# What motif, theme or subject would you happily see wiped from the face of the earth **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 19, 2012, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-motif-theme-or-subject-would-you-happily-see-wiped-from-the-face-of-the-earth/628706 "2012-07-19T11:56:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-motif-theme-or-subject-would-you-happily-see-wiped-from-the-face-of-the-earth/628706/21 "2012-07-19T22:18:50Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > :dubious: > > Yeah, I’m gonna have to say no. Some of the best movies of the last ten years were superhero movies. I must have missed those ones. All the superhero movies I saw were various shades of lame. ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-motif-theme-or-subject-would-you-happily-see-wiped-from-the-face-of-the-earth/628706/22 "2012-07-19T22:29:41Z")
I can agree with Zombies being over-done, especially in books. There seems to be a flood of self-published e-books around that are almost carbon-copy stories. A few stand out - \*Ex-Heroes \*was pretty damn good and the first of the _Autumn_ series had its moments. Now zombies seem to be showing up everywhere, even when they are not needed or even make the story worse. I picked up a copy of _Bigfoot Wars_ to read. The author got his start in zombie horror books and then moved on to this novel. It was pretty good for a few dollars. The concept was a pretty standad “kids’ dad gets killed by monster, no one believes him, he comes back to town 15 years later to get his revenge”. In the process he sparks off a war and dozens of pissed off bigfeet (foots?) swarm out of the mountains and proceed to dis-assemble the town and most of the people in it. Along comes a sequel - oh, look the people bitten by bigfoot in the first book turn into zombies and then bigfeet bitten by zombies turn into _zombie-bigfeet!!!_ :rolleyes: Just…why? You already have a protagonist who is bigger, stronger, faster and tougher than humans. Why introduce freaking zombies? It really smacks of an author who just ran out of idea and turned back to what he knew. The real shame was that there were moments when he really could have taken the story in intersting directions - some passages from the bigfoot POV which indicates the reason they hide from humans is _because_ of the danger of making zombies and that they had fought them before. ---
**Author:** ![tellthetruth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/82dd89/32.png) [@tellthetruth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellthetruth)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-motif-theme-or-subject-would-you-happily-see-wiped-from-the-face-of-the-earth/628706/23 "2012-07-19T22:29:51Z")
What should disappear from the face of the earth forever? Mushy, overcooked pasta…Yuk! ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-motif-theme-or-subject-would-you-happily-see-wiped-from-the-face-of-the-earth/628706/24 "2012-07-19T22:31:08Z")
How about 'humanity finds last-minute miracle to defeat the aliens"? Just once, I’d like to see a movie where the aliens destroy civilization on Earth. Why can’t the aliens win? ---
**Author:** ![tellthetruth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/82dd89/32.png) [@tellthetruth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellthetruth)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-motif-theme-or-subject-would-you-happily-see-wiped-from-the-face-of-the-earth/628706/25 "2012-07-19T22:33:56Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > How about 'humanity finds last-minute miracle to defeat the aliens"? > > Just once, I’d like to see a movie where the aliens destroy civilization on Earth. Why can’t the aliens win? Because Earthlings write the script. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-motif-theme-or-subject-would-you-happily-see-wiped-from-the-face-of-the-earth/628706/26 "2012-07-19T22:41:13Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > I must have missed those ones. All the superhero movies I saw were various shades of lame. Sad for you. Doesn’t change my experience one iota. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-motif-theme-or-subject-would-you-happily-see-wiped-from-the-face-of-the-earth/628706/27 "2012-07-19T22:56:19Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > Sad for you. Doesn’t change my experience one iota. Your experience is atypical. To answer the OP - none. Or almost none. “Reality” programming can disappear. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-motif-theme-or-subject-would-you-happily-see-wiped-from-the-face-of-the-earth/628706/28 "2012-07-19T23:16:03Z")
Rape / abuse as backstory. I’m willing to allow that rape may have some useful purpose in a plot (I’ve used it. In very small amounts.) But when that’s basically the entirety of the character’s backstory, it’s ridiculous. And when every other character has been abused and/or raped, it’s just a giant blackhole of grim. Reboots and remakes. No explanation necessary, I think. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-motif-theme-or-subject-would-you-happily-see-wiped-from-the-face-of-the-earth/628706/29 "2012-07-19T23:20:27Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Your experience is atypical. I don’t believe so, given critic’s ratings and box office. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-motif-theme-or-subject-would-you-happily-see-wiped-from-the-face-of-the-earth/628706/30 "2012-07-19T23:34:57Z")
> [@tellthetruth](#): > > Because Earthlings write the script. Blasted Earthlings! ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-motif-theme-or-subject-would-you-happily-see-wiped-from-the-face-of-the-earth/628706/31 "2012-07-19T23:35:43Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > To answer the OP - none. Or almost none. “Reality” programming can disappear. Pretty much the same here. There are plenty of tropes _I_ don’t like in my books. But everyone’s mileage varies. There are things mentioned in this thread that I really enjoy. It doesn’t have me in a frothing rage that other people have different tastes. Except, as **silenus** said, reality TV. I’m embarrassed that it exists. That someone even seriously considered the concept. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-motif-theme-or-subject-would-you-happily-see-wiped-from-the-face-of-the-earth/628706/32 "2012-07-19T23:41:17Z")
