# Entertainment options: what's your absolute dealbreakers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 17, 2006, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-options-whats-your-absolute-dealbreakers/364821 "2006-07-17T05:47:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-options-whats-your-absolute-dealbreakers/364821/61 "2006-07-18T04:00:47Z")
[QUOTE=Linty Fresh] Actually, now that I think about it, 99% of Pat Conroy’s characters should be lined up against the wall and stooge-slapped by Bull Meacham and the Bear. [/QUOTE] In your idea of a perfect world, should this happen to 99% of _real_ people? ---
**Author:** ![Othersider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/cab0a1/32.png) [@Othersider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Othersider)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-options-whats-your-absolute-dealbreakers/364821/62 "2006-07-18T05:56:34Z")
The first thing I thought of for this thread is, media starring/made by a celebrity who wasn’t originally of that industry. Then I realized I could think of quite a few counterexamples if I put my mind to it, so I’d say this isn’t an absolute, but I’m often wary when I see it. For example, when I hear about a movie starring Britney, or music made by Jennifer Lopez (remember when she was an actress?), I usually avoid it like the plague. For a very specific example, every trailer or promo I can remember seeing for anything starring Chris Kattan has pretty much turned me off. ---
**Author:** ![Selkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@Selkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Selkie)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-options-whats-your-absolute-dealbreakers/364821/63 "2006-07-18T05:58:30Z")
Any story in which a woman is raped by a man\*, then either (a) falls in love with him, or at minimum (b) decides she likes it. No, no, no, a thousand times no. (\*) Any other combination of genders would bother me just as much, but I can’t say I’ve ever seen this particular scenario played out any other way. ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-options-whats-your-absolute-dealbreakers/364821/64 "2006-07-18T06:29:08Z")
[QUOTE=Selkie] Any story in which a woman is raped by a man\*, then either (a) falls in love with him, or at minimum (b) decides she likes it. No, no, no, a thousand times no. (\*) Any other combination of genders would bother me just as much, but I can’t say I’ve ever seen this particular scenario played out any other way. [/QUOTE] Outside of freaky anime, when does this ever happen? ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-options-whats-your-absolute-dealbreakers/364821/65 "2006-07-18T07:00:06Z")
Romantic Comedies. Period Costume Dramas that don’t involve a murder mystery, a war, or humour. American Flag-Waving Patriotic movies. Any movie in which the use of Ebonics is a major (and intentional) source of humour. Anything Joss Wheedon has been anywhere near. Historical movies that completely disregard or rewrite history purely to appeal to a mass market. Re-makes of perfectly good films. Shows and movies in which people with no visible means of employment live like royalty tend to irritate me, too… ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-options-whats-your-absolute-dealbreakers/364821/66 "2006-07-18T08:02:26Z")
[QUOTE=flight] Outside of freaky anime, when does this ever happen? [/QUOTE] I was wondering the same thing. The closest I can think of is an exchange in Monty Python’s Life of Brian: **Brian** : You were _raped_?! **Brian’s Mother** : Well … at first. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-options-whats-your-absolute-dealbreakers/364821/67 "2006-07-18T08:13:07Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] I dislike movies with _any_ violence against women. Or children. 95% of it is gratuitous anyway, designed to establish a character as a Gold Plated SOB. [/QUOTE] I would say that gratuitous violence against men is WAY more common than gratuitous violence against women or children. If it’s designed to establish the character as a gold plated SOB, then it serves a purpose, and is by definition not gratuitous. I agree about the hot-girl-with-glasses thing, although it hasn’t happened much lately, particularly since it was so mocked in **Not Another Teen Movie**. A corollary is the much simpler “hot actress who everyone pretends is not hot”, such as Janeane Garafolo in **The Truth About Cats and Dogs**. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Wiseguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mr.Wiseguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Wiseguy)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-options-whats-your-absolute-dealbreakers/364821/68 "2006-07-18T09:27:49Z")
[QUOTE=MaxTheVool] How does **Titanic** involve the words “Based on a True Story”? [/QUOTE] My point was that the film is based on actual events, and that you know the boat’s sinking. Thus, I can’t get into the film. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Wiseguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mr.Wiseguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Wiseguy)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-options-whats-your-absolute-dealbreakers/364821/69 "2006-07-18T09:28:45Z")
