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Narm Cleanup

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I've decided to start a cleanup thread for Narm, since it seems to attract a lot of misuse and complaining. Like I said in my ATT post, "some misuse is easy to catch (e.g. saying a joke is Narm when Narm by definition can't be a joke), a lot of examples fall into grey areas that seem like misuse but it's hard to tell. Like nitpicks that at first glance seem to be valid examples, but feel like stretches the more you think about them."

I think one of the main reasons for misuse is that most people aren't clear on what Narm actually is. To my understanding, it's when a scene is intended to be dramatic, but comes off as cheesy/funny unintentionally. But going by the page description, it's kind of vague what actually qualifies something as Narm. At the top, it says "Narm is a moment that is supposed to be serious, but due to either over-sappiness, poor execution, excessive Melodrama, or the sheer absurdity of the situation, the drama is lost to the point of surpassing "cheesy" and becoming unintentionally funny." But then later on in the same page, it gives a much more vague definition:

In CGI movies or video games unrealistic movements or facial expressions may result in Narm. Dated special effects during dramatic scenes can cause Narm for younger audience members who were raised on nothing less convincing than the Phantom Menace. Totally Radical dialog in cartoons or commercials pandering to children can also be a rich source of Narm. Even a good performance in a bad movie can evoke Narm if the actor's performance isn't enough to save the scene.
That last sentence I feel just confuses the whole thing. It makes it sound like absolutely anything can count as Narm, no matter if it works in context or not.

Most often, Narm is misused to mean "anything I personally don't think worked," whether or not it was intended as dramatic or comes off as funny. And when a work is high-profile enough, hoo boy, pretty much every scene is Narm to somebody. You can look at the Narm subpages for Doctor Who, Star Wars, and Game of Thrones and find tons of examples of people nitpicking the tiniest of details in a scene and blowing whatever it is out of proportion.

Another problem is that since it's such a subjective trope, it's not clear if there's supposed to be any sort of in-fandom consensus on the example in-question, or if every example is valid under the "it's called YMMV for a reason" excuse, even if the only person who thinks the example is Narm is the troper who adds it in.

I think it needs to be clearer whether nitpicks are valid examples of Narm, especially since nitpicking overlaps so often with barely-disguised complaining. The most frequent offenders for Narm entries I see are complaining, nitpicking, adding jokes, and ZeroContextExamples. I'm going to use Venom (2018) as an example, with my comments in bold:

