit their enemies.]]
** Madeleine Swann, Bond's GirlOfTheWeek in ''Film/{{Spectre}}'', returns in ''Film/NoTimeToDie'' and shows what life for a "Bond girl" would be like after the adventure's over. Tying into the grittier portrait the Craig films paint of Bond as a secret agent, he comes to (wrongly) suspect that Madeleine is working for SPECTRE based on a mix of unfortunate circumstances and his own continued paranoia even in retirement, destroying their relationship. When they reunite five years later, Madeleine harbors a lot of ill will towards Bond for dumping her the way he did, [[spoiler:especially since he's the father of her daughter Mathilde]]. It takes a lot for the two of them to trust each other again.
* ''Film/WhiteHunterBlackHeart'' deconstructs the GreatWhiteHunter, especially when the character is an amateur rather than a professional hunter, and looks at the morality of hunting for a trophy rather than for food or for a living. Ultimately John Wilson has to decide if he can pull on the trigger on a magnificent beast for no more than a pair of tusks.
* ''Film/FallingDown'' deconstructs the AngryWhiteMan and the VigilanteMan with its VillainProtagonist William Foster. The first two acts build up Foster into a figure for the audience to root for, even giving him the nickname of D-Fens, as he finally snaps in frustration with the annoyances of daily life and starts taking on everybody who represents the things that he (and the audience) sees as wrong with society. Some of them are clearly awful people, such as the {{gangbangers}} who try to steal his briefcase and later come back and try to murder him, the homeless PhonyVeteran who tries to get his money with a made-up sob story, and the [[ThoseWackyNazis neo-Nazi]] owner of the military surplus store who [[YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame thinks that Foster, as a fellow white man, agrees with him]]. Others, however, include people just doing their jobs that viewers might find merely annoying, like the AsianStoreOwner who [[DisproportionateRetribution won't give him change for a call unless he buys something]], the construction workers holding up traffic on the freeway, the [[BurgerFool fast-food employees]] who stopped serving breakfast at 11:30, and the [[EatTheRich rich man who was playing golf]]. It's in the third act when the other shoe drops and it becomes clear that Foster isn't a righteous hero, but a very disturbed man with shades of a SpreeKiller to him. His wife left him and filed for a restraining order due to DomesticAbuse, with the seemingly HappierHomeMovie that he watches revealing that he always had an emotionally abusive dark side to him. His end goal is to travel to her house and [[PaterFamilicide kill his family]]. By the end, it's [[SympatheticInspectorAntagonist Sgt. Prendergast]] who's the real hero, a man who's encountered a lot of the same crap in life but who responded to such by building a happy (if imperfect) life for himself without letting it all get to him.
* In ''Film/KnivesOut''
** Meg is SpoiledSweet as she is very nice to Marta and Fran, as well as coming from serious money. But when it comes down to it, when [[spoiler:Marta is revealed to be the sole inheritor of Harlan's will]], Meg's "spoiled" side wins out and she wants to protect what is hers [[spoiler:before Marta gets any of the money]]. That said, the film implied that her family pressured her into convincing [[spoiler:Marta to give the money over to them]].
** [[spoiler:The housekeeper Fran]] decides to become an AmateurSleuth to discover who had killed Harlan, having enjoyed watching murder mysteries. She witnessed and discovered important evidence as to who the killer was, but instead of notifying and assisting the police who she knew were heavily involved in the case, she decided to confront and blackmail the suspect herself. [[spoiler:[[TooDumbToLive In a dark, abandoned building]] straight out of a pulpy murder mystery. No points for guessing [[HeKnowsTooMuch what happened to her]].]]
* ''Film/DjangoUnchained'': Calvin Candie deconstructs the SouthernGentleman to horrifying effect. He stylizes himself as one, making his [[ForeignCultureFetish fondness for French culture and literature]] clear to anyone and everyone, and is perfectly polite to white people. But his status as a Francophile is quite blatantly superficial (he can't even ''speak'' French and didn't even know his favorite author, Creator/AlexandreDumas, was half-black), and every scene he's in is a reminder that he considers black people inferior, even going so far as to try to "scientifically" justify his racism, and casually having his black slaves fight and get torn apart by wild dogs because [[ForTheEvulz it amuses him]].
