# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2018, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/41 "2018-06-18T14:21:00Z")
Not sure this is a “trope,” but movies in which the family (or hero and heroine) are united with each other in the heat and din of combat/aliens/bad guys/dinosaurs/something-to-kill-them and they insist on spending maybe 20 seconds bonding, hugging, kissing, mwuah-mwuah - again, _in the heat and din of action,_ with death potentially killing them any second. You have all the time in the world to do that kiss-kiss/hug-hug stuff later, once you’re out of danger and in a place of safety - why don’t you first run for your lives now and do all that stuff later? ---
**Author:** ![storyteller0910](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@storyteller0910](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/storyteller0910)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2018, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/42 "2018-06-18T14:23:25Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > Mine is the where the detective has successfully solved EVERY SINGLE crime he’s been given to investigate, usually showing great skill and imagination, but his supervisor and fellow officers don’t believe him THIS time. “So, you think you know better than us, Detective 100-Percent-Clearance? Just because you’ve been right every week so far doesn’t mean you’re right this week!” My single favorite thing about the TV series _Monk_ was how it obliterated this trope. As the series started, everyone was skeptical of the title character because he was a weird dude with a mental illness and an off-putting personality. But once he had solved, like, three straight crimes, _everyone started believing him._ They didn’t always like him, didn’t always enjoy his presence, but they acknowledged that he was usually right and acted accordingly. Sometimes they didn’t _want_ him to be right - sometimes they fervently _hoped_ he wasn’t right. But they didn’t waste screen and story time ostentatiously doubting him, which was great. ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2018, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/43 "2018-06-18T14:31:51Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Rom-com trope where the super hot guy and super hot girl are strangely single and have no friends that they spend time with (and no family either). > > Or the hot girl with the perfectly conventional but somewhat boring type boyfriend who she dumps like nothing so she can get with hot guy. Could we try a little harder to make current boyfriend more objectionable and dump-worthy than just “somewhat boring”? Yeah, but the problem with that is you then swing to the other extreme, where the obstacle boyfriend is such a dick that you start to seriously question the awareness, judgement and self-worth of any woman who would willingly spend time with him. Which would be fine for an actual drama with real characters, but in a fun, lighthearted-as-spun-sugar romcom (where the female lead is typically not just hot but also ostensibly Generally Awesome) it just tends to drag the whole thing down. (See, e.g. the Wedding Crashers and Bradley Cooper’s repulsive fiance.) ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2018, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/44 "2018-06-18T14:59:55Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I don’t think I’ve ever seen mine mentioned before: > > When someone is in a large facility (empty warehouse, sports stadium, etc.) and they toggle the gargantuan switch that turns on the lights. > > The part that bugs me is the over-the-top sound effect that _always_ accompanies the switching of the switch: **ka-KLUNK**. > > Whether it’s a vacant 7-Eleven store or Shea Stadium, it’s always the same exact, ridiculously loud sound. > mmm Similar to this is when you have a row of buildings or bank of servers or something and someone kills the power, they always shut down in sequential blocks with a satisfying “Schunk! Schunk! Schunk!” as each section goes dark. Heck, they even do it with street lights. Electricity moves a bit faster than that. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2018, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/45 "2018-06-18T15:13:32Z")
Fat people just go crazy when you take their food away! Har har har! I’m watching Brooklyn 99 right now, and find it pretty funny and clever, but the Scully and Hitchcock “fat guys who fight over food and eat scraps off the floor” shtick was dead on arrival. It’s practically a rule: if a comedy has an overweight character, they will inevitably do crazy and unrealistic things for food, because OMG fat people can’t resist the shittiest morsel, amirite!? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2018, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/46 "2018-06-18T15:55:20Z")
