History Film / MeetTheParents

* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: The free-spirited Fockers. They CannotKeepASecret and have no boundaries whatsoever, especially when it comes to sexuality.

* DemotedToExtra: Roz and Bernie, in ''Little Fockers''. Justified with Bernie, as Creator/DustinHoffman didn’t return initially. A deal was later worked out to bring him back, and new scenes were filmed to fit him into the story well after shooting had wrapped. Roz has slightly more screen time than Bernie does, and even has influence on the subplot involving Jack and Dinah’s deteriorating sex life. Other than providing comic relief, Bernie’s appearance is more or less a [[AdvertisedExtra glorified cameo]].

* HappilyMarried: Bernie and Roz Focker, to the point that the level-headed Dinah is secretly jealous that they have such a successful sex life at their advanced age.

* ItsAllMyFault: After Jack learns that his daughter Deb has broken up with her husband at the start of the third movie, he blames himself for not seeing the signs that Rob was cheating, claiming that he was so focused on Greg that he didn't pay attention to Rob.

* AdaptationalNameChange: Besides Greg begin given an embarrassing last name when he originally had none (plus an embarrassing real first name), the Byrnes family last name was originally spelled "Burns" in the 1992 film. Likewise, Jack, Dina, and Debbie were once called Irv, Kay, and Fay.

* [[WellDoneSonGuy Well Done Son-In-Law Guy]]: Greg.

* MovingTheGoalposts: Jack is exposed as this in the climax of the first movie when, after being presented with evidence that Greg ''wasn't'' lying about his grades and ability to become a doctor, he immediately latches on to ''another'' reason for why he's not suitable. Pam and Dina immediately call bullshit, as it's clear by that point that Jack is just searching for any reason not to accept him.

* EveryoneHasStandards: While Jack has all but delighted in giving Greg a hard time from the moment they met, he cannot abide by Denny's mean-spirited mockery of Greg's legal name. In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it background moment, you can see Jack soberly gesturing to Denny that his joking isn't appropriate and he needs to stop. Despite being Greg's biggest critic, Jack's even one of the few who ''doesn't'' find it amusing.

''Meet The Parents'' is a 2000 KafkaKomedy that is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, based on a [[Film/MeetTheParents1992 1992 independent comedy film]] written by, directed by, and starring Greg Glienna, which was not widely distributed and so is not well known in general public circles. Creator/StevenSoderbergh bought the rights from Glienna to adapt his indie comedy into a major Hollywood feature directed by Creator/JayRoach.

* DirtyCop: Officer LeFlore in the first sequel. He pulls over Greg's car for speeding, and places both Greg and Bernie under arrest when they tried to reason with him; he even tasers Greg when the latter tries to call in Jack (who was riding in an RV with Little Jack). When Jack tries to defend both Greg and Bernie by revealing his past career in the CIA, LeFlore refuses to back down by claiming that he's not obliged to listen to an ex-CIA officer. Even when Jack angrily threatens to report LeFlore for his behavior, LeFlore retaliates by tasering Jack and having him arrested as well while having Little Jack taken away by Child Social Services. Fortunately, Judge Ira was able to have Jack, Bernie and Greg released from prison and for Little Jack to be returned to them.

** Pam's 1992 sister Fay is a creepy, obsessive lunatic who [[CantTakeCriticism can't stand anyone criticizing her singing]], and her interactions with Greg lead to the whole family's downfall. Her 2000 sister Debbie, though, is happily engaged to a man named Bob and isn't given much characterization beyond that.

Greg's situation is further complicated by a series of attempts to impress Pam's family backfiring on him, mostly involving [[FawltyTowersPlot little lies that lead to bigger ones]] until he looks like a complete jackass. It escalates to the point where he gets kicked out of the Byrnes' home. Ultimately, Pam manages to convince her father that she loves Greg and despite the bad first impression it was all because he loves her. After another grilling session, Jack's contempt for Greg dissipates... for the most part.

* AdaptationalNameChange: The Byrnes family last name was originally spelled "Burns" in the 1992 film. Likewise, Jack, Dina, and Debbie were once called Irv, Kay, and Fay.

