History SkewedPriorities / Film

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[[folder: Animated]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheBoxtrolls'': Lord Portley-Rind uses civic funds to commission a massive wheel of cheese instead of building a ''children's hospital''. In fact, his obsession with cheese [[ParentalNeglect puts a serious cramp in his relationship with his daughter Winifred]], and at one point blinds him to the fact that [[NotNowKiddo she's trying to warn him]] of the {{Big Bad}}'s evil plan.
* ''Disney/TheEmperorsNewGroove'': Yzma's first plan to get revenge on Kuzco was to turn him into a flea, stick him in a set of nesting boxes, mail the boxes to herself, and then smash the boxes with a hammer. The reason she changes her scheme? She wanted to save on postage. Since she had to be reminded that revenge was an option in the first place, it's not terribly surprising she fell victim to this trope.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'':
** Violet and Dash discuss their mother going off to find their father, who's in danger on [[BigBad Syndrome]]'s island. It's strongly implied that Helen suspects if Bob isn't in some kind of dangerous situation, his unexplained absences may be the result of him having an affair.
--->'''Violet:''' Mom and dad's lives could be in danger! Or worse, their ''marriage''.
** In the climax, [[BlackBestFriend Lucius]] "[[AnIcePerson Frozone]]" [[TheLancer Best]] sees the Omnidroid wreaking havoc and goes off to help Bob and his family fight it. Unfortunately, he's missing his super-suit, and asks his wife where it is.
--->'''Lucius (Frozone)''': Honey?\\
'''Honey''': What?\\
'''Lucius''': Where's my super suit?\\
'''Honey''': What?\\
'''Lucius''': Where - is - my - super - suit?\\
'''Honey''': I, uh, put it away.\\
''[Helicopter explodes outside]''\\
'''Lucius''': ''Where''?\\
'''Honey''': ''Why'' do you need to know?\\
'''Lucius''': I need it!\\
'''Honey''': Uh-uh! Don't you think about running off doing no derrin'-do. We've been planning this dinner for two months!\\
'''Lucius''': The public is in danger!\\
'''Honey''': My ''evening's'' in danger!\\
'''Lucius''': You tell me where my suit is, woman! We are talking about the greater good!\\
'''Honey''': 'Greater good?' I am your ''wife''! I'm the greatest ''good'' you are ''ever'' gonna get!
* ''WesternAnimation/IsleOfDogs'': While the five main dogs talk about their woes, King explains of how he used to star in twenty-two consecutive Doggy Chop dog food commercials. He follows it up by lamenting, "Look at me now; I can't even land an audition!"
* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2'': A flashback scene shows how Mr. Ping found baby Po abandoned in a ([[BigEater now empty]]) box of radishes. So Mr. Ping makes a decision that will change his life forever...to make his soup without radishes. ''And'' raise Po as his son.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Paranorman}}'': Features a man who is torn between fleeing from the approaching zombie horde and waiting for the vending machine to deliver the snack he just bought. When the zombies are almost upon him he finally flees, only to ''[[TooDumbToLive come back]]'' when the snack arrives. [[spoiler: Fortunately, the zombies were never interested in hurting him.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongebobSquarepantsMovie'': When King Neptune freezes Mr. Krabs, Squidward says, "Oh, no! This is terrible! Who's gonna sign my paycheck?"
* ''WesternAnimation/StrangeMagic'': [[EvilOverlord The Bog King's]] minions tend to have this.
-->'''Minion''': Uh sire, I forgot to mention you forgot your weapon upstairs. But I found your boutonniere!
* ''Disney/{{Tangled}}'': Flynn Ryder is on the run being pursued by palace guards, after having stolen the crown (something he can get death sentenced for if caught). When he comes across a "Wanted" poster with his face drawn on it, instead of running on he takes the time to take the poster in his hands and exclaim
--> '''Flynn:''' [[LittleNo No no no no no no no]], this is ''bad'', this is very, very ''bad''... this is ''really'' [[RuleOfThree bad]]! ''[{{Beat}}]'' ''[[BerserkButton They just can't get my nose right!]]''
** This is a RunningGag and later taken UpToEleven when other people actually recognize him from the "Wanted" poster, and Flynn instead of having an OhCrap reaction to being about to be handed over to the authorities:
--> '''Vladimir:''' ''[Pointing to Flynn with one hand while a finger of his other hand covers up the nose on the poster]'' Is this you?
--> '''Flynn:''' ''[Moves Vladimir's finger off of the poster's nose, and sees that his nose is even more badly drawn than on the first poster]'' Ow... Now they're just being mean.
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[[folder: Live-Action]]
* Lampshaded in ''Film/FerrisBuellersDayOff'':
--> '''Cameron:''' Ferris, my father loves this car more than life itself.\\
'''Ferris:''' A man with priorities so far out of whack doesn't deserve such a fine automobile.
* ''Film/{{Zombieland}}'' sees Tallahassee's quest to find Twinkies. [[spoiler:Something of a subversion as his [[FreudianExcuse motive]] for wanting the Twinkies so bad actually makes sense.]]
--> '''Witchita:''' You're risking our lives for a ''twinkie?''\\
'''Columbus:''' Just humor him.
* In ''Film/AirplaneIITheSequel'', Elaine tries to tell the passengers that the Mayflower lunar rocket plane is off-course, but they don't panic until she mentions that the plane is out of coffee.
* ''Film/TheBabysitter'': Seen twice [[TheCheerleader by Allison]], whose only concern is her body.