I just read a couple of hundred (yes, literally) robot stories and comic books and strips from the 30s and 40s. A few tropes get used over and over again. If there were a horde of robots to deal with, then there would be a central control to turn them all off with one switch. (You’ll see this in zillion of movies even today and stopping the bomb with one second left is just a variant.) Giving a robot feelings was always deadly. Giant robots were controllable from inside their hollow heads, even if they were designed to be run by remote radio signals. Sometimes the villain would leave an instruction book inside so the hero could use the robot against the villain. Human-sized robots were also often hollow so that the hero could climb inside them like Iron Man putting on his suit. Where the robots’ internal workings were was never explained. A good robot always proved he was worthy by sacrificing himself for humans. (I don’t know of a single example of a female robot doing this.) Today every kids movie about robots and lots of kids books end this way, but since robots aren’t people, they are always rebuilt just the way they were for the happy ending. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2018, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/47 "2018-06-18T16:30:52Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Giant robots were controllable from inside their hollow heads, even if they were designed to be run by remote radio signals. Sometimes the villain would leave an instruction book inside so the hero could use the robot against the villain. > > Human-sized robots were also often hollow so that the hero could climb inside them like Iron Man putting on his suit. Where the robots’ internal workings were was never explained. One that drives me crazy in modern movies is disabling a robot by shooting it in the head. There’s no reason to put the CPU or any other critical component in the head, when you could put it in the torso where there is more space and better protection. (It’s true that headless robots sometimes still function in a fashion, but they behave like headless chickens.) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2018, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/48 "2018-06-18T16:55:52Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > One that drives me crazy in modern movies is disabling a robot by shooting it in the head. There’s no reason to put the CPU or any other critical component in the head, when you could put it in the torso where there is more space and better protection. (It’s true that headless robots sometimes still function in a fashion, but they behave like headless chickens.) The only reason for ever making a robot look human is for the audience, not for the robot. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2018, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/49 "2018-06-18T17:18:47Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > One that drives me crazy in modern movies is disabling a robot by shooting it in the head. There’s no reason to put the CPU or any other critical component in the head, when you could put it in the torso where there is more space and better protection. (It’s true that headless robots sometimes still function in a fashion, but they behave like headless chickens.) The CPU may not be in the head, but at least with humanoid robots, the cameras are, and in many cases the microphones are too. Knocking a robot’s sensors out is a good way to disable it. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2018, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/50 "2018-06-18T17:21:37Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > This may be too obvious because I think it gets complained about fairly frequently, but bad guys who corner the good guy and then stand around talking instead of shooting him in the guts and/or head immediately. There’s a commercial running right now where the bad guy is giving the hero a long Power Point report on his plans, and the hero is bored to tears. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2018, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/51 "2018-06-18T17:28:20Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > …with death potentially killing them any second. … Death must be a horrible way to die. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2018, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/52 "2018-06-18T17:32:20Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Giving a robot feelings was always deadly. _sniff_ ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2018, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/53 "2018-06-18T17:37:04Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > The CPU may not be in the head, but at least with humanoid robots, the cameras are, and in many cases the microphones are too. Knocking a robot’s sensors out is a good way to disable it. Speaking of, and in the general sphere of “Robots are just mechanical people”, I still have a burning case of the eye-rolls for [this Sinfest comic](http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2015-03-29) where an android _brings up a map display on her arm and looks at it with her eyes_ in order to know where she is going. So if you poked her in the eyes, she’d have no idea what the map looked like? ---