* AdaptationalPersonalityChange: 1992's Irv Burns is presented as a typically serious, conservative, cigar-smoking, gun-wielding Midwestern American father. A realistically intimidating father-figure, if you will. Still, he is initially trusting of Greg until his would-be son-in-law's accidents cause the family to collapse. Jack Byrnes, however, is a paranoid, overly accusatory former CIA agent who is immediately suspicious of Greg and goes to comical extremes to confirm his suspicions that he's an unsuitable suitor for his daughter.

* AdaptationalPersonalityChange: 1992's Irv Burns is presented as a typically serious, conservative, cigar-smoking, gun-wielding Midwestern American father. A realistically intimidating father-figure, if you will. Still, he is initially warm and welcoming towards Greg until his would-be son-in-law's accidents cause the family to collapse. Jack Byrnes, however, is a paranoid, overly accusatory former CIA agent who is immediately suspicious of Greg and goes to comical extremes to confirm his suspicions that he's an unsuitable suitor for his daughter.

* AdaptationalPersonalityChange:
** 1992's Irv Burns is presented as a typically serious, conservative, cigar-smoking, gun-wielding Midwestern American father. A realistically intimidating father-figure, if you will. Still, he is initially warm and welcoming towards Greg until his would-be son-in-law's accidents cause the family to collapse. Jack Byrnes, however, is a paranoid, overly accusatory former CIA agent who is immediately suspicious of Greg and goes to comical extremes to confirm his suspicions that he's an unsuitable suitor for his daughter.

* AdaptationalNameChange: The Byrnes family last name was originally spelled "Burns" in the 1992 film.

* AdaptationalJobChange: In the 1992 film, patriarch Irv Burns was a gas station owner who eventually sold his business to Japanese investors and retired on the income. Here, Jack Byrnes is a Vietnam War veteran and retired CIA operative whose cover story is that he's a retired florist.

* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: The Fockers. They CannotKeepASecret and have no boundaries whatsoever, especially when it comes to sexuality.

''Meet The Parents'' is a 2000 KafkaKomedy that is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, based on a [[Film/MeetTheParents1992 1992 independent comedy film]] written by, directed by, and starring Greg Glienna, which was not widely distributed and so is not well known in general public circles. Creator/StevenSpielberg bought the rights from Glienna to adapt his indie comedy into a major Hollywood feature directed by Creator/JayRoach.

In the 1992 film, a gas station owner warns an engaged customer against meeting his fiancée's parents and spins the narrative of an advertising agent named Greg ([[NoFullNameGiven no last name]]), who takes his fiancée Pam Burns to meet her parents, Irv and Kay, for a weekend and unwittingly sets off countless accidents that slowly soil his reputation with the family. In a desperate bid to regain a tiny shred of his reputation, Greg listens to Pam's sister Fay, who incorrectly thinks he has ties with Creator/EdMcMahon, sing an audition song for ''Series/StarSearch''. To get back at him for mildly criticizing her audition, Fay accuses Greg of wanting to cheat on Pam with her, then [[DrivenToSuicide hangs herself]] with a sign around her neck reading "Greg killed me". In a surprise twist, Irv's attempt to shoot Greg backfires, and he kills Kay and Pam before dying suddenly of a heart attack, while Greg miraculously turns out fine. The film may be viewed [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwbKkAvL_wE here]] in its entirety on Greg Glienna's official [=YouTube=] channel.

!!The Hollywood film trilogy provides examples of:

!!The 1992 independent film provides examples of:

