History Main / EightDeadlyWords

** Ebert's review of ''Film/EastOfEden'' mentions that his notes start out remarking that the film was slow and uninvolving; by the fourth page he's writing a grocery list instead.

* Played with in-universe in ''VideoGame/WurmOnline'', whose PVP servers have an ExcusePlot about three [[CosmeticallyDifferentSides largely interchangeable]] factions fighting a low-key ForeverWar over land and resources, with some sort of CosmicChessGame between the gods going on in the background that seems not to affect anything in the gameworld besides occasionallyspawning raid bosses... But the non-PVP servers are explicitly described in the lore as being their own separate faction, formed of people who've decided that the war is stupid and pointless and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere walked away to go do their own thing.]] One cannot help but suspect a bit of RealitySubtext there, given how many players PlayTheGameSkipTheStory.

Many {{Horror}}/monster/{{Disaster Movie}}s try to avoid this by DevelopingDoomedCharacters, only to make the audience care ''less'' about the characters because they aren't getting [[JustHereForGodzilla the slaughter they came there to see]], and wondering why they're spending the first quarter-to-third of the movie with people they don't give a flip about. Or course, those who ''are'' JustHereForGodzilla might have the patience to wait things out.

A phrase coined by Dorothy Jones Heydt in a science-fiction based Website/{{Usenet}} group in 1991 to describe an AudienceReaction to a work of fiction where the characters are either so universally bland and unengaging or so unlikable and unsympathetic that the reader simply loses interest in their fate and, by extension, the work as a whole. This can happen with or without the presence of [[BadWritingIndex more objective shortcomings]], but the most interesting examples tend to be those where this is a critic's main complaint, single-handedly dragging an otherwise well-made story down to where it's unengaging.

* This comes up a lot in [[WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation Yahtzee's]] reviews of games (Yahtzee, as a writer himself, being a very story-based gamer), perhaps most amusingly cited in his own review of ''VideoGame/Wolfenstein2009'' (which was [[CrazyAwesome entirely delivered in limerick form]]):

* ''WesternAnimation/TheEmojiMovie'' is ''[[SnarkBait infamous]]'' for this. With almost all of the characters being {{flat|Character}}, [[TheScrappy annoying]], and/or just plain [[{{Jerkass}} unlikable]], you can't find yourself rooting for anyone to make it through in the end, with the exception of [[EnsembleDarkhorse Akiko Glitter]], [[spoiler:who is, of course, the ''only'' character to die]]. There is also the fact that Gene has what WebVideo/{{Bobsheaux}} claimed is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja2egaTGOwE#t=11m00s "probably the most depressing character motivation I've ever heard in my life."]] Add to it that WebVideo/TheMysteriousMrEnter said that it doesn’t remind him of ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'', ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'', ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie'', or even ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'', but it actually reminded him of the Creator/SeltzerAndFriedberg films, which are {{Shallow Parod|y}}ies notorious for being unfunny.

--> "It's hard to care about the events of an alternate universe that wouldn't exist or matter anyway after a few months. It's harder still when the overwhelming majority of the characters are so hideously unlikeable that you get the impression the world would be better off destroyed. Add in the fact that the only character from "our" DCU is Barry Allen, widely regarded as a CreatorsPet, and you have a comic that winds up mostly being a lot of empty, unpleasant noise."

-->''...His wife banged the pastor—after being convinced that Pete was dead, by the way. Pete's reasoning was not only flawed, but also so inherently stupid that it makes for bad storytelling, leading to not only a unsatisfactory conclusion, but you groaning out loud at the stupidity of the author who thought that it was a good idea. And it turns out, the wife didn't even bang the pastor. She fucked the slave, which doesn't make anything better, story-wise. If anything, it makes things worse because you realise the whole story, from Pete killing the pastor, to us reading about his time in the war and him being brave amounted to nothing because he was an idiot. I don't mean that in terms of his personality; idiots can be made into convincing characters. No, he was an idiot character, spun from nothing and given the slightest substance and depth.''

Note that "not caring about what happens to" a character is not the same as "[[TheScrappy not liking]]" them -- some character archetypes, such as the UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist or HateSink, work because they are conduits for LaserGuidedKarma. In other words, even if you ''hate'' the character, you still ''care about what happens to them'' (because you want to see them get their comeuppance), [[LoveToHate so you'll still follow the story]]. The opposite of love, after all, is not hate, but rather '''apathy''' -- and this trope is about when that apathy has set in.

