Line #17 Main/BlankStare


1	The Blank Stare is usually performed by one character in response to another's actions or verbal tirade, either in mind-numbing disbelief or disappointing awe, and especially when the latter character happens to go off the rails or otherwise show an aspect of themselves wildly different from what was expected.
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3	It is usually performed primarily in a visual medium such as film, television, or graphic novels, and is done for both humorous and dramatic effect; the dramatic type tends to display the moment when you can no longer depend on that particular character anymore, while the comedic one usually reveals a WTF-type scenario similar to a DoubleTake or a SpitTake. The verbal version of this, which usually accompanies one of these, is the FlatWhat. Compare ThousandYardStare, which is similar, but is meant to showcase the extreme trauma the stare-giver has gone through.
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5	----
6	!!Examples:
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8	[[foldercontrol]]
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10	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
11	* Lock, Shock, and Barrel do this in ''Manga/TheNightmareBeforeChristmasZerosJourney'' when [[spoiler: Santa asks them if they know the difference between good and bad. This response leads him to believe they actually don't; they operate on [[BlueAndOrangeMorality whatever they think is most fun at the moment]].]]
12	[[/folder]]
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14	[[folder:Fan Works]]
15	* ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' fanfiction ''Fanfic/{{Abraxas\|Hrodvitnon}}'': [[Characters/AbraxasHrodvitnonMonsterX Vivienne Graham]], during her reunion with Madison Russell following Vivienne's transformation, playfully gives Madison an unimpressed blank look when the latter teasingly asks Vivienne to perform a dance with her new [[TranshumanAbomination Titan]] body.
16	** In a [[https://hrodvitnon.tumblr.com/post/708559865566658560/ comedic non-canon post on the author's Tumblr]], [[CloudcuckoolandersMinder Maia Simmons]] and the twins Don and Meg can only stare blankly when Walter Simmons, in a clear potshot by the author at Elon Musk, decides to rename the latter two of his "children" as Æ-Exa Dark 12 and Sidereal Exxon-99. Try working out how to pronounce that in under 30 seconds.
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19	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
20	* One of the most notable moments in Music/TheBeatles' film ''Film/LetItBe'' is a scene in which Paul [=McCartney=] gives John Lennon an earnest talk about how the band is getting stale and, to liven things up again, they need to get on the road and play live shows. John, who had no interest in this idea, simply stares at Paul blankly.
21	* ''Film/ThorRagnarok'': Loki appears as an [[AstralProjection illusion]] in the dungeons the evening before the Gladiator fight and talks to Thor how he couldn't help him in front of the Grandmaster but has plans about [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident getting rid]] of the Grandmaster so that [[WeCanRuleTogether he and Thor can take over Sakaar]], and advises Thor to forget about Asgard because they don't stand a chance against Hela. Thor just throws rocks through Loki's illusion, [[SilentTreatment not answering him]], and when he runs out of rocks he just stares into space, still angry at Loki for [[Film/ThorTheDarkWorld having faked his death]] four years ago, and blaming him for [[spoiler:their father's death.]]
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24	[[folder:Literature]]
25	* In the ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'' {{novelization}}, this is PlayedForLaughs; when one reporter asks [[Characters/MonsterVerseRussellFamily Mark Russell]] if Godzilla's attacking because he hates artificial beaches.
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28	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
29	* ''Series/ThePeripheral2022'': Wilf develops a spectacular one after he visits Lev at his gentlemen's club to tell the oligarch that [[spoiler:his family has been killed in Flynne's [[AlternateTimeline stub]]... Only for Lev to laugh at him, explain that [[KillingYourAlternateSelf he arranged the murders himself]] because his other self's presence made him uneasy, and elaborate on his plans to [[TimeTravelForFunAndProfit open other stubs and exploit their inhabitants for money]], leaving Wilf to goggle in horror at the abject LackOfEmpathy]].
30	* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': The looks on the other witches' faces when Rowena proposes they call themselves the "Mega Coven" in "[[Recap/SupernaturalS11E03TheBadSeed The Bad Seed]]".
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33	[[folder:Music]]
34	* While promoting ''The Marshall Mathers LP 2'', Music/{{Eminem}} was doing a persona where he'd spend his TV appearances gawking vacantly at the camera with his eyes blinking slightly out of sync - a sort of parody of [[Music/BeastieBoys Ad-Rock]], whose music inspired a lot of the content on the album. Most viewers just reacted with concern for his mental health.
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37	[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
38	* During the first season of ''Series/TheMuppetShow'', Timmy Monster was depicted with this.
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41	[[folder:Video Games]]
42	* In ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemptionII'', one of the many signs of Dutch van der Linde's [[SanitySlippage deteriorating mental state]] is his increasing propensity for standing around camp, staring blankly into space. He starts doing it even more after he suffers a head injury.
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45	[[folder:Webcomics]]
46	* In ''Webcomic/SneakyGoblins'', Bog [[http://www.tolcraft.com/comic/page-55/ pulls one of these]] when Dank unthinkingly admits to having lied to him earlier.
47	* Phoebe momentarily gives two in Chapter 2 of ''Webcomic/StarImpact''; [[https://www.starimpactcomic.com/comic/chapter-2-page-6 once]] after Aster revealed herself to be the new bearer of the [[LegendaryWeapon Shooting Star gloves]], and [[https://www.starimpactcomic.com/comic/chapter-2-page-17 again later]] when [[MentorArchetype Stryker]] requested her to spar with Aster, which quickly gave way to a BigWhat. The latter page's AltText unabashedly lampshades it:
48	--> "Blank-faced Phoebe has a high cuteness stat."
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51	[[folder:Western Animation]]
52	* ''WesternAnimation/FinalSpace'': The [[Characters/FinalSpaceTheLordCommandersForces Lord Commander]] hilariously gives "The" Gary a flat look when the latter tries one too many times to correct the Lord Commander on his name not having a "''The''" in it.
53	[[/folder]]

Context Main / BlankStare