* ''Film/{{Hancock}}'' deconstructs the idea of a CorruptedCharacterCopy through the titular character. Hancock starts out as a pretty clear corruption of Superman, a lazy bum who drinks too much and causes needless collateral damage with his heroics. As he's taken in by a PR man who wants to help clean up his image, it's revealed Hancock has a pretty good FreudianExcuse for his behavior, having come to genuinely believe he's unworthy of affection. Getting over these issues and embracing his potential to be the BigGood is the point of the film and Hancock's own CharacterDevelopment.
* ''Film/TheHouseThatJackBuilt'': Jack deconstructs the DiabolicalMastermind-type serial killer, a la Hannibal Lecter. Though he presents as WickedCultured and thinks of himself as an artist, Jack is otherwise a failure in every other endeavor, having been a failed architect who tried several times to build his own house. The pretentious {{Hannibal Lecture}}s he tries to make are [[ShutUpHannibal constantly and effectively shut down by Verge]], who he either ignores or feebly refutes. He's also just not very efficient when it comes to killing, breaking down during his murders and leaving a ton of evidence behind. He only gets away with it because [[PoliceAreUseless the police are incompetent or lazy]], or simply through sheer dumb luck, like when it rains after he leaves a long blood trail from dragging one of his victims along a country road. This is very much TruthInTelevision for many real-life serial killers. He doesn't even have anything ''remotely'' resembling a sympathetic reason for why he carries out his murders; Verge at one point speculates it may be out of a childlike desire to be caught and punished, but a scene from Jack's childhood shows him [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals cutting off a duckling's leg with a pair of pilers]], showing that he was a bad seed right from the start, [[ForTheEvulz and he apparently kills people just because he can and he likes it]].
* ''Film/TuckerAndDaleVsEvil'': Chad dissects the "alpha male" hero of a horror movie. His "bravery" and desire to take on "the bad guys", who are really decent but scruffy-looking fellows, is in reality horrible arrogance and paranoia, and causes the somewhat troubling situation to become catastrophically bad for both the hillbillies and his friends. [[spoiler:His refusal to disobey his instincts eventually turns him into the evil horror movie villain he claimed to oppose.]] Tucker and Dale are heroic simply because they are humble and polite enough to consider their actions, barring the occasional moment of thoughtlessness.
* Vincent from ''Film/{{Collateral}}'' is a deconstruction of the "heroic loner hitman" archetype, showing how terrifying, sociopathic, lonely, and thoroughly disconnected from the world someone has to be to kill people for a living. He's so detached from reality that it's implied that he's never had a meaningful conversation with anyone before Max came along, doesn't understand why Max is so unsettled by him, and lacks almost any sense of morality or a conscience. [[spoiler:In the end, he ends up getting killed by Max after Vincent pushes him around one too many times.]]
* ''Film/TheSuicideSquad'' deconstructs the CaptainPatriotic superhero through Peacemaker. Peacemaker styles himself as a classic example of the archetype, but it becomes immediately clear that he's a delusional, jingoistic RightWingMilitiaFanatic who values the nebulous concepts of freedom and peace so much he will gleefully kill for them at the drop of a hat. Multiple characters point out the flaws in his reasoning, and Bloodsport suggests at one point that he uses patriotism to disguise that he kills people for the sheer enjoyment of it.
* The titular protagonist of ''Film/{{Hanna}}'' is this for the TeenSuperspy, showing how a teenage girl might possibly attract the attention of the CIA and what her life would actually be like as a result. Specifically, she's the daughter of a rogue operative living in a cabin in the woods in northern Finland, and her skills at such a young age are because he's been putting her through TrainingFromHell since she was a small child. As a result, when she meets the otherwise normal teenage girl Sophie, she desperately wants to [[IJustWantToBeNormal abandon her former life and join Sophie's family]]. [[spoiler:Also, she's a genetically-engineered SuperSoldier, which is the ''other'' reason why a fifteen-year-old girl is that badass.]]
