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Family and Friends is my everyday journal. Captain's Log is where I pontificate on religion and politics.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Tuesday top ten

Today's top ten is tropes. 
The tropes that bug me:
  •  In mystery or horror movies: splitting up when everyone in the audience or the reader knows that's the surest way to become the next victim.
  •  A group trapped in a cave or elevator or closet, etc. Someone has to be claustrophobic and freaks out.
  • In legal thrillers someone finds a body and stupidly picks up the knife or gun.
  • In legal thrillers someone is knocked out and found with the body. Dumb detectives automatically assume the person with a concussion did it.
  • Having the villain explain everything before he or she thinks they're killing Bond or Bourne or hero.
  •  The ticking clock. Ethan Hunt has to run a mile in four minutes to save his wife. Do they really expect the audience to think someone can run through the crowded streets of Shanghai that quickly and arrive like they just took an easy stroll? Can Anyone believe Tom Cruise can run a four minute mile?
  • The countdown: God this is really bugging. "Ten minutes and counting. Nine minutes and counting" ad nauseum.
  •  Technology before its time. Countless movies and TV shows have gunpowder waaaaaay toooooo soooooon. 
  •  The white savior. Tom Cruise telling the Samurai battle tactics. He was captured by their superior tactics at the beginning of the movie. He is the one who changes the Emperor's mind. Pure crap. Richard Harris in A Man called Horse training Native Americans to shoot arrows in volleys. Don't get me started on Avatar.
  •  An ancient artifact that can destroy the world. Lost Ark or magic wand or gold monkey. If the artifact had that much power why is it lost or hidden? Why didn't whoever had it in the first place use it? I can buy treasure, but doomsday devises unless it has a natural cause like a virus or bacteria don't grab me.


6 comments:

Sammie @ The Bookwyrm's Den said...

I like your twist on the prompt! Gosh, some of these really bug me, too. Like how does a trained person touch anything at a crime scene?! You need to be smacked with Latex gloves. And oh gosh, the white savior. *rolls eyes* You mentioned Avatar, and that makes me laugh, but what about Dragon Ball Z?!

Here's my TTT post.

Lydia said...

This was a great twist to the prompt. Nice job.

My TTT

P M Prescott said...

Sammie, you got me on Dragon Ball Z, but it wouldn't be a trope if it wasn't also a cliche

P M Prescott said...

Thank you, Lydia

Greg said...

Oh yeah the "split up." Cause that's ever a good idea (not!!)

Lol about Tom Cruise teaching samurai. Huge eye roll!

Countdowns too. Especially when it's like "9 minutes and counting", then they do about 20 mins worth of stuff, and then we hear "8 mins and counting". Snort

P M Prescott said...

Glad you agree with me, Greg.