**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:** [June 18, 2018, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/54 "2018-06-18T17:42:14Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I just read a couple of hundred (yes, literally) robot stories and comic books and strips from the 30s and 40s. A few tropes get used over and over again. > > Human-sized robots were also often hollow so that the hero could climb inside them like Iron Man putting on his suit. Where the robots’ internal workings were was never explained. > > . I learned about the comic book “hero” Bozo the Iron Man (who long predated Tony Stark) from Jon Morris’ **League of Regrettable Comic Book Heroes** > **[The League of Regrettable Superheroes: Half-Baked Heroes from Comic Book History...](https://www.amazon.com/League-Regrettable-Superheroes-Half-Baked-History-ebook/dp/B00NEUI19K)** > > The League of Regrettable Superheroes: Half-Baked Heroes from Comic Book History - Kindle edition by Morris, Jon. Arts & Photography Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com. > **[Bozo the Iron Man](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bozo_the_Iron_Man)** > > Bozo the Iron Man is a fictional character, first appearing in Quality Comics series, Smash Comics #1 (Aug. 1939). The character's adventures were written and drawn by Quality Comics editor George Brenner, using the name "Wayne Reid". > The character was introduced in the story Hugh Hazzard and His Iron Man, and he appeared under that billing for the first 11 issues. Starting with issue #12 (July 1940), the cover billing changed to Bozo the Robot with Hugh Hazzard, and further stories were titled ... Hugh Hazzard and his robot Bozo behaved just as you described [https://www.google.com/search?q=Bozo+the+Iron+Man&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi9jfz74N3bAhWJo1kKHcxAAGcQ\_AUICygC&biw=1440&bih=708#imgrc=6Sr4hbqRBKKunM:&spf=1529343627827](https://www.google.com/search?q=Bozo+the+Iron+Man&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi9jfz74N3bAhWJo1kKHcxAAGcQ_AUICygC&biw=1440&bih=708#imgrc=6Sr4hbqRBKKunM:&spf=1529343627827) [http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/b/bozo.htm](http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/b/bozo.htm) Although, to be honest, Tony Stark’s Iron Man is just as ludicrous (where DOES hestore all that propellant, not to mention whatever the hell powers his Repulsor Beams? ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2018, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/55 "2018-06-18T18:24:07Z")
So, a teenaged girl has a crush on some oblivious boy. What is she to do? Ask him out herself? Oh no, we can’t be breaking traditional gender roles. Spend more time with the boy and get closer to him? Nah. No, clearly the answer is to pretend to be in love with some random other guy so that the first guy starts acting all jealous. Because nothing says keeper like a guy who won’t respect your own decisions. God, there’s just so much wrong with this trope. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2018, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/56 "2018-06-18T18:24:12Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Hugh Hazzard and his robot Bozo behaved just as you described. Bozo was invented long before Bozo the Clown, BTW, back when a Bozo was a big, dumb, tough guy. Fewer have ever heard of the _Invisible Scarlet O’Neil_ comic strip. She gained the ability to turn invisible in 1940 (a year after Bozo’s debut) after being hit by a ray from her inventor father. She runs into an inventor who’s built a robot that doesn’t work. Not surprising: there’s nothing inside of it. It opens up by splitting from head to toe into two halves on a hinge. She walks inside when he’s not looking. Presto! A working robot, suddenly speaking in a woman’s voice. And the inventor simply accepts it. ---
**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:** [June 18, 2018, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/57 "2018-06-18T18:29:53Z")
Person 1: “I have something extremely, earth-shatteringly, life-alteringly important to tell you.” Person 2: “Me too! I’m getting married!” Person 1: “Oh! Um… That’s… great. I’m so happy for you” (_while looking very sad_) Person 2: “Thanks! Now, what were you going to tell me?” Person 1: “Oh… Nothing.” Person 2: “OK, I’ll just ignore your body language and verbal cues, not ask any follow-up questions, and never mention this conversation again. Bye!” ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2018, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/58 "2018-06-18T18:38:59Z")
in any detective/cop/mystery show the first thing the pd will do is walk in a room a look around for 30 seconds declare it a robbery ---
**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:** [June 18, 2018, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/59 "2018-06-18T18:39:43Z")
Hero: “I’m off to do something heroic!” **strides away** Sidekick: “Yay you! Oh, and Hero… [beat] [beat] [beat] …be careful!” Every fucking time and it makes me want to break shit. _snaps pencil in half glares menacingly_ ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2018, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/60 "2018-06-18T18:46:23Z")
Monsters, Dinosaurs, Beasts, Bears, Lions, any big scary thing always ALWAYS stands there, opens their big mouth and ROARSCREAMS. Over and over again. Sorry, nope. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269.md?page=4)