Least Favorite Storytelling Trope

[Moved to Elsewhere 11,331]

So when I'm bored, I read TVTropes. And this made me think of my least favorite storytelling trope. If you'e wondering what it is, it's the complainer is always wrong. Now, I've always had a problem with this particular trope. I just didn't realize there was a name for it until recently.

 

Basically the trope is as name implies, the one who complains is always wrong. Now it's not a bad message it's just executed so poorly in most forms of media I've seen growing up and even today. To often they make the complainer way too sympathetic. Like, I usually feel too bad for the complainer to really think their complaining warrants any punishment, even if it admittedly goes to far. The most annoying cases of this is when the complainer is a wimpy character who doesn't want to do something dangerous or illegal because it's you know, dangerous or illegal. The excuse for this from the other characters is usually, "Oh, you need to man up," or, "You need to be more adventurous." You know a character can do those things without potentially killing themselves right?

 

Now this trope can work. If the complainer is complaining about something that's the right thing to do or what they have to do, then it works because the complainer is wrong is this case. Basically, don't make the complainer so sympathetic and don't make them complain about something way too relatable to complain about.

 

Now what are your least favorite tropes? Discuss away!

[A Black Circle 1,586]

Mine is Book Ends or unnecessary romance, whatever you'd call it. I'm not a major troper yet.

[PoisonClaw 8,172]

I'm always hated Poor Communication Kills, especially in situations which could be easily resolved if someone could string together more than two words without sounding like a complete idiot, but because the plot demands it suddenly everyone is a brain dead idiot incapable of speech. It's artificial, contrived, and serves nothing but to pad out the story.

[Megas 27,941]

Add one for Forced Romance

[Jeremiah 1,586]

 

One-Winged Angel, it can get really old or maybe Power at a Price

 

[Twilight Dirac 721]

I despise the forced romantic subplot that seems to get shoehorned into every.. single.. movie.  Stop wasting everybody's time with romances nobody cares about and get back to the plot!

 

Poor communication kills is another dreadful trope that makes me cringe every time it is used.  Don't writers have anything better to do?

[Banul 3,831]

The Chosen One

 

I.E., the hero is heroic because destiny says so. It was always his fate to save the day. It was fortold in a prophecy. I hate that. I much prefer a hero who, instead of being the Chosen One, is the hero because they stood up for something. They don't have some special power, they arn't the chosen of the gods, they're just somebody who decided to make a difference against the odds.

 

Sometimes its understated and okay, like Harry Potter, but for the most part I really dislike The Chosen One.

[Empty Room 512]

Most of the time, if I see the Chew Out Fake Out happen, it, more often than not, aggravates me.

 

Also, bait and switch comment. I can't think of a single time when I thought it was funny. Every time I see this happen, it pisses me off. Case in point, that scene near the end of The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone.

Edited May 31, 2015 by Blackened

[ponylaces 1,870]

"It was all a dream"

In some cases, I think it's funny and makes sense, but most of the time it just seems lazy.

[I used to be a stranger 7,994]

Writers have no sense of scale.

 

 

Best example of this to my mind is an episode of Doctor Who where cars are all mounted with this device that turns car emissions and makes them clean-- when in actuality it's concentrating it into a poison and storing it for a time when some bad guys are going to poison the entire planet. The figure they use is "300 million cars".

 

Okay. So 3*10^9 automobiles ±1.5 for good measure. All of them have been converted to this device's use? All of them have been installed properly? In every country regardless of local vehicle system or traffic laws? No matter how old-- every car. Doesn't matter if it's some ratbag 60s Ford that works as a cotton mule in Zaire or a jury-rigged Jalopy in icy Kamtchaka, everyone has one. And completely ignoring the facts  that 1. automobiles are concentrated in urban centers, 2. there are no automobiles at sea 3. automobiles are only a part of the carbon emissions in the world, with other major players including locomotives, ships and aircraft. All the automobiles poison the whole planet in an hour.

 

That's pretty impressive. If a company can get that kind of international response, we ought to reverse-engineer their methods and turn it into a logistics model for distributing food, solve world hunger over a weekend and a pint.

 

 

People who can't communicate and the alarmingly catching trend of people having awkward moments passing as cute romance both make me cringe and get angry at the same time.

Edited June 8, 2015 by Blue

[Buck Testa 5,505]

The trope of having Narration in the beginning of the movie, or worse, one of those f*cking blocks of text that is supposed to fill you in on sh*t, or even worse, both in the same damn opening of the movie. 

