We see it all the time – actors doing things in movies and on TV that don’t really happen in real life. Do you just walk into your home and leave the front door wide open? What about waking up with perfect hair and makeup? Did you drive recklessly through traffic to confess your undying love to someone because you didn’t realize it until they left? These are just some of the most common movie tropes we’ve all seen. But what about these six less noticed but equally irritating movie and TV tropes.
Our 6 less noticed, but still irritating tropes
#1 – Grabbing a beer as soon as you walk in the house
Like I mentioned above, there are plenty of movies where a character gets home and walks inside without shutting the door behind them. But what about walking straight to the fridge to grab a beer without putting anything else down? Sure, we’ve all had those kinds of days where we just want to go home and relax and not think about anything. But I’m definitely not doing any relaxing without changing my clothes first. How can you sit back and relax if you’re still buttoned up from work?
#2 – Everyone buys leafy lettuce and French bread
How can you tell a character in a movie or TV show just made a run to the grocery store? They come home with grocery store bags and leafy lettuce and French bread are sticking out of the top of the bag. What is every main character cooking that they need these two items every time they go to the store? This is such a common trope that even animated shows use it to tell you a character went to the grocery store.
#3 – The coffee handoff
This one is really prevalent in shows where there’s a crime scene. You always see someone showing up to the crime scene with enough coffee for the main characters of the scene. How does the person bringing coffee know who’s going to be at the crime scene? Do they have everyone’s order memorized or written down somewhere? What about the rest of the people in the scene – the ones in the background. No one brought them coffee.
This trope happens outside of crime shows as well, although it’s a little more believable. Like when you’re going to meet a friend and you know their order. But that turns a little weird if you’ve never had coffee with them and you magically know their order. Of course, you can be like Bill and tell someone you’re meeting that you’re stopping for coffee. That way you can get their order and it’s less weird.
#4 – Walking away before finishing an argument
This one happens a lot in romantic comedies. Two people start arguing. One person decides they’re done with the argument. They have a killer final line and they turn and walk away. This sets up a lot of dramatic tension which helps push the story along, but it doesn’t really feel like something that would actually happen in real life. We know they’re going to get back to the argument later in the show or movie. And they’re going to resolve all that tension. But it’s just so predictable.
#5 – Taking a shower immediately after work
This one makes sense if you’ve got a job that requires manual labor or if you get dirty at work. But if you’re wearing a suit to work, we doubt that your job gets you dirty enough to need a shower after work. There’s nothing wrong with taking a shower after work, but it just doesn’t make sense except as a means to move a story line or plot along. And let’s be real, if you shower after work in a movie, you’re just waiting for a murderer to sneak into your house. It’s such an easy move in horror and psychological thrillers to have a character attacked at their most vulnerable – while they’re in the shower. Thanks, but no thanks. We’ll just go to bed dirty if that means the psycho with the knife didn’t have time to sneak into our bathroom…
#6 – Fight scenes with attackers taking turns
TV and movie professionals are getting a lot better about this one. But there are still some scenes where a single person is fighting off numerous attackers one by one. We get it – we’re all about the cinematic elements at play here. The choreography. The skill. And the drama. We love it all!
But we just can’t suspend reality enough for this to work anymore. Not everything can be that one scene from “Airplane.”
What are your thoughts?
What tropes did we miss? And which ones are your favorites? Let us know in the comments or head over to our facebook or Instagram and let ‘s talk about it.