  • The scene of Eddie freaking out on the medical table is presented as the teaser's Money-Making Shot. It... doesn't quite work as intended, which isn't helped by it being sped up, making it look like a parody.
    • The final trailer features a more complete version of the clip showing Venom's face "shutter" over Eddie. Whether or not this works or if it looks like a cheap special effect depends on who you ask.
    • What makes the freakout even more narmful is that Eddie's screams are different screams playing on top of each other. The actual film lacks this strange effect. This example seems fine to me, but falls into the "The trailer is Narmy but the finished product isn't" doublespeak.
  • The leaked trailer revealed some pretty terrible lines (“The guy you work for is an evil person.”). Tom Hardy's horrible New York...ish(?) accent isn't doing the delivery any favors either. And it really does not help that his voice cracks on the reading of "evil person". Thankfully, that line is not in the film proper. Do we keep examples that are purely in the trailers? Also an example of "thing falls flat" instead of "thing is funny."
    • Hardy's line reading of "You're not real, you are just in my head." sounds like he's suffering from Elmuh Fudd Syndwome. At worst, he sounds like Adam Sandler's signature Manchild babbling. However there's some speculation that, based on the context of the scene and Eddie's stumbling movements, he's actually drunk, or perhaps even overdosed on medication (considering he was seen taking a bunch of pills, thinking he's sick). That and it could be a case of Reality Ensues, as it's unlikely anyone would keep the mental clarity to speak normally as an alien parasite is slowly bonding with their body. Natter. Goes back and forth between snarky complaints and defending the moment. Also nitpicking.
    • Movie trailers cutting quotes out of context to form a new sentence is nothing new, but the editing on the line "you will only hurt bad people" is particularly poor, and it's very easy to hear that the line has been cut together out of separate pieces of dialogue. Not really a dramatic thing, so I don't think it counts as Narm. And it definitely isn't funny, it just falls flat.
    • How Jenny Slate's character pronounces "symbiote" note . Plus, her giving firm, equal stress to all three syllables like she's speaking some foreign language. Luckily, this was cut from the theatrical release. Nitpicking and not funny.
    • The shot of Eddie crashing straight through a half-fallen tree in the forest that he could just as easily have ducked under comes across as more comedic than cool, as if they just needed an additional gratuitous shot of something breaking. Especially if your mind goes to Victor from Wet Hot American Summer and his inexplicable refusal to jump over anything. It really does not help that the evil bad-guy vehicle chasing him looks like a slightly modified golf cart. The context for this one in the movie is that Venom is taking control of his body and forcing him to blindly flee through the woods to escape the Life Foundation. Context makes it not-Narm. Cut?
    • Although it may look better in the context of the full scene, Eddie flying 50 feet into the air on his motorcycle off a slightly steep hill seems to rather severely break the laws of physics. Clearly written before the movie came out. Cut?
  • The Jump Scare (on both sides of the fourth wall) where Venom suddenly shouts Eddie's name as he brushed his teeth would have been much more scary if not for the fact that the latter Screams Like a Little Girl. There's also the fact that he somehow throws himself backwards so hard that he crashes into the bathroom wall. Intended as comedic, so it isn't Narm.
  • Remember how creepy and awesome that shot from the second trailer of the symbiote forming around Eddie's face in order to eat a guy was? In the third trailer, the potential Nightmare Fuel of that moment is significantly undercut by Venom slobbering all over the man's face with its tongue in an amusingly over-the-top manner. One is reminded of the scene with Patrick licking the yellow popsicle, or perhaps "This is the taste of a liar".... This seems pretty in-character for Venom. I'm not sure with this one.
    • The guy who Carlton Drake subjects to Orifice Invasion in the third trailer would have been disturbing, if not for the victim's bland expression. Moment that falls flat; not funny. Cut.
    • The symbiote's Venom-face forming on the end of Eddie's arm to talk to him strongly resembles a deranged hand puppet rather than a vicious alien parasite. There's also the fact that they can communicate telepathically, making that sequence unnecessary. Seems fine.
    • Venom's violent threats to his enemies are this if they're not aggressively tasteless Black Comedy. His threat to mutilate a man until he's "like a turd on the wind" is particularly groan-inducing, especially coming after a genuinely frightening threat. How It Should Have Ended was even driven by this to make a video on just the trailer for the very first time, in which he mangles a bunch of other sayings. Pretty sure they are intended as comedy, so it's not Narm. Cut.
  • The animation of the yellow symbiote just looks like mozzarella cheese come to life. Nitpick. Also... inaccurate? It's more of a mucus yellow.
  • After Venom heals Eddie's broken legs, he flatly states "My legs! They were broken... and now they're not broken..."
  • "HOSPITAL!!!! (extremely long pause) Now!" Zero-Context Example.
  • Eddie and Anne quite casually discussing cannibalism as one of the symbiote's favorite activities. It's something that would probably sincerely shock and disgust the average person and likely require therapy, and yet it's bandied about like it's a pretty normal occurrence. These kinds of entries are tricky to me. They seem valid at first glance, but there's something off about them. I don't think this one counts if the work itself is treating the moment lightly.
  • Any menace from Cletus Kasady is completely undercut by Woody Harrelson's truly ridiculous wig. A common comparison is that it causes him to look like a live-action Sideshow Bob, or a make-up-less Pennywise. Uses complainy word-choice. Otherwise fine.
  • Kasady promising that there will be "carnage" after he gets out is so on-the-nose that it feels like it's straight out of a parody. First off, that's not an example of Anvilicious. Secondly, this verges on a nitpick to me. I'm not sure. It's not really funny, just lame.
  • The final trade of words between Venom and Riot before the final battle is nothing but total Ham-to-Ham Combat - that and the two symbiotes happen to be Perpetual Smilers, which just gives off the feeling that they don't really give that much of a damn about their goals.
    Riot: Venom...Get in the rocket!
    Venom: No! We won't let you destroy this world!
    Riot: Then die!
Nitpicking?
  • Towards the end of the film, it's revealed that Venom used to be something of a loser on his home planet, like Eddie. This is his entire reason for wanting to save the Earth. Moment played as a joke, so it isn't Narm.
  • Despite angrily forcing Eddie to spit out cooked meats because they're no longer living animals, the symbiote develops a taste for tater tots, and it practically demands that Eddie buy some during a conversation in the ending. The director admitted in an interview that the writers just thought it was funny and put it in the script. It unfortunately invites comparisons to a similar tots-focused scene in Napoleon Dynamite as a result. Entry admits it's a joke. So it isn't Narm.
  • Drake having bonded with Riot is treated as a huge shocking twist going into the final battle... except for the fact that the audience was already well aware of it and saw the whole process. It feels very much like a consequence of Executive Meddling to give Riot more screentime. Another tricky example. Seems to fall under "scene doesn't work" instead of "scene is funny."
  • Right after Eddie is separated from the symbiote, a rather obvious ADR overdub replaces the intended "fuck you" with the much less vicious "we're done". Not really funny, just falls flat.
  • Eddie's "DRAKE! STOP!" sounds less like he's in pain and more like a little kid telling his Big Brother Bully to stop giving him a wedgie. Nitpicking. Most people wouldn't even pay this sequence any mind.

