# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/141 "2025-02-26T20:07:05Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Reminds me of the ‘getting hit by a truck or a bus that comes out of nowhere’ trope. Perhaps the most ridiculous example is [here, in the movie Final Destination](https://youtu.be/7jt2f-Zpe80), on a quiet street that isn’t even an intersection but a ‘T’ where there’s no street for the bus to have come from-- it literally appears from nowhere. Yes, exactly that. Even if there was a street for it to have come from, it would have been obvious to the character that there was a bus barreling down on her. (Final Destination movies are cheesy, but kind of fun in their cheesiness) > [@solost](#): > > I have to disagree with this one. Curious, I did a little googling. It seems I’m not alone. Paul Schrader himself says he wrote Travis as an antihero. Also, numerous cites consider him the quintessential antihero: > **[Taxi Driver — The Art of the Antihero](https://medium.com/@cinemawizardboy/taxi-driver-the-art-of-the-antihero-9c5e92ccebce)** > > Video essay here: https://youtu.be/a6NylCTFrp4 [Among many others.](https://screenrant.com/taxi-driver-travis-bickle-quintessential-antihero-robert-de-niro-martin-scorsese/) ---
**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 26, 2025, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/142 "2025-02-26T20:11:39Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > Curious, I did a little googling. It seems I’m not alone. Paul Schrader himself says he wrote Travis as an antihero. > Also, numerous cites consider him the quintessential antihero: Hmm. OK, well, I stand corrected. ---
**Author:** ![Chelonaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9a140/32.png) [@Chelonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chelonaut)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/143 "2025-02-26T20:14:16Z")
\ Amazing! He shoots better, kungfus better, even shaves better. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/144 "2025-02-26T20:15:26Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > Why, I remember that trope like it was yesterday…day…day… Well done, golf clap. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/145 "2025-02-26T20:16:37Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Or the ever-popular “screeching cat fake-out jump scare”. aka the spring-loaded cat. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/146 "2025-02-26T20:22:47Z")
This may or may not fit my stated thread topic, but it is my thread, so… I’ve noticed that basically every show made in the late 60s/early 70s had a computer dating episode, including I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, Andy Griffith, and Green Acres. But it no longer merits a special episode because “computer dating” is now just a normal lart of everyday life. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/147 "2025-02-26T20:22:48Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > > > I have done them in real life. Including having the liquid come out my nose instead. Not that pleasant with a carbonated drink. > > Didn’t spit. Went down wrong tube. Coughing. Worse coughing. Projectile vomit. I once made someone pass a chili bean out their nose. Does that count? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/148 "2025-02-26T20:23:51Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Or the ever-popular “screeching cat fake-out jump scare”. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/pxauTJpY-hg/hqdefault.jpg "Community - "There is an insane cat down here!"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxauTJpY-hg) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/149 "2025-02-26T20:35:29Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Pedantic nitpick here. The term antihero does not mean a protagonist like Walter White who actively does bad things instead of good things. An antihero is a hero who is trying to do good, but rather than being the perfect handsome broad-shouldered upstanding citizen with a square jaw who helps old ladies across the street and always does the right thing, is flawed, human, and imperfect (e.g. Rick from Casablanca) Who would be your go-to example of an antivillain? ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/150 "2025-02-26T20:39:52Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Who would be your go-to example of an antivillain? Maybe Marv in _Sin City_? ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/151 "2025-02-26T20:47:52Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I’ve noticed that basically every show made in the late 60s/early 70s had a computer dating episode, including I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, Andy Griffith, and Green Acres. But it no longer merits a special episode because “computer dating” is now just a normal lart of everyday life. Similarly, cop shows from that era often made a big deal about having the detectives use a computer to figure out who their suspect is (or at least narrowing it down to a short list) by searching their database of everyone’s rap sheets based on what they know about the prep. Of course today we see cops using computers and searching databases of known criminals, but it’s just portrayed as an everyday part of their job, not something we’re supposed to be impressed by. I think today maybe the “Zoom in! Enhance!” trope might be the modern day version of the “Let’s go to the crime computer!” trope of old. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/152 "2025-02-26T20:54:10Z")
