# Most hated and most favorite movie themes
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-hated-and-most-favorite-movie-themes/942733
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** movies
**Created:** [May 23, 2021, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-hated-and-most-favorite-movie-themes/942733 "2021-05-23T10:05:41Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 5
### Author:  [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2021, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-hated-and-most-favorite-movie-themes/942733/81 "2021-05-26T16:28:20Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#):
>
> I hate that theme’s photo-negative: successful professional from the big city visits small town, learns how pretentious and overworked they are compared to plain small-town Real Amurrican values, and decides to quit their job and live in the small town. Extra hate points if the successful professional grew up in the small town and chose to leave it for the big city.
Yes, that “photo-negative” is the one I hate, too. It seems more common than the other trope.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2021, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-hated-and-most-favorite-movie-themes/942733/82 "2021-05-26T17:13:38Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#):
>
> > [@erysichthon](#):
> >
> > Most hated theme: Fish-out-of-water character lands in an uptight little town, and teaches the straightlaced townspeople about tolerance and/or how to loosen up and have fun. In the process, the town bully gets a comeuppance.
>
> I hate that theme’s photo-negative: successful professional from the big city visits small town, learns how pretentious and overworked they are compared to plain small-town Real Amurrican values, and decides to quit their job and live in the small town. Extra hate points if the successful professional grew up in the small town and chose to leave it for the big city.
You mean every Hallmark Christmas movie?
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### Author:  [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2021, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-hated-and-most-favorite-movie-themes/942733/83 "2021-05-26T17:23:47Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#):
>
> I have to admit to a liking for **The Deadly Mantis** , which is really sort of goofy. I admire the rod-puppet work with the mantis, which actually looks surprisingly realistic, considering that a real mantis is basically a hinged exoskeleton. Having the titular mantis looking in on Our Heroes while they’re discussing the problem of the mantis itself is an outrageous scene. And I kinda like its death in the Holland Tunnel, a landmark I’ve been through often enough.
I watched _TDM_ last night. Needless to say, I didn’t like it, didn’t think it was all-that-goofy and found the sexism grating (though standard for ‘50s sci-fi). Some of the editing was annoying and the flying scenes distractingly funky. It also had some of the grainiest stock footage I’ve ever seen and it took over 30 minutes for TDM to even appear! Flying scenes aide, TDM puppet was okay - though even with the technology they had, I thought it could’ve been better - and I do not deduct points for cheesiness. There is also some decent miniature work and the scene of it crawling up the Washington Monument was pretty damn cool.
My sincere thanks to you for providing the impetus for me to watch. As long as such movies do not totally suck, I find it healthy to watch movies I would not have watched on my own. While certainly not a good movie, _TDM_ was a long way from totally sucking.
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### Author:  [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2021, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-hated-and-most-favorite-movie-themes/942733/84 "2021-05-27T00:37:17Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#):
>
> > [@John\_Bredin](#):
> >
> > > [@erysichthon](#):
> > >
> > > Most hated theme: Fish-out-of-water character lands in an uptight little town, and teaches the straightlaced townspeople about tolerance and/or how to loosen up and have fun. In the process, the town bully gets a comeuppance.
> >
> > I hate that theme’s photo-negative: successful professional from the big city visits small town, learns how pretentious and overworked they are compared to plain small-town Real Amurrican values, and decides to quit their job and live in the small town. Extra hate points if the successful professional grew up in the small town and chose to leave it for the big city.
>
> You mean every Hallmark Christmas movie?
Except for all the ones in which the waitress/baker/party-planner meets and marries a prince. Or, less frequently, a king. Always from a (fictional) _European_ country, of course–usually vaguely Germanic.
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### Author:  [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2021, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-hated-and-most-favorite-movie-themes/942733/85 "2021-05-27T15:55:29Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#):
>
> I hate that theme’s photo-negative: successful professional from the big city visits small town, learns how pretentious and overworked they are compared to plain small-town Real Amurrican values, and decides to quit their job and live in the small town. Extra hate points if the successful professional grew up in the small town and chose to leave it for the big city.
I kick out of this image when I saw this: Hallmark Christmas Movie Plot Generator: when you get to the site click on the image to view larger.
> **[Hallmark Christmas Movie Plot Generator](https://wronghands1.com/2019/11/29/hallmark-christmas-movie-plot-generator/)**
>
> Visit the post for more.
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