Throughout the years, certain movie tropes have persisted, stubbornly resisting the changing tides of modernity. Let’s dive into 10 of these well-worn clichés that we can spot coming from a mile away.
Talking About People Behind Their Backs
There are far too many scenes in which people are talking about a person they dislike or saying something bad about their friend only to find said person is standing right behind them. While this does happen in real life we don’t believe it happens so often. One of the many flaws with this trope is that if someone did creep up behind us, surely we would know so the director is treating the audience as if they are dumb.
Talking While Driving
Ok, we know that we can multitask by talking and driving at the same time but in TV and film people constantly stare into one another’s eyes laughing and joking with no care in the world about who is looking at the road ahead. If this were to happen in real life there would be a crash every 5 minutes.
Guns Never Run Out of Ammunition
How many fight scenes have we watched where the shooter in an action movie runs out of ammunition? You may be able to think of one of two movies in which the shooter panics about their loss of ammunition but it is few and far between. Instead, there appear to be infinite rounds of ammunition and the shooter never has to reload.
Nerd Makeovers
There are endless teen movies and romcoms that involve the nerd/geek kids getting makeovers and becoming the most desirable person in town. The nerdy girl makeover inevitably means the hottest guy in school asks her to prom and the other girls wish they could be as pretty as her. One of the biggest cliches in the movie world but also one that fans cannot get enough of.
Plot Explanations in Dreams
Sometimes both the audience and the characters have no idea what’s going on with the storyline only for it to be explained in a dream. Dream sequences are often added to make the movie more surreal but also give us insight into the mind of the characters or what is happening in the plot but this is not always done well and sometimes it is just cringeworthy.
Cutting Off Hair to Show Trauma
It is such a movie cliche for people, particularly women, to cut their hair off to show just how much pain and discomfort they are in. The troubled soul suddenly has to shed their original hair to make them look less attractive or more to somehow allow her to take ownership of her future. We sometimes see hair color changes or people suddenly going gray overnight to convey similar emotions.
Unrealistic Lifestyles
Whether it be working 2 days a week, living in an expensive New York apartment on a chef’s wage, or constantly going on expensive vacations, some movies have characters who do not live in the real world. We all wish we could live in some of the amazing houses movie characters live in with such low wages. It is also funny that people living in huge mansions only have one or two bedrooms as guests have to sleep on the couch rather than in a guest room!
Dramatic Nightmares
Not many people can recall screaming out loud in bed and sitting up in a shocked manner when they have a nightmare. Movie and TV characters jolt out of bed as soon as they start to dream about the tiniest thing and we can honestly say we have never seen this happen to a friend or partner in real life. Some movies go even further with characters waking up visibly shaking or in pools of sweat, which can happen but not as often as it does in the movies.
Medicine Cabinet Reflections
Movie couple seems to stare longingly into the bathroom mirrors and cabinets A LOT! Whether it be looking at themselves pensively or lovingly staring and giggling with their partner, this type of vanity does not occur in real life. In reality, we look in the mirror as little as possible and certainly don’t look at each other in the mirror-like pair of school kids before we go to sleep.
Don’t Die on Me
Death is always difficult to watch on screen as it can lead to a lot of tears and sniffles. However, some movie deaths are so stereotypical with the person left behind shouting “Don’t die on me” or “Stay with me”. We expect that these types of phrases are used sometimes in real life but we think that movie directors and scriptwriters need to think about adding some more imagination to their death scenes.
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