* ''Film/TheBookOfHenry'': Henry Carpenter deconstructs the "ChildProdigy" by being a InsufferableGenius, thinking that whatever solutions he can think of are the only solutions available, that said solutions are perfect, and ultimately still sticking to a childish vision of the world -- one where MurderIsTheBestSolution is actually applicable. [[spoiler:Even if everything else comes out A-OK thanks to Glenn killing himself, had she followed Henry's plan to the letter and it had actually worked, Susan still would have had Glenn's death on her hands and there's no telling how well she would have been able to cope.]] He also deconstructs TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth by the sheer fact that Susan, led at least partially by grief, accepts Henry's crazy plan as gospel truth up until the last possible second.
* ''Film/KidDetective2020'': The film offers a {{Deconstruction}} of the concept of a KidDetective. For all his apparent brilliance as a child, Abe (an {{Expy}} of Literature/EncyclopediaBrown) was only that - a smart kid. Not only this greatly limited his ability to solve cases, but [[spoiler: the principal actively set him up just to see if Abe was a real deal, or just a child acting on first assumption. Once he was sure Abe is just playing a smart-ass, he proceed with kidnapping Gracie, one of Abe's schoolmates]]. Then there is the fact Abe apparently never did anything in his life to ''train'' in detective work as an adult, running his agency solely on his childhood "experience" - this makes him an utterly ''terrible'' private dick, still acting as if he was a character in a teen crime novel and put to question if he's even licensed. In addition, the tactics he used as a teen are no longer useful now that he is an adult; lastly, the local police enforcement tolerated his antics when he was a teenager, but, as an adult, not so much.
* ''Film/MysteryTeam'' is a DeconstructiveParody of the Kid Detective. The main characters solved minor mysteries around the neighborhood as kids, and even became locally famous after solving a few real mysteries. Now 18-year-olds on the verge of graduating high school, they're immature {{Man Child}}ren still stuck in their past as kid detectives; the skills they supposedly had in their childhood are barely InformedAbility in their late teenage lives, which shows just how out of touch with reality they are. In order to prove that they can be real detectives they take on a little girl's case to solve the double homicide of her parents.
----

* ''Film/HighSchoolMusical'': Troy Bolton is the BigManOnCampus. The films show how much pressure everyone puts on him to be "the basketball guy" and the stress that results from it. Everyone berates him for having an interest in singing because that's not what guys like him are supposed to do. Part of his attraction to Gabriella is that she allows him to be who he is rather than what everyone expects him to be.

* ''Film/{{Scream}}'', as a satirical [[{{Postmodernism}} post-modern]] "{{meta|Fiction}}" take on the SlasherMovie genre, has its fair share of this.
** Over the course of the series, Sidney Prescott evolves from a straight FinalGirl into a deconstruction of such. Even in [[Film/{{Scream 1996}} the first film]], she snaps at reporters trying to exploit her trauma (there's a quick scene of a shameless tabloid journalist, [[TheCameo played by]] [[Film/TheExorcist Linda Blair]], asking her "[[IfItBleedsItLeads how does it feel to be almost brutally murdered?]]"), she [[DeadpanSnarker snarks]] at the [[TooDumbToLive stupid mistakes]] that SlasherMovie victims often make (though to be fair, this is a series where [[WorldOfSnark everybody does that]]), and she breaks the [[SexSignalsDeath "virgins don't die"]] rule by having sex [[spoiler:with the killer]] and still surviving. In [[Film/{{Scream 2}} the second film]], her life has grown to be defined by her status as the survivor of a massacre, and while this has brought her fame, fortune, and [[RippedFromTheHeadlines movie deals]], it also means that she is constantly having to look over her shoulder for [[HereWeGoAgain the next wannabe Ghostface]]. And then she has to repeat the entire experience, watching her friends getting slaughtered all over again [[spoiler:by [[MamaBear the pissed-off mother]] of [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes the last killer]], looking for payback against Sidney for [[YouKilledMyFather killing her son]]]].