** When she gets shot, she gripes that the bullet hit her breast and how it'll ruin her chances of finding a boyfriend. Heedless of the fact that the shot had nearly been fatal since the bullet struck just above her heart, nor was she concerned that her friends [[spoiler: had just murdered two police officers]]!
** Later in the film, she accuses Cole of being a pervert for poking her injured breast, completely overlooking that he only did it in self-defense because she was trying to kill him. Not to mention, Cole was only 12 years old.
* In ''Film/TheProducers'' remake, Max cries "Oh no!" after stepping out of the way instead of catching a little old lady, who hurtles away; however, it turns out he is upset because she forget to sign the check.
* Early on in ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'', Obi-Wan chews Anakin out for losing his lightsaber. Later on, when Anakin is trapped inside a wild droid factory with NoOSHACompliance, his lightsaber is destroyed, he's surrounded by battle droids and a Mandalorian, and his response is "Not again. Obi-Wan's gonna kill me."
* Played with in ''Film/LordOfWar'': Andre Baptiste Sr., a dictator, shoots one of his own men with a gun that Yuri, an ArmsDealer, is showing to him. Yuri shouts "Why'd you do that!?", then follows up by explaining that Baptiste will now have to buy the gun since he can't sell it used. It's not a straight example because Yuri doesn't actually feel that way - he genuinely reacted to the man's death, then realized doing so was a mistake and made it into a joke to keep on Baptiste's good side.
* ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}'':
** PlayedForDrama to show off what an asshole Cal is. After hearing that half the people on the ship are going to die, what's he concerned about? "You know, it's a pity I didn't keep that drawing. It'll be worth a lot more by morning."
** And by Rose's mother, when she asks a crewman as everyone is piling into the few remaining lifeboats if the seating will be divided by class.
** And another woman who asks, "Can you hold the boat for a moment? I have to go back to my room for just--" She gets cut off as a fed up Lightoller bodily picks her up and dumps her into the boat.
* ''Film/ApocalypseNow'':
** ColonelKilgore orders an [[DeathFromAbove air-strike]] on a VC-controlled village not because of its tactical significance, but because he wants to go surfing on the nearby beach. In a deleted scene that was restored in the ''Redux'' version, he orders a manhunt for Willard via helicopter because Willard stole his surfboard.
** Near the very end of the film, Kurtz says, "We train young men to drop fire on people, but their commanders won't allow them to write 'fuck' on their airplanes because it's obscene!"
* ''Film/CabinFever''. People all around are dying of a deadly flesh eating disease. [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment Suddenly, the caring hero finds himself laying underneath a woman who just wants to have sex.]] In most discussions about this scene in forums, etc., viewers agree that the woman's priorities are severely messed-up, though [[MsFanservice a lot of guys add that if they were sitting beside the woman themselves, they'd be more then happy to let her do her thing.]] Later on, the same girl decides to have a bath and shave her legs while everybody else is either dying, searching for survivors, or trying to escape from homicidal rednecks.
* In ''Film/WendyWuHomecomingWarrior'', Wendy Wu is told that she is TheChosenOne and must save the world, but she at first thinks that becoming Homecoming Queen is more important. She eventually gets her act together and saves the world.
* In ''Film/TheHangover'', this is a defining trait of Alan Garner.
** In Part I, when everybody is berating Alan about him putting roofies in their drinks, Alan gets shocked at Stu cursing at him.
** In Part II, everybody is held at gunpoint and Alan is more concerned about a monkey.
** In Part III, everybody is freaking out about a man getting murdered before their eyes and Alan is more concerned about almost losing his phone.
* ''Film/TheGodfather'': During a mob hit, Clemenza famously reminds Rocco, "Leave the gun. Take the cannoli."
** As evidence linking them to the crime, the gun is less incriminating on its own than if found in the characters' possession, given the state of forensic science in the era. The cannoli probably was good though.
* In ''Film/TheGodfatherPartIII'', a helicopter surprises and begins to massacre a large meeting of Mafia bosses. One boss refuses to leave the room without his lucky coat and is mowed down before he can even take the coat off the rack.
* ''Film/{{Hook}}'': When Tinkerbell grows into a life-size and destroys her house, Peter response is "You broke your house" and then "You're humoungous".
* In ''Film/LegallyBlonde'', Brooke has an airtight alibi for her husband's murder (she was getting liposuction) but refuses to use it in her defense because she made a fortune on her fitness empire and doesn't want to hurt her reputation. [[TakeAThirdOption Apparently the idea of saying she was having surgery or in a doctor's appointment, but not specifying what kind never occurred to her]]. In Brooke's defense, the prosecution would have likely pressed to find out what the appointment was for, which would have easily leaked the information to everyone. Still, a damaged reputation isn't as bad as going to prison.
* ''Franchise/HarryPotter'': Hermione always treats getting expelled from Hogwarts as a FateWorseThanDeath, since if she were expelled, she'd have to return to the Muggle world. Examples include:
