Suburban Gothic is a 2014 horror-comedy starring Kat Dennings and Matthew Gray Gubler.
Forced to move back in with his parents after graduating law school, Raymond spends his days getting by, chatting up the local bartender. One day, his father's gardeners dig up the corpse of a little girl, and he begins to see ghosts.
Tropes featured in this work:
- Abusive Parents: Donald, to Raymond, of the emotional and verbal variety. He takes every opportunity he can to belittle his son and makes it clear he's disappointed in him.
- Ambiguously Bi: When the museum curator, Cornelius (played by John Waters), requests a blowjob in exchange for Hannah Longstreet's corpse, Raymond nearly takes him up on the offer. While he'd only shown interest in Becca beforehand, this moment coupled with his Camp Straight mannerisms might call his sexuality into question.
- Butt-Monkey: Raymond is haunted by ghosts, seen as a disappointment by his father, and receives bullying from his former classmates. Though he grows out of it by the end, or at least into an Iron Butt Monkey.
- The Cameo: John Waters gets one scene as Cornelius the museum curator, and Jeffrey Combs gets two as Raymond's physician.
- Deadpan Snarker: Raymond almost always has a sarcastic quip towards everyone who mouths off to him or threatens him.Donald: We really care about you, son, and we recognize your more European approach to fashion. But we just don't think it's appropriate here in America. In the U.S. of A.
Raymond: Well, dad, I appreciate your concern, and your criticism of everything I've ever done in my life, but I'm gonna have to politely disagree with you, based mainly on the fact that you dress like a drug dealer. - Formerly Fat: Raymond, as a child. He received a lot of bullying for it.
- Groin Attack: Donald gets two of them. First when he's masturbating in the bathroom and the ghost starts doing the job for him ... then violently snaps his boner upward. After being released from the hospital and failing to get Raymond committed, Becca punches him in the dick.
- Humiliation Conga: Donald, almost literally. At the end, he fails to have his son committed when the cops show up and see the ghosts of Hannah and Ambrose Longstreet reuniting in the afterlife, is told "fuck you" to his face by his own son, then punched in the crotch by Becca, slapped in the face by his wife, forced to sell his house, and finally divorced. Quite frankly, though, he had it all coming.
- Jerk Jock: Donald is a football coach and a terrible parent. He's also unabashedly racist and homophobic, even towards his football players.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Raymond and Donald get a moment alone and Raymond tries to bond with him, and for a moment, it looks like he found his soft spot. Then Donald just says this, followed by silence.Donald: Raymond ... you're my son.
- Stepford Smiler: Eve is always sweet to Raymond and tries to diffuse conflicts between him and Donald. By the end, it's pretty clear that a lot of it's an act and that she realizes how much of a Jerkass her husband is.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: A homophobic student gets on Raymond's nerves when he's substituting for his father, culminating in him shaming her for being everything she tried to rebel against. She starts to tear up when he's done.
- The Tooth Hurts: The man's ghost rips out his teeth and drops them on the floor.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Raymond gets this treatment from Donald, who admits to having been disappointed in him all his life. The closest he ever gets to receiving anything resembling affection from him is when Donald acknowledges him as his son.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: For the most part, downplayed with Raymond, who has been seeing ghosts since his childhood, and is quick to realize a haunting when he sees one. He even goes seeking out Hannah's body when it's missing, believing that burying her back in her grave will put her to rest and end the haunting. This is where he turns out to be wrong; it's her necklace that she seeks.
- You Are What You Hate: Raymond's aforementioned "The Reason You Suck" Speech.Raymond: Do you know me? Do you know me? I'm asking you a question. Do you know me? I'll tell you who I am. I'm a fucking wizard... sent from the future in a motherfucking time machine to tell you that you are an asshole. You're the type of person that makes fun of fat short little kids and makes them feel bad about themselves for the rest of their lives because you think You're so special. Well, you know what? You're not special. You're not different. You're not even particularly interesting. You're the same bigoted, homophobic, redneck, football-scoring, Martin Luther King-assassinating, asshole-faced son-of-a-bitch redneck that you have spent your entire life rebelling against. And I know that that kills you inside.