Another issue with Narm is the distinction between moments that are unintentionally funny on their own, and moments that are only unintentionally funny after Memetic Mutation or similar feat. Does the latter truly count as Narm? Because you can make the case that everything that has ever been made can fall under that.

Edited by MisterApes-a-lot on Mar 31st 2019 at 7:06:31 AM

ImperialMajestyXO Since: Nov, 2015
#551: Feb 9th 2021 at 9:38:20 AM

[up] ...Considering it's The Simpsons, I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be amusing.

Shadow8411 Since: Jul, 2019
#552: Feb 9th 2021 at 12:18:36 PM

Indeed. If a scene isn't meant to be dramatic or serious in the first place, then it doesn't qualify as Narm. It isn't mentioned how the scene is supposed to be serious, and it has some complaining as well (i.e. "the writers can't even get the title correct").

Edit: I've cut it.

Edited by Shadow8411 on Feb 10th 2021 at 4:14:58 AM

SomeLibre WELCOME BACK MOTHERFUCKER from [SERVICE UNAVAILABLE] Since: Dec, 2020 Relationship Status: Chat, is this real?
WELCOME BACK MOTHERFUCKER
#553: Feb 9th 2021 at 4:21:22 PM

Gah, screw it, it's best for this entry from LetsPlay.Dream SMP to go fucking expunge itself. ~Drying Pan changed this entry I moved and rewrote from Funny.Dream SMP from this:

  • Narm: The fact that all of these events take place in Minecraft, where characters skins are usually stuck in one emotion (most of the time the faces on the skin don't even carry any emotion) can make some of the more dramatic scenes look a bit silly. You can give the most dramatic speech you want, but it's going to look a little silly coming from a block character that can only stare blankly or have one emotion all the time.

To this:

Edited by SomeLibre on Feb 9th 2021 at 7:22:13 PM

Cassie | they/them/he | Help needed for filling out entries on the Series X SCP category
Anddrix Since: Oct, 2014
#554: Feb 9th 2021 at 9:55:44 PM

Reposting from the previous page:

Bringing up the following examples from Narm.Marvel Cinematic Universe:

Iron Man 3

  • Some fans felt Guy Pearce's make-up and performances as a geeky Aldritch Killian in the flashback at the beginning of the movie was way too over-the-top to be taken seriously. Then there is the fact he essentially went full-fledged Diabolical Mastermind and tried to get revenge for Tony skipping a meeting with him once - which didn't even ruin his life in the end, since he still ended up rich anyway.

Thor: The Dark World

  • The big, ominous Sequel Hook of Loki impersonating Odin becomes this in Ragnarok, wherein we learn his master plan was to... chill out, eat grapes, and force everyone to watch hilariously awful plays about himself. Oh, and rather than killing Odin, he left him in a retirement home on Earth.note 

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

  • During the fight with Batroc, Cap dramatically removing his mask looks somewhat comedic thanks to the helmet hair.
  • After an entire movie of proving HYDRA has evolved from Those Wacky Nazis into a realistically terrifying sleeper cell inside S.H.I.E.L.D., The Stinger reveals Thomas Kretschmann hamming it up as Baron von Strucker. His passing resemblance to Colonel Klink makes the dissonance greater.
  • During the climatic battle, Captain America tries to get the Winter Soldier to remember his life as Bucky. The Winter Soldier yells "Shut up!" as if he were a whiny teenager.
  • The Winter Soldier's Theme is a relatively intimidating piece of music... until a kazoo becomes the primary instrument.

Guardians of the Galaxy

  • "Your politics bore me", a line coming from Thanos, comes across as unintentionally hammy and almost straight out of something you would hear in a Golden Age comic book. Though it helps a bit that this mirrors the reaction of a lot of the audience towards Ronan. He also refers to Ronan as having the demeanor of "a pouting child", something that would be outright silly if Ronan wasn't indeed pouting like a sullen little boy upon his departure.
  • The Deleted Scene of Gamora and Nebula, seen here is made a lot less intense by the squeaking of their (obviously leather) costumes (as it was an unfinished scene) and the fact that several shots involve their faces getting a little ''too'' close to each other. The scene is titled "Sisterly Love".
  • The villain's name is Ronan, which is a painfully average name in certain places.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

