# Which of these cliches from film & television have you experienced in real life? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 11, 2014, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-cliches-from-film-television-have-you-experienced-in-real-life/706905 "2014-12-11T01:55:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-cliches-from-film-television-have-you-experienced-in-real-life/706905/101 "2014-12-15T21:46:30Z")
Now’s a good time to take stock. This is approximate; I’m sure I made a few tabulation errors. Only two options don’t have ant votes: Heroic Dog and Deathbed Confession, which I guess isn’t terribly surprising. I was hoping to flush out a few time travelers, and seem to have succeeded. 24 – 56) A cross-country road trip. 24 – 72) Cops breaking up a party. 22 – 7) A love triangle. 20 – 64) Blowjob in a car while driving. 18-- 37) A psycho ex. 17 – 2) Flushing pills down the toilet, or booze down the drain, etc. 17 – 76) Other (explain). 16 – 71) Picking up a one night stand at a bar. 16 – 39) In vino veritas: a revelation or admission while drunk/high. 15 – 70) Threesome, orgy, key party, etc. 14 – 36) Police interrogation. 13 – 1) Throwing a drink in someone’s face. 13 – 40) Strippers at a bachelor party. 13 – 26) Stabbed in the back by an underling or partner. 13 – 68) Dramatic “I quit!” moment. 12 – 25) Computer hacking. 12 – 53) Slapped in the face by a woman. 11 – 5) Any shootout/armed standoff/ hostage situation, etc. 10 – 10) A great underdog triumph. 10 – 12) Dirty cops. 10 – 17) Manic Pixie Dream Girl 10 – 43) (Legitimately) crazy mom. 9 – 69) Barroom brawl. 8 – 9) Being called out of retirement (to complete a specific task). 8 – 11) Car chase. 8 – 34) Hellish descent into booze and pills. 8 – 45) Hard-ass drill instructor. 8 – 74) Meet-cute. 7 – 3) Running to catch someone at the airport/train station before they leave. 7 – 6) Deus ex machina – a crisis is resolved by something which is unexpected and totally out of your control. 7 – 19) A fugitive from justice. 7 – 33) Embezzlement 7 – 22) Voices in your head. 7 – 52) Accosted in a darkened alley. 7 – 35) Life on the Road: debauchery during a concert tour or something similar. 7 – 58) Exceptionally inspirational, once-in-a-lifetime teacher. 6 – 59) Street gang (or prison gang, etc.) 6 – 21) From the Mouths of Babes: a child who speaks an unrealized truth. 6 – 30) Bribery 5 – 31) Friendship torn apart new-found wealth, jealousy, etc. 5 – 48) Student surpasses (or defeats) the teacher. 5 – 49) Wearing a wire or bugging someone. 5 – 61) Having sex with someone to get back at someone else. 5 – 63) Mile High Club: sex in an airplane. 5 – 55) A wise or prophetic blind person. 4 – 13) Time travel. 4 – 14) Jumping or being thrown through a window. 4 – 15) Star-crossed lovers. 4 – 24) A climactic showdown. 4 – 38) Cocaine in a strip club. 4 – 29) Getting whipped into shape and straightened out by joining the military. 4 – 16) An inspiring speech before a big showdown or challenge. 4 – 44) Abusive drunk for a father. 4 --51) Road to Damascus: a moment of divine revelation. 4 – 60) A charming psychopath. 3 – 28) Hiring a private detective. 3 – 4) Walking in on a cheating lover, in the act. 3 – 47) Pulling someone out of a fire. 3 – 57) Dating the boss’ daughter. 3 – 73) Wedding called off at the last minute. 2 – 75) Heroic actions in combat. 2 – 77) None; I’ve led a boring life. 2 – 20) Surviving a “terminal” diagnosis 2 – 23) Getting the Band Back Together: a reunion to accomplish a specific task. 2 – 32) Loan sharking 2 – 54) Dramatic courtroom showdown. 2 – 62) Extortion/blackmail. 2 – 66) Sleeping with a teacher. 2 – 67) Sex at a wedding, hooking up with a bridesmaid, etc. 2 – 8) One Last Job: a great test or ordeal of some sort right before retirement. 1 – 41) “It’s a matter of life & death!” – pleading with someone using those words or similar. 1 – 27) Reduced to doing porn/prostitution in desperation. 1 – 18) Magical Negro 1 – 42) Plane crash. 1 – 65) Shipped off to boarding school. 0 – 46) Heroic dog. 0 — 50) Deathbed confession/revelation. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-cliches-from-film-television-have-you-experienced-in-real-life/706905/102 "2014-12-15T22:57:31Z")
I thought that blowjob one was going to win. Close, anyhow. Cops breaking up a party happens to everyone doesn’t it? Why is that even on this list?? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-cliches-from-film-television-have-you-experienced-in-real-life/706905/103 "2014-12-16T01:18:00Z")
OK for the sake of this I’m going to count “being there while I see it happen to someone close” so that it impacts me, even though I may not be the “actor”. _2) Flushing pills down the toilet, or booze down the drain, etc._ Someone else’s booze. \*26) Stabbed in the back by an underling or partner. 1. Hellish descent into booze and pills.\* – Watched it happen before me. See (2) \*36) Police interrogation. 1. In vino veritas: a revelation or admission while drunk/high. 2. Hard-ass drill instructor.\* ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-cliches-from-film-television-have-you-experienced-in-real-life/706905/104 "2014-12-16T01:19:35Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > Cops breaking up a party happens to everyone doesn’t it? Why is that even on this list?? Never happened to me, nor anyone I know that I can think of off the top of my head. Even as a kid, I didn’t roll with a boisterous crowd. :shrug: ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-cliches-from-film-television-have-you-experienced-in-real-life/706905/105 "2014-12-16T01:50:32Z")
1. A love triangle. 2. Dirty cops. _(more like dusty; took my donuts in exchange for not busting me for a curfew violation. I’m totally serious.)_ 3. Time travel. _(assisted a friend to time travel back to her childhood. Whether this was literal or psychological, I’m still not sure.)_ 4. Star-crossed lovers. _(sigh…college…)_ 5. An inspiring speech before a big showdown or challenge. _(I was in high school and college theater. This is routine before a show.)_ 6. Manic Pixie Dream Girl _(I was a Manic Pixie Dream Girl. I miss my fellow Manic Pixie Dream Girls. Plural. Some of whom now live in Hawaii, others in Asheville. Fuck Asheville. They steal all the best MPDGs.)_ 7. Magical Negro 8. From the Mouths of Babes: a child who speaks an unrealized truth. 9. Voices in your head. 10. Getting the Band Back Together: a reunion to accomplish a specific task. 11. Hellish descent into booze and pills. _(My best friend, not me. I had to break up with her over it. She wasn’t a MPDG, she was just a hot mess.)_ 12. In vino veritas: a revelation or admission while drunk/high. _(Who hasn’t?!)_ 13. Student surpasses (or defeats) the teacher. 14. Road to Damascus: a moment of divine revelation. 15. Slapped in the face by a woman. _(My mother, does that count?)_ 16. A wise or prophetic blind person. 17. Dating the boss’ daughter. _(Does dating the boss’ son count?)_ 18. Exceptionally inspirational, once-in-a-lifetime teacher. 19. Shipped off to boarding school. _(My brother, not me. He learned how to be a better criminal there.)_ 20. Sleeping with a teacher. 21. Threesome, orgy, key party, etc. 22. Cops breaking up a party. 23. Meet-cute. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-cliches-from-film-television-have-you-experienced-in-real-life/706905.md?page=5)