** By the third film, she's [[ProperlyParanoid living in self-imposed isolation]] bordering on CrazySurvivalist levels, working from home under a fake name. She suffers [[ShellShockedVeteran recurring nightmares]] about Ghostface killing her, and when she visits the set of ''[[ShowWithinAShow Stab 3]]'', a recreation of her old home in Woodsboro, [[HeroicBSOD she has a mental breakdown]] as her memories of the first movie come flooding back. The passage of time and the settling of [[BigScrewedUpFamily her family drama]] (and, presumably, years of therapy) mean that she's gotten better by [[Film/{{Scream 4}} the fourth film]], where she's written a bestselling autobiography about her life and having the inner strength to move on from the nightmares she's experienced. She even returns to Woodsboro as part of the healing process... only to run into another Ghostface, [[spoiler:who turns out to be her own cousin, Jill. [[AttentionWhore Jealous of Sidney's fame]], Jill launches into a killing spree and tries to frame Trevor for it so that she can come out of it looking like a final girl, with all the same media attention that this had previously earned her cousin.]] For a real FinalGirl, the horror wouldn't end when the credits roll - she'd have to live with the experience forever, and may God help her if she's cast in the sequels. No matter what she does, no matter how much time passes, [[IronWoobie poor Sidney Prescott]] will always be haunted by the most traumatic moment of her life.
** ''Film/Scream3'' deconstructs the archetypal "SerialKiller with a FreudianExcuse" villain seen in numerous horror movies, including the first two films. At the climax, Ghostface [[TheReveal unmasks]] and launches into a MotiveRant detailing why [[spoiler:he wanted to kill his half-sister Sidney. Roman Bridger grew up hating her and their mother Maureen because he felt that Maureen loved Sidney more and essentially abandoned him, viewing him as [[ThatManIsDead an unwelcome reminder of her old life]], and that the fame Sidney got after the massacre [[AttentionWhore should've been his]].]] An infuriated Sidney, who's now hearing this spiel for the third time in her life, responds with a blistering ShutUpHannibal speech [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech calling the killer a selfish brat]] who [[NeverMyFault can't take any personal responsibility]], and is only killing people for pleasure and [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse trying to rationalize it after the fact]]. Tellingly, Sidney's speech causes a VillainousBreakdown in Ghostface, who yells at Sidney to stop talking before flying off the handle and attacking her.
--->'''Sidney''': God, why don't you stop your whining and get on with it? I've heard this shit before! Do you know why you kill people, [[spoiler:Roman]]? Do you? [[ForTheEvulz BECAUSE YOU]] ''[[ForTheEvulz CHOOSE]]'' [[ForTheEvulz TO!]] There ''is'' no one else to blame! Why don't you take some ''fucking'' responsibility?!
** The series in general also deconstructs the StockSlasher by showing how an ordinary person could pull off the seemingly supernatural feats attributed to SlasherMovie killers. Unlike such {{Implacable M|an}}en as [[Franchise/{{Halloween}} Michael Myers]] or [[Franchise/FridayThe13th Jason Voorhees]], Ghostface is perfectly human, and thus perfectly able to be harmed, overpowered, and killed by the heroes, forcing them to rely on stealth, speed, and sneak attacks to get the jump on their victims. OffscreenTeleportation is justified by [[spoiler:there being [[TwoDunIt two killers]] in every film except the third]]. Unlike other slasher killers, Ghostface will happily use guns, especially after TheReveal when there's no use in stealth anymore, with the [[Film/ScreamVI sixth film]] also having the killer opportunistically [[UseTheirOwnWeaponAgainstThem use one victim's own gun against him]]. During the climax when the killer is against the ropes, they become pathetic heaps when the reality of what they've done sinks in, such as the first film's [[spoiler:Stu crying about [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes how mad his parents will be]]]], or [[Film/Scream2022 the fifth film]]'s [[spoiler:Richie pathetically and weakly [[AintTooProudToBeg begging for his life]] just before the FinalGirl finishes him off]]. Finally, the killer coming BackFromTheDead for the sequel is justified by Ghostface being a LegacyCharacter, with a new person wearing the mask in each film. When the killers in each film die, [[KilledOffForReal they stay dead]].