Also ridiculous amounts of exposition. 

Movies are a visual medium, for the love of Celestia show don't tell. 

 

I'm not saying it has never been done well, but when it isn't done well it just rips me from any enjoyment I could have from the movie. 

 

One of the worst offenders I've seen lately was that pile of dung movie "Into the woods", I'm ashamed for Disney even having its name associated with that steaming heap of artsy crap. 

[Steve Piranha 29,476]

I have many: Complainer is Always Wrong, because it’s mostly used in a way that tells you you have to be a crowd-follower NPC, and the crowd is NOT ALWAYS right

However, I hate some that glorify being unintelligent, and the unintelligent is always good. This comes to mind

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DumbIsGood

[Stone Cold Steve Jobs 22,474]

I can’t stand blood being smeared everywhere in a story. It’s not creative, it does nothing for your plot, and it hurts my investment in the storyline you’re trying to tell. I don’t mind if someone is bleeding heavily from like an artery or something as long as it forwards your plot line. But having unnecessary “Oh random character #583 was disemboweled and there was blood all over and it was hyper realistic and a sonic plushie jumped out of my computer to attack me” moments just ruins it.

in my experience, as with many things less can often be more.

[Olly 1,012]

probably "the chosen one" 

[cuteycindyhoney 13,324]

"The kid with glasses is a geek, nerd, or dork."

Oddly, I don't mind the "Glasses girls are sexy" trope.

[Misty Shadow 8,032]

The Liar Revealed, The Misunderstanding, and Black vs. White Morality have to be my top three. The first two always follow the same story beats in every movie where a main character has something to hide, we know the truth will come out, that they'll be forgiven in the end, and blah blah. I understand that it's somewhat of an unavoidable cliche, since "make your characters lie" and "make your characters misunderstood" are both essential to creating character conflict, but in my opinion, they should always lead to something more than just "they get forgiven, the end" if those tropes are part of a major plot point. My gripes with Black vs. White Morality should be obvious, stories where the hero is clearly good and the villain is clearly bad are never as fun as stories that step outside of that tired cliche. It's a display of maturity in my eyes when you write all sides as having flaws as well as having reasons to believe that what they're doing is right. 

[Nsxile 27,630]

The Hand Wave is the worst imo.

[Envy 6,275]

There are many, but there's one that comes to my mind right now. I'm sure it is a trope (it spans multiple series), but I don't know it by name. What I'm thinking of is the one where a certain character is made to be a punching bag that is constantly put down by the rest of the cast for no reason... Like Meg from Family Guy or Jerry from Parks and Recreation. It is a very mean-spirited trope and I find no entertainment in it. Family Guy is a rather mean-spirited show, so I'm not even surprised by it happening in that show... But Parks and Recreation? It sticks out like a sore thumb.

[Denim&Venöm 19,818]

Do aspects of production count? 

Because shaky cam and jump cuts kill the experience for me. One goes too hard for realism and the other tries to look all clever and cool. I blame the Bourne and Taken films for this.

Also the 'dethrone the evil empire/ government' is not only done to death, but it also glaringly overlooks the reality of the aftermath. That there will now be power struggles, new wars waged and chaos caused in the vacuum the bad guys left. And films just end like everything will be just fine, when the aftermath in of itself can make for a good story. 

This can also be said for most romance films. Scoring the guy/ girl is the end goal. But the actual relationship? Rarely is that fleshed out. Heck, most sequels of films that have a romance show that the relationship failed. I don't know who has the worst commitment issues: the onscreen couple or the writers? 

Also, nerds / fanboys as unkempt slobs. Have writers not met Vin Diesel, the biggest D&D nerd on the planet? 

[Brony Number 42 10,077]

I don't like it when a show starts with an action scene or a main character is dead, then we see "2 days earlier." We are already watching the show, we don't need to be tricked into it.

[Brony Number 42 10,077]

On 5/21/2019 at 11:25 PM, cuteycindyhoney said:

"The kid with glasses is a geek, nerd, or dork."

Oddly, I don't mind the "Glasses girls are sexy" trope.

A beautiful woman with pony tale and glasses, carrying a clip board, wearing a lab coat. Then she takes off the glasses and shakes her hair down.

[Lord Valtasar 12,704]

the bad guy always pays for their crimes, even when it makes no sense

[LucasB 196]

Good guy is smarter and thinks ahead one step further than the bad guy.

I'm actually making an animation that breaks the stereotype (no spoilers tho, it'll be finished soon ), it's actually partially inspired by the Rainbow Factory fanfic.