# Most annoying sci-fi TV/movie tropes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 5, 2016, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-sci-fi-tv-movie-tropes/742257 "2016-01-05T19:35:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-sci-fi-tv-movie-tropes/742257/121 "2016-01-13T16:56:14Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I hate that but in a different way. > > The whole of humanity is on the verge of being totally and utterly destroyed, and they are reluctant to use a single nuke, like somehow that means we’ve gone too far. That using them is a line WE WILL NOT CROSS (!). Hollywood hates nukes so much they won’t let their characters use them in cases they should, like preventing total annihilation. I guess they think it’s better to die morally than live having used nukes. I disagree! > > In ID4 not only should they have not even hesitated to nuke Houston, they should have used more of them. And used them at the end instead of pinpricking the alien craft with air-to-air missiles. Of all the stupidity in the movie, that’s my personal worst (even more than outrunning the fireball). You got nukes? Use em! They used their space laser canon to obliterate NYC and countless other cities without warning. We have the moral high ground here, people! God yes a thousand times over. So, apparently, we can have thousands of nukes laying around to use on other humans that we probably have some stupid disagreement with and risk WWIII if we use some. But some asshole aliens that want to wipe us out. Can’t use even a handful of them to wipe (well try anyway) out their fleet! Its like some Hollywood liberal retard remembered the mantra of our day (never use a nuke) but forgot the damn reason (because you might start the mother of all wars). Aliens are blowing the shit out of us. The mother of wars has already started. PS. I always wondered in all the crashed gigantic alien ships caused the mother of all ecological/pollution disasters. Seems to me they would have been filled with all kinds of toxic shit in large volumes. ---
**Author:** ![Totenfeier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@Totenfeier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Totenfeier)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-sci-fi-tv-movie-tropes/742257/122 "2016-01-13T17:13:53Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Yeah, I’m working on a story where an artificial intelligence transcends and becomes many times more intelligent than human beings, but at some part of its development realizes that soon it will not give a fig about human beings, so develops an advanced (REALLY ADVANCED) subroutine to help us along our way. Because I can’t see a superhuman intelligence wanting or needing to pay the slightest attention to the needs of human beings as we are now constituted. Perhaps the subroutine could be called - oh, I don’t know - _ **G** _uidance _ **O** _f _ **D** _estiny? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-sci-fi-tv-movie-tropes/742257/123 "2016-01-13T17:49:24Z")
> [@botsgotme](#): > > The whole “Star Wars” meme-think about it-a technologically advanced civilization,where people dress like medieval peasants. Back in the 1930s. the Sci Fi had people living in high tech Art Deco-style houses…and neat futuristic clothing-I always like how “Ming The Merciless” dressed! Give me Flash Gordon any day. The neo-medieval look in SF might be a reaction against the kitsch of that old trope. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-sci-fi-tv-movie-tropes/742257/124 "2016-01-13T18:34:53Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > Totally agree. Now, how many humans do you know of who are irrationally greedy retards who have controlled nations in history? Or … right now … ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-sci-fi-tv-movie-tropes/742257/125 "2016-01-13T18:41:45Z")
> [@Totenfeier](#): > > Perhaps the subroutine could be called - oh, I don’t know - _ **G** _uidance _ **O** _f _ **D** _estiny? 😃 Not getting your reference. My working title is “The Aspect of Loki.” ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-sci-fi-tv-movie-tropes/742257/126 "2016-01-13T18:44:12Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I hate that but in a different way. > > The whole of humanity is on the verge of being totally and utterly destroyed, and they are reluctant to use a single nuke, like somehow that means we’ve gone too far. That using them is a line WE WILL NOT CROSS (!). Hollywood hates nukes so much they won’t let their characters use them in cases they should, like preventing total annihilation. I guess they think it’s better to die morally than live having used nukes. I disagree! And when nukes are used, they don’t work. Didn’t they use a nuke - delivered by the Flying Wing IIRC - in The War Of The Worlds? (Not the poor Tom Cruise version.) It didn’t work. They also used a nuke in Skyline - that didn’t work either, but might have if they’d followed it up with a second. > [@](#): > > In ID4 not only should they have not even hesitated to nuke Houston, they should have used more of them. And used them at the end instead of pinpricking the alien craft with air-to-air missiles. Of all the stupidity in the movie, that’s my personal worst (even more than outrunning the fireball). You got nukes? Use em! They used their space laser canon to obliterate NYC and countless other cities without warning. We have the moral high ground here, people! Got to agree with you. Are there any films where they do this? ---