* ActorAllusion: Greg works as an advertising agent whose job includes writing commercials. His actor also happens to be the screenwriter of this feature.
* AshesToCrashes: On Sunday night, Greg and Pam debate over whether to stay one more night after Greg fails to fix his car and while they are in the room with the ashes of Irv's mother Penny. Greg closes the door strongly enough when they walk out to send Penny's picture falling off the wall and breaking the urn.
* BaitAndSwitch: "The Country Doctor": a delightful, whimsical film starring Creator/AndyGriffith as a small-town doctor whose eccentric ways make him the talk of the town, and Creator/SandyDuncan as a woman visiting from a big city who gets a lesson in his small-town ways. Sounds innocuous, right? Well, at least until Griffith's character strips Duncan's character, rapes her, and murders her with a chainsaw, giving her a very different type of lesson.
* BarBrawl: Greg narrowly escapes one when he earns the ire of Pam's ex-boyfriend Lee.
* BlackComedy: Darker than the Hollywood version of the story since the whole Burns family dies, but Greg lives.
* {{Bookends}}: The film begins and ends with the gas station owner telling a different customer to "turn around" from wherever he is going and proceeding to tell a tale about a man in a situation similar to that customer’s with an outcome the owner calls "tragic".
* ButtMonkey: Greg. It's not really his fault that all these horrible accidents happen. He's not malevolently trying to ruin the weekend. Though the Burns family acknowledges this and is willing to forgive the first few accidents, their forgiving attitude wanes over the film.
** On a fishing boat, Irv asks Greg if he broke his Victrola the previous night, and Greg admits that he broke the crank handle while attempting to turn it and hid it under the sofa. Irv gives no further comments.
** When Greg closes a door that causes a picture of Irv's mother, Penny, to fall onto an urn containing her ashes, a look of complete shock overcomes Irv's face before he screams. Again, he remains coldly silent on the matter at dinner. Greg has ''really'' crossed the line now.
* CantTakeCriticism: Fay. Greg wants to end the weekend on a positive note by praising her signing audition. She begs him for criticism until he finally caves in and says she needs more lessons. She goes into full rage mode, declaring that she is already talented enough and won't give up on her dream, then accuses Greg of wanting to bed her and frames him for her suicide.
* ConMan: The video store employee played by producer Creator/EmoPhilips in his CreatorCameo is a cuddlier example of this. He cheerfully states that every film his various customers want to rent is "his favorite" to guarantee rentals, including Greg's renting of "The Country Doctor", a seemingly family friendly film starring Creator/AndyGriffith and Creator/SandyDuncan that turns out to be a cheap exploitation film rife with violence and sex, with Griffith playing a chainsaw killer who first strips down and rapes his victims. It's nothing personal, really—he only does this to keep his job, not because he wants to ruin Greg's reputation.
* CreatorCameo: Producer James Vincent appears as the gas station owner, while producer Emo Philips appears as a video store employee.
* CringeComedy: From Greg unintentionally snapping the crank off Irv's Victrola to causing everyone in the Burns family to die, this comedy may not always make the audience laugh, but the singularity of Greg Glienna's dark approach will likely impress indie film fans.
* DiggingYourselfDeeper: Like his Hollywood counterpart, Greg can't seem to stop himself from making mistakes.
* DrivenToSuicide: Fay hangs herself after Greg tells her that she needs more singing lessons and deludes herself into believing Greg would want to cheat on Pam with her. To be fair, she did try to force criticism out of him despite his attempts to shower her with compliments and regain trust with the Burnses.
* EyePoke: Greg comes close on the first night to poking out Kay's eye with a fishing pole Irv presents him with for the family fishing trip while casually waving it around, so Irv rushes her to the local emergency room. The Burns matriarch spends the rest of the film with half her face covered in bandages.
* FatBastard: Pam's brutish, obnoxious, beer-bellied ex-boyfriend Lee, who challenges Greg to a [[BarBrawl bar brawl]] when he tries to politely tell him that Pam is not interested in dancing with him.
* GlamorousSingleMother: Irv says that, after his father left his family when he was a child, his now-deceased mother Penny raised the family to great effect on her own.
