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resolved Cross-generation crush Film
Do we have anything for the usually comedic situation where a kid has a crush on some adult, obviously one-sided.
openLate Arrival Hero Film
Is there a trope for a superhero story where the hero doesn't go into action until somewhere near the Final Battle of the story, mainly because he's been spending the first few parts becoming a better person and training to be a hero?
Edited by JohnShel91openProjectionists are Cool Film
Is there a trope for jobs (as in forms of employment) that are considered cool? I'm thinking of projectionists in particular because they get to work in solitude, see lots of movies (which is considered cool since the movie makers are film buffs) and spy on moviegoers. In general, jobs that deal less with customers are considered somewhat countercultural.
openNo Title Film
Iβm desperate to find out which trope this example is connected to:
βHunter S. Thompson once said to me, βBruce my boy, the movie business is a cruel and shallow money trench, where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs.β Then he added, βThereβs also a negative side.ββ
- Bruce Willis, What Just Happened (2008)
openAn Obsession Trope about being obsessed with a certain thing Film
I'm listing tropes for Night Swim and there's a certain aspect of the story that seems to be an Obsession Trope, although I'm not sure what it is.
Here's how it goes: One of the film's characters, Ray Waller, notices that the pool is slowly healing him. This results him in using it a lot, which soon takes a turn for the worse.
Which Obsession Trope would work with this?
Edited by hARded2000openNo Title Film
After convincing his rebellious step-son Danny to take a road trip to Dehradun as an alternate way of dropping him off at his aunt's place to live, Imraan sets out on a mission to bridge the gap between the two as per his late wifeβs last wish. What begins as a deep dive into unknown territories, culminates into a week-long trip filled with shattered realities, eye-opening discoveries and the start of a connection between two individuals who are dealing with their own set of problems. But will that be enough for Imraan to make Danny stay or will Dannyβs insecurities distance him from his step-father forever?
openChildren with better language fluency than their parents Film
A common device, sometimes used for comedy, sometimes for drama. An immigrant family is trying to do something - get some paperwork done, shopping, asking for help, anything - but the only one of them fluent in the language of the country they are in is a teen or even pre-teen child, who works as a(un usually imperfect) translator for both sides of the conversation.
Do we have any trope for this specifically, or anything close enough for this?
openSurprisingly smart native? Film
Our heroes (or villains) meet a native, aborigine, or other person in their native habitat and assumes they're stupid or at least ignorant about "civilization," only to be surprised when the person says something erudite or at least knowledgable.
Examples: Film: The black porters in the live-action George of the Jungle who talk photography jargon amongst themselves, while the arrogant white guy thinks they're savages who never saw a camera before.
Crocodile Dundee's aborigine friend who tells the heroine, "You can't take my picture, miss," but only because "you left the lens cap on" (and not, as she thinks, because the camera will capture his soul).
Literature: Patrick O'Brian's The Fortune of War: The giant Indian guarding the insane asylum, upon being addressed as "Ugh" by our well-meaning hero, turns out to be a Harvard graduate.
resolved Revealing deeply hidden thoughts or insecurities Film
Alice and Bob have a serious fight. Tensions are high, they are both agitated and as a result Bob says something he would normally just hide or keep to himself - but not an insult to Alice, but revealing is own inadequacy or expressing guilt over something. Both sides of argument instantly realise that this reveal would never happen in other circumstances.
Do we have any trope for this, or does it fall into Freudian Slip?
openSupernatural object uses the voice/appearance of viewers nearby Film
based on a sequence in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
- Alice and Bob and Report Siht are observing a Weird Magic Thing. Report Siht doesn't believe in Magic and decides to grab it
- Report hears a voice that tells him to stop, and asks why Alice and Bob told him to not touch it
- Alice denies she said anything, and says Bob probably said it
- Bob denies he said anything and says he heard Alice and Report say not to mess with it
- the three look at each other confusedly
related: A Form You Are Comfortable With
openScientist records himself with a camera Film
Scientist records himself talking/journaling about their project/experiment, (In some cases you can see their descent into madness), usually way back in the past, these tapes are then (Sometimes) revealed in the future to some other character to discover secrets about something.
Examples: Simon Petrikov, Franz Hopper.
openA trope close to a villain Film
I need help with a specific character trope that describes villains-but-not-really
In The Ballad of Little Jo, there is Frank Badger. He has a looooong list of negative traits (bigoted, racist, hardass etc), at one points even prepares to lynch a completely innocent Chinaman for no other reason that the guy showing up in Ruby City, and on top of it all, he regularly butts heads with the main character, Jo... except he's not a villain of the story or not even an antagonist. In fact, he and Jo face together against the actual bad guys of the story. There is also the uneasy frendship-but-not-quite between him and Jo, going for decades, and he's the person that ultimately goes to burry Jo when she dies of old age in her lonely lodge. On top of it all he has many positive qualities, despite his clearly negative traits - but it's not a simple case of Jerk with a Heart of Gold. And throughout the whole story, he remains this uneasy, intrusive force in Jo's life, but out of nothing but the best intentions.