**Author:** ![Totenfeier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@Totenfeier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Totenfeier)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-sci-fi-tv-movie-tropes/742257/127 "2016-01-13T18:44:41Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Not getting your reference. My working title is “The Aspect of Loki.” G.O.D. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-sci-fi-tv-movie-tropes/742257/128 "2016-01-13T18:52:22Z")
> [@botsgotme](#): > > The whole “Star Wars” meme-think about it-a technologically advanced civilization,where people dress like medieval peasants. Back in the 1930s. the Sci Fi had people living in high tech Art Deco-style houses…and neat futuristic clothing-I always like how “Ming The Merciless” dressed! Give me Flash Gordon any day. The RPG Traveller took the line that the Imperium controlled the space between the planets, not the planets themselves. So different planets had different Tech Levels, and on some planets people dressed like medieval peasants because they were medieval peasants. ---
**Author:** ![akrako1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@akrako1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akrako1)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-sci-fi-tv-movie-tropes/742257/129 "2016-01-13T18:56:18Z")
painfully ineffective use of phasers… in nearly ALL Star Trek combat scenes involving hand help phaser fire, the user simply points and fires the beam at one small spot, then releases the trigger. Have they ever heard of something called a “sweeping motion”? Instead of just blackening one tiny spot of wall next to a target, you could sweep your phaser beam _across_ the battlefield, and cut everyone and everything in half! We know that the user has the ability to move the phaser while shooting, but seemingly only when cutting through a bulkhead. We also know that phasers can be set to wide dispersal when it’s needed - but never used on attacking personnel… it seems a phaser set to high power (or kill) but spread out wide would knock everyone down at least… At least the phaser rifles have something resembling a sight - not that it makes the operator any more effective. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-sci-fi-tv-movie-tropes/742257/130 "2016-01-13T19:05:43Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > And when nukes are used, they don’t work. Didn’t they use a nuke - delivered by the Flying Wing IIRC - in The War Of The Worlds? (Not the poor Tom Cruise version.) It didn’t work. They also used a nuke in Skyline - that didn’t work either, but might have if they’d followed it up with a second. That the nukes don’t work later in a film doesn’t somehow negate the previous political correctness and abject stupidity of the story line due to hesitating (or outright refusal) to use nukes when if ANY scenario called for using a nuke this would be it. Oh, and then there often bonus where they all get all somber like they just ordered some grandmother to the firing squad for sinking so low as to use a nuke. Please. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-sci-fi-tv-movie-tropes/742257/131 "2016-01-13T19:11:03Z")
I’ve watched the episode twice and it completely pisses me off. Star Wars Rebels. Kanan and Rex on the imperial gravity well ship. 1\> Every fraking shot of them walking around has Kanan’s blaster barrel pointed straight at Rex’s face. 2\> They both walk around with their fingers on the trigger. I mean, close up shot, and there’s Kanan’s blaster directly in Rex’s face (like 3" away) and Kanan’s finger is on the trigger. This is all kinds of stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Gothic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Gothic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gothic)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-sci-fi-tv-movie-tropes/742257/132 "2016-01-13T20:23:56Z")
I thought he did it on purpose because he did not trust Rex. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-sci-fi-tv-movie-tropes/742257/133 "2016-01-13T20:48:58Z")
