Movie Cliches

[Smilla]

In costume drama set in the nineteenth century or even earlier, the good guys will have enlightened and respectable attitudes towards, eg, race, slavery or anything similar. Indeed, they will consider all races to be quite equal and will never have a bad word (certainly none that might begin with an "N") to say to or about them.

Snerk. JollityFarm, because this cliché specifically is so pervasive, I was absolutely shocked the first time I had to read and write reports with actual documents and literature from the 19th and 18th century. I was fifteen and I was all, "but, but, that's not the way people treated each other in The Age of Innocence!"

[katiebear3]

In costume drama set in the nineteenth century or even earlier, the good guys will have enlightened and respectable attitudes towards, eg, race, slavery or anything similar. Indeed, they will consider all races to be quite equal and will never have a bad word (certainly none that might begin with an "N") to say to or about them.

Ah, having the lead character in a period piece always do, not what a person of the time would actually believe to be the right thing, but what modern audiences perceive as the right thing. And do it automatically, without a moment's hesitation or thought!

Joan W. Blos handled this well in her YA novel A Gathering of Days, the fictional journal of a fourteen-year-old girl in New Hampshire in the