** In ''Film/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone''. Hermione states, "I'm going to bed before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed. Or worse, ''expelled!''" It's lampshades when Ron responds, "She needs to sort out her priorities!"
** This is also manifested in Hermione's boggart, which is not Voldemort, or death, or giant monsters, or anything like that -- but ''failing all her classes''. It's at a time when she's heavily academically stressed due to taking so many classes she needs to resort to time travel just to attend them all.
** In ''Film/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'', after Harry illegally does magic outside school (and gets pardoned), Hermione says, "It's not funny. Harry was lucky not to be expelled." He responds icily, "I think I was lucky not to be arrested, actually." (In this instance possibly closer to WorryingForTheWrongReason?)
** In ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', when they've just had to flee from the Death Eaters twice, Hermione suddenly wails that they didn't celebrate Harry's birthday. He reminds her that there's a war going on around them. And she actually lampshades herself: "Oh, right. Perspective."
* In the climax of ''Film/OutrageousFortune'', the two heroines are being pursued by both Michael and the FBI on a dangerous mountain Lauren holding the dangerous biochemical weapon he stole; Sandy eventually slugs one of the agents... Then looks at her hands and says, "Aw, nuts!" (Clearly, she's upset at having ''broke a nail''.)
* ''Film/TheBigLebowski'':
** When Lebowski's daughter Maude’s limo driver is forcefully pulling The Dude to Lebowski's limo (after the drop-off), Dude warns the guy, "Careful, man! There's a beverage here!"
** Later, when he, Walter and Donny are confronted by Nihilists at the film’s climax, all the Dude cares to notice is his car having been trashed.
* During the pterosaur attack in ''Film/JurassicWorld'', one guy (played by Music/JimmyBuffett himself) takes care not to spill his margaritas as he hurries to shelter.
* In ''Film/OfDiceAndMen,'' John Francis and Jason are angry at Edward for cheating on Tara because he broke her heart. John Alex is angry at Edward for cheating on Tara because now they have to decide which one to kick out of the gaming group. And he's genuinely conflicted about which one to keep: on the one hand, Edward is a complete {{Jerkass}}, but on the other hand, "he gives really good roleplay."
* ''Film/TheHungerGames'':
** In the first movie, Effie Trinket is more upset that Katniss stabbed the table ("That is mahogany!") than that she almost stabbed Haymitch in the hand.
** Leans on ComicallyMissingThePoint: "Careers train for the games until they're 18, but they don't get dessert! And you do!"
* In ''Film/{{Scream 1996}}'', when [[spoiler:Stu, one of the killers,]] is bleeding out in Sidney's kitchen, the first thought that comes to his mind is how angry his parents are gonna be with him when they find out what had happened. Never mind that he was just stabbed deep and has lost a lot of blood, and probably won't even live to see his parents.
* In ''Film/TheRoom'', after Mark tries to kill Peter for no reason, Peter is more concerned by the fact that [[DrugsAreBad Mark smokes weed]].
* Taken to a hilarious extreme in ''Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory'', as people grow increasingly desperate to find the final Golden Ticket. Over the course of the movie's first act we see people going to higher and higher extremes to get chocolate bars that might contain the tickets (growing as each ticket is found). This finally culminates in a tense hostage-negotiation scene straight out of ''Franchise/{{Dragnet}}'' where the frantic, horrified wife of the kidnap-victim is left speechless when the criminals demand her chocolate.
-->'''Cop:''' Did you hear me? It's your husband's life or your case of Wonka bars!\\
'''Woman:''' How long will they give me to think it over?
* In ''Film/SemiPro'', when Jackie Moon is in the ring with a bear and the bear is all over him like a cheap suit, he implores, “Watch my hair! The only thing I care about is my hair!”
* In ''Film/MontyPythonsLifeOfBrian'', the Roman Centurion who catches Brian in the act of writing anti-Roman graffiti doesn't take issue with the message itself, but with the [[GrammarNazi atrocious]] [[YouMakeMeSic grammar]] of the message.
* Lampshaded in ''Film/{{Looper}}'', when Old Joe calls out Young Joe for wanting to talk about [[TimeyWimeyBall the time travel mechanics]] while the former is trying to discuss more pressing matters like [[BigBad the Rainmaker]] and what they need to do to survive:
-->'''Young Joe''': So you know what’s gonna happen? You’ve done all this already? As me?
-->'''Old Joe''': I don’t want to talk about time travel. If we start talking about it, we’re gonna be here all day talking about it, making diagrams with straws.
* During an early attack on Rock Ridge in ''Film/BlazingSaddles'', one of the townsfolk is lassoed and dragged behind a horse. As he's pulled away, he laments, "That's the end of this suit!"
* In ''Film/KillerHigh'', Sabrina has spent the past decade devoting her life to planning her high school's tenth reunion, all so that she can show up her high-school rival. Her obsession is so bad that she's donated blood every month for several years in order to sock away money for the reunion.
* ''Film/ThorRagnarok'': During the gladiator fight with the Hulk, Thor is less concerned that he's facing one of the most dangerous creatures in existence and more concerned that Hulk is making him look bad.
-->'''Thor:''' You're embarrassing me! I told them we were friends!
* ''Film/RevengeOfTheNerds'': During the Panty Raid sequence, Booger and Takashi break into [[NoNameGiven an Alpha Pi's]] (played by Colleen Madden) room while she is sitting in a chair topless and wearing only panties, and she is only upset about them trying to steal her panties, not the fact that they are seeing her topless.
* At one point in ''Film/AntMan'', Scott Lang busts into what he and the Pyms believe is just going to be an old abandoned warehouse, only to discover that it's actually become a base for the Avengers. This means that Scott, who has only relatively recently trained as Ant-Man, finds himself in a one-on-one fight with [[spoiler: none other than Falcon]], an experienced Avenger. During the fight, Hank Pym gripes that Scott's in danger of losing Hank's Ant-Man suit. Hope snaps back that, thanks to them, he's now in rather more serious danger of losing his ''life''. Hank has the decency to look appropriately sheepish at this.
[[/folder]]
----