--->'''[[spoiler:Stu]]''': "My mom and dad are gonna be so mad at me!"

* In a manner similar to Sidney Prescott, we have [[Franchise/{{Halloween}} Laurie Strode]]. Having been the TropeCodifier for the FinalGirl in ''Film/Halloween1978'', three of the four [[AlternateTimeline alternate continuities]] served up by the sequels -- the one created by ''Film/HalloweenH20TwentyYearsLater'', that of Music/RobZombie's remake of ''Film/{{Halloween II|2009}}'', and that of ''Film/Halloween2018''[[note]]The timeline created by ''Film/Halloween4TheReturnOfMichaelMyers'' reveals that [[BusCrash she died in an unspecified accident]] in 1987, a year before the film takes place, to explain why she's nowhere to be seen.[[/note]] -- offer their own versions of how her life turned out. None of them are pretty.
** In ''[=H20=]'', she changed her name and moved to California to escape the trauma of the events of the first two films. It wasn't entirely successful, as Laurie is now an [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic]] plagued by [[ShellShockedVeteran post-traumatic stress disorder]] who needs psychiatric medication. Michael coming back and following her causes her to finally snap, such that, at the start of ''Film/HalloweenResurrection'', she's been institutionalized.
** Most of Zombie's ''Halloween II'' consists of Laurie's downward spiral of nightmares, panic attacks, alcohol abuse, and insanity, her final mental breakdown coming when she finds out that she's Michael Myers' [[LongLostRelative long-lost sister]]. In the theatrical cut, [[spoiler:she was thrown in an insane asylum with the implication that she's now as crazy as Michael and has turned into the female version of her brother]], while in the [[ReCut director's cut]], [[spoiler:she committed SuicideByCop]].
** In the 2018 film, Laurie became eternally paranoid of being killed in her own home after the traumatizing events she went through. This turned her into a CrazySurvivalist living in a fortress of a home filled with traps and security systems, surrounded by a tall fence, and [[GunNut boasting an arsenal of weapons]] that she has spent many years training with in preparation for a rematch with Michael. She had actually hoped that Michael would one day break out of the asylum, just so that she could kill him. Her declining mental health has destroyed every relationship she's ever had; she's been divorced twice, and her daughter Karen (who was taken away by social services at the age of twelve) can't stand her and wants nothing to do with her. Laurie also seems to think Michael has a long standing grudge towards her and would come right after her if he got out but it becomes evident that Michael thinks nothing about her any more then of his other victims he has targeted and wouldn't have even gone after her if outside forces had intentionally put her in his line of view.