  • Wanda tearing a random gadget out of Ultron's chest that looks just like a heart. With the revelation that this machine has such a vital component stored in the place that an enemy is most likely to attack, it just looks way too melodramatic. Olsen's melodramatic delivery of already cheesy dialogue combined with a shot of gratuitous cleavage make it hard to take her vengeance seriously.
  • Thor immersing himself in a pool of visions, which just looks like another attempt to show Chris Hemsworth topless.
  • While the delivery somewhat saves it, Thanos' line when he claims the Infinity Gauntlet in The Stinger — "Fine, I'll do it myself!" — sounds more like something a petulant teenager would say than an ominous declaration by the Big Bad of the MCU.
  • Tony's nightmare starts out terrifying but the effect is somewhat ruined by Captain America's dialogue and delivery. And among the dead Avengers, Hawkeye's pose looks more like he's fallen asleep while sitting up.
  • To some viewers, the accent used by Elizabeth Olsen for Scarlet Witch made the character incredibly hard to take seriously. Several have mentioned that the characters' Mind Rape scenes mainly consisting of silent Jump Scares and Nightmare Fuel were vastly superior to any time she started to speak. The accent was noticeably toned down in Captain America: Civil War in response to these complaints.

Ant-Man 1

  • Hope's implicit outrage at Cross for using a lamb for animal experimentation instead of lab mice. Because risking the life of one species of animal for science is perfectly fine, but another species is eeeeeevil. And the close-up of the lamb's silly facial expression is just hilarious.

KingofNightmares Since: Aug, 2016 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
#555: Feb 10th 2021 at 6:47:59 AM

This on Advertising

  • A PSA about the example parents set for their kids had this unfortunate effect. The video showed children copying their parents (almost) exact actions right alongside them: the Narm takes over when some of the examples include a young girl smoking, a young boy throwing rocks at the neighbor's dog, a five-year old flipping off a driver, and a little boy helping batter his mother. The tagline "Children See, Children Do" didn't help.

Personally, I don't really see how this is Narm. The only funny thing is the five-year old's flip off. The other examples are, to me anyway, more unsettling and disturbing than funny, and based on the linked video's comment section, most people found it hard hitting.

"It was the best of times, it was the BLURST of times?"
mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#556: Feb 10th 2021 at 8:58:54 AM

The entry doesn't really explain how it's funny. I think it's meant to come across as funny at first but then slowly gets horrifying, and the latter scenes are considered Nightmare Fuel.

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
cute_heart Boooo~~ from Valindria Since: Aug, 2015 Relationship Status: RelationshipOutOfBoundsException: 1
Boooo~~
#557: Feb 17th 2021 at 8:07:02 PM

Another one for Red Hood in Red Hood/Arsenal. This one was part of an Edit War a few years back so some more opinions on this would be nice.

  • Narm:
    • The meeting between Jason and an amnesiac Bruce comes off as more campy and forced than it's supposed to be, partly thanks to Jason's heavyhanded narration clogging up the pages. It also doesn't help that this scene is coming off the heels of a similar meeting in the more critically well-received Grayson.
    • Same goes for the awkwardly shoehorned fistbump between Jason and Tim. It comes across like a moment designed to be reblogged (without context) on sites like Tumblr, rather than a genuine attempt from the writer to portray Tim and Jason as having a brother-like relationship.
    • The meeting between Jason and Joker's Daughter comes across as a Meet Cute from a romantic comedy, with many readers mockingly launching a Jason and Joker's Daughter ship. Not helping is Jason's internal monologue, that reiterates over and over again that the two are like Birds of a Feather.

Just like the last red hood entries, most of these aren't really funny and sounds like it's only complaining about the narrative. Permission to cut?

Edited by cute_heart on Feb 18th 2021 at 12:07:46 AM

Read the letter Cricket!
Anddrix Since: Oct, 2014
#558: Feb 18th 2021 at 1:49:29 AM

Bringing up the following example from YMMV.Cruella:

  • Narm: For some, the sheer darkness shown in the trailer is hard to take seriously when you remember this is all about a 101 Dalmatians character. Sure, Cruella has always been quite sinister, many can't help but find it ridiculous seeing the sheer gloom coming from a project linked to a child's property.

MisterApes-a-lot Since: Mar, 2018
#559: Feb 18th 2021 at 8:21:22 AM

[up][up] Yeah, I think you can cut all of those.

[up] The entry is kind of vague, just citing the general mood of the trailer. It could use a specific example.

Anddrix Since: Oct, 2014
#560: Feb 18th 2021 at 9:01:38 AM

Bringing up the following examples from Doctor Who S30 E11 "Turn Left":

  • Narm:
    • The scene where the starship Titanic crashes on London and destroys it in a nuclear explosion would be much more tragic if the news report hadn't worded it as literally.
    • The end scene where the Doctor sees "Bad Wolf" written everywhere, including on the Tardis doors, is a little goofy, as well as the following line:
      Donna: What does "Bad Wolf" mean?
      Doctor: It's the end of the universe!

cute_heart Boooo~~ from Valindria Since: Aug, 2015 Relationship Status: RelationshipOutOfBoundsException: 1
Boooo~~
#561: Feb 18th 2021 at 10:39:44 AM

[up][up]Thanks and I deleted it.

