# Cliches that you can't believe are still used **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 8, 2005, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-that-you-cant-believe-are-still-used/320634 "2005-09-08T07:23:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-that-you-cant-believe-are-still-used/320634/41 "2005-09-08T22:24:10Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > The one that I hate is the “I’m so mad I could kiss you…” cliche. Basically two characters hate each other all through the episode, culminating in a big screaming fight that, in the end, has them kissing. It is revealed that the anger was really a cover for sexual tension. Has this ever happened to anyone in real life? Yes. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-that-you-cant-believe-are-still-used/320634/42 "2005-09-08T22:26:16Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > Yeah, except the movies take it to supernatural extremes. For example, the killer in Copycat who manages to waltz into Sigourney Weaver’s high security apartment. Or the killer in almost all of James Patterson’s books (e.g. Kiss the Girls) or Patricia Cornwell’s books. It presupposes a level of organization, knowledge and luck that no human being could possess. I used to really like Jeffrey Deaver’s Lincoln Rhyme series. Rhyme is a brilliant forensic expert who can find all sorts of clues from the tiniest of minutiae. The series fell apart when Deaver made the criminals much, much too smart forensically. The crime scenes are totally sterile except for a single planted fiber. Really? How the hell do you sterilize an area 100% leaving not a single hair or fiber or speck of dirt behind save the one you leave as misdirection? Oh, and be able to sneak in and out with the sort of equipment you’d need ot do so? One skewering of a cliche I love is from _Sneakers_. As Robert Redford breaks into a building, he pulls out his trusty set of lock picks, only to doscover that the lock was replaced with a numeric keypad instead. He radios his tech guys, who flip through a manual and relay complicated instructions to Redford, who says “Well, I’ll give it a try”. Then kicks the door in. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-that-you-cant-believe-are-still-used/320634/43 "2005-09-08T22:32:17Z")
The OP puts me in mind of the [Evil Overlord List](http://www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html), especially point 95. > [@](#): > > My dungeon will have its own qualified medical staff complete with bodyguards. That way if a prisoner becomes sick and his cellmate tells the guard it’s an emergency, the guard will fetch a trauma team instead of opening up the cell for a look. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-that-you-cant-believe-are-still-used/320634/44 "2005-09-08T22:35:15Z")
> [@Scott Plaid](#): > > Yes. Well? C’mon, spill it. You can’t leave us hanging. (or is that too big of a highjack?) ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-that-you-cant-believe-are-still-used/320634/45 "2005-09-08T22:45:32Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > Well? C’mon, spill it. You can’t leave us hanging. (or is that too big of a highjack?) I don’t kiss and tell. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-that-you-cant-believe-are-still-used/320634/46 "2005-09-08T22:49:06Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Actually, coming in 2nd is an overused cliche in its own right. Well, if it’s one person/team/band versus one other person/team/band, what would you have them do? > [@smiling bandit](#): > > Am I the only one who loves the slightly-nerdy looking girls? I mean, I think they look so much better before the stupid “makeover.” …Me too, especially in _Not Another Teen Movie_, where the skewer this cliche, along with may others. (I love that movie.) ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-that-you-cant-believe-are-still-used/320634/47 "2005-09-08T23:39:32Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > Cop investigating a murder brings a bag of evidence into the lab. A harried-looking lab tech takes the bag. > > Cop says, “I need to know what that is.” > > Lab tech: “I can try to analyze it and have the results by next week. We are buried under this backlog.” > > Cop: “No, I need this now. Someone’s life is at stake.” > > Lab tech hesitates. > > Cop: “Come on. It’s for me. I’d consider it a favor.” > > Lab tech (reluctantly): “I’ll see what I can do…” You forgot to mention that the lab tech was in a wheelchair. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-that-you-cant-believe-are-still-used/320634/48 "2005-09-08T23:46:56Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > TV version: Hero and BadGuy struggle on top of gantry/water tower/catwalk/whatever. BadGuy ends up hanging over the edge. Hero seriously considers stomping on BadGuy’s hand, but get talked out of it by secondary Hero/Damsel with “You’ll be as bad as he is.” Hero pulls BadGuy up, places him under arrest. > > PG Movie version: Same as above, except after BadGuy is pulled up, he tries to backstab Hero and ends up accidentally falling over the railing again, this time for keeps. > > R Movie version: Same as above, except Hero makes snappy one-liner and drops BadGuy to his death. The version in _Star Trek III_ was about as good as it’s been handled (Kirk tries to pull Kruge up, Kruge tries to drag Kirk down with him, Kirk decides that he’s “had enough of you” and kicks him down). ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-that-you-cant-believe-are-still-used/320634/49 "2005-09-09T00:16:23Z")
**Vagus** Geez yes !!! How did this thread go for over 30 replies before someone brought up _that_ one? If you saw “ **Hot Shots** ” (Part One) there was a character called “ **Dead Meat** ”. Instead of being engaged, he is already married. His wife is following him out to his jet and she says “Oh honey please sign this life insurance policy.” **Pilot** : “Gee this pen doesn’t work. I’ll sign it when I get back. Oh and I found out the truth behind the JFK assassination. I’ve got all the answers right here in my pocket. I also figured out a simple, cheap and effective solution to the problem of global warming. I’ll tell you about it when I get back” Guess whose plane crashes? Another great “Dead Meat” character cliché is the _only_ friend, associate, co-worker, etc that actually _beleives_ the heroes’ story, etc. Remember “ **Basic Instinct** ”? Micahael Douglas mentions that the only guy he can trust is his partner Gus. Want to guess what eventually happens to Gus? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-that-you-cant-believe-are-still-used/320634/50 "2005-09-09T00:45:28Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > The ugly duckling who takes off the eyeglasses, lets the hair down, puts on new clothes, and becomes a beautiful swan, complete with new personality. This worked for me in _My Big Fat Greek Wedding_, mostly because they actually made the actress look unattractive to start, rather than just looking like someone attractive wearing glasses and her hair up. The one that continually bugs me is how accurate the techs can predict how much time it will take to accomplish something. If the brainy guy says it’ll take four hours to decode the message/defuse the bomb/drive to the destination, it won’t take a second more or less; you can time it with an atomic clock. ---
**Author:** ![ryobserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@ryobserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryobserver)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-that-you-cant-believe-are-still-used/320634/51 "2005-09-09T01:02:20Z")
What about cliches going international? I saw an Indian movie on a local station recently, and when the stalwart soldier setting out on a mission said goodbye to his concerned and loving parents with a Bollywood version of “A soldier’s gotta do what a soldier’s gotta do”, I said, “He’s doomed.” And 20 minutes later he was heroically cut down in a hail of lead. My least favorite cliche is the Immaculate Concussion. Hero is rabbit-punched, hit with a bottle, clubbed with a pistol butt, whatever; he falls down, lies still for as long as the plot requires, shakes his head, gets up and runs back into action as though nothing’s happened, instead of puking and clutching his head as real concussion victims tend to do. Brain damage? What’s brain damage? ---
**Author:** ![NoPretentiousCodename](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/82dd89/32.png) [@NoPretentiousCodename](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoPretentiousCodename)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-that-you-cant-believe-are-still-used/320634/52 "2005-09-09T02:24:13Z")
DAMN the person who invented the Hanging off a Cliff/Other High Place cliche! DAMN their soul to PIE HELL!! Maybe it’s just my bad luck, but almost EVERY SINGLE MOVIE I have seen this year has included the scene where the hero is hanging onto another person’s arm(s) as that individual dangles precariously over the edge of a cliff. That takes all the action and suspense out of an otherwise good action scene. Although I have to admit, it wasn’t terrible when they did it in Batman Begins. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-that-you-cant-believe-are-still-used/320634.md?page=2)