*** Film/HalloweenEnds itself is a deconstruction InvincibleVillain for Michael Myers. After the four year gap of 2018 and Halloween Kills, age and injuries have more then ever caught up with Michael. Michael struggles against his victims and needs help. [[spoiler: At one point Cory is even able to overpower Michael and steal his mask. By the time of the climax Michael is almost unceremoniously defeated by having a fridge fall on him, stabbed in the chest and have his throat and wrist slashed. For that matter Michael almost weakly and pathetically tries to grab for his mask when Laurie takes it off his face. The movie very much plays into the idea of despite the image surrounding Michael, he is just a normal man who can still be killed like any other person. This deconstruction is further solidified when they drive Michael's dead body around town to parade that he is just human before they dump his body into the grinder. ]]
** ''Film/Halloween5TheRevengeOfMichaelMyers'': Tina comes across as a deconstruction of the Final Girl by showing what happens when the wrong type of girl ends up in that role. During the sequence where she enters Rachel's house looking for Rachel, Tina wanders and has a clear confused expression on her face the whole time. When she later leaves with Samantha, she casts a knowing look back at the house as if to indicate she knows ''something'' is wrong. The trouble is, Tina doesn't have the emotional fortitude or willingness to recognize the situation she is in until it is far too late, and she ends up [[spoiler:dying in a HeroicSacrifice to save Jamie that later ends up being a SenselessSacrifice when Jamie gets abducted.]] So Tina seems to be aware on some level that she was heading into the role of the FinalGirl but ended up rejecting it because she wasn't strong enough to handle it.

* ''Film/ScoobyDoo'' begins with deconstructing everyone's archetype which leads to their break up.
** Fred is a deconstruction of TheLeader. In this position he is given all the credit for stopping the ghost, even though his part was no bigger than the rest of Mystery Inc.'s. This leads him to come off as a pompous {{Jerkass}} to his friends.
** Velma is a deconstruction of SmartGirl. While her genius does help solve the mystery, she's given no credit whatsoever for her part. Also, she's more aware of the rest of the cast's flaws and delivers it through BrutalHonesty, none of which is appreciated.
** Daphne deconstructs DamselInDistress. Her constantly getting captured gets her viewed as TheLoad by the gang and she's really sensitive about people bringing up her frequent kidnappings. After the breakup, she takes self-defense classes so she can rescue herself if needed.
** Shaggy and Scooby deconstruct OddFriendship. Shaggy and Scooby both try their best to keep the gang together, but due to their lack of common ground with the gang, the attempt fails and they spend the next 2 years of their life unfulfilled.

* [[FourEyesZeroSoul David]] of ''Film/ShaunOfTheDead'' deconstructs:
** The DoggedNiceGuy. He always fancied Liz and never got over rejecting him for Shaun in high school, so he began dating Liz's friend Dianne to position himself as a NiceGuy ideal boyfriend and belittling Shaun even though Liz is happy with him (she just wishes he was a little more active). When the ZombieApocalypse hits, he is [[TheLoad nothing but a contrarian millstone]] and even refuses to come to Shaun's aid when he is attacked by a zombie (excusing it with "I didn't want to cramp your style"). It comes to a head when [[spoiler:things really start going to hell for the group in the Winchester. Dianne call outs David by revealing she ''knew all along'' that he was just a manipulative predator trying to get close to Liz, which recontextualises his previous actions (essentially, [[MurderTheHypotenuse let Shaun get killed by a zombie]] and then [[ComfortingTheWidow seduce the mourning Liz]]). Then, he loses his temper after Shaun punches him and [[ItWorksBetterWithBullets tries to shoot Shaun]], which everyone else treats as a MoralEventHorizon, dashing any remaining hope he had of getting with Liz. He is DevouredByTheHorde not long after, and [[AssholeVictim nobody feels bad for him]].]]
** The "[[JerkassHasAPoint jackass who has a point]]" normal to comedy and horror films (example of the latter: [[Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968 Harry Cooper]]). He is too much of a {{jerkass}} with not enough of a point, prioritizing [[CommanderContrarian insulting Shaun and his ideas]] just for the sake of being a contrarian [[spoiler:and the aforementioned obsession with Liz that everyone can see]] or supplying different ideas and completely undermines himself. By the final act, the [[PrecisionFStrike most precise and venomous]] use of labeling him "[[PhraseCatcher a twat]]" is [[spoiler:Liz being upset about, among many things, partially agreeing with what David is saying (namely that Shaun's mom is a ZombieInfectee and they need to shoot her, a responsibility [[KickTheDog he]] immediately [[StakingTheLovedOne hoists on Shaun]]).]]
