Cliches in Movies and TV Shows

[DeadPoolX]

Am I missing something, as I understand it most of the things posted are cliches and not stereotypes. Or is my english of?

Yes, they are cliches. However, I wasn't thinking when I posted "stereotypes" instead of "cliches."

I've fixed it now.

[Datadog]

10 Character Cliches in Superhero Movies:

- If you're the hero, your biological parents are dead.
- If you're the hero's girlfriend, you WILL get captured.
- If you're a villain, using powers will come naturally to you.
- If you're a returning villain, you're probably the good guy this time.
- If you're a sidekick, you're there to spread the message of teamwork.
- If you're a returning sidekick, you're probably the bad guy this time.
- If you're old, you're only there to dispense wisdom at life-changing moments.
- If you're a civilian, you MUST stand under every collapsing building and point.
- If you're a cop, you're about as expendable as any of the villain's henchmen.
- If you're a henchman, you are required to never question the sanity of the guy who dressed you up as a neon nazi-clown hockey biker. He probably knows what he's doing.

[DeadPoolX]

If you live in a cartoon world...

1. The good guys are completely good without a trace of evil. If a hero does start down the "evil" path, it'll either be due to "attempting to infiltrate the enemy" or a feeling of disillusion.

2. No one ever dies and neither the hero nor the villain can actually say the word "kill." You'll over hear "destroy," "vanquish" or even "eliminate" instead.

3. If the hero looks like he's dead (or at least severely wounded), one of the supporting characters will ask: "Is he...?"

4. No one ever changes their outfits. They wear the same clothing day after day. The only time this isn't true is if a character decides to "go undercover."

5. The villain is "evil to the core" and wishes to destroy the world simply because "it's the evil thing to do."

6. If a romance between characters is hinted at, nothing will ever come of it.

7. At some point or another you'll hear "we need to reverse the polarities" since that's apparently the answer to every technological issue in existence.

8. If there's a situation where the hero and villain need to team up, the villain will double-cross the hero as soon as it's convenient for him.

9. The villain usually has at least two henchmen whose IQ is little more than a rock and consistently screw up the villain's orders. Even though this occurs on a regular basis, the villain will still entrust his plans -- and anything remotely valuable -- to his henchmen.

10. Weapons don't kill; they stun. However, these very same weapons can rip apart buildings. The one exception might be the 1986 animated Transformers Movie, which featured the deaths of many known Autobots and Decepticons, including Optimus Prime and Megatron. Notice how they were machines and not biological lifeforms.

11. If the hero has a secret identity, the female lead will try to figure out who he is. If she figures it out, the episode will prove to be a "dream sequence" or she'll somehow lose her memory and forget his identity.

12. Whoever has the most lethal weapon will fail to use it as such.

13. The rank-and-file enemy will most likely be robots.

14. The hero -- and his team -- will normally learn some sort of lesson during the episode. Sometimes they'll relate it to the viewer through the form of a public service announcement after the action is over (this hasn't been seen on a regular basis since the 1980s).

15. The hero will give the villain a chance to surrender after disarming him. This almost always leads to the villain finding another weapon and somehow escaping capture.

16. There's virtually no continuity. Places, people and anything else may differ from episode to episode.

17. Parents are a rarity although extended relatives are sometimes present. More often than not, a character's parents won't ask questions and won't mind that their 15 year-old has decided to join a superhero team, skip school, travel all over the world and get into potentially dangerous situations.

18. If the main character is considered a "loser" by his peers, during the episode he'll impress everyone with his remarkable abilities later on. Only then will his peers consider him "cool" and decide to hang around him, immediately forgetting their former opinions of him. In addition, the main character will usually shrug these people off, stating he "knows where his true friends are."

19. Important issues such as racism, sexism, rape and child molestation are unknown, unless it's a "very special episode" in which the content is intended to teach the viewers a lesson.

20. People who normally respond to an emergency situation (i.e. police officers, fire fighters and medical technicians) are rendered completely powerless to help and need to rely entirely on the hero, who lacks any professional training.

[Datadog]

And just once - JUST ONCE... I wish this could happen in a movie.

VILLAIN: "You and I could be powerful together! Let us join forces and we'll rule this world!"
HERO: "Sounds good to me."

[DeadPoolX]

There's more!

1. Women wake up with their hair and makeup perfect.

2. If a woman is delivering a child, she'll scream at her husband/boyfriend and tell him how much she hates him. After the baby pops out and she's holding him, she'll tell her husband/boyfriend how much she loves him.

