Linking to a past Trope Repair Shop thread that dealt with this page: Too many "Justified" examples
, started by helterskelter on Feb 2nd 2011 at 11:52:05 PM
Previous Trope Repair Shop thread: Needs Help, started by TV4Fun on Sep 8th 2018 at 5:07:13 AM
Purrloin Jani by @/{{shrubBird}}
I'd like peoples' thoughts on whether or not this has become a Dead Horse Trope and/or Discredited Trope. Seems the majority of examples of this are pretty old, and the more recent live-action shared universes like the MCU, Arrowverse, and DCEU all seem to do a good job at avoiding this altogether.
Current WHABP alts: Jani (Sarah) the Purrloin, Hudson the Togetic. Tilly/Lilly (Digletts) are being Put on a Bus.
Isn't it kind of a problem that most of the examples on this pages are aversions, justified examples, etc. ?
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I guess that would make it a Dead Horse Trope, yes? In any case, I ended up giving this to one of my original characters as a sort of Achilles' Heel to avoid making her a God Mode Villain Sue. For her it was justified because due to a Noodle Incident in her past, she goes catatonic when she's picked up by her wrist and lifted in the air. I'm actually wondering if this counts, since the details are rather specific.
Edited by GirlwithAPlot
I guess that would make it a Dead Horse Trope, yes? In any case, I ended up giving this to one of my original characters as a sort of Achilles' Heel to avoid making her a God Mode Villain Sue. For her it was justified because due to a Noodle Incident in her past, she goes catatonic when she's picked up by her wrist and lifted in the air. I'm actually wondering if this counts, since the details are rather specific.
Edited by GirlwithAPlot
I think part of the problem is that the trope only applies to action girls who wilt the instant they're grabbed. Non-action girls of various types are also grabbed there in various media. Another problem might be that a lot of the examples are reasonably recent time-wise, and reflect a more modern outlook. Older films and such have a lot of the villain grabbing the (non-warrior) girl by the arm or wrist and hauling her around without her fighting back -or sometimes stomping on his foot, upon which his buddy or mooks will grab her.
Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving. -Terry Pratchett
Poking this one again — when a page accumulates this many aversions and justifications it's usually a good sign that you've got either a Dead Horse Trope or a bunch of fans trying to get their favorite shows Trope Overdosed. You can *subvert* Standard Female Grab Area, but it isn't common enough any more for aversions to be worth noting. People tend to ignore directives like that, though.
I wonder if this is related to a trope I've noticed. A fight scene. The hero and the villain are tangling. A female (of any stripe, be she Damsel in Distress or Action Girl) rushes over to help the hero, but only manages to pound her fist on the villain's arm a couple times before he throws her away. She lightly bounces off the wall, and is out for the count. Would that be the Standard Female Disabling Maneuver? I could imagine if she had hit her head or was otherwise slammed with enough force, but usually she's just pushed away, and she staggers backward until her back touches a wall. A male character put through the same maneuver would jump up swinging, a female lays there wincing, if not knocked out cold.
Would it be a Black Comedy-style subversion if there's a better reason the Action Girl was incapacitated?
- Girl: So then he grabbed my arm.Friend: That's it? All he did was grab your arm and you were severely crippled?Friend: Oh, I see.
I'm wondering if there's a tasteful way to say "No, the standard female grab area is NOT the boobies. You perv."
Sorcerer in training
Angua from Discworld... if some idiot crook attacks her (and knows it's her), his death/injuries are considered 'self-inflicted.
Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving. -Terry Pratchett
X-14: Killer Cheese
I seem to recall a couple of links to videos on how to get out of similar holds etc., in the real life section. Any idea where those went?
I think this could be averted if women just kicked mooks who grab them. As I said when I saw this on batman "if you can't use your arms,use your legs."
This Troper's mom is built like a rugby player, yet will grow scared and helpless if a man grabs her arm (like, to get her to pay attention and stop being hysterical or something). Maybe it's instinctual?
This is stupid, I bet you 9 times out of 10, if you do this to a girl, she'll grab your nuts.