[QUOTE=MaxTheVool] How does **Titanic** involve the words “Based on a True Story”? [/QUOTE] My point was that the film is (loosely) based on actual events, and that you know the boat’s sinking. Thus, I can’t get into the film. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-options-whats-your-absolute-dealbreakers/364821/70 "2006-07-18T11:16:02Z")
[QUOTE=flight] Outside of freaky anime, when does this ever happen? [/QUOTE] Laura fell in love with Luke on General Hospital after he raped her, 2 decades or so ago. And Achilles fell in love with Penthesilia, queen of the amazons, after he killed her on the battlefield–though Marion Zimmer Bradlley opined that he merely raped her corpse to demonstrate his contempt for female warriors. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-options-whats-your-absolute-dealbreakers/364821/71 "2006-07-18T11:36:25Z")
Remakes of classic television or old movies; Any cast member SNL except Bill Murray and maybe Will Ferrel; Tom Hanks; Steve Martin (what happened to him?); Movies that are based on comic books; Robin Williams; ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-options-whats-your-absolute-dealbreakers/364821/72 "2006-07-18T11:38:49Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] In your idea of a perfect world, should this happen to 99% of _real_ people? [/QUOTE] Well, no, but real people don’t tend to be as whiny, bitchy, or passive-aggressive as the characters I keep running into while reading Pat’s novels–well, at least not the people I’ve seen. I read **Lords of Discipline** , and I just shake my head at Will’s idiocy. I read **Prince of Tides** , and I find myself wanting to scream at everyone “GET A GRIP! YOU’VE GOT PROBLEMS. _Ignoring_ the problems hasn’t seemed to work the first 37 years of your lives, so why don’t you try actually _dealing_ with them?” It’s like 3/4 of his characters just stumble around life in their own private hell, and they need some weird conspiracy or hyper-violent father, or 500 pages of exposition and backstory to actually get off the couch and _do_ something about it. Whew, sorry for the rant. I needed to get that off my chest. Can you tell I don’t like Conroy’s novels very much? Sure I know people like this, but not a lot of people, and I don’t like them very much. I just don’t find passive aggression a compelling plot device. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-options-whats-your-absolute-dealbreakers/364821/73 "2006-07-18T14:43:58Z")
[QUOTE=flight] Outside of freaky anime, when does this ever happen? [/QUOTE] Well, for a fairly famous example, there’s _The Fountainhead_…(though it could be argued that it wasn’t really rape because it was pretty obvious that Dominique wanted Roark to do it). ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-options-whats-your-absolute-dealbreakers/364821/74 "2006-07-18T14:48:46Z")
[QUOTE=flight] Outside of freaky anime, when does this ever happen? [/QUOTE] _Boxing Helena_? ---
**Author:** ![Lips\_Obsession](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bbce88/32.png) [@Lips\_Obsession](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lips_Obsession)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-options-whats-your-absolute-dealbreakers/364821/75 "2006-07-18T15:02:39Z")
For my girlfriend, if one of the main characters gets killed in the movie, that’s a dealbreaker for her. She likes movies that are upbeat… ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-options-whats-your-absolute-dealbreakers/364821/76 "2006-07-18T15:03:21Z")
I would imagine it happens in a lot of Lifetime movies as well. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-options-whats-your-absolute-dealbreakers/364821/77 "2006-07-18T15:04:38Z")
I would imagine it happens in a lot of Lifetime movies as well, but women falling in love with their rapists is a common symptom that plagues romance novels. I’m not the target audience (straight male over here), but I don’t see how women can read those. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-options-whats-your-absolute-dealbreakers/364821/78 "2006-07-18T15:11:08Z")
[QUOTE=Lips\_Obsession] For my girlfriend, if one of the main characters gets killed in the movie, that’s a dealbreaker for her. She likes movies that are upbeat… [/QUOTE] I understand this. It’s not even a matter of being upbeat. I can deal with it if they kill off important people. But i feel robbed when they take time to make me like/love a major character and then go kill her off. It’s a cheap play on my emotions and it infuriates me. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-options-whats-your-absolute-dealbreakers/364821/79 "2006-07-18T16:47:30Z")
[QUOTE=flight] Outside of freaky anime, when does this ever happen? [/QUOTE] _Straw Dogs_. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-options-whats-your-absolute-dealbreakers/364821/80 "2006-07-18T20:20:41Z")
[QUOTE=Lips\_Obsession] For my girlfriend, if one of the main characters gets killed in the movie, that’s a dealbreaker for her. She likes movies that are upbeat… [/QUOTE] This bothered me with respect to Pay it Forward. Granted, it wasn’t a great flick to begin with… killing the kid at the end just to make the film “deep” was just glurgy garbage. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-options-whats-your-absolute-dealbreakers/364821.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-options-whats-your-absolute-dealbreakers/364821.md?page=5)