There has been exactly one reality TV show that I enjoyed enough to want to watch every week. The first season of the Joe Schmoe Show. If it has to get erased from reality to get rid of all the rest - and all references to them - I can live with that. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-motif-theme-or-subject-would-you-happily-see-wiped-from-the-face-of-the-earth/628706/33 "2012-07-19T23:55:30Z")
> [@Silver\_Tyger](#): > > Reboots and remakes. No explanation necessary, I think. Actually, I think an explanation \* is \* necessary. Why should Battlestar Galactica, the Batman Begins series, Thundercats, MLP:FIM, Star Trek 2009, and every Civilization game besides the first one be wiped from the face of the Earth? ---
**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:** [July 20, 2012, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-motif-theme-or-subject-would-you-happily-see-wiped-from-the-face-of-the-earth/628706/34 "2012-07-20T00:01:32Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > If my children grow up in a world where there is never again a single g-dd-mned zombie, vampire, or comic book based movie, I would be very happy at that prospect. > > People, not only are vampires, zombies and comic book heroes not real, they’re not a coherent fictional concept by any stretch of the imagination. Stop. making. those. movies. Sure they are. Sometimes. It’s perfectly possible to make a coherent vampire movie: _The Hunger_, for instance. > [@Smapti](#): > > Actually, I think an explanation \* is \* necessary. Why should Battlestar Galactica, the Batman Begins series, Thundercats, MLP:FIM, Star Trek 2009, and every Civilization game besides the first one be wiped from the face of the Earth? Star Trek: 90210 was horrible, and I don’t know what MLP:FIM is, but the other properties you name are all worthwhile. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-motif-theme-or-subject-would-you-happily-see-wiped-from-the-face-of-the-earth/628706/35 "2012-07-20T00:18:50Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Actually, I think an explanation \* is \* necessary. Why should Battlestar Galactica, the Batman Begins series, Thundercats, MLP:FIM, Star Trek 2009, and every Civilization game besides the first one be wiped from the face of the Earth? Alright, I’ll make an exception for Batman and MLP. (I haven’t actually watched MLP, but from all reports it’s awesome). Thundercats was meh. (For **Teh** , My Little Pony: Friendship in Magic.) This is why I don’t rule the world. (Actually, if I did rule the world, a selection of fans of the original would have to approve any remake or reboot.) ---
**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:** [July 20, 2012, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-motif-theme-or-subject-would-you-happily-see-wiped-from-the-face-of-the-earth/628706/36 "2012-07-20T00:21:21Z")
> [@Silver\_Tyger](#): > > Alright, I’ll make an exception for Batman and MLP. (I haven’t actually watched MLP, but from all reports it’s awesome). Thundercats was meh. > > (For **Teh** , My Little Pony: Friendship in Magic.) > > This is why I don’t rule the world. (Actually, if I did rule the world, a selection of fans of the original would have to approve any remake or reboot.) Why? I would have opposed the ThunderCats reboot, and I would have been _entirely wrong_. I would have been in favor of _Trek: Let’s Make James Kirk An Irredeemable Asshole_, and I’d have been wrong there too. The awfulness of New Trek (in my view) doesn’t make Old Trek any less wonderful, etc. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-motif-theme-or-subject-would-you-happily-see-wiped-from-the-face-of-the-earth/628706/37 "2012-07-20T00:40:31Z")
Rappers, you need to quit referring to yourselves as “soldiers”. A soldier is a trained professional who knows what teamwork is. That’s not you. You’re a self-obsessed amateur who can’t even hold his pistol right. You may be a soldier in the colloquial sense of a pawn who takes orders, but is that something you want to brag about? Come up with something else to rhyme with “told’ya”. ---
**Author:** ![Tanbarkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@Tanbarkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanbarkie)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-motif-theme-or-subject-would-you-happily-see-wiped-from-the-face-of-the-earth/628706/38 "2012-07-20T00:40:51Z")
Several other folk already mentioned my top pick, the “Chosen One.” If you’re not going to explore what it means to be “chosen” (see “Avatar: The Last Airbender” or either Buffyverse series for how to handle this correctly), don’t use that trope. I’m looking _directly_ at you when I say this, J.J. Abrams. Yes, you. Stop taking away your characters’ agency. Stop it now! Second in line would be the need to turn classic stories into EPIC WARS. Snow White… with an EPIC WAR! Robin Hood… with an EPIC WAR! Stories don’t need to be about clashes between giant armies just to be interesting, dammit. ---
**Author:** ![that\_darn\_cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/59ef9b/32.png) [@that\_darn\_cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/that_darn_cat)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-motif-theme-or-subject-would-you-happily-see-wiped-from-the-face-of-the-earth/628706/39 "2012-07-20T00:44:00Z")
The Chosen One, a thousand times, The Chosen One. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-motif-theme-or-subject-would-you-happily-see-wiped-from-the-face-of-the-earth/628706/40 "2012-07-20T01:00:33Z")
but if you’re HERE… that means… OH NO! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-motif-theme-or-subject-would-you-happily-see-wiped-from-the-face-of-the-earth/628706.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-motif-theme-or-subject-would-you-happily-see-wiped-from-the-face-of-the-earth/628706.md?page=3)