Cliche's in fiction that annoy you most

[TheKruzdawg]

The fact that people in horror movies aren't smart enough to leave the place where people are dying. Especially if the first person to bite the dust is the "jock" character. Obviously if the killer is strong enough to subdue the strongest of the group, the rest of you have no chance and should get the hell outta dodge. Unless you're the tiny female main character, then you can defeat anyone!

 

[Wintermoot]

stuff like Hollywood hacking, grown men playing games like a 2 year-old on a fucking sugar kick and people never doing the research (like a kid playing WOW by tapping the keyboard like it,s a piano)
PS
almost forgot:
the very concept of romantic comedies and the idea that making a movie of ONLY pop culture reference would make a good movie (I,m looking at YOU Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer)

 

[mjc0961]

Then you're gonna love this!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8qgehH3kEQ

Yeah. That's right. They actually did that.

Yeah. So we have these things... They're called jokes. That "let's both type on the same keyboard" thing was one of them. The sad part here is anyone actually taking that scene as if the show was trying to be a documentary on programming and hacking instead of a joke.

I mean really. If I had to pick something from NCIS (and so many other movies and shows) to be annoyed with, it would be every time they do a "good guy character we care about is in trouble! they're cornered by the bad guys and are about to get killed! Okay now cut to other good guys trying to get there to help their friend and they arrive on the scene just in time for the good guy who was about to get their shit ruined to have completely turned the tables and kicked some bad guy ass without breaking a sweat" scene. Those really get old after a while.

 

[KilloZapit]

The most omnipresent and silly one of all: "Conflict".

That's like saying building houses on a foundation is cliche. Without conflict, you wouldn't really have a story, so much as a DESCRIPTION.

Now, I did read your post and think arriving at exploration or experience as an alternative to conventional story telling IS logical enough, but I don't think it would be easy to make compelling.

I don't mean to sound dismissive, since there is a lot more that could be said on the subject and you're not wrong that something could be done without conflict and be engaging; but that's a topic better suited for Extra Credit.

And what exactly is the difference between a story and a description? It's all in how you tell it. And I don't think doing a story WITHOUT conflict is really what I am going for, it just shouldn't DEFINE the story, which is what it does in most stories.

I don't know. A story typically needs a conflict. Notice I say "a story". When we take a Universe, a world and let individual, independent stories unfold there I'm thinking of Fallout, for example. The first 2 games connect a little, but in the end every game tells another story and delivers details about the different parts of this world. But the individual stories still have conflict involved. Because you need something the characters can strive for. Even if it's just "Bring me this thing that is located...there". Getting "there" is practically a conflict in itself, even without the "bad guy" who wants to ruin the hero's efforts. And if it isn't presented as conflict it is...well, boring.

The only form of media that could...no, not just could...CAN deliver an entertaining experience without conflict is games, because if it is just about exploration, you cannot really enjoy it if you just watch someone doing it or read about it. At least in my opinion.

And for your last sentence...I don't think you can fit a real human into 90 minutes of film or 500 book pages while still trying to tell a story.

But do you play games for the "bring me this" plot excuse? I don't. And I don't really watch film or read books for that ether. And my point isn't so much that characters shouldn't have small conflicts that drive them, but that making plots or characters that are ONLY based on conflict is discounting 90% of what make good stories work.

Also, you can't really fit all a real human is into a conversation either, but you can capture glimpses, general personality trends, etc. My objection is that characters are written in such a way that once they resolve their major conflict, flaw, or plot arc, their story is basically done. So stories usually either prevent that from happening until the end, have them fade from the spotlight after a arc, or contently make up new arcs or conflicts just to have them stick around. There are very few works of fiction like Seinfeld or Lucky Star that let characters be characters without plot getting in the way. Not that there aren't problems with that approach too, but why can't we do both? Have characters who form connections and conflicts based on conversation and personal experience instead of pre-writing some for them. You take a bunch of people interacting together without any connection and just from what they say and do, conflicts can emerge naturally without starting out with any intending meaning.

It's like roleplaying I guess. The best story is one that you never intended to write.

 

[franconbean]

Disposable supporting cast and extras in the case of films annoy me.
"Oh look, I'm the main character and the only survivor. Convenient".
Damn, it annoys the hell out of me >.<

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

4.this comes up more in TV but the absolute rediculous levels in which they get anything game/computer related wrong

seriously you dont even have to be a geek/nerd to notice, Ive been noticing this crap since I was a kid

like the worst example in I think NCIS, theres this gamer chick, it went somthign like this

*looking at computer monitor*"is that a 12 core?"
"yeah, I have to have faster response time...."
"wait?...you have the high scroe in all the MMORPG's?"
"all of them"

yes thats right the high score in every MMO ever[/B]

I could sit through an absolutely shitty, cliché filled movie, TV show, whatever, so long as they didn't do this right here. Seriously.

