History Literature / HighFidelity

** While he's not as obnoxious as Barry, Rob is revealed to be arguably worse in a low-key, long-term, high-functioning kind of way. He is a selfish, insensitive, immature, all-round toxic person who objectifies the women he dates, and prefers to wallow in his own misery instead of getting a grip on his life like an adult, which in turn infects the people who love him despite himself. That said, much like Barry, he does care for his friends, and by the end of the movie seems to be making a change for the better.

* ModestyBedsheet: When Rob calls Charlie in her window so they can work things out and she steps out wearing only a sheet... but her lover soon appears behind her ''also'' wearing only a sheet and pulls her away.

* UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}: In [[TheFilmOfTheBook the movie]].

* AsideGlance: In the movie, Rob talks to the audience frequently.

* BetaCouple : Dick and Anna.

* CelebrityParadox : Barry points out Rob's "Cosby sweater," so ''Series/TheCosbyShow'' exists, yet no one comments on Marie La Salle's resemblance to a certain Cosby daughter.

* ChekhovsGun : [[spoiler: Laura's dad's angina]], which her mother mentions on the answering machine message at the beginning, and sets off the last act of the movie.

* FlatCharacter: Barry is a much shallower character in the film than in the book. In the book he's an obnoxious tosspot, but also extremely lonely, and bitter as a consequence. In the film he's played by Creator/JackBlack.

--> '''Rob:''' She's in the phone book! She's in the fucking phone book! She should be living on Neptune! She's an extra terrestrial, a ghost, a myth, not a person in a phone book!\\

* ManlyTears : Rob cries a couple of times in the film.

* PantyShot : We get a quick one when Penny (the nice girl who won't let Rob touch her bra) rolls away from him on the bed.

* TechMarchesOn: Although [=CDs=] were present in the novel (published in 1995), the film features them much more prominently. In spite of this, however, both novel and film are essentially about vinyl purists, so vinyl occupy pride of place irrespective of technological advances.

* ItsPopularNowItSucks: In-universe - this is the guys' standard; Barry calls Rob's picks for [[TopTenList Top Five "Track Ones/Side Ones"]] "very ''pussy''" for only including ''one'' semi-obscure Music/MassiveAttack song amongst "a bunch of old safe ones". Barry's probably the worst of them in this regard.

* TakeThatAudience: After listing the four worst things he'd done to Laura, Rob challenges the reader, before judging him, to list the worst things they've done to their partners, ''especially'' if the partners don't know about them:

** Number five: "Jackie Alden. [[spoiler: Jackie Alden's breakup had no effect on my life whatsoever. It was a casual thing, and I was glad when it ended. [[BelatedLoveEpiphany I just slotted her in to bump Laura out of position.]]"]]

* NeverMyFault: Rob is very quick to tell us about mitigating circumstances in breakups and why he isn't to blame.

-->'''Penny''': I... I was crazy about you. I wanted to sleep with you, one day, but not when I was 16. When you broke up with me - YOU broke up with ME - because I was, to use your charming expression, "tight," I cried, and I cried, and I hated you, and when that little shitbag asked me out and I was too tired to fight him off, it wasn't rape, because I said "OK," but it wasn't far off! Do you know I couldn't have sex until after college because I hated it so much? That's when you're supposed to have sex, Rob - in college! And now you want to have a little chat about rejection, well fuck you, Rob!

--> '''Rob:''' She's in the phone book! She's in the fucking phone book! She should be living on Neptune! She's an extra terrestrial, a ghost, a myth, not a person in a phone book!
--> '''Rob (narrating):''' And then it dawns on me. Charlie's awful. She doesn't listen to anyone, she says terrible, stupid things, she apparently has no sense of humor at all, and talks shit all night long. Maybe she's been like this all along. How did I manage to edit all this out? How had I made this girl the answer to all the world's problems?

* YourCheatingHeart : One of the reasons. Rob thinks Laura tricked him into admitting he was interested in someone else.

* InUniverseSoundtrack: Rob Gordon is the manager of a record store, and most of the songs in the film soundtrack are played InUniverse by him and his employees. This includes a cover of Music/MarvinGaye's "Let's Get It On" performed by Creator/JackBlack, whose character Barry sings it in the film.

** The book is laden with music shout-outs from start to finish. It includes many of Rob's music-related top five lists, with titles like "Top Five ElvisCostello Songs," "Top Five Best Side One Track Ones," and "Top Five Floor-fillers at The Groucho."

* LondonTown: In the book.

''High Fidelity'' is a 1995 British novel by Nick Hornby (also known for ''Literature/AboutABoy''). It was adapted into a [[FilmOfTheBook 2000 film]] directed by Creator/StephenFrears and starring Creator/JohnCusack. It also served as the basis for a 2006 Broadway musical of the same name.

* TheCameo: BruceSpringsteen appears as an apparition to Rob in the movie.

[[quoteright:220:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Highfidelity_2993.jpg]]

''High Fidelity'' is a 1995 British novel by Nick Hornby (also known for ''Literature/AboutABoy''). It was adapted into a [[FilmOfTheBook 2000 film]] directed by Stephen Frears and starring John Cusack. It also served as the basis for a 2006 Broadway musical of the same name.

* IndulgentFantasySegue: Three in a row, dealing with how Rob ''wants'' to deal with Ian when the latter shows up at the store to talk about Laura man-to-man. The first time he loudly tells Ian off; the second time, he threatens him with violence and sends him running from the store like a coward. It culminates with a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown where ''Dick'' throws the first punch and the fight ends with Ian's head crushed under a air conditioner window-unit]]. What ''actually'' happens is Rob reacts like a sensible person and says he'll consider Ian's suggestion to drop the matter.

* IndulgentFantasySegue: Three in a row, dealing with how Rob ''wants'' to deal with Ian when the latter shows up at the store to talk about Laura man-to-man. First he cusses Ian out, then he punches him out. These culminate in [[spoiler:a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown where ''Dick'' throws the first punch and the fight ends with Ian's head crushed under a air conditioner window-unit]]. What ''actually'' happens is Rob reacts like a sensible person and says he'll consider Ian's suggestion to drop the matter.

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Though they never feature directly in the narrative, several RealLife musicians pop up in passing (Marie [=LaSalle=] slept with a famous American singer-songwriter whose name isn't specifically mentioned, the bands Suede, The Auteurs and Saint Étienne wanted to put up posters in the shop etc.).

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: In both novel and film, Barry chewing out a middle-aged customer for ''daring'' to ask if the shop has a copy of "I Just Called to Say I Love You" by StevieWonder really sets out what an obnoxious superior JerkAss he is. What makes it worse is that the customer clearly establishes that ''he's buying the record for someone else''.

* DateRape: Penny says that her having sex with Chris Thomson when she was sixteen (immediately after Rob had broken up with her) wasn't too far from this trope.

* ButtMonkey: Rob.