* GoodShepherd: The priest at the family's church. His sermon about the Prodigal Son and its themes of forgiveness gives Greg a glimmer of hope that his would-be parents-in-law will forgive him for his misfortunes. They do not, but if Greg were to speak to the priest, he would no doubt be sympathetic to his plight.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Irv. He frames Greg for marijuana cigarettes planted in his luggage by Fay while smoking a huge tobacco cigar. Later, the family church's priest leads a Sunday sermon about parents showing forgiveness towards their children (and children-in-law, by extension of this film), referencing Jesus' famous parable of the Prodigal Son. He seems to imply that true forgiveness should be unconditional, but Irv, a devout churchgoer, becomes increasingly unwilling to extend this courtesy to Greg.
** Also Fay, who's ferociously determined to get suggestions for improving her singing voice from Greg (who in turn is no expert on the matter) yet explodes in rage over Greg innocently saying she needs more lessons.
* IMissMom: Irv loves his late mother Penny so much that he still keeps an urn containing her ashes in a private room in his house. He often talks to the urn late at night and once put a hat Penny likely wore in life on it. As a result, he is mildly upset by Greg using the phrase "A ''penny'' saved is a ''penny'' earned" while trying to explain his fiscal responsibility and gravely offended when Greg closes a door that causes her photo to fall onto the urn, shattering it and scattering the ashes.
* TheImmodestOrgasm: Heard but not seen coming from several couples on the Burns' TV while Greg is flipping channels and in "The Country Doctor" film starring Andy Griffith, the last actor one would expect to play a chainsaw killer who rapes his victims before killing them. It's pretty much the only R-rated content in this independent feature, where there's not a drop of blood and very infrequent/mild adult language.
* ItsBeenDone: At his first dinner with the Burns family, Greg discusses his work in advertising, and Irv asks him if he can pitch an idea for an invention. Unfortunately, Irv's description of the invention is literally a weed whacker, and he's disappointed to hear that such a gardening power tool already exists. He's never seen one because he doesn't watch much late-night TV.
* KafkaComedy: Described by critics as the ultimate worst-case scenario comedy. As stated in the film's tagline, "Into each life, some rain must fall... Greg better build an ark.".
* KarmaHoudini: According to the gas station owner, while we never see where Irv's bullet intended for Greg lands after he fires his gun, Greg ''literally'' dodged two bullets that killed Kay and Pam and escaped being punished for Fay's suicide after Irv dropped dead of a heart attack on the stairs.
** Justified here because, with no witnesses left alive, no evidence ties Greg to the suicide. Fay's suicide message, "Greg killed me", doesn't even reveal his last name, and Greg is a fairly common male name in the Anglophone world; hence, if the police were to investigate the house and find Fay's corpse, they would have no way of knowing which of the many Gregs in existence would be responsible. It's also possible that, with no one left alive to stop him, Greg disposed of Fay's sign, if not her body altogether…
* ManipulativeBitch: Fay will stop at ''nothing'' to get Greg to listen to her singing audition and stubbornly believes he has ties with Creator/EdMcMahon despite his telling her over and over that he only wrote a commercial where [=McMahon=] happened to be cast as the [[CelebrityEndorsement spokesperson]] without ever meeting him. She finally succeeds when Greg has crossed the line one too many times and is clinging on to what little dignity he has left.
** On the first night, she offers Greg marijuana before going to bed. Greg refuses, and she plants two joints in his travel bag in case he changes his mind. This puts him at odds with Irv the next morning, who tells him to keep marijuana outside the house [[NotWhatItLooksLike even though Greg insists the joints aren't his]].
** To get back at Greg for criticizing her singing audition, she accuses Greg of wanting to sleep with her to help her get on ''Star Search'', then hangs herself and pins the blame for her misery on him.
* MistakenForCheating: How Fay sees Greg entering her bedroom and saying seductive words intended for Pam.
* MurderIsTheBestSolution: Believing Greg is responsible for Fay's suicide, Irv, who has had enough of Greg's mishaps, quickly grabs his gun and charges after Greg just before the poor young man can walk out of the house. He ends up shooting his wife and daughter instead.
* NoAnimalsWereHarmed: Averted. Pam suggests that Greg throw a stick into a lake for the Burns family dog Bingo to chase after. When he does, Bingo drowns below the lake. The credits have no disclaimer as to whether Bingo survived this scene.
