# Outdated Dramatic Cliches **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 14, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-dramatic-cliches/553765 "2010-09-14T19:57:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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**Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-dramatic-cliches/553765/21 "2010-09-15T19:43:18Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > I liked the evolution of the male cocky archetype in Star Trek. > > You know, the guy with balls of steel, easily abandoning rules when they don’t suit him, quick with a gun, even quicker with an aircraft, and charming all the ladies to sleep with him with his slick lines? > > In the first Star Trek, that guy is captain. Captain Kirk. > > In Star Trek the Next generation, that guy is Riker, second in command. > > In Star Trek Voyager, he’s a mere pilot and the backstory is that his cocky ways got him in jail back on Earth, and he must count himself lucky that female captain Janeway thougt she could tame him. You omit Sisko, who is basically Kirk with more religious overtones but minus the commitment issues and gay subtext, and Janeway, who is Kirk without morals. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-dramatic-cliches/553765/22 "2010-09-15T19:48:07Z")
The end of **Rope** , where Jimmy Stewart, after confronting the bad guys, says something like “well, now you’re both going to DIE!” and fires a couple of shots out the apartment window in NYC. The implication being that \ gunshots will immediately have people rallying to send the police straight to that location, and they will be there in minutes, and that \ the death penalty and nothing else awaits them. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-dramatic-cliches/553765/23 "2010-09-15T20:00:03Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > The end of **Rope** , where Jimmy Stewart, after confronting the bad guys, says something like “well, now you’re both going to DIE!” and fires a couple of shots out the apartment window in NYC. > > The implication being that \ gunshots will immediately have people rallying to send the police straight to that location, and they will be there in minutes, and that \ the death penalty and nothing else awaits them. Especially curious as _Rope_ was based on the case of [Leopold and Loeb,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_and_loeb) who (with Clarence Darrow’s help) dodged the noose. ---
**Author:** ![conway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@conway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/conway)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-dramatic-cliches/553765/24 "2010-09-15T20:41:52Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > We had a thread about this a couple of years ago. Short answer – yes, there were definitely times that the Butler Did It, but I think they all followed the coining of the cliche. [Related Cecil column](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2470/in-whodunits-its-the-butler-did-it-who-did-it-first) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-dramatic-cliches/553765/25 "2010-09-15T22:31:43Z")
Do people get knocked unconscious any more? I mean to put them out of action for a few minutes, but they’re good as new as soon as they wake up. I know you never see anyone getting amnesia due to a blow to the head. Also, sitcoms have given up on the “we’re not really legally married!” plot. ---
**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:** [September 15, 2010, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-dramatic-cliches/553765/26 "2010-09-15T23:17:38Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Do people get knocked unconscious any more? I mean to put them out of action for a few minutes, but they’re good as new as soon as they wake up. > > I know you never see anyone getting amnesia due to a blow to the head. > > Also, sitcoms have given up on the “we’re not really legally married!” plot. On NCIS a few years back, Gibbs had a variety of amnesia after a head injury (and coma); he didn’t recall anything that had happened after his Gulf War tour. However, it was implicit in the story (and maybe stated outright) that his mind had seized the opportunity to forget about his wife and child’s death. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-dramatic-cliches/553765/27 "2010-09-15T23:26:47Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > It’s been a while since a bad man has tied a lady to the railroad tracks. Yeah, but it is an Achievement in Red Dead Redemption! ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-dramatic-cliches/553765/28 "2010-09-16T00:37:20Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > A loose woman. Al women are loose nowadays. That one always made me snicker. “The women are loose, the women are loose! Run for your lives!” ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-dramatic-cliches/553765/29 "2010-09-16T03:04:01Z")
I recall the Denzel Washington movie “Devil in a Blue Dress” where the white female star is being grilled pretty intently for why she’s not giving up info on some local black thug. She (Irene Cara?), being at the breaking point, dramatically shouts “He’s my BROTHER!” It was quite a yawner even then (1995). Good movie, tho. Best wishes, hh ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-dramatic-cliches/553765/30 "2010-09-16T03:33:16Z")