Note that "not caring about what happens to" a character is not the same as "[[TheScrappy not liking]]" them -- some character archetypes, such as the UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist or HateSink, work because they are conduits for LaserGuidedKarma. In other words, even if you ''hate'' the character, you still ''care about what happens to them'' (because you want to see them get their comeuppance), so you'll still follow the story. The opposite of love, after all, is not hate, but rather '''apathy''' -- and this trope is about when that apathy has set in.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheEmojiMovie'' is ''[[SnarkBait infamous]]'' for this. With almost all of the characters being {{flat|Character}}, [[TheScrappy annoying]], and/or just plain [[{{Jerkass}} unlikable]], you can't find yourself rooting for anyone to make it through in the end, with the exception of [[EnsembleDarkhorse Akiko Glitter]], [[spoiler:who is, of course, the ''only'' character to die]]. There is also the fact that Gene has what WebVideo/{{Bobsheaux}} claimed is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja2egaTGOwE#t=11m00s "probably the most depressing character motivation I've ever heard in my life."]] Add to it that WebVideo/TheMysteriousMrEnter said that it doesn’t remind him of ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'', ''Disney/WreckItRalph'', ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie'', or even ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'', but it actually reminded him of the Creator/SeltzerAndFriedberg films, which are {{Shallow Parod|y}}ies notorious for being unfunny.

* The original version of ''Disney/{{Zootopia}}'' was a much darker story, where the predator/prey tension was exemplified by requiring predators to wear shock collars to keep their primitive, savage ways under control. While the creative team tried to present the existence of shock collars in a lighter, comedic tone, the audience during internal viewings kept reporting that they didn't ''want'' the city to survive the movie's conflict because of the way it was treating a portion of its citizens. The creators took the advice and removed the shock collars from the story and instead focused on social bias, prejudice and stereotyping as the source of tension between predator and prey.

Note that "not caring about what happens to" a character is not the same as "[[TheScrappy not liking]]" them -- some character archetypes, such as the UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist or HateSink, are driven by the notion that watching horrible things happen to people that deserve them can be entertaining. In other words, even if you ''hate'' the character, you still ''care about what happens to them'' (because you want to see them get their comeuppance) so you'll still follow the story. This trope comes into play when even that fails to arouse sufficient interest. In other words, '''apathy'''.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheEmojiMovie'' is ''[[SnarkBait infamous]]'' for this. With almost all of the characters being {{flat|Character}}, [[TheScrappy annoying]], and/or just plain [[{{Jerkass}} unlikable]], you can't find yourself rooting for anyone to make it through in the end, with the exception of [[EnsembleDarkhorse Akiko Glitter]], [[spoiler:who is, of course, the ''only'' character to die.]] There is also the fact that Gene has what WebVideo/{{Bobsheaux}} claimed is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja2egaTGOwE#t=11m00s "probably the most depressing character motivation I've ever heard in my life."]] Add to it that WebVideo/TheMysteriousMrEnter said that it doesn’t remind him of ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'', ''Disney/WreckItRalph'', ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie'', or even ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'', but it actually reminded him of the Creator/SeltzerAndFriedberg films, which are {{Shallow Parod|y}}ies notorious for being unfunny.

---> '''I DON'T FUCKING CARE!''' And you know why? Because I never once heard anyone in this movie say "I 'feel' this" or "I 'like' this" or "I 'wonder' this". There are no emotions being addressed. Traditional storytelling is setting up a character, sending them on their journey, and learning more about them through their journey. The Last Airbender is just chess piece storytelling: Character goes here, character goes there, character says this, pawn to king four.

--->"A movie ''killed [[Characters/SupermanTheCharacter Superman]]'' and I felt '''nothing!'''

Many {{Horror}}/monster/{{Disaster Movie}}s try to avoid this by DevelopingDoomedCharacters, only to make the audience care ''less'' about the characters because they aren't getting [[JustHereForGodzilla the slaughter they came there to see]], and wondering why they're spending TwentyMinutesWithJerks.

