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openAbsurd, one-note tv show within a tv show Film
Inside a fictional world, there’s a short clip of a dumb tv show based around a single, simple joke. It’s shown only for a few seconds, and it makes you wonder how there could be an entire tv show about this concept. Usually, it’s meant to satirize the vapid nature of modern media.
Examples: “Where Are My Pants?” -The Lego Movie, “I Got The Shit Kicked Out Of Me”- Sorry To Bother You, “Horse In A Bookcase”- Phineas And Ferb
Edited by BigBlueBackpackopenWhat is the name of trope where you're captured by an enemy and forced to learn their ways? Film
There's a trope in a few movies; like The Last Samurai, where the protagonist is captured by the enemy and forced to learn their ways. After a while, the protagonist might side with them, even though they gain the option to go free. Can someone link me to this trope or where I can find more examples of it? Thanks.
openKid Empowerment Movie Film
Is there a general trope for works where kids, due to some plot contrivance, have a lot of freedom, take part in Wish Fulfillment activities such as eating lots of candy and playing around the house, wear expensive clothes, and eventually fight dim-witted criminals?
I'm thinking about the slew of Home Alone ripoffs from the nineties.
Edited by Mac_RopenRace to the weapon/s Film
Couldn't find this one in the search. Combat scene. A 3-person confrontation where the one with the upper hand (probably holding the other two at gunpoint) suddenly leaves. The other two must then race for the nearest weapon/s to battle each other. I noticed it in the recent Star Wars film 'Solo' where it's used to great effect. It also felt very familiar but I can't place it anywhere else.
openAnticipated meeting ending Film
A work is about two people who are looking for each other, or one person who dreams about meeting that special someone. Near the end they see each other, but they're separated by some physical barrier (let's say they're on opposite sides of a street). The work ends with this physical barrier being removed (the traffic signal switches to walk), but their actual meeting isn't shown.
I've seen this trope at the end of Under the Same Moon and Marshmello's "LoVe U
".
openWork's equivalent for CounterpartComparison? Film
To quote myself from Ask the Tropers, who advised me to ask here:
Hey!
I put up a Counterpart Comparison example on the YMMV page
for Christopher Robin, comparing it to another movie (and other people expanded it). It got deleted under the reasoning that this is for characters, not works.
Well, is there any equivalent trope for works?
openWord association eureka Film
A brilliant character is trying to solve the bad guy's evil plot, or get themselves out of a pickle. He starts mumbling, thinking aloud, and suddenly, a word he only accidentally used, leads him to a eureka.
Used in The Avengers ("He's a diva! He wants a statue with *his name plastered*... son of a bitch.")
Parodied in one South Park episode.
openDon't humiliate a father in front of his child Film
Is there a trope where humiliating a man in front of his children (or family, students) is portayed as an extreme Kick the Dog moment, because the kid will lose respect for him?
I remember it being mentioned in that movie, Amélie, as something a character hated to see.
openA character leaves, but sends back a letter? Film
Hey, this is driving me crazy, but I'm trying to locate the trope for a situation where someone has left a series for whatever reason (actor's death, actor fired, etc.) and they send a letter back that speaks for them. Can you tell me what this trope is called? Thanks!
openNaming the animals by letter Film
A species which is portrayed as being wolf-like in behavior, with a human being as the alpha. The beta animal is named Blue, and the others are Charley, Delta and Echo.
openGrab to Stomp Film
The bad guy grabs someone, usually a kid, who stomps their foot on the bad guy causing them to let go of the child.
openBox Office Flop because of competition Film
I want to know if we have a trope where two or more films are released in theaters at around the same time, and one of them suffers at the box office because of the competition.
Examples: Disney's Oliver and Company being released at the same time as and being beaten at the box office by Don Bluth's The Land Before Time in 1988.
Or, Winnie The Pooh (2011) bombing at the box office because it was released the same day as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.
Edited by HistoryFan1865openGlass Breaking slowly before shattering dramatically Film
The thing I'm thinking of is like when the hero hits an attack and it's all quiet... then crack-crack-crack! The badguy's armor begins to break off because the attack landed true! They did it, they got the nat 20/critical hit.
openTruth in Television not so truthful Film
Is there a Trope or maybe even a Trivia item for whenever something depicted in fiction becomes so widespread that it's generally accepted as Truth in Television, even though it actually isn't very truthful at all?
One specific example I can think of is how Bugs Bunny and other similar cartoons have popularized the concepts that rabbits are rodents who love to eat characters, when in fact, rabbits are not rodents, they're lagomorphs, and they actually aren't really into carrots - they much prefer leafier greens, and even fruit in many cases.
Another, less specific example is that many times in fiction, the idea that lightning never strikes twice in the same place is brought up, and is even regarded as a note of safety for characters caught in a storm, when in fact, lightning very much can strike not only twice in the same place, but even several times in short succession.
Even a far more general example, of how Canada as a whole is often depicted as basically being a frozen tundra of a country, and while yes, it's not unusual for much of Canada to see more than its fair share of snow during the winter, many parts of the country do indeed experience the other three seasons, and even other parts, such as Vancouver, are actually springlike almost yearround.