* Pai Mei of ''Film/KillBill'' deconstructs the [[OldMaster old kung-fu master]] character we've all seen in martial arts movies a thousand times before. Rather than being a good-hearted old man teaching self-defence techniques to the righteous; he's a racist, sexist, miserable old bastard who teaches deadly techniques to whackjobs and prospective assassins. [[TrainingFromHell His training methods amounts to torture]] and [[spoiler:after he [[EyeScream takes his cruelty too far one day]] against Elle Driver (who is just as psychotic as he is), she poisons his dinner that evening and kills him.]]

* ''Film/TheFrighteners'' provides us with FBIAgent Milton Damners, who is the local AgentMulder and paranormal case specialist... and he's a deconstruction of Mulder because the mental scarring of all the cults he's been sent to investigate and the torture he suffered within them has driven him insane (and it's also implied that the Bureau tossed him at them in a SurprisinglyEliteCannonFodder fashion because he annoyed them with his "spooky" crap -- which only got worse the crazier he became). He is the one member of law enforcement to fully believe that there is something supernatural going on, but he is completely useless because he [[InspectorJavert believes protagonist Frank Bannister is the killer]] and keeps trying to piss him off and eventually kill him. Bear in mind that the real Mulder was TheProfiler and would have probably tried to play along with Frank's story that a local SerialKiller has come back from the dead to continue his spree if nothing else but trying a BluffingTheMurderer ploy.
* ''Film/FullMetalJacket''[='=]s Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, despite being perhaps the most famous DrillSergeantNasty in cinematic history, is actually the trope gone wrong. His non-stop insults and abuses wear down the psyche of Private Pyle, [[spoiler:whose signs of mental instability go unnoticed by the sergeant. When Pyle finally snaps and waves around a rifle, Hartman continues to shout at him instead of calling on other officers to detain him. Pyle promptly shoots him before killing himself.]] Like with ''Watchmen'', this backfired enough that every drill instructor in fiction since has had the same personality, teaching style, and even usually [[Creator/RLeeErmey voice]] as [=GySgt=] Hartman.
* ''Film/InALonelyPlace'' deconstructs not only the typical FilmNoir protagonists, but also the majority of roles played by Creator/HumphreyBogart, and shows how awful being that kind of person would be: Dixon Steele, a character who in any other film in the genre would likely be a KnightInShiningArmor style hero, is instead portrayed as TheFriendNobodyLikes with possible mental illness. Tellingly by the end of the movie [[spoiler:Dixon despite being proved of his innocence has still destroyed his relationship Laurel because she can no longer deal with his aggressive violent behavior.]]

* ''Film/GranTorino'' is towards Creator/ClintEastwood crime movies what ''Film/{{Unforgiven}}'' (above) was for Eastwood's western movies. Like many of Eastwood's gruff AntiHero personas, Walt is a curmudgeonly, irreverent GrumpyOldMan. However this attitude is shown to have alienated him from his family, who can't bear to deal with him because of it and he has no connection with anyone until he slowly forms a bond with Thao. When Thao and his family are bothered by his gangbanging cousin and friends, Walt's attempts at intervening and stopping the gang (like you would expect of an Eastwood movie) only make the situation worse. In the end [[spoiler:Walt stops Thao from killing the gang members because Walt who had killed people during the Korean war, knows how much of a toll that takes on a person to live with that. Like Unforgiven the movie makes a point of showing how their is nothing glamourous about murdering a person no matter how just you think it is and to make that choice will haunt you. Walt instead of the usual type of solution you see in a Eastwood movie where he kills the gang members in some major gun fight instead defeats the gang members by tricking them into shooting him in front of a bunch of witnesses thus getting them sent to prison for good. This also doubles as a SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome since there is no way Walt who is dying of lung cancer and even still a 80 year old man, is just going to somehow take out a whole bunch of arm gangbangers by himself]]

* ''Film/TheBreakfastClub'' takes a very good look at what many of the "stock" characters of teen movies (especially those of TheEighties) would be like if they existed in real life, and what their real motivations would be like. Most American teen movies since have used elements of this film's deconstruction wholesale for their own characterization, to the point where, in many cases, what had once been deconstruction is now [[OnceOriginalNowCommon the norm]].