There was also the tragic mulatto stereotype (from Donald Bogle’s classic history of Blacks in cinema, **Toms, Coons, Mulattos, Mammies, and Bucks** ): A Black man or woman (usually woman) passing as black who ends up in tragedy because she is caught between the two worlds. It was used a few years ago in **The Human Stain** , but not in the classic way. Mammies are also unusual these days, being replaced with the Wise Old Black Woman. Toms, Coons, and Bucks are still around, though changed considerably. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-dramatic-cliches/553765/31 "2010-09-16T03:44:20Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Do people get knocked unconscious any more? I mean to put them out of action for a few minutes, but they’re good as new as soon as they wake up. I always think of a scene in _High Risk_ (1981). Four schlubs go to South America to steal $5 million from a drug lord. They’re trying to sneak into the compound and whack one of the guards on the head – who starts yelling ‘OWWWWWW!!!’ ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-dramatic-cliches/553765/32 "2010-09-16T04:47:14Z")
> [@lisacurl](#): > > > [@Maastricht](#): > > > > Oh noes! An unmarried woman is …in the family way, with child, in trouble, “fallen” ! > > > > A loose woman. Al women are loose nowadays. > > A lot of younger people don’t even know what “illegitimate” means in that context any more. And nobody ever says “Get thee to a nunnery!” And lesbians don’t hang themselves anymore, like in _The Children’s Hour._ And people don’t slap someone’s face, to stop them from being emotional. Or for that matter, slap someone’s face with a pair of gloves, challenging them to a dual. And a big fade-out instead of people having sex. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-dramatic-cliches/553765/33 "2010-09-16T17:43:38Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > And people don’t slap someone’s face, to stop them from being emotional. I’d like to bring that one back if we can. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-dramatic-cliches/553765/34 "2010-09-16T17:49:42Z")
> [@gallows\_fodder](#): > > What about being carted away to the asylum by men who show up at your door? It’s in _A Streetcar Named Desire_ and it’s got to be in a lot more stories I’m forgetting right now… With butterfly nets! Also, crazy people no longer think they’re Napoleon. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-dramatic-cliches/553765/35 "2010-09-16T18:14:16Z")
Slate recently did an article about one cliche that seems to have lost currency: [quicksand](http://www.slate.com/id/2264312/). The broad conclusion is that perhaps we just don’t need that metaphor to project the anxieties of our own era. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-dramatic-cliches/553765/36 "2010-09-16T18:37:10Z")
> [@lisacurl](#): > > > [@panache45](#): > > > > And people don’t slap someone’s face, to stop them from being emotional. > > I’d like to bring that one back if we can. 😃 “Snap out of it!” ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-dramatic-cliches/553765/37 "2010-09-16T19:36:33Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > You omit Sisko, who is basically Kirk with more religious overtones but minus the commitment issues and gay subtext, and Janeway, who is Kirk without morals. I take issue with Janeway. It’s not that she’s _without_ morals; she _has_ a strong moral code, it’s just that it’s compatible with her society, the organization she has a career in, or sentient life in general. In her own head, it works _mostly_ fine and without _mostly_ contradiction. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-dramatic-cliches/553765/38 "2010-09-16T19:42:04Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Also, crazy people no longer think they’re Napoleon. What’s that you say? Who here is NOT Napoleon? \*\* I \*\*certainly am! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-dramatic-cliches/553765/39 "2010-09-16T19:59:17Z")
> [@lisacurl](#): > > > [@panache45](#): > > > > And people don’t slap someone’s face, to stop them from being emotional. > > I’d like to bring that one back if we can. 😃 I like to think _The Producers_ killed this one. [In this scene](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ERAV57bqaU), Gene Wilder gets hysterical and Zero Mostel throws water on him (which was the other way they used to deal with this situation in old movies). Wilder pauses for a minute and then starts yelling “I’m wet! I’m wet! I’m hysterical and I’m wet!” So Mostel slaps him. Then there’s another pause, and he says “I’m in pain! And I’m wet! AND I’M STILL HYSTERICAL!” > [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > Anything with a phone booth. When’s the last time someone used one? Also gone: a character picking up the phone and ordering the operator to connect them to someone. Even with services like 411, it’s just not the same. Characters don’t just have fits anymore. They get angry and such, but they don’t have a fit in the old-fashioned sense of having a brief seizure where they’re not in control of their actions and then don’t remember what they’ve done when it’s over. You see this kind of thing in vaudeville routines like “Niagara Falls.” ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-dramatic-cliches/553765/40 "2010-09-16T20:04:13Z")
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