** Greg Glienna would later comment about not being able to get away with this level of black comedy in Hollywood films, while producer James Vincent would proudly state that they added this scene anyway despite it not being standard independent film material either.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: The audio we hear from the unseen "Country Doctor" film features spot-on voice impressions of Andy Griffith and Sandy Duncan.
* NoFullNameGiven: Greg's last name is never revealed, perhaps to present him as ethnically ambiguous as possible so anyone who's ever felt like they've had an unlucky streak can relate to his situation.
* NostalgiaFilter: Regarding moral standards declining in entertainment, Irv reminisces about how great the much tamer ''[[Series/TheAndyGriffithShow Andy Griffith Show]]'' was back in his youth after Greg rents ''The Country Doctor'', which isn't quite what he and the family would expect for a film starring Griffith.
* NotUnderTheParentsRoof: Greg is asked sleep on the living room couch during the visit despite the fact that he and Pam share a bed back home in Chicago, as she notes that her parents are very traditional about abstinence until after marriage.
* PapaWolf: Irv, to his daughters. He is initially trusting of Greg but makes it a point to verify that trust with questions and comments that test Greg's morality. His trust decreases, and his Papa Wolf instincts correspondingly increase, as Greg's accidents escalate. By the time Fay incorrectly frames Greg for wanting to sleep with her and Pam believes her revenge lie, Irv has had enough of him, and he shouts, "Get out!" in defense of his daughters as Greg gives him one last silent look before approaching the front door. Once Irv discovers Fay has hanged herself, he takes things up to eleven and becomes a KnightTemplarParent by attempting to murder Greg on the spot.
* ParentalMarriageVeto: Irv angrily orders Greg to leave after falling for Fay's claim that Greg wanted to cheat on Pam with her.
* SadistShow: Anything that can go wrong for Greg does, but he's not the only one to experience misfortune since the whole Burns family dies by the end.
* ShoutOut:
** Greg and Pam are deciding what video to rent for the whole family to enjoy when Greg dismisses a film starring Creator/MelGibson as "too violent".
** Irv discusses how much he enjoyed ''Series/TheAndyGriffithShow'' when it was on the air.
** Fay mentions that her ''Star Search'' audition song, "When Philip's There", was written by David, her voice teacher, for a musical adaptation of ''Film/{{Jaws}}''.
* ShowWithinAShow: The main story is told from the perspective of a gas station owner to a customer driving out to meet his future in-laws.
* SmashCut: Irv fires his gun, and the story of Greg's nightmare weekend ends right on cue, returning us to the gas station from the beginning of the film.
* SoundtrackDissonance: The original song "Keep Smiling" (performed by Walter Tabayoyong) plays when Greg, driving the Burns family car, enters the local supermarket's parking lot to buy ziplock bags for the family picnic despite his increasing misfortunes. Things get worse when he knocks the driver's side rear view mirror clean off.
* SurpriseCarCrash: A hit-and-run driver hits the Burns family car while Greg is driving it back from the supermarket.
* ThemeNaming: Not every living human character in the film is named, but those who are all have monosyllabic names: Greg, Pam, Irv, Kay, Fay, and Lee. All of these names except Greg's are each three letters long, furthering his status as an outsider to the Burns family's world.
** Bingo the dog and Irv's deceased mother Penny are the [[OddNameOut odd names out]] in the whole named cast with their two-syllable names.
* TitleThemeTune: "Meet the Parents" is also the name of the song heard in the opening credits, written by associate producer Emo Philips.
* {{Troll}}: Possibly the gas station owner himself. Are Greg and Pam real people in this universe? Did any of the events he describes actually happen? Or is he just making up this story because he's bored and likes to amuse himself by frightening his customers?
** The question is raised again with the second customer at the end of the film when the owner advises him against taking his kids to the circus, beginning a new story about a man in a similar situation like before.

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''Meet The Parents'' is a 2000 KafkaKomedy that is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, based on a 1992 independent comedy film written by, directed by, and starring Greg Glienna, which was not widely distributed and so is not well known in general public circles. Creator/StevenSpielberg bought the rights from Glienna to adapt his indie comedy into a major Hollywood feature directed by Creator/JayRoach.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* MrFanservice: According to a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7dLosnXKyE&t=4s YouTube video.]], Ben Stiller shows off his very muscular physique in a speedo.