From Saga of Tanya the Evil:

  • Narm:
    • The anime adaptation's character designs, especially the lips.
    • Thanks to the eccentric reputation of the series, cruelty and cynicism have become narmy for many, especially in the second half of the show.

Read the letter Cricket!
MisterApes-a-lot Since: Mar, 2018
#562: Feb 18th 2021 at 12:26:15 PM

[up] Those are both pretty low context examples. The first bullet doesn't say what's dramatic or funny. I don't even know what the second bullet is trying to say. I feel like you can delete them both.

[up][up] The second bullet might be fine, but the first is kinda low context.

Anddrix Since: Oct, 2014
#563: Feb 18th 2021 at 3:05:40 PM

Reposting from the previous page:

Bringing up the following examples from Narm.Marvel Cinematic Universe:

Iron Man 3

  • Some fans felt Guy Pearce's make-up and performances as a geeky Aldritch Killian in the flashback at the beginning of the movie was way too over-the-top to be taken seriously. Then there is the fact he essentially went full-fledged Diabolical Mastermind and tried to get revenge for Tony skipping a meeting with him once - which didn't even ruin his life in the end, since he still ended up rich anyway.

Thor: The Dark World

  • The big, ominous Sequel Hook of Loki impersonating Odin becomes this in Ragnarok, wherein we learn his master plan was to... chill out, eat grapes, and force everyone to watch hilariously awful plays about himself. Oh, and rather than killing Odin, he left him in a retirement home on Earth.note 

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

  • During the fight with Batroc, Cap dramatically removing his mask looks somewhat comedic thanks to the helmet hair.
  • After an entire movie of proving HYDRA has evolved from Those Wacky Nazis into a realistically terrifying sleeper cell inside S.H.I.E.L.D., The Stinger reveals Thomas Kretschmann hamming it up as Baron von Strucker. His passing resemblance to Colonel Klink makes the dissonance greater.
  • During the climatic battle, Captain America tries to get the Winter Soldier to remember his life as Bucky. The Winter Soldier yells "Shut up!" as if he were a whiny teenager.
  • The Winter Soldier's Theme is a relatively intimidating piece of music... until a kazoo becomes the primary instrument.

Guardians of the Galaxy

  • "Your politics bore me", a line coming from Thanos, comes across as unintentionally hammy and almost straight out of something you would hear in a Golden Age comic book. Though it helps a bit that this mirrors the reaction of a lot of the audience towards Ronan. He also refers to Ronan as having the demeanor of "a pouting child", something that would be outright silly if Ronan wasn't indeed pouting like a sullen little boy upon his departure.
  • The Deleted Scene of Gamora and Nebula, seen here is made a lot less intense by the squeaking of their (obviously leather) costumes (as it was an unfinished scene) and the fact that several shots involve their faces getting a little ''too'' close to each other. The scene is titled "Sisterly Love".
  • The villain's name is Ronan, which is a painfully average name in certain places.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

  • Wanda tearing a random gadget out of Ultron's chest that looks just like a heart. With the revelation that this machine has such a vital component stored in the place that an enemy is most likely to attack, it just looks way too melodramatic. Olsen's melodramatic delivery of already cheesy dialogue combined with a shot of gratuitous cleavage make it hard to take her vengeance seriously.
  • Thor immersing himself in a pool of visions, which just looks like another attempt to show Chris Hemsworth topless.
  • While the delivery somewhat saves it, Thanos' line when he claims the Infinity Gauntlet in The Stinger — "Fine, I'll do it myself!" — sounds more like something a petulant teenager would say than an ominous declaration by the Big Bad of the MCU.
  • Tony's nightmare starts out terrifying but the effect is somewhat ruined by Captain America's dialogue and delivery. And among the dead Avengers, Hawkeye's pose looks more like he's fallen asleep while sitting up.
  • To some viewers, the accent used by Elizabeth Olsen for Scarlet Witch made the character incredibly hard to take seriously. Several have mentioned that the characters' Mind Rape scenes mainly consisting of silent Jump Scares and Nightmare Fuel were vastly superior to any time she started to speak. The accent was noticeably toned down in Captain America: Civil War in response to these complaints.

Ant-Man 1

  • Hope's implicit outrage at Cross for using a lamb for animal experimentation instead of lab mice. Because risking the life of one species of animal for science is perfectly fine, but another species is eeeeeevil. And the close-up of the lamb's silly facial expression is just hilarious.