So do we have a trope for character that isn't exactly the villain of the story, but is one step away from that? I vaguely remember that there was something for this specific character type, and it was something else than Affably Evil (for which Frank absolutely qualifies, but that's beyond what I'm looking for)
EDIT:
Important note, to explain why Frank's intrusiveness is so crucial for being antagonistic - Jo is pulling a Sweet Polly Oliver for half of her life and her standoffish, isolated lifestyle is a way to make sure nobody figures it out. Frank thinks Jo is a weirdo that should get company of other people one way or another to not go crazy from isolation. This creates the main axis of conflict of the whole story.
Edited by TropiarzopenBecome who you were raised by Film
Interspecies Adoption is in play. A character is raised by another species at a young age. However, as the years go by, the adoptee starts to develop traits associated with the species that they were raised by, traits the adoptee's species normally doesn't have. For example, Elf is about a human who is raised by Christmas elves. While the human, Buddy, has a lot of the traits that most humans have, like his height and the way that he ages, he's also developed traits that elves mainly have, like how he seems relatively healthy despite only eating junk food for most of his life, and is an exceptionally skilled toy by human standards. Is there a trope for this? Thank you!
openPuddle step of Action shot. Film
A shot of a barefoot stepping on or running into a puddle for a dramatic effect.
openGrinch-Style Trope Film
The trope that consistently puts a lump in my throat whenever it occurs, is best exemplified by the part of π»ππ€ πβπ πΊππππβ ππ‘πππ πΆβπππ π‘πππ ! which is narrated as:
And what happened then? Well, in Whoville they say That the old Grinch's heart grew π΅π©π³π¦π¦ sizes that day. And then the true meaning of Christmas came through, And the Grinch found the strength of ten Grinches, plus two!
It's that moment where a character's epiphany changes the whole situation, and they are able to transcend themselves and/or what they have been, conquering the challenge before them, often with sudden ease. What Trope is that?
openClosing credits, real song reprise Film
This is where a song is sung, in whole or part, by the characters in the movie. Then in the closing credits, a "real" version of the song is played — if not the original artist, then a well-known cover. Examples include:
Good Will Hunting - Will sings a few bars of "Afternoon Delight" as kind of a joke. The original version by the Starland Vocal Band is played over the closing credits.
An American Tail - Feivel and his family sing "Somewhere Out There" in hopes of finding each other. The popular version by Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram is played at the end.
Scrooged - A choir sings "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" at the end of the movie; the closing credits immediately follow with the Annie Lennox/Al Green version.
Edited by SquirrelGuyopenBlindly following directions, even if absurd in the circumstances Film
Is there a troupe involved a character following directions as if they were a robot, even if those directions make no sense under the circumstances. This would be distinct from "Just following orders," since we're not necessarily talking about morally objectionable actions. Just directions that obviously don't make sense, and that any reasonable person would, at least, question. Often played for laughs.
Some examples:
1. In an episode of Big Bang Theory, Sheldon tries to reduce "making a friend" to computer flowchart, which he follows literally when trying to make friends with Kripkie. Hilariry ensues when he ends up in a perpetual loop.
2. In Superman III, a computer is programed to send a message to every oil tanker in the Atlantic Ocean, ordering them all to sail to the middle of the ocean and "await further orders." All but one ship complies without question.
3. In a Bugs Bunny cartoon, Bugs defeats two cowboys by becoming a square dance caller and direction them to do things like bash each other over the head, dance into a lake, etc.
4. In Die Hard 2, after being taken over by a group of terrorists, an Air Traffic Control tower orders all the planes to hold, indefinitely. They all do so, without question, even to the point of coming dangerously close to running out of fuel. In the real world, long before being in danger of running out of fuel, the pilots would have simply gone to another airport.
5. Averted in the opening scene of Wargames, when two airmen working in a missile silo suddenly and unexpectedly receive orders to launch their missiles. The junior threatens the senior with a gun simply because the senior wants to call someone to confirm that they have REALLY been ordered to launch their missiles.
Edited by wsmith76openOne Book Author Film
Does this trope apply if someone has a work in a major field? Denny Zeitlin is a renowned jazz composer, but Invasion of the Body Snatchers is the only film score he did. Does that fit?
openPoor Person Usurps Rich Person's Life Film
I know I asked this a while back, but I still haven't figured out the answer. Is there a trope where someone from a lower-class background worms their way into a wealthy person's life or upper-class society in general? This trope may or may not involve the poor person killing the rich person and/or other characters in order to attain that lifestyle. Examples that come to mind are The Talented Mr. Ripley, Parasite, and most recently, Saltburn.
A sort of discretion shot to imply sexual activity.
A character's hand, and maybe their bare forearm but no more, is shown on top of a sheet on the bed the character is lying on. The hand is palm down with the fingers spread and the character is implied to be lying supine.
As we watch, the hand grabs the sheet in its fingers and squeezes it tight. Then cut away to another scene entirely.
This doesn't seem to be listed at Hand Tropes.
Edited by marnanel