> [@Totenfeier](#): > > G.O.D. :smack::smack::smack: ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-sci-fi-tv-movie-tropes/742257/134 "2016-01-14T00:54:27Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > That the nukes don’t work later in a film doesn’t somehow negate the previous political correctness and abject stupidity of the story line due to hesitating (or outright refusal) to use nukes when if ANY scenario called for using a nuke this would be it. > > Oh, and then there often bonus where they all get all somber like they just ordered some grandmother to the firing squad for sinking so low as to use a nuke. > "Please. Tropes calls this the [Nuclear Weapons Taboo](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NuclearWeaponsTaboo) ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-sci-fi-tv-movie-tropes/742257/135 "2016-01-14T13:07:35Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Said irrationally greedy retards in Urth history got something out of the deal. Resources, slaves, enforcing their will on others…something. Not really seeing what your would-be Space Emperor gets out of conquest that would make the effort of crossing light years (and dealing with the temporal issues that involves) worth it. Planetary tyrants will, I expect, be fairly easy to find. Maybe even despots who manage to rule an entire solar system. Beyond that? Such an empire would be effectively impossible to rule. I think you’re making unwarranted assumptions. Obviously if FTL travel is impossible, there would never be any real interstellar government, much less a tyrant. If FTL is possible, we have no way of knowing whether there will be temporal issues involved in it. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-sci-fi-tv-movie-tropes/742257/136 "2016-01-14T13:54:39Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > …In ID4 not only should they have not even hesitated to nuke Houston, they should have used more of them. And used them at the end instead of pinpricking the alien craft with air-to-air missiles. Of all the stupidity in the movie, that’s my personal worst (even more than outrunning the fireball). You got nukes? Use em! They used their space laser canon to obliterate NYC and countless other cities without warning. We have the moral high ground here, people! They oughta nuke Houston TODAY, just in case! And I agree that using those puissant AAMs was incredibly dumb. That had much bigger and better missiles like tankbusters – hell, they could have just flown overhead and dropped very powerful dumb bombs on top of them. They were certainly big enough targets for it. ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-sci-fi-tv-movie-tropes/742257/137 "2016-01-14T17:29:47Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > They oughta nuke Houston TODAY, just in case! It’s the only way to be sure! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-sci-fi-tv-movie-tropes/742257/138 "2016-01-14T18:20:41Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > I think you’re making unwarranted assumptions. Obviously if FTL travel is impossible, there would never be any real interstellar government, much less a tyrant. If FTL is possible, we have no way of knowing whether there will be temporal issues involved in it. For there not to be temporal issues, it would have to be instantaneous travel from thither to yon. If you have instantaneous travel, that takes care of movement of the ships that allow you to project power in yon. Unless you also have perfected instanteous communications, even the most mundane messages must be carried by ship. How do you know what is going on in yon from one “day” to the next so that you can dispatch a fleet when needed? We have plenty of past empires to look at in Urth history to show that lack of fast communications puts some pretty heavy limits on empires. The farther away you got from Empire City, the harder it was to control affairs there. Regional governors got cray-cray ideas like “The Emperor is very, very far away and I’m _right here_ and these Imperial Troops answer to me so…” ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-sci-fi-tv-movie-tropes/742257/139 "2016-01-14T18:35:45Z")
> [@iljitsch](#): > > Flying through space like there’s an atmosphere. In a vacuum, you can’t make turns. The new Battlestar Galactica got this right a bunch, but usually it’s like watching airplanes. Often, they even have wings. Nitpick: of course you can make turns in a vacuum. It’s just that they would usually be unnecessary and inefficient. And many sci-fi aircraft operate in the atmosphere occasionally, so of course those could use wings. BSG did show some fighters reversing course in a semi-realistic manner, by just rotating and accelerating in the opposite direction. I appreciate that effort, but this is the most G-force intense way to change direction. Your squishy human pilot may not survive this kind of turnaround at combat speeds. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-sci-fi-tv-movie-tropes/742257/140 "2016-01-14T18:43:58Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > … BSG did show some fighters reversing course in a semi-realistic manner, by just rotating and accelerating in the opposite direction. I appreciate that effort, but this is the most G-force intense way to change direction. Your squishy human pilot may not survive this kind of turnaround at combat speeds. That may be, but AFAIK there’s no other way to do it in space. And of course you can choose to decrease the amount of deceleration to “less than squishy”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-sci-fi-tv-movie-tropes/742257.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-sci-fi-tv-movie-tropes/742257.md?page=8)