“Bakes Muffins Part-Time 3 Days A Week But Lives In A 2500 Sq Ft Loft”: 40 Overdone Film Tropes That Audiences Are Tired Of Seeing

To learn more about how this conversation began, we reached out to Reddit user Fake-And-Gay-Bot, who originally posed the question, “What single trope can cause you to fully lose interest in a movie/show?” They were kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda about what inspired them to start this discussion in the first place, sharing, "I was talking with my friends Toby, Robin, and Erica, all writers, about what kinds of tropes ticked us off over lunch. Toby, for example, dislikes when fantasy species are designed to be discriminated against (i.e Tieflings).”

We also asked the OP about any tropes that they personally can’t stand. "When disabled characters lose the disability,” they shared. “The mute character was on a vow of silence the whole time. The wheelchair bound character gets 5-second surgery an episode after getting bound to it. The blind character can see using special sunglasses. Why disable the character if they're not actually disabled?"

“Often, the character will not have to suffer real consequences while disabled,” the OP went on to note. “The mute will never have to get someone's attention, the wheelchair bound won't arrive at their regular workplace to find there's no accessibility, the blind character won't have to make any kind of lifestyle change to accommodate, even in the meantime between being fixed.”

“Many superhero films, like Daredevil (the titular character, blind) or X-Men (cyclops, pseudo-blind), have a disabled character that can operate just as well as a non-disabled character, as if they don't have the disability,” they added.

As far as tropes that Fake-And-Gay-Bot actually does appreciate, they told Bored Panda that they’re a fan of “Morally intelligent Anti-Villains”. “The kind of villain that doesn't even need to mind control you, because he's already convinced you,” the OP explained. “The type of villain that has such a good point, you begin to wonder who the villain really is. Death the Wolf, Joker, and Gus Fring are some nice examples.”

We were also curious why this OP thinks film and TV writers continue to use the same tropes over and over. “I believe it's easier to write a story when focusing on archetypes and plot narratives, many of which tend to be very common or something the writer picked up from their favorite media,” they told Bored Panda. “People who grew up with stoic, justice-serving vigilantes might base some characters off of them. Typically, an ensemble is based on an assortment of archetypes who bounce off one another."

The OP went on to note that they look for ways to create new ideas, subverting and deconstructing classic archetypes, with their own writing. “The passionate, determined fighter only wants to work hard, not smart, and his potential is lost until he realizes it,” they shared. “The invincible ‘I'm the real hero’ villain can genuinely be reasoned with. The hero is driven by less noble motivations, like fear, trauma, or greed.”

“Think of tropes like cooking ingredients,” they continued. “What goes well on a steak might not fit as well in a cake. Every tool has its use, every trope has its place. Your story is a sculpture, best not to use a giant chisel for every nook and cranny.”

If you think about your favorite films and TV shows, you’re guaranteed to come up with some archetypes and classic tropes that are present in them. But when the writing is done well, you will be so focused on the characters themselves that you won’t be rolling your eyes about them being a classic manic pixie dream girl or anti-hero. Keep upvoting the tropes you’ve seen enough of as well, and let us know in the comments if there are any more that immediately make you lose interest in a film or show. And if you’d like to check out another Bored Panda article discussing this same topic, look no further than right here!