** Andy, the JerkJock, only behaves that way in order to fit in with the rest of the team and to impress his father, who raised him on stories of how he acted like that back when he was in school. He wishes that, one day, he'd get injured so that he wouldn't have to wrestle again, and thus never have to worry about [[WellDoneSonGuy living up to Dad's expectations]].
** Claire, the AlphaBitch, is a StepfordSmiler who feels that her life is empty, and that her parents only use her as a tool in their endless arguments. And she's hardly the "queen bee"--in fact, it's peer pressure that essentially molded her into the snobbish bitch that she is, and she feels miserably forced into it.
** Brian, the StereotypicalNerd, hates how [[EducationMama his parents]] have destroyed his social life by pushing him so hard to succeed, and is so obsessed with his grades that [[spoiler:he [[DrivenToSuicide tried to kill himself]] (or [[AxesAtSchool worse]])]] after getting [[TheBGrade an F in shop class]]. [[InsufferableGenius His attitude]] is also little better than that of the "popular" kids that he hates, as shown when he talks about how he took shop class because he thought it was an easy A that only "losers" like Bender took (as opposed to his advanced math classes).
** Bender, the {{Delinquent|s}}, is like that not because he's a bad person ''per se'', but as a result of his tough, working-class upbringing and his [[AbusiveParents abusive father]], both of which have taught him that violence is an acceptable solution to problems. His badass image is also [[MilesGloriosus easily disarmed by Andy]], even though he's armed with a knife.
** Allison, the CreepyLonerGirl, intentionally acts crazy and theatrically in order to [[AttentionWhore get attention]], something her parents don't give her. She doesn't bother to hide her blatant thefts and eccentricities, and her withdrawn persona is actually just a ploy to get people to give her more attention.
** Mr. Vernon, the DeanBitterman, is scared that these kids are the next generation. Carl the janitor [[NotSoDifferentRemark points out that neither of them were any different when they were young]].

* ''Film/TheBreakfastClub'' takes a very good look at what many of the "stock" characters of teen movies (especially those of TheEighties) would be like if they existed in real life, and what their real motivations would be like. Most American teen movies since have used elements of this film's deconstruction wholesale for their own characterization, to the point where, in many cases, what had once been deconstruction is now [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny old hat]].

** The "[[JerkassHasAPoint jackass who has a point]]" normal to comedy and horror films (example of the latter: [[Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968 Harry Cooper]]). He is too much of a {{jerkass}} with not enough of a point, prioritizing [[CommanderContrarian insulting Shaun and his ideas]] just for the sake of being a contrarian [[spoiler:and the aforementioned obsession with Liz that everyone can see]] or supplying different ideas and completely undermines himself. By the final act, the [[PrecisionFStrike most precise and venomous]] use of labeling him "[[PhraseCatcher a twat]]" is [[spoiler:Liz being upset about, among many things, partially agreeing with what David is saying (namely that Shaun's mom is a ZombieInfectee and they need to shoot her, [[StakeYourLovedOne immediately hoisting the responsibility on Shaun]]).]]

** The "[[JerkassHasAPoint jackass who has a point]]" normal to comedy and horror films (example of the latter: [[Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968 Harry Cooper]]). He is too much of a {{jerkass}} with not enough of a point, prioritizing [[CommanderContrarian insulting and being a contrarian to Shaun]] just for the sake of being a contrarian [[spoiler:and the aforementioned obsession with Liz that everyone can see]] and completely undermining himself. By the final act, the [[PrecisionFStrike most precise and venomous]] use of labeling him "[[PhraseCatcher a twat]]" is [[spoiler:Liz being upset about, among many things, partially agreeing with what David is saying.]]