# Pop Culture tropes that infuriate you. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 17, 2018, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269 "2018-06-17T17:13:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/201 "2018-06-27T15:38:20Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I find it entertaining to try to identify the out-of-range birds calling in the background of movies. (Actually, it’s generally pretty easy, since there are few stock calls that everyone uses, like Laughing Kookaburra and Red-tailed Hawk.) We have a pair of hawks living in our neighborhood, not Red-Tails. After hearing their… less than majestic cries, I can see why sound editors use the Red-Tail as their go-to bird, sonically speaking. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/202 "2018-07-17T22:26:54Z")
Here are a couple of medical ones. Maybe not tropes as such, but let’s call them “failed effects.” - Have you ever received an injection where the _entire length of the needle_ was pushed into your skin, right up to the plastic of the syringe? Of course you haven’t, because that’s not how injections are done. Except on TV, where actors push that fake spring-loaded needle as far as it will go every damn time. - A scalpel cuts into a patient’s skin, but no laceration can be seen. Instead, the scalpel leaves behind a trail of blood in its path. Real cuts don’t bleed instantaneously like that. It just looks like a cheap, phony effect. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/203 "2018-07-17T23:08:48Z")
How about this one: Person A is angry and ready to fight. Person B runs up, wildly jabs a syringe into Person A’s neck, and Person A goes limp in seconds. That’s not how needles in the neck work, and it’s not how sedatives work. I guess it’s better than the good old “bonk on the back of the head, instant unconsciousness, wake up an hour later, rub back of head, now you’re fine”. But only 5% better. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/204 "2018-07-17T23:14:33Z")
Oh, this one chaps my ass fiercely–fantasy milieu, elves and dwarves and swords and unicorns, oh my, we are not in Kansas any more! Then someone falls down and someone else asks “Are you OKAY?” “Yeah, I’m OKAY.” OKAY? WTF? A neologism so new it barely exists in modern English, but your medievaloid nonhuman characters use it? Nope, I’m out of there in seconds. I’m looking at YOU, _Sword of Shannara!_ ---
**Author:** ![Tread](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Tread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tread)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/205 "2018-07-18T00:05:57Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > I remember a particular egregious example of this. There was an episode of _Law & Order_ that aired in 1998; \< snip, snip\>. The police were questioning people about a specific day in 1968 and everyone they asked seem to recall where they were perfectly. I found it unbelievable. > > . Unless it was April 4, or June 5 ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/206 "2018-07-18T11:00:45Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > I am sure that I have mentioned this more than once before but people talking on radios are all out of whack on the screen. Roger and Wilco as well as Over and Out are never used together in a real radio conversation. Roger means “I have received your last transmission satisfactorily” and Wilco means “Will comply” so saying “Roger Wilco” is redundant. Over means “This is the end of my transmission and a response is necessary; go ahead” while Out means “This is the end of my transmission and no response is required.” > > [Procedure word - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procedure_word#OVER) > > Also, with shows and movies showing soldiers wearing berets, those berets are usually all jacked up. A properly worn beret in the US Army’s Airborne, Ranger, and Special Forces units have had the tie in the back clipped out and the liner removed, excess fuzz shaven away, then it gets soaked, shaped, pressed, shaved again, soaked some more, shaven some more, and shaped some more. Units like the 82nd Airborne Division pride themselves on the look of their berets and they usually tightly slope down the right side of the wearer and some even cover the right eye: > > [airborne beret - Google Search](https://www.google.com/search?q=airborne+beret&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiY5ZCureDbAhXri1QKHVWfCTEQ_AUICygC&biw=1721&bih=1012) > > Berets in shows and movies tend to not have so much shaping and usually look more floppy and not as “sharp.” Of course, I would argue that the typical Hollywood costumer wouldn’t have the time, knowledge, or resources available to make a bunch of really good looking berets for all the characters and extras. Sorry but a beret that comes anywhere near covering the eye is a dumb fad - the Hollywood version is unfortunately better and more professional in every way than the ugly hacking that some of those “real” ones have had done to them. It’s like they got their 8-year-old sister to cut their hair, except for some reason they think they should be proud. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/207 "2018-07-18T11:47:10Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I find it entertaining to try to identify the out-of-range birds calling in the background of movies. (Actually, it’s generally pretty easy, since there are few stock calls that everyone uses, like Laughing Kookaburra and Red-tailed Hawk.) > > One of the bird clubs used to have an annual feature on the greatest range extensions documented by a movie or TV show. That’s amazing. I never notice any bird sounds and certainly wouldn’t be able to identify the species by the calls. I wouldn’t know a blue jay from a hawk so maybe the producers figure most viewers are as ill-informed as I am. ---
**Author:** ![flaming\_yawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/cab0a1/32.png) [@flaming\_yawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flaming_yawn)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/208 "2018-07-18T13:37:18Z")
I have been saying this for years, so much that my husband will tell me if it happens in a movie he has watched without me. The main character driving a unique car. They always have a classic car, an old truck with step sides, an import classic etc Drives me crazy …pun intended ---