I dont think Im even exagerating (I saw it on TV) its also on this list

http://www.cracked.com/article_19160_8-scenes-that-prove-hollywood-doesnt-get-technology.html

enjoy.......

Sweet.
Fucking.
[HEADING=3]Jesus.[/HEADING]

The videos in that article were almost as much... no, they were on par with the torture that is watching iJustine play Portal. I want to kill things. ._.

Don't say that out loud! Someone will hear you and actually do that!!

When I saw that episode I nearly killed my TV, I almost went on a puppy punting tantrum.

 

[Tklebis]

Im not sure if they said this already but the Power of Good/Love/Friendiship is overpowered (sorry for the joke) and kind of selfish. I mean, having someone to live/kill for does, but it does (or should) not make a (said to be) sane ''hero'' a undestructible machine that gleefully kills everyone that touches your love interest/friends. Or nobody should fine about a ''party'' killing half of the world because they don't agree with (even if they are right). The mooks do have faces and hearts.

 

[Dan Steele]

the black guy always dieing first in horror movies

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

The person with a strange voice (extra points if they are wearing a mask of some sort) is a girl.

Ally turns on the hero.

Hacking = hitting random keys on the computer

 

[pwned123456]

oh my god the last one with the two thrones was absolutely idiotic i mean the others were stupid but seriously

 

[Death_Korps_Kommissar]

That the hero always has to win.
Why cant he die weeping like a little girl?

 

[Quaxar]

Pretty much all the medical stuff. It may be because I'm damaged job-wise but damnit, it's not too hard to make it half-believeable, is it?

- CPR does not work if you randomly press and release, especially not if you do it by bending and stretching your arms. You have no idea how quickly you'll run out of power.
- Defibrillators... just... they don't cure a flatline. All you can do is reset the heart in case of VF. They won't resurrect the dead.
- If a person is unconscious just shout at him to wake up, don't ever bother to get him into recovery position or even check his breath and/or pulse. I mean who needs this medical shit anyway? This is a land where we brush off shots to the legs like so!

This video is in German, but you will get the idea: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmbp4joRO0g
It is painful, to say the least.

Holy Shatner! I know why I deleted this crap out of my program list...

 

[A Weary Exile]

this double standard/Idea that women are more mature than men, as the men will always be doing wacky/goofy/fun things while the female will look on disaprovingly, and all she wants to do is make him grow up and have kids with her..I supose an example is "Kocked Up"

4.this comes up more in TV but the absolute ridiculous levels in which they get anything game/computer related wrong

I agree wholeheartedly with these two.

The only one I can think of off the top of my head is the "New Guy" always being the first to die.

Also for a more specific cliche, Scrubs has a tendency to reuse this same joke. "X will never happen." or "X is unlikely to happen." or "I've never done X!" then X happens immediately, I enjoy that show from time to time but that just shows lazy writing.

 

[II2]

And what exactly is the difference between a story and a description?

Spoiler: Conflict.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

[circularlogic88]

"I just want to be normal" -> There're a couple of shows that do this: Heroes is the first that comes to my mind. Specifically, the cheerleader... Seriously?! You literally cannot die unless someone has the foreknowledge to stab you in the back of the dome and you're gonna ***** about how you're not normal?

 

[LongAndShort]

Generally speaking, all cliches that are female character related tend to piss me off.

Seriously 'relatable nice guy', that chick you've had a crush on since the second grade? She's an unpleasant ***** who's been sleeping around since she was 14, has at least 3 stds by now, won't recognize the benefits of the nice guy until some earth-shattering disaster. And even then she's only sleeping with you because you remind her of daddy. Or mummy.

But then, stereotypes in general tend to piss me off.

Speaking of which, the nice guy cliche is annoying too because media doesn't tend to be to clear on how homeboy deals with his feelings. Fact is a lot of nice guys that think they're nice guys who can't get the girl are douchebags.

Megamind was a great deconstruction of that cliche and gave us one of the greatest villians ever because of it.

Oh, I agree with that completely. Especially since the so-called 'nice guy' then tends to be a total dick to all his mates in order to get into the pants of someone who 'doesn't even know he exists'. Seriously mate, your perpetuating all sorts of stereotypes that I don't have the time to deconstruct.

Though I do need to bring up the "she doesn't even know I exist" cliche. Was she deaf dumb and blind for the past eight years (because the nice guy apparently went to school and has been in the same classes all this time), or is she just a ***** who doesn't give a fuck about those beneath her.

And don't get me started on the whole monastic "she's the only one despite the fact that I've only said three words to her ever and doesn't really care because she's got a [insert another cliche here]" existence of most protagonists that is really only a cover for their actual homosexual love for their best mate (who often seems to share this affection).

 

[drisky]

The motivational speech at the end to the main hero.

Just for you.