Ordeaux26 Since: May, 2019 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#564: Feb 19th 2021 at 5:38:46 PM

I saw a Narm entry that was cut from Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom which I do think fits.

  • The screams heard during the death of Mills arguably sound rather fake/artificialnote , thus potentially cheapening the impact of what's supposed to be his rewarding demise.

My argument is that it does fit the trope due to the fact death was meant to be dramatic and the ridiculous noise does in fact make it unintentionally funny.

TantaMonty Since: Aug, 2017
#565: Feb 19th 2021 at 5:50:48 PM

[up] This is the event in question. Personally, I don't find the screams to be funny, and I have yet to see anyone mocking the scene. In fact, most comments on these videos express satisfaction towards the villain's demise. When I presented this example before, I was told to cut it because it was just "thing falls flat".

TantaMonty Since: Aug, 2017
#566: Feb 19th 2021 at 6:11:49 PM

[up][up][up] Definitely cut the entry about Loki and Odin. The scene is genuinely ominous, and only becomes funny because the sequel took the franchise in a completely different direction. This is Hilarious in Hindsight, not Narm.

Edited by TantaMonty on Feb 19th 2021 at 6:12:28 AM

MisterApes-a-lot Since: Mar, 2018
#567: Feb 19th 2021 at 6:37:39 PM

    Marvel 
  • Iron Man 3:
    • I don't know about this one. Yeah, the makeup is over the top, but his geeky appearance isn't really played for drama. I think the second part is just a Fridge Logic flaw.
  • Thor: The Worst Thor:
    • What [up] said.
  • Captain America: The Winter Soldier:
    • Fine.
    • Fine.
    • One of those entries that reads like it's trying too hard to nitpick the film. Maybe it's fine.
    • Fine.
  • Guardians of the Galaxy:
    • Fine.
    • I mean... it's a deleted scene. What did they expect? Second half seems like a Fridge complaint to me. I dunno.
    • Doesn't list any specific examples where it becomes funny. Reads as "thing falls flat".
  • Avengers: Age of Ultron:
    • Fine.
    • Seems Fridge-y to me. Doesn't actually say if it's funny.
    • I guess fine.
    • Written as "thing falls flat".
    • Could use a specific example where it's funny. Reads as "thing falls flat".
  • Ant-Man:
    • Kinda Fridge-y, but maybe it's fine. Although the entry makes it sound like the film overplays her concern, when it's just, like, one sentence.

Anddrix Since: Oct, 2014
#568: Feb 20th 2021 at 2:56:42 AM

Reposting from the previous page:

Bringing up the following examples from Narm.Spider Man Trilogy:

Spider-Man 1

  • Green Goblin's death in the first film: impaled on his own weapon, the look of agony, the groaning... But look at where the glider hit him.
  • The scene where angry citizens start throwing stuff at the Green Goblin is already overstated and cheesy, but the one dreadlocked guy's extremely bizarre line reading of "I got something for yo' ASS!" makes it even funnier, sounding as though he was tossing the Goblin a tube of Preparation H.
  • The Green Goblin is one of the most ridiculous looking villains in film history. He looks like a refugee from a Power Rangers episode. It's easy to see why they thought the comic book version wouldn't have worked in live action, but they replaced it with something even more stupid. To Quote Total Film magazine "This guy looks more like an action figure than his actual action figures!"
  • "It's you who's out, Gobby! Out of your mind!" Kirsten Dunst even had a laugh at this one in the DVD Commentary.
  • From the same fight scene: IMPRESSIVE!
    • Even better, this hammy line is blatantly dubbed over a Norman whose mouth doesn't move one inch. His head kinda bobbles briefly like he was supposed to say something, but apparently the Green Goblin can shout compliments with his mind.

TantaMonty Since: Aug, 2017
#569: Feb 20th 2021 at 4:47:33 AM

[up] In my opinion:

  • Probably fine. I've seen people on the internet refer to the scene as "Death by crotch rocket" and "The Green Goblin going balls to the wall".
  • Fine. I distinctly remember people in theaters giggling because of that one line.
  • While the Green Goblin suit is indeed considered to look comical, this example could be rewritten to be less complainy, and describe at least one specific scene.
    • Incorrect indentation, and natter. Cut.
  • Could use more context, but should be fine with a few adjustments.
  • Zero-Context Example.
    • Incorrect indentation. Looks like "thing falls flat" instead of "thing is funny".