It’s not dead, maybe not near dead, perhaps not even sick: Person or people are in a darkened room, tiptoeing around, afraid of being noticed by bad guys or monsters, and a cat jumps out from some hiding place scaring the people out of their wits. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/153 "2025-02-26T20:59:18Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > I think today maybe the “Zoom in! Enhance!” trope might be the modern day version of the “Let’s go to the crime computer!” trope of old. The enhance thing is a hoot. A washed out B&W image of a person where their head occupies about 4x4 pixels in the image can be enhanced until their face is shown in high resolution. Then there’s also the supertech who presses a key and a bunch of C source code flies by on the screen, or maybe just a hex dump, and they immediately understand how this code works, everything it does and they take about 3 seconds to change it and gain access to every computer on earth. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/154 "2025-02-26T21:17:32Z")
> [@Briny\_Deep](#): > > narrative flashbacks or dream sequences that are signaled by wavy lines, harp music, echoes, etc. That swirling harp plays the whole-tone scale. Because all the notes are equidistant, it has no tonal center, and this gives a disorienting effect. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/155 "2025-02-26T21:20:00Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > I think today maybe the “Zoom in! Enhance!” trope might be the modern day version of the “Let’s go to the crime computer!” trope of old. I loathe this…drives me up the wall. I remember an episode of _House_, in which he kept seeking a bigger and bigger screen on which to watch a laproscopic video, and by the time he had it projected on a huge screen, it somehow got much sharper and clearer. I was almost yelling at the screen “That’s not how that works! It’ll be more pixillated!” Speaking of computers, I haven’t watched any of the American _Law & Order_s in a long time (though the Toronto one is finding its footing lately, I think), do they still make up names of social media sites? “I took at look at the victim’s Facespace page…” ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/156 "2025-02-26T21:32:14Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > The enhance thing is a hoot. A washed out B&W image of a person where their head occupies about 4x4 pixels in the image can be enhanced until their face is shown in high resolution. One of the newer older shows I’ve been rewatching is _Early Edition_. One episode not only involves enhancing an old photo but it takes several hours for the computer to do it for dramatic plot reasons. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/157 "2025-02-26T21:58:49Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Who would be your go-to example of an antivillain? So I guess by that definition an anti-villain is a character who does villainous things, but is not a stereotypical mustache twirling Hollywood villain who’s motivation is just “I’m evil”. My go to example would probably be Little Bill in Unforgiven, played by Gene Hackman. He clearly doesn’t think of himself as the villain, he thinks he’s the hero protecting his town from hired killers, but he clearly is the villain (in as much there is a villain, one of the many things that movie does really well is portraying absolute complete moral ambiguity. Whether or not Little Bill is the villain there are clearly no heroes) ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/158 "2025-02-26T22:01:36Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I’ve noticed that basically every show made in the late 60s/early 70s had a computer dating episode I checked on Wikipedia and it has a list of shows that featured speed dating. All except for one was between 2000 and 2010. The exception is The Angry Birds Movie 2. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/159 "2025-02-26T22:20:00Z")
> [@solost](#): > > True, but Hannibal had maybe 1/2 a redemption arc. He went from indiscriminately murdering to only killing and eating what he called ‘free range rude’. So if you were cool, and chill, you had nothing to fear from him. He was practically a murdery cannibal version of a folk hero. I was thinking of what he did in the movie _Hannibal_, where he chose to sever his own arm rather than Clarice’s. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/160 "2025-02-26T22:30:24Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I have done them in real life. Including having the liquid come out my nose instead. Not that pleasant with a carbonated drink. I did one in 1985, when my late mother (a lifelong smoker who fell completely for the tobacco lobby’s claims that smoking was harmless) read in the paper that Pittsburgh Pirates announcer Bob Prince (also a lifelong smoker) had died of throat cancer, declared: _“That was from all that yelling!”_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797.md?page=9)