* This is a common criticism leveled against ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' by [[BrokenBase its detractors]]. Due to the game's exceptionally SlowPacedBeginning and the [[AllThereInTheManual reliance on datalogs]] in order to [[LostInMediasRes understand the events of the first several chapters]], many players simply give up on trying to follow the story, who the characters are, what they are doing, and ''why''. Add that to the [[NoSidepathsNoExplorationNoFreedom incredibly restrictive gameplay and level-design]], the frustratingly contrived IdiotBall that is dragged out for nearly ''20 hours of playtime''[[note]]The Fal’Cie curse people into doing their bidding [[IdiotPlot but refuse to tell them what their goals are in the first place]][[/note]], the fact that many of the protagonists [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic fail to make good first impressions]] and [[WithFriendsLikeThese all seem to hate each other]], topped off with some extremely repetitive dialogue, and you end up with a huge number of players who soon become not only ''disinterested'' in the story and characters, but intuitively ''[[TheScrappy sick of them]]''. Basically, you need ''a lot'' of empathy and patience in order to enjoy the game and see it through to the end, which, obviously, not all players are going to have.

* [[http://mightygodking.com/2011/08/31/so-flashpoint/ One reviewer]] about ''{{Comicbook/Flashpoint}}'': It's hard to care about the events of an alternate universe that wouldn't exist or matter anyway after a few months. It's harder still when the overwhelming majority of the characters are so hideously unlikeable that you get the impression the world would be better off destroyed. Add in the fact that the only character from "our" DCU is Barry Allen, widely regarded as a CreatorsPet, and you have a comic that winds up mostly being a lot of empty, unpleasant noise.

* Creator/ChrisStuckmann stated in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo5NETEV0S0 his review of]] ''[[Film/FantasticFour2015 Fant4stic]]'' that the film's poor world-building prevented him from caring about Earth as Doctor Doom began to destroy it, noting that a DownerEnding would have been more interesting than the actual outcome. Uninteresting characters and [[TrailersAlwaysSpoil a lack of spoiler-warning-worthy events]] hardly helped.

* The original version of ''Disney/{{Zootopia}}'' was a much darker story, where Zootopia was a hellish, racist dystopia that put shock collars on predators because they were "dangerous", even if that predator was a ''child''. Even beyond the collars it was still heavily discriminatory against them. The movie's co-director Byron Howard said that, in a positive example of ExecutiveMeddling, a Disney executive said that no one would ''want'' the city to survive the movie's conflict because it's an awful place. The creators took the advice and toned down Zootopia's racism a good deal. Thankfully the change turned out to be a positive one, and ''Zootopia'' was a critically acclaimed hit.

* This is a common criticism leveled against ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' by [[BrokenBase its detractors]]. Due to the game's exceptionally SlowPacedBeginning and the [[AllThereInTheManual reliance on datalogs]] in order to [[LostInMediasRes understand the events of the first several chapters]], many players simply give up on trying to follow the story, who the characters are, what they are doing, and ''why''. Add that to the [[NoSidepathsNoExplorationNoFreedom incredibly restrictive gameplay and level-design]], the frustratingly contrived IdiotBall that is dragged out for nearly ''20 hours of playtime''[[note]]The Fal’Cie curse people into doing their bidding [[IdiotPlot but refuse to tell them what their goals are in the first place]], the fact that many of the protagonists [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic fail to make good first impressions]] and [[WithFriendsLikeThese all seem to hate each other]], topped off with some extremely repetitive dialogue, and you end up with a huge number of players who soon become not only ''disinterested'' in the story and characters, but intuitively ''[[TheScrappy sick of them]]''. Basically, you need ''a lot'' of empathy and patience in order to enjoy the game and see it through to the end, which, obviously, not all players are going to have.

* This is a common criticism leveled against ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' by [[BrokenBase its detractors]]. Due to the game's exceptionally SlowPacedBeginning and the [[AllThereInTheManual reliance on datalogs]] in order to [[LostInMediasRes understand the events of the first several chapters]], many players simply give up on trying to follow the story, who the characters are, what they are doing, and ''why''. Add that to the [[NoSidepathsNoExplorationNoFreedom incredibly restrictive gameplay]] which many describe as being a "20-hour-tutorial", the fact that [[DesignatedHero the protagonists]] [[WithFriendsLikeThese all seem to hate each other]] (thus [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic exacerbating their]] [[BaseBreakingCharacter respective character flaws]]), and the repetitive nature of the dialogue[[note]]"Pulse Fal'Cie are the enemies of Coccoon", "Our Focus is to destroy Coccoon", "Our Focus is to protect Coccoon", etc.[[/note]], and you end up with a huge number of players who soon become not only ''disinterested'' in the story and characters, but intuitively ''[[TheScrappy sick of them]]''. Basically, you need ''a lot'' of empathy and patience in order to enjoy the game and see it through to the end, which, obviously, not all players are going to have.