Edited by TantaMonty on Feb 20th 2021 at 5:03:35 AM

Anddrix Since: Oct, 2014
#570: Feb 20th 2021 at 6:34:39 AM

Bringing up the following examples from Narm.Marvel Cinematic Universe

Captain America: Civil War

  • The shot of Team Cap doing a Tom Cruise-styled run together earned its share of laughs for being unintentionally silly looking. The fact that it ended up being the thumbnail of the first official trailer hurt matters.
  • The shot of everyone running at each other in the trailer is pretty awesome, but a few points definitely aren't. Scarlet Witch uses her powers to blast herself upwards, but they're gone in the next shot and she looks like she's awkwardly flailing through the air and regretting her decision. Meanwhile, The Vision is just drifting along in a casual airborne pose like he's a balloon on a string. Some people also found the fact that the small number of people fighting (the area looks practically empty) makes it more silly-looking than awesome.
  • For some, Tony's "You just started a war!" comes across as a lame way of alluding to the movie's title. Thankfully, it's only in the trailer and not the actual film.
  • Bucky shambles up the stairs after incapacitating several heroes in a rather comical fashion similar to a gorilla.
  • Black Widow going against Team Iron Man and helping Steve and Bucky escaping to the Quinjet by shocking Black Panther is less impressive when the film shows the process is essentially her shocking him as he stumbles for a few seconds before shrugging it off, takes a few steps forward, she shocks him, he stumbles then shrugs it off, lather, rinse, repeat.
  • The scene in the hospital in which an upset Tony questions Vision about the Rhodey misfire is meant to be moving and desolating, but it gets a bit ruined when a close-up on Vision's back accidentally highlights his cape's stamped curtain-like pattern.
  • The subtitles in the beginning are rather... unfortunately placed. Specifically, smack dab on Bucky's crotch. Even funnier if it's in Spanish, as at one point it's covered with the word "Homo".
  • The Russos recalled that while watching the film in a theater, they found the audience laughing at multiple moments that weren't intended to be funny (though this is less the fault of the film than it is the audience being conditioned to Whedon-style comedy beats from the Avengers films). In particular, they noted that Tony one-shotting Sam offhandedly after Rhodey's crash drew a round of laughter from the audience, despite it being a very dark scene for all intents and purposes.
  • The giant title cards are incredibly jarring and rather than set a dramatic scene, come across as a bit funny.

Doctor Strange (2016)

  • Stephen's car accident starts off properly visceral and terrifying... but some moviegoers found that it went on for so long and that the car seems to fall from such an absurd height that it crossed over from scary to unintentionally hilarious in a Black Comedy sort of way.
  • The visuals during Strange's initial trip through the multiverse alternate between wondrous, horrifying... and resembling popular Internet memes.

Thor: Ragnarok

  • Hela's Beta Outfit, which many have mocked for looking like a stereotypical goth. Doubles as Narm Charm, as many other fans don't seem to mind her look. And conversely, the absurdly elaborate headgear that Hela otherwise wears is a bit hard to take seriously.
  • The words "Asgard is not a place, it's a people" are intended to be Arc Words taken seriously, but the words are only said for the first time during Thor's vision while fighting Hela in the final battle, and then stated once every few minutes afterward until the end of the movie, making them seem much more silly and much less profound than they were intended to be.
  • The whole lead up to the Hulk reveal is played straight as a surprising revelation, but since the reveal of the Hulk was shown outright in the trailers it can get gratuitously funny to those who paid attention to the promotional material.
  • Thor's visions of Odin after his death may become a lot harder to take seriously when he's dressed as a rather ordinary old man. It also doesn't help the camera starts at a distance and then zooms in really quickly everytime.
  • The otherwise cool duel between Thor and Hela has a Fight Scene Failure moment when she blinds him. After she slices his eye, the wound is immediately covered in brown caked blood, as if it coagulated instantly.

Black Panther (2018)

  • At one point in the final battle, T'Challa and Killmonger are separated by a train speeding past between them and take advantage of the lull to argue their respective philosophies. The speeches themselves are fine, but in order to give both sides enough time, the train just keeps going... and going... and going... and going...
  • From a native speaker's standpoint, Nakia's Korean isn't great. Despite her character supposedly knowing the language, it's clear the actress doesn't as her accent sounds too tonal. However, what's really Narmy is that Sophia, the native Korean character, speaks much worse Korean than Nakia's, if that were possible. It's so bad that some theatrical versions in Korea had to re-dub Sophia's lines entirely, just because the audience could not understand them without looking at the subtitles.
  • The heavy accent used by Forest Whitaker as Zuri has been mocked by many fans for sounding hoarse and garbled. It doesn't help that he was coming off a performance in Rogue One that was heavily mocked for the exact same reason.
  • In the council meetings in Wakanda, the dramatic tension during the heated debates is always ruined by the presence of a council member with a huge lip-plate in his mouth. This isn't played for laughs, no-one remarks on it and the dramatic music continues playing in the background whenever he's onscreen.

