# I won't watch a movie that has plot X **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 13, 2009, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-watch-a-movie-that-has-plot-x/513658 "2009-10-13T15:20:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-watch-a-movie-that-has-plot-x/513658/1 "2009-10-13T15:20:06Z")
Inspired by a current thread taking the opposite approach, I wonder what plot devices absolutely make a movie unwatchable for you. For me, I can’t stand movies in which A man discovers a child he never knew he had Two people who can’t stand each other are obviously going to wind up in love ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-watch-a-movie-that-has-plot-x/513658/2 "2009-10-13T15:26:33Z")
Anything around the hellishness of high school, the emotional abuse people put each other through in the name of popularity. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-watch-a-movie-that-has-plot-x/513658/3 "2009-10-13T15:31:13Z")
Ditzy beautiful single gal with great career can’t find a man, and when she does, they “meet cute” - and probably can’t stand each other but are obviously going to wind up in love…see: Any Sandra Bullock movie Ditzy beautiful single gal “inherits” kid/kids when the parents are killed. How many times have we suffered through that scenario?.. see: Baby Boom, Raising Helen This one is mostly TV, but the beautiful single gal is saddled with a troublesome little sister (when the parents are killed). Troublesome little sister has too much time on hands, starts buddying up to the villain of the story, gets kidnapped by villain, etc. and basically goes through life getting her head stuck in a metaphorical bucket requiring her sister drop everything and run to the rescue … see: Bionic Woman (the recent one) ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-watch-a-movie-that-has-plot-x/513658/4 "2009-10-13T15:33:55Z")
Mom dies of cancer, leaving little kids behind. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-watch-a-movie-that-has-plot-x/513658/5 "2009-10-13T15:35:01Z")
A guy is out for revenge because drug dealers killed his family. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-watch-a-movie-that-has-plot-x/513658/6 "2009-10-13T15:43:47Z")
A bunch of good looking, unpleasant people get tortured/tracked down/murdered, possibly by someone they knowingly or unknowingly hurt in the past. Some guy gets out of prison after being wrongfully imprisoned and has to murder a bunch of people for revenge. A bunch of zombies… zomb it up, or whatever. [I did like \*Shaun of the Dead\*.] ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-watch-a-movie-that-has-plot-x/513658/7 "2009-10-13T15:47:42Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > A bunch of zombies… zomb it up, or whatever. [I did like _Shaun of the Dead_.] I’m with you on this one. I liked Shaun of the Dead well enough but it gets old. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-watch-a-movie-that-has-plot-x/513658/8 "2009-10-13T15:53:03Z")
The monster is chowing down on local teenagers, the sheriff knows what’s going on and is about to take prompt action when the mayor tells him not to do anything because it will blow the big real estate deal about to be consummated with the Big Bad Developer, be bad for tourism, or make the Big Corporation think twice about locating the new factory there. Not that it can’t be a good plot, it’s just been done to death. After all, what politician wouldn’t sacrifice a few worthless teenagers for economic progress? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-watch-a-movie-that-has-plot-x/513658/9 "2009-10-13T16:08:13Z")
Known Bad Science in Scifi movies. Like welding the moon back together or restarting the core of the Earth with a nuke. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-watch-a-movie-that-has-plot-x/513658/10 "2009-10-13T16:11:24Z")
Any movie where ALL the women are perfect, long-suffering saints and ALL the men are wife-beating rapist scum. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-watch-a-movie-that-has-plot-x/513658/11 "2009-10-13T16:23:29Z")
Angsty, narcissistic American teens or suburbanites drown in self-pity and domestic drama, heedless of the fact that their standard of living and degree of political freedom is better than that of the great majority of the world’s population. Brave teacher takes on a class of misfits, losers or thugs and turns them on to learning. Brave people fight racism in the Sixties South. Holocaust movies. Teen sex comedies. ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-watch-a-movie-that-has-plot-x/513658/12 "2009-10-13T16:25:44Z")
Any movie where a Guy pretends to be something he’s not in order to win the heart of the Girl. Inevitably, you have the Moment of Awkward when the Guy must confess his lies to the girl, preferably in front of the largest group of people he can find. The Moment of Awkward sends me screaming from the room. _The Ringer_ was the most painful example of this ever. Any television episode where the cast departs from their normal lives/locations/time period. See also: The Holodeck Episode. Any movie where you know the dog is going to die at the end. ---
**Author:** ![Haunted](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/898d66/32.png) [@Haunted](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haunted)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-watch-a-movie-that-has-plot-x/513658/13 "2009-10-13T16:25:25Z")
Anything that’s about somebody with a fatal illness or somebody grieving. Come on! That’s gonna be basically 90 minutes of talking and crying. GAH! ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-watch-a-movie-that-has-plot-x/513658/14 "2009-10-13T16:26:47Z")
Any movie where a Guy pretends to be something he’s not in order to win the heart of the Girl. Inevitably, you have the Moment of Awkward when the Guy must confess his lies to the girl, preferably in front of the largest group of people he can find. The Moment of Awkward sends me screaming from the room. _The Ringer_ was the most painful example of this ever. Any television episode where the cast departs from their normal lives/locations/time period. See also: The Holodeck Episode. Any movie where you know the dog is going to die at the end. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-watch-a-movie-that-has-plot-x/513658/15 "2009-10-13T16:47:57Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > Mom dies of cancer, leaving little kids behind. … and then the husband Learns To Love Again by blah blah blah fucking blah. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-watch-a-movie-that-has-plot-x/513658/16 "2009-10-13T16:49:34Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Any movie where ALL the women are perfect, long-suffering saints and ALL the men are wife-beating rapist scum. How’s that LifeTime Movie Marathon going? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-watch-a-movie-that-has-plot-x/513658/17 "2009-10-13T16:53:09Z")
I rarely watch anything where no one believes the protagonist, especially when everyone thinks he/she is guilty of something he/she isn’t, or when everyone thinks the protagonist is crazy. One of the few exceptions was _The Fugitive_, where you pretty much knew the plot going in. I don’t know what it is about those plots that irk me so much. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-watch-a-movie-that-has-plot-x/513658/18 "2009-10-13T17:10:17Z")
“Based on a true story.” No it isn’t! You LIE! Star-crossed lovers repulse me. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-watch-a-movie-that-has-plot-x/513658/19 "2009-10-13T17:18:27Z")
Movies where The Big Secret is that there IS NO SECRET!! Isn’t that a clever twist? No. It’s less interesting than “It was _Allll_ a dream.” ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-watch-a-movie-that-has-plot-x/513658/20 "2009-10-13T17:19:22Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Movies where The Big Secret is that there IS NO SECRET!! Isn’t that a clever twist? > No. > > It’s less interesting than “It was _Allll_ a dream.” Does this happen a lot? I can only think of The Usual Suspects [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-watch-a-movie-that-has-plot-x/513658.md?page=2)