**Author:** ![JB99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/439d5e/32.png) [@JB99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JB99)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/209 "2018-07-18T13:57:05Z")
1. Uniforms worn by people who clearly have no idea what “right” looks like. The biggest offenders are soldiers who pop the mandarin collar in their duty uniform. This was intended to be worn in the “up” position when wearing body armor, but it is uncomfortable and I’ve never seen anyone actually do it. But on TV it’s very common to see soldiers wearing the collar up even in office environments. Berets have already been discussed, but I’ll second it. Seeing someone wearing a beret that clearly came out of the package with no shaping is bad, even worse when they let the cord at the back dangle freely. 2. Fat = Stupid. This one is actually dangerous and it needs to go. Unfortunately, it will probably never die because beautiful women will always be cast in starring roles. Fat people, and fat women in particular, are only cast when someone wants a character who is subordinate, slovenly, or obnoxious. It’s very common for sitcoms to depict fat men with hot wives, but I’ve NEVER seen a handsome, rugged man with a fat wife on TV. 3. Reluctant heroes. I get so tired of this. The boss tells the hero he has to go on the mission, and the hero is like, “No way, man, I’m retired or whatever.” And I’m sitting there thinking, “Dude, I saw the previews already. We both know you are going to go on the mission. Why are you wasting my time with this?” When done well, it can add to the character’s motivation but when done poorly it is just a waste of time. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/210 "2018-07-18T15:18:40Z")
Weird looking and obviously mentally unbalanced person: You must listen to me. The fate of the world depends on it. Reluctant hero: How did you get in my office? You must leave immediately. No “Who are you,” “What do you mean,” or “Perhaps an explanation is in order.” A fight breaks out, they get separated, crazy person later stalks reluctant hero, audience thinks “My goodness, the crazy guy wants to kill him”, crazy guy and reluctant hero have another fight, crazy guy lets some vital information slip out before falling to his death, reluctant hero is reminded of some obscurity and realizes crazy guy was right all along, movie goes on. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/211 "2018-07-18T16:35:50Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > That’s amazing. I never notice any bird sounds and certainly wouldn’t be able to identify the species by the calls. I wouldn’t know a blue jay from a hawk so maybe the producers figure most viewers are as ill-informed as I am. Only because I seem to live in backyard-bird-land, I can tell a cardinal song, a buzzy red-wing-blackbird noise, a crow, a goldfinch, and a robin’s chirp. Blue jays have a lot of noises. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/212 "2018-07-18T17:14:12Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > Oh, this one chaps my ass fiercely–fantasy milieu, elves and dwarves and swords and unicorns, oh my, we are not in Kansas any more! Then someone falls down and someone else asks “Are you OKAY?” “Yeah, I’m OKAY.” OKAY? WTF? A neologism so new it barely exists in modern English, but your medievaloid nonhuman characters use it? Nope, I’m out of there in seconds. I’m looking at YOU, _Sword of Shannara!_ You do realize the whole story is translated, right? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/213 "2018-07-18T17:40:12Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > Oh, this one chaps my ass fiercely–fantasy milieu, elves and dwarves and swords and unicorns, oh my, we are not in Kansas any more! Then someone falls down and someone else asks “Are you OKAY?” “Yeah, I’m OKAY.” OKAY? WTF? A neologism so new it barely exists in modern English, but your medievaloid nonhuman characters use it? Nope, I’m out of there in seconds. I’m looking at YOU, _Sword of Shannara!_ > [@Nava](#): > > You do realize the whole story is translated, right? That’s the response I was tempted to make, but I’m sympathetic to \*\*SmartAleq[/b’'s general point. It does sometimes take me out of the story when fantasy writers aren’t as careful with language as they should be—inconsistent style or tone, or characters saying things that don’t really belong in that world, because the author used a word or phrase or figure of speech out of habit, without really thinking about what it means and whether it fits. (For example, if you’re going to say that somebody “followed suit,” it had better be in a world where card-playing exists.) **SmartAleq** , have you read Ursula LeGuin’s essay [From Elfland to Poughkeepsie](https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzA5KaXxLuv6YjI2M2M1ZTMtOTYwZS00MjNiLTgzNWUtMGUyYWZmOTJkOTUy/view?ddrp=1&authkey=CIfm6_MP&hl=en#)? ---
**Author:** ![JB99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/439d5e/32.png) [@JB99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JB99)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/214 "2018-07-18T18:03:46Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > Weird looking and obviously mentally unbalanced person: You must listen to me. The fate of the world depends on it. > > Reluctant hero: How did you get in my office? You must leave immediately. > > No “Who are you,” “What do you mean,” or “Perhaps an explanation is in order.” Additionally: People who don’t share information when perhaps they _really, really should._ Character A: “Oh noes! We’ve landed on a mysterious island populated by polar bears and robots and probably a bunch of other weird stuff.” Character B: “Actually, I’ve been living on this island for sixteen years, I have a tremendous amount of useful information, and BTW… you are in more danger than you can possibly understand.” Character A: “Huh. What a strange and cryptic thing to say. Anyway, I have no follow up questions at this time.” Character B: “Well, I’ll just hang out for a while and give more vague and unhelpful hints that you will only understand when you are about to be eaten or something.” Character C: “And I found some weird artifact buried in the ground that I don’t understand, but I’m going to keep it secret for no apparent reason.” Character A: “Okay. Let’s all agree to not talk about any of this and go back to whatever nothing we were working on.” ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/215 "2018-07-18T18:06:56Z")
I noticed this just recently, but I’m sure I’ve seen it before. Starship pilots pushing random buttons to fly the ship. I’m pretty sure that on an airplane, in spite of all the dials and gauges, the only thing used to actually fly the plane is the wheel and the throttle. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/216 "2018-07-18T18:11:58Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > That’s the response I was tempted to make, but I’m sympathetic to **SmartAleq** ’s general point. It does sometimes take me out of the story when fantasy writers aren’t as careful with language as they should be—inconsistent style or tone, or characters saying things that don’t really belong in that world, because the author used a word or phrase or figure of speech out of habit, without really thinking about what it means and whether it fits. (For example, if you’re going to say that somebody “followed suit,” it had better be in a world where card-playing exists.) And I have, as an editor in a text-based medievalish-fantasy game, asked my writers to come up with something else instead of “french doors” because duh. But a word being ‘too new for this world’, in a world which is supposed to have no link to ours, so people aren’t supposed to speak the language we’re reading? Do fantasy worlds not have ‘neologisms’ (and, can you call something a neologism when it’s over 100yo)? ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/217 "2018-07-18T18:32:16Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > That’s the response I was tempted to make, but I’m sympathetic to \*\*SmartAleq[/b’'s general point. It does sometimes take me out of the story when fantasy writers aren’t as careful with language as they should be—inconsistent style or tone, or characters saying things that don’t really belong in that world, because the author used a word or phrase or figure of speech out of habit, without really thinking about what it means and whether it fits. (For example, if you’re going to say that somebody “followed suit,” it had better be in a world where card-playing exists.) > > **SmartAleq** , have you read Ursula LeGuin’s essay [From Elfland to Poughkeepsie](https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzA5KaXxLuv6YjI2M2M1ZTMtOTYwZS00MjNiLTgzNWUtMGUyYWZmOTJkOTUy/view?ddrp=1&authkey=CIfm6_MP&hl=en#)? Well, I have _now,_ and thanks for that–as always, LeGuin nails it right down, as I’d expect the child of anthropologists to do. It’s so simple to avoid obvious modern English slang expressions in a fantasy work but apparently for some it’s simply inconceivable that they should even TRY. “Are you well? Are you hurt?” either one is so much better than defaulting out to the klutzy and mood destroying “Are you OKAY?” In the example I used, that was within the FIRST FIVE MINUTES of the TV adaptation. In FIVE MINUTES they completely invalidated everything they were trying to accomplish visually by not taking one second to amend the dialogue to something more fitting the milieu. That’s criminally stupid–and yes, I get it that the vast majority of folks who tuned in to watch that pile won’t care or notice but anyone who’s read any decent fantasy is going to at least have their suspension of disbelief jarred heavily and they’ll be on guard for further offenses. Offenses I’m absolutely convinced occurred with appalling regularity although I can’t prove it because I shut that shit down right there and refused to watch it further. It’s just sloppy and stupid and it offends me. And no, the TV version is not “translated,” you’re watching the characters right there in their fantasy garb and pointy ears talking like a couple of guttersnipes on a modern American sidewalk. People would notice (and mock) American sidewalk guttersnipes who talk like Elrond in a pedantic mood, and the reverse is equally true. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/218 "2018-07-18T18:38:25Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > And no, the TV version is not “translated,” If it’s taking place in a whole nother world from our own, there’s no reason why people in that world would be speaking English; but the words that they actually do speak have been translated into English so that the reader or viewer can understand them. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/219 "2018-07-18T18:58:13Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > If it’s taking place in a whole nother world from our own, there’s no reason why people in that world would be speaking English; but the words that they actually do speak have been translated into English so that the reader or viewer can understand them. I agree with you. In any work set in a foreign or fantasy land that’s written in English I’d just assume that when author uses English idioms or figures of speech he’s just using them as a convenient translation to relay his message. I’d make an exception though for any figure of speech that might be anachronistic. It does raise an interesting question though - when one is translating to foreign language are figures of speech supposed translated literally or should one use the equivalent figure of speech in the foreign language? ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/220 "2018-07-18T19:04:27Z")
Translating literally seldom works for cusswords, I’ve seen the word “cabron” translated as everything from “jerk” to “fucking asshole” but never once as “goat.” Context is everything. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269.md?page=12)