I don't know if this would even really count, since this example is far more exclusive to just one incident, but after Finding Nemo noted that all drains lead to the ocean, many kids were reported to have flushed their live fish down the toilets to set them free and back into the ocean - so much so that Ellen De Generes (the voice of Dory) ended up having to do some PS As to inform kids that in fact, not all drains lead to the ocean, and they needs to stop flushing their fish under the belief they're setting them free into the ocean as a result.
openCreator borrowing a story point from past work Film
In We Bought a Zoo, a guy publicly quits his job very impulsively in a weird loving manner, telling his boss and coworkers he loves them. This scene is also reminiscent of Jerry Ma Guire
Two other things from this movie: 1. Daily Show correspondenct has a one scene cameo Desi Lydic, she wasn't famous then but she would be famous short 2. Also, the title being self-explanatory
openI Would As Soon Destroy a Stained Glass Window as an Artist Like Yourself Film
In "Film/The Princess Bride", after Westley beats Inigo in their duel, and Inigo expects to be killed, Westley instead knocks him unconscious, saying "I would as soon destroy a stained glass window as an artist like yourself. Please understand I hold you in the highest respect." Shortly after he knocks out the giant goon Fezzik and again, instead of killing him, tells him to "Dream of large women."
The trope of the pursuer (or victor) admiring the pursued is all through a lot of media — popular song ("Ringo"), other movies("Hopscotch" — the CIA Agent who has been pursuing Walter Matthau's character(Miles) throughout sees his plane blown apart on takeoff, and while the other agents take this as the moment of victory, shouting "the son of a bitch is dead", he walks quietly forward to where he has guessed Miles is hiding, and says in an ordinary tone, "The son of a bitch had better stay dead." Hannibal Lector lets Claire Starling live because "the world is more interesting with you in it" in "Silence of the Lambs". Subverted in "Breaker Morant" and Rohrsach's death in "The Watchmen" where the hero refuses the offer of being allowed to live.
There's also the handshake between Kimble and Gerard at the end of the TV series "The Fugitive", but that might not count because at that point Gerard knows Kimble has been innocent all along (or it might count because he has come to admire him). There's a whole chain of these at the end of Blade Runner, with everyone successively letting Decker go. There's the "Major Strasser has been shot, round up the usual suspects" moment in Casablanca.
And of course the archetype might be Javert in Les Miserables; he kills himself rather than arrest Jean Valjean, whom he recognizes as the better man.
This trope is very strongly there in John Davidson's poem "A Ballad of Hell", in which a woman has been tricked by her fiancee into killing herself, and so is sent to Hell, but refuses to accept it because of the sheer unfairness; defies the Devil and the gulf between Heaven and Hell, and makes it across to kneel at God's throne and demand justice. The Devil could stop her but he admires her too much to do that, and the damned all cheer her on.
"Seraphs and saints with one great voice Welcomed that soul that knew not fear. Amazed to find it could rejoice, Hell raised a hoarse, half-human cheer." (might be a good lead quote for this trope).
NOW: I can't believe I'm the first one to have noticed how many of these there are in how many different media. I've got to be missing something obvious. So does anyone know of a place where the trope already exists and has a name? As you can see, I'd like to add a bunch of examples! Or if nobody has really put a name on it, there's a ton of great quotes to title the new trope with, ne?
openShoulder checking Film
Usually film, could be TV.
I only found out today that there is a name for it. It’s called shoulder checking, and it works like this. Alice and Betty are in a confrontation. They might be members of rival gangs, or maybe they’re trying to out-bully each other for the title of Alpha Bitch, or maybe they just don’t like each other. They exchange their heated words and come to an uneasy resolution. Alice starts to walk away, but then in a final “screw you” act of disrespect, she bumps against Betty’s shoulder while passing by her. It’s just unsubtle enough to be obviously deliberate. You can see from Betty’s face that she is offended. Rightfully so, because she knows darn well, but can’t prove, Alice did it on purpose.
Shoulder checking is a dominance move meant to convey, “You’re so insignificant and so far beneath me, I’m not even going to bother acknowledging your personal space.”
It could just as easily be Andy and Bob, but not usually Alice and Bob.
So it’s a thing, and it’s got a name, but is it a trope?
Edited by UpFromAshesopenActor playing actor playing character Film
Here's the situation: actor A creates character C. Actor B then has to play the same character. Sometimes they'll take the character in a completely different direction, play someone similar, or deliberately homage the previous characterization. In some cases, however, actor B will deliberate riff on actor A's mannerisms, speaking patterns or trademark acting moves to both emphasize to the audience that these are the same characters and to poke a bit of fun at the other actor — think of Hugh Skinner essentially playing Colin Firth playing Harry Bright in Mamma Mia 2. This is similar to e.g. The Brain from Pinky and the Brain being an Orson Welles expy, but I think there's a difference in that part of the joke is the actor imitating another actor. Do we have a trope for this?
There is also a more advanced version of this trope: in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, Hermione Granger drinks Polyjuice Potion so that she temporarily turns into Bellatrix Lestrange, allowing her to gain access to Bellatrix's bank vault. Helena Bonham Carter (playing Bellatrix Lestrange) is clearing having a great time copying Emma Watson's mannerisms as a nervous Hermione to make it clear to the audience that it really is Hermione "inside" Bellatrix's body, while also playing Hermione being a "bad actor" who is unable to fully imitate Bellatrix correctly.
Probably the greatest example of this trope is Vincent D'Onofrio who correctly captures the mannerisms of a giant cockroach wearing a human skin in "Men In Black", but that's probably another trope entirely.

I've noticed a lot of people who review bad movies say bad comedies are the worst, the reasoning being that a bad action/horror/drama whatever might still be entertaining, if not in the intended way, where as a bad comedy is either just boring or irritating. Is there a trope for this.