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Don't think we have this specifically for phones. Percussive Therapy is the supertrope.
I think there are also cases where people get angry at their TV or computer monitor.
I think it'd be Percussive Therapy, too
We can never truly eradicate the coronavirus, but we can suppress its threat like influenza
^ We do have the subtrope Shoot the Television. It's just a matter of how many examples of phone crushing
can be collected.
Related to Ring-Ring-CRUNCH! (which even mentions cell phones as one possible recipient of such anger).
I bet there's a worthwhile subtrope to TLP here. Especially with the prevalence of fragile smartphones these days. Here's another example.
^ Wait, doesn't Ring-Ring-CRUNCH! cover this?
We can never truly eradicate the coronavirus, but we can suppress its threat like influenza
I think Percussive Therapy fits best. It's the general trope when someone takes their anger on things, often unrelated to the stuff that angered them (like a character gets angry at their roommate but they kick a chair instead of the roommate's ankle; or if the character gets angry at street, they might kick a random stone that's just lying there) but often it's connected to the thing that angered them in the first place (if people get angry while typing on their laptop/computer, they are likely to hit the keyboard; if a character is gardening and a watering can is leaking, they'll probably kick the can in anger rather than something else).
I think Ring-Ring-CRUNCH! implies you get angry and hit/smash the device because of the noise it makes (an alarm clock is most typical, but a constantly ringing phone or cell phone also works).
This concept has many subtropes (or closely related tropes) like Agitated Item Stomping, Door Slam of Rage, Flipping the Table, Paper Destruction of Anger, Dartboard of Hate, Tantrum Throwing, Appliance Defenestration, That Satisfying "Crunch!", Defenestrate and Berate, Burn Baby Burn or Breakup Bonfire; Percussive Maintenance combines getting angry, trying to fix the faulty device and gradually hitting the thing in anger; there are also active TLP drafts for Distressed Wood-chopping and Stress Cleaning (original concept was Rage Cleaning).
I'm usually a splitter so I can easily imagine this as a new trope.
Edited by XFllo
Is there a name for the trope when a character either receives bad news over the phone or becomes so enraged by a phone call that they up taking their frustration out physically on the phone itself?
EX: "Goodfellas", when Jimmy gets call the that Tommy's been whacked, he smashes phone into receiver repeatedly, tips phone booth over so it falls onto its side, shattering.
EX: "Ferris Bueller", when Jeanie calls cops about Ed Rooney breaking into her house but police think it's a prank she hangs up, livid, squeezes phone into receiver and calls it a "DICK HEAD!"
Edited by PatG1987