# A Meme to banish forever... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 8, 2009, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-meme-to-banish-forever/499135 "2009-06-08T19:54:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-meme-to-banish-forever/499135/101 "2009-06-13T12:48:28Z")
In ripper movies it annoys the shit out of me when you have the statutory half of dozen false alarms before the actual psycho killer shows his mask,by the time that happens I’ve usually lost interest. But the the one that really,really makes me go all stabby is where you have the elite martial artist/gun slinger/special forces bloke going to sort out the incredibly tough bad guys and the wounded mate/old age pensioner/seven stone slip of a girl insists on going with him to help. He reluctantly allows them to accompany him,reluctant because he does want them hurt. NO,NO you bloody stupid side kick,you’re not making a noble self sacrifice in an effort to help him or getting revenge on the bad guy you hate,what you’re actually doing is putting an unnecessary burden on him,slowing him down and making him more vulnerable to attacks and a lot less likely in the real world to achieve his aim. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-meme-to-banish-forever/499135/102 "2009-06-13T17:32:51Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > “You sly dog! You got me monologuing!” > [@BubbaDog](#): > > That’s why the ship turbine scene in Firefly was so beautiful. > [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > You mean the swordfight, or the movie bit with the Operative? They’re not quite as bad as you describe, though I’m quite fond of the bit involving Mal getting tortured: > [@Voyager](#): > > **The Last Action Hero** … > [@DocCathode](#): > > This is one reason why Army Of Darkness is a great film… Buffy The Vampire Slayer riffed on this meme… > [@Eats\_Crayons](#): > > The first two _Scream_ movies deal with the OP’s cliche quite well (particularly the second one). > [@Ersatz\_Shmoe](#): > > My favorite reference to that: “I did it thirty-five minutes ago.” > [@glee](#): > > The villain with the most common sense was Scott Evil (son of Doctor): > > Dr. Evil: All right guard, begin the unnecessarily slow-moving dipping mechanism. > [guard starts dipping mechanism] > Dr. Evil: Close the tank! > Scott Evil: Wait, aren’t you even going to watch them? They could get away! > [@Lumpy](#): > > Lampshaded in DC’s Hitman series: a vampire threatens our antihero, who calmly pulls out a twelve-gauge shotgun and chops him off at the knees. > [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > A running gag through _Due South_ was how pristine the Mountie character’s uniform was despite the fights and car chases and dumpster-dives. > [@Pushkin](#): > > Didn’t Firefly deal with that idea. For a few seconds 🙂 The cliche I would most like to see retired is the smug reference to movie cliches within movies, whether to “lampshade” or subvert it. It was moderately clever when Bob Hope did it in the '40s, now it’s a tiresome, lazy substitute for actual originality and cleverness. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-meme-to-banish-forever/499135.md?page=5)