* ''Film/TheBabysitter'': Seen twice [[TheCheerleader by Allison]], whose only concern is her body.
** When she gets shot, she gripes over the fact that the bullet hit her breast and how it'll ruin her chances of finding a boyfriend. Heedless of the fact that the shot had nearly been fatal since the bullet struck just above her heart, nor was she concerned that her friends [[spoiler: had just murdered two police officers]]!
** Later in the film, she accuses Cole of being a pervert for poking her injured breast, completely overlooking that he only did it in self-defense because she was trying to kill him. Not to mention, Cole was only 12 years old.

* ''Film/RevengeOfTheNerds'': During the Panty Raid sequence, Booger and Takashi break into [[NoNameGiven an Alpha Pi's]] (played by Colleen Madden) room while she is sitting in a chair topless and wearing only panties, and she is only upset about them trying to steal her panties, not the fact that they are seeing her topless.[[/folder]]

* ''Film/RevengeOfTheNerds'': During the Panty Raid sequence, Booger and Takashi break into an Alpha Pi's (played by Colleen Madden) room while she is sitting in a chair topless and wearing only panties, and she is only upset about them trying to steal her panties, not the fact that they are seeing her topless.[[/folder]]

* ''Film/RevengeOfTheNerds'': During the Panty Raid sequence, Booger and Takashi break into one of the Pis' room (played by Colleen Madden) while she is sitting in a chair topless and wearing only panties, and she is only upset about them trying to steal her panties, not the fact that they are seeing her topless.[[/folder]]

[[/folder]]
* ''Film/RevengeOfTheNerds'': During the Panty Raid sequence, Booger and Takashi break into one of the Pis' room (played by Colleen Madden) while she is sitting in a chair topless and wearing only panties, and she is only upset about them trying to steal her panties, not the fact that they are seeing her topless.

! Animated

!Live-Action

* In ''Film/KillerHigh'', Sabrina has spent the past decade devoting her life to planning her high school's tenth reunion, all so that she can show up her high-school rival. Her obsession is so bad that she's donated blood every month for several years in order to sock away money for the reunion.