Characters that telegraph their nationality by dropping in words from their native tongue. I love X-Men 2, but this really bugged me:
Rogue: Thank you.
Kurt: Bitte schön.
The hell? None of the non-primary-English speakers I know use simple phrases in their native language when talking to an English speaker.
In fact, aren’t those some of the first things you learn when you’re learning a language? Numbers, hello, goodbye, please, thank you, you’re welcome. The language interbreeding arrives when people are talking about things with difficult vocabulary or concepts that don’t translate easily.
And it ruins most sitcoms for me, but I hate those plots that are based on people using vague pronouns or leaping to conclusions. Why doesn’t anyone just say, “Wait, I think we’re talking about two different people,” or confess, “I’m sorry, please don’t think me rude, but I arrived here with the mistaken assumption that…”? Ah, yes. *Comedic misunderstandings. *
This one may be too broad, but it’s a phenomenon a Prof. of mine called “Paris, France.” That is, insulting the viewer’s intelligence by stating the blaringly obvious. Another example is blatantly restating all the major plot points (in case everyone’s been asleep) just before the jump cut to the big climactic scene(s).
A mad dash to the hospital, contractions that go from 10 minutes apart to constant in a heartbeat, active labor for two minutes or less, they gasp a couple of times, and ‘push’ out a (perfectly clean) baby the size of a 10 month old. :rolleyes:
I hate the way a “typical” piece of music is played over the establishing shot of just about any city. London? It’s “Rule, Britannia”. Paris? The Marseillaise (or possibly can-can music). Rome or Venice? Something with accordions. Moscow? “Scary Russian Music”.
This even holds true for cities inside the US – like I couldn’t read the caption “Atlanta, Georgia” without Dixie playing. And I couldn’t recognize my own hometown without “California Dreaming” or somesuch playing.
On soaps, someone will leave and be absent for years and never even be mentioned. Then 19 people in two days will mention the character and the next day…in walks Eric/Amanda/Jennifer/whoever.
Im surprised nobody has mentione parking places yet. The character on camera always drives right up to a storefront, office building, school, whatever, and a place is waiting just for them. Nobody ever has to drive around to find a place to park.
when someone starts talking to someone before they enter the room, the person being spoken to is invariably dead, gone, tied up & gagged or something.
when the phone rings in the middle of the night, they turn the lights on to answer it. i sure don’t, if I decide to aswer it.
when a show takes place in a certain city, they always let you know it. the show will have pennants, football helmets, someone wearing a brand new jersey of the hometeam, etc.
when someone is typing on a computer, they never use the spacebar, and never make typos and go back and fix them.
young, attractive women married to older, dorky guys (Hello, CBS??)
Baker, I did mention parking places last night, but apparently, the hampsters ate my post. :smackhead: Anyway, as I was saying…
I really hate the whole “Bad Guy Must Die” thing. Rarely, if ever, does the Bad Guy get taken into custody at the end – he always gets killed. (I can only think of one exception, but to mention the title would be an obvious spoiler, so…)
Also, whenever they show a computer screen, it looks oh so totally fake. Everyone’s got these nifty gee-whiz graphical interfaces that make silly noises. (Key exception: Little Nikita, which was ridiculously minimalist in the other direction.)
Almost all the computers are Macs, or, at least, all the ones I notice are Macs. Now, I like Macs just as much as the next person–Pagemaker rocks!–but I’d like to see some Windows PCs out there, too, just for reality’s sake.
Everyone always has some nifty “you’ve got mail!” icon, like a flying envelope or some-such. No one’s ever using a simple mail client or going through web-based mail, even if they’re on a library computer or something.
Almost no casual religion on TV. Either the characters are completely non-religious, or the entire basis of the show is that they’re religious. It was refreshing when, on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, they showed one of the once-main characters going to church like it’s a normal thing.
Everyone has fancy pajamas, or else they sleep in the nude. No one seems to regularly sleep in an oversized T-shirt or ratty old clothing, even if it would be in character for them.
shy guy touched on this, but what really bothers me is that the characters never bother to get to class on time. The bell rings and they keep talking or just standing in the hall. Also, it seems your crush/best friend/worst enemy decided to cut class the same time as you–what a surprise! Actually, cutting class in movies and TV is portrayed as de rigeur, and not something to be punished for. Personally, I never skipped class (although I guess I am just a nerd). I was too afraid of being suspended.
Also, I may be too young for this, but I have never heard nor seen hall monitors outside of TV and movies.
I am bothered by the appearance issue. There is such a tendency for the good looking actor or actress to play a good character, the hero, or heroine. The actor or actress who looks like an average American is generally in a character role (quirky, offbeat, goofy) or even a villain.
Uh dude, this is a real-life occurrence. Frequently, the “older, dorky guys” have a lot of money and as a result get the hot babes. Don’t believe me? Just look at most actors or any millionaire for that matter.
