# Dead or nearly dead tropes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 25, 2025, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797 "2025-02-25T23:14:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/241 "2025-02-28T16:25:30Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > “Rocky” It’s clear that Adrian (Talia Shire’s character) is not supposed to become very attractive, as you can see in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pRvHLEskTA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pRvHLEskTA) . She’s supposed to be average in looks. When her hat is removed, her hair is short, not long. Incidentally, Talia Shire is two months and twelve days older than Sylvester Stallone. They were both 30 years old when _Rocky_ was released. Supposedly, the only thing preventing them from getting together before that is that she’s shy. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/242 "2025-02-28T16:49:46Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > She’s supposed to be average in looks. When her hat is removed, her hair is short, not long. No, I think she is presented as very attractive without the beanie had and the schoolmarm glasses. A perfect example of the trope. And I don’t agree that long hair/short hair indicates level of attractiveness to most folks. See exhibit 1 and exhibit 2 below. mmm [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/FgNLv3k.jpeg "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/FgNLv3k) [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/tjnSDRG.jpeg "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/tjnSDRG) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/243 "2025-02-28T17:01:22Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > See exhibit 1 and exhibit 2 below. Yes, and it’s clear to me that Adrian is not supposed to be more than average in looks. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/244 "2025-02-28T17:05:57Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Adrian is not supposed to be more than average in looks. I could not disagree more. But that’s why they make both Coke and Pepsi. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/245 "2025-02-28T17:11:44Z")
A more typical example of a young woman removing her glasses and having her hair style changed is [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUjlBP5gUrQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUjlBP5gUrQ) . ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/246 "2025-02-28T17:38:49Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I could not disagree more. > > But that’s why they make both Coke and Pepsi. I think the problem here is there’s a disconnect between Hollywood plain and regular real life plain. I don’t think Adrian is really meant to be a beauty in Rocky, but she’s an actress, and many of them are beautiful in real life. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/247 "2025-02-28T17:40:16Z")
_Loaded Weapon_ has my favorite example. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/IhSfy45IzRU/hqdefault.jpg "Loaded weapon may i change before i go?") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhSfy45IzRU) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/248 "2025-02-28T18:03:47Z")
Yes, a lot of Hollywood actresses were discovered by studio executives because they were models. The comparison of the standards is as follows: Hollywood’s idea of the actress’s looks: somewhat less than average in looks. These are about average for your class or office or neighborhood. Hollywood’s idea: somewhat more than average in looks. These are the very pretty ones who you would be glad to date if they actually thought you were worth dating. Hollywood’s idea: very beautiful but for some reason interested in the hero. You will never meet any women this beautiful in real life. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/249 "2025-02-28T18:58:14Z")
A subset of dead or nearly dead tropes are _evolved_ tropes. We’re now probably _at least_ 20 years past the trope of not being being able to find a payphone to contact someone in an emergency, which then evolved into having a cellphone but not being able to get a signal, which has _further_ resolved into either left the cellphone behind (itself becoming increasingly implausible), ran out of battery (ditto) or (the last bastion) it being _broken_ in the the proceeding action/escape sequence. I’m wondering what will happen to the trope when Sith Emperor Elon forces us to all upgrade to internal Neuralink communicators. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/250 "2025-02-28T19:38:14Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Yes, a lot of Hollywood actresses were discovered by studio executives because they were models. It’s not just the studio execs: it starts early. There were two talented acting majors my college roommate palled around with. One was hilarious and bubbly and a dead ringer for a young Joan Blondel (also could turn it to dramatic and tragic on a dime). The other was also highly talented and a dead ringer for a young [Laila Robins](https://m.imdb.com/name/nm0732309/). Because that’s who she was. The department head put Laila in all the big university productions, made the phone calls to get her into grad school at Yale, etc.; which she fully deserved. No modeling that I recall, just hard work. The equally hard-working and talented chubby woman? Steered into children’s theater and oblivion. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/251 "2025-02-28T19:53:27Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > A subset of dead or nearly dead tropes are _evolved_ tropes. > > We’re now probably _at least_ 20 years past the trope of not being being able to find a payphone to contact someone in an emergency, which then evolved into having a cellphone but not being able to get a signal… > […] > I’m wondering what will happen to the trope when Sith Emperor Elon forces us to all upgrade to internal Neuralink communicators. Then the old “get hit on the head-- lose memory; get hit on the head again-- get memory back” trope will _evolve_ into a “get hit on the head-- lose Neuralink connection; get hit on the head again-- get Neuralink connection back” trope 😆 ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/252 "2025-02-28T20:08:49Z")
I endorse percussive maintenance on anyone buying Musk products these days! So I look forward to the newly evolved trope 😜 ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/253 "2025-02-28T20:12:25Z")
‘Percussive maintenance’, I like that! Think I may borrow the phrase sometime, if that’s OK. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/254 "2025-02-28T20:14:34Z")
It’s not original to me, it’s been hanging around quite a while, even chosen for the title of the appropriate Trope! > **[Percussive Maintenance - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PercussiveMaintenance)** > > Also known as "Technical Tap", this is a method of repairing malfunctioning devices by hitting 'em really hard. This is a case of Truth in Television, as many people will often do this with malfunctioning machinery, frequently with surprisingly … (I’ve been using it since at least the early aughts, and it’s certainly older than that) ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/255 "2025-02-28T20:26:05Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > > [@dirtball](#): > > > > Or could you, with complete impunity, go snipping wires like a drunk barber and be confident of success simply because of the damage you’re doing? > > Unless someone is deliberately fucking with the bomb disposal men (like in the Richard Harris film _Juggernaut_), yes. That’s what I’ve always been inclined to think. But I’ve never given it any thought except when the idea was right in front of me, like in a movie, so I never researched it. In any case, I’m willing to suspend my disbelief on a point like that if they can do it well. > [@solost](#): > > But, in my _very_ limited knowledge of IEDs (seriously, I only know what I’ve heard in the news) I think modern IEDs are usually triggered with a cheap burner cellphone that gets called to trigger the blast- not a timer. So the bomber can observe from a distance, and as soon as somebody tried to disarm the bomb, the bomber would set it off. That would give the bad guys more control over the situation, to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/256 "2025-02-28T20:30:29Z")
How about the woman screaming and jumping on top of a table when she spots a mouse? I don’t think I’ve seen that in while. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/257 "2025-02-28T20:48:33Z")
Did that ever appear in a movie or television show or anything else available to everyone? I did a search on YouTube and only found a couple of videos, both fairly recent, with that trope. I did a search on Google and found some references to TikTok and Shutterstock about this trope. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/258 "2025-02-28T21:17:46Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > How about the woman screaming and jumping on top of a table when she spots a mouse? I don’t think I’ve seen that in while. > [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Did that ever appear in a movie or television show or anything else available to everyone? > **[Eek, a Mouse!! - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EekAMouse)** > > A staple of early domestic comedies in both film and television. The mere sight of a mouse (or sometimes another animal who is the subject of a common phobia) will drive a housewife up onto a chair or a table, where she stands shrieking, stomping … ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/259 "2025-02-28T21:32:26Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > How about the woman screaming and jumping on top of a table when she spots a mouse? I don’t think I’ve seen that in while. It was pretty much a running gag on the current season of _The Pitt_, until a patient’s terrier came to the rescue in last night’s episode. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/260 "2025-02-28T22:09:36Z")
It happened in _ **It Takes a Thief** _ too. The hot babe was Sharon Acker, aka “Odonna” on _ **ST: TOS** _. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797.md?page=14)