Avengers: Infinity War

  • While Zoe Saldaña does a good job overall, she has two dramatic scenes where she makes Gamora look too Wangsty. The scene where Gamora thinks she killed Thanos and grieves maybe too hard over the act, and the scene where Gamora predictably throws the meal Thanos offers her and starts ranting about how much she hates him.
  • Thanos using the Reality Stone to unravel Mantis into a living fleshy ribbon is suitably disturbing, but it clashes with Mantis going "BOING!" and springing into the air like a jack-in-the-box.
  • Early on, Gamora says that if Thanos gets all the stones, he can rewrite reality like that, snapping her fingers to illustrate the point. For the rest of the series, every time someone uses all the stones, they literally snap their fingers in so doing. While the first instance has a certain Narm Charm quality to it, showcasing he's exactly as powerful as Gamora says, it gets kind of silly to see it repeat.
    • This can be justified as it’s as practical as squeezing a single finger to fire a gun. Thanos chose to snap his fingers as a show of power over everyone else, including the Aesir who literally just embedded a giant axe in his chest. As a result the Avengers, who know far, far less about the nature of the stones, likely believed that snapping your fingers is the only way to use all six stones at once, and who could blame them?
  • Thanos is a sociopathic walking tank who has spent centuries traveling from planet to planet and slaughtering half of the population of each planet because he’s a Well-Intentioned Extremist, who now has the power to alter reality almost literally at his fingertips. When he disarms Star Lord and Gamora, he does so by turning their weapons into… bubbles.

Avengers: Endgame

  • The mood of the trailer is incredibly somber, but the music is over the top action movie fare, not even with the familiar Avengers theme. The dissonance is unintentionally hilarious.
  • With the trailer again, the phrase "Whatever it takes" is not the most inspiring thing, but it's decent enough for the scenario. However, saying it about a dozen times feels a lot more like a Running Gag, or a video game character who only has one phrase.
  • A Deleted Scene showed that when Tony died, every other character solemnly dropped to one knee. This instead comes off as a bit overwrought considering not only would this scene have been set right before said character's funeral, but Natasha also had a noble sacrifice and didn't get anywhere near this level of on-screen recognition. No wonder the scene was cut.

SomeLibre WELCOME BACK MOTHERFUCKER from [SERVICE UNAVAILABLE] Since: Dec, 2020 Relationship Status: Chat, is this real?
WELCOME BACK MOTHERFUCKER
#571: Feb 21st 2021 at 6:22:26 AM

From VideoGame.Bugsnax:

  • Narm:
    • During the confrontation with Lizbert, their features constantly change between different Bugsnax. Most of the time, this is not particularly remarkable (as you're likely already used to these mutations), but the issue is that it's completely random. You can wind up with something that you find particularly absurd, and it can ruin the seriousness of the dialogue.
    • Much of the game in general is filled with rather poignant and emotional moments that can potentially be undermined if you've been heavily feeding the Grumpuses to give them absurd snack-based appearances. That heartfelt confession just may not hit the same way when you have a giant gummy bear sticking out of the top of your head or a pickle for a nose.
    • On a related note, it can be difficult not to chuckle at times when one of the sillier names like "Floofty" comes up in the midst of a completely serious conversation.

Cassie | they/them/he | Help needed for filling out entries on the Series X SCP category
cute_heart Boooo~~ from Valindria Since: Aug, 2015 Relationship Status: RelationshipOutOfBoundsException: 1
Boooo~~
#572: Feb 23rd 2021 at 1:54:13 AM

This is on The Prince of Tennis:

Read the letter Cricket!
ShinyCottonCandy Everyone's friend Malamar from Lumiose City (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Everyone's friend Malamar
#573: Feb 23rd 2021 at 8:18:07 AM

[up]The Important Haircut one may be able to stay, though it might need reworded, but the rest all seem to be too much "point-and-laugh" and too little context.

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MisterApes-a-lot Since: Mar, 2018
#574: Feb 23rd 2021 at 6:32:44 PM

Yeah, the haircut one, as written, is "thing falls flat".

cute_heart Boooo~~ from Valindria Since: Aug, 2015 Relationship Status: RelationshipOutOfBoundsException: 1
Boooo~~
#575: Feb 23rd 2021 at 7:55:14 PM

Thanks for the feedback, and I'm not really familiar with the show, but how's this for a rewrite?

  • Shishido's Important Haircut is supposed to show his determination in improving himself to rejoin the team, but the horrible Off-Model animation dampers the serious mood it's supposed to convey.

I found some more entries on the show on the Narm main page and I guess this gives more context to the above posts, even if it's still not really narmy in my opinion:

Read the letter Cricket!

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