3. All newborns have at least a small amount of hair on their heads.

4. If a man and woman are sleeping together, the woman will wake up at the slightest sound and ask, "What's that?" She'll then proceed to wake the man up and tell him. He'll be so sleepy he won't listen and go back to bed, to which she'll respond by shaking him. He'll then get up, grab a baseball bat or firearm, and tell her, "I'll go check it out."

5. Poor, unwashed, unemployed individuals in bad health (whether they're old or not) will always provide mass amounts of wisdom.

6. People will either be incredibly charitable and good-natured towards others or they'll be entirely selfish and mean-spirited.

7. The hero in action films can take an incredible amount of pain, but as soon as the female lead tends to him, he'll cringe because "it hurts."

8. When the female lead tends to the hero's wounds, they'll inevitably end up in bed together.

9. The hero of the movie can get shot tons of time, but simply will not die. He may end up in the hospital, but he won't get killed. Non-essential characters will immediately perish after one shot.

10. If the hero ends up in the hospital, he'll be surrounded by all of his loved ones as soon as he wakes up.

11. Typing on a computer keyboard can make the computer function as if the mouse were being used.

12. Streaming video is flawless.

13. The Internet is comprised of 3D imagery instead of websites.

14. Tech experts have no clue what they're talking about (i.e. "I've returned the computer to normal").

15. When chasing a bad guy (no matter how important), it's okay for the hero to trash the city, thereby causing untold amounts of damage and potential death to innocent bystanders.

16. If the hero commandeers a civilian's vehicle, he'll ultimately wreck it.

17. Anyone can drive or fly all types of vehicles. No training is required.

18. Police cars flip over hills, road obstacles and each other when chasing someone.

19. Any task can be completed in an a short period of time due to the ever-present and overused montage scene.

20. There's always some huge teenage party at so-and-so's house whose parents are out of town. The protagonist won't be invited, but he and his friends will crash it anyway.

21. College life is entirely about sex and drugs. No one needs to keep a good GPA or worry about graduating.

22. College dorms are usually larger than most two-bedroom apartments.

23. High schools will have classes generally reserved for college and students are allowed to walk and/or talk in the halls whenever they wish. It doesn't matter if their classes have already started.

24. High schools are divided into two categories -- obscenely wealthy and upper-class or inner-city ghetto where violence occurs on a regular basis.

25. The heroic teacher will be assigned to an inner-city school and through unorthodox methods and putting her life in jeopardy, she'll get her students to succeed. The class in question is often within the "liberal arts" category, as well.

25. There's always some "meeting place" for teenagers in high school. Usually this is some sort of fast-food restaurant or "juice bar."

26. If an unpopular and a popular student get along outside of school, this won't carry over when they're both in school. In front of her friends, the popular student will shrug off the unpopular student while the two share a knowing look.

27. Women want the "bad boy" no matter how terribly he treats her. She'll completely overlook the guy who treats her nicely until the end of the movie, in which case she'll realize her mistake.

28. Men attempt to obtain the "hottest chick" around while ignoring the less attractive woman who actually loves him. Towards the end of the movie, he'll realize his mistake.

29. Men or women with glasses or who're overweight will never be the hero. Those who have glasses are the "smart and tech-oriented" individual while those who're overweight are the "comic relief."

30. Nearly every movie trailer must begin with: "In a world..."

[Datadog]

In a World...

[DeadPoolX]

Two links to add to that!

1. Famous Voice-Over Guys

2. Pablo Francisco - Previewman Parody

[DeadPoolX]

Cliches in Anime:

1. Men usually have long and lanky bodies, and appear overwhelmingly effeminate. Women, on the other hand, are often portrayed as 12 year-old girls with impossibly large breasts (and sometimes wear school uniforms or an outfit resembling dental floss).

2. Men are usually stoic and contemplative. Women are shown to be hyper-energetic ditzes.

3. If a man (or a woman in some rare cases) is the villain, they'll speak in a menacing tone and obscure part of their face until the hero confronts them.

4. If something serious was discussed, the male or female lead will acknowledge such with a curt nod.

5. If a man isn't the hero, he'll be portrayed as a geek, comic relief or possibly one of the hero's parents. Women are generally shown the same way, regardless of their importance to the story.

6. Anyone who is important to the story will carry weapons and/or have mastered some form of martial arts. The latter usually consists of incredibly wild moves that can generate fireballs, wind, speed and break metal, brick, or concrete.

7. It's apparently legal for civilians to walk around with swords, daggers, nunchuks, guns and possibly a mace or two.

8. When someone is about to use martial arts to attack someone else, they'll inevitably shout name the of their move, thereby telling everyone -- including the enemy -- what's intended to strike.

9. If someone is defeated (either through the use of martial arts or a weapon), they'll have a surprised expression on their face. They'll then go onto say something such as: "I... couldn't do it. Wasn't... strong enough!"

10. If martial arts and carrying around obscene amounts of weapons isn't present, then the lead character will drive a tank, pilot aircraft or control a humanoid-style mech.

[Rath Darkblade]

ROFLOL! I particularly love #1, #2 and #8. Here are some more...

- When someone carries out their martial arts move, the world inexplicably goes into slow-motion, and the villain opens his/her mouth.

- Anyone who is concentrating will have little beads of sweat to show the concentration.

- The male and female lead will always have a tiff and make up before the end of the episode.

- If the hero has a gang, then there is always one person in the gang who does not understand the obvious and has to have it explained to him. Over and over.

- The only villain that is truly defeated within the course of one episode is incompetent. The true villain always escapes, usually with a snide remark about being back for revenge.

- No one has a nose. (Then how do they smell? Terrible). *drum fill*

[DeadPoolX]

Here's something that never fails to piss me off: The hero will drop his weapon on the ground and leave it, even if the weapon has full ammo, is magically imbued or happens to be a family heirloom.

[Almirena]

1. Someone fighting for his/her life will look elegant even if s/he is temporarily being beaten. In reality, life-or-death fighting is ugly.

2. The hero hardly ever reacts honestly in a dangerous situation. It's usually only the poor extra character (slightly villainous, or the comic relief) who finds his bladder control going when suddenly finding himself in danger. The sole exception I can think of is in the Australian film "The Interview" (with Hugo Weaving).

3. Death scenes usually give the dying character a chance to say something cheesy or moving before departing this mortal coil.

4. Liars hardly ever succeed in carrying off their lies. As a rule, they're found out in films.

5. When the hero pretends to be intimidated by the villain in order to buy time or inch himself closer to a weapon, the villain will almost certainly be fooled by it.

6. Houses and flats are impossibly neat. No one seems to have to dust or wash or clean anything - except dishes, of course, because such GOOD heart-to-hearts can be had over the dishes.

7. If you're a main character in a crime series, at least one (and almost certainly more) crime will be shown to be "this time, it's personal".

8. Employers don't dismiss rude employees who shout at them. Instead, they just shout back, threaten them with dismissal and do a lot of tight-lipped eye contact.

9. There's always "a" bar... or pub... where the main characters go.

10. Characters wear clothing they could actually not ever afford with the jobs they supposedly do.

[Rath Darkblade]

*laughs along, nods along* These are good. I have one or two corollaries to add...

9. There's always "a" bar... or pub... where the main characters go.

9a. The people who work this bar/pub, know all the regulars by name, and furthermore know their favourite drinks, all about their private lives, who they're seeing/not seeing, etc.

9b. Whenever one of the regulars walks in, the people who work this bar/pub will - without fail - say something like "Evenin', Norm/Cliff/Mr Peterson/whatever. Have a scotch/whiskey/beer/whatever the character's favourite drink is?"

[DeadPoolX]

1. People in movies don't take medication correctly. They dump all the pills into their mouth or onto their hands, popping the pills into their mouth.

2. Most people in movies are obscenely stupid. Look at any horror film and you'll see what I mean.

[Rath Darkblade]

1. Any good arch-villain ALWAYS escapes by some ingenious escape route, usually involving hydrofoil.

2. Anything that is not easily explainable within about 15 seconds is obviously highly sophisticated technology. (For instance, the explanation by "Doc" in the ludicrous first "Back to the Future" film about his time-travel machine, in which he explained that he needed a 'nuclear reactor' to produce the 1.21 'jigawatts' of electricity he needed, whatever 'jigawatts' are).

3. Any good arch-villain always gloats and cackles at all times, including when he escapes. (This also applies to computer games). Sneering coldly is a good optional extra.

4. If a man and a woman are about to get married, either one of them - it does not matter which - will get cold feet at the last moment.

[DeadPoolX]

2. Anything that is not easily explainable within about 15 seconds is obviously highly sophisticated technology. (For instance, the explanation by "Doc" in the ludicrous first "Back to the Future" film about his time-travel machine, in which he explained that he needed a 'nuclear reactor' to produce the 1.21 'jigawatts' of electricity he needed, whatever 'jigawatts' are).

I think what Doc was saying was "gigawatts." Sometimes people put a "soft G" on the word "giga." I've heard this done for "gigabytes," as well.

Doc probably should've said "giga" with a "hard G" instead, but very things were described in those terms at that time (i.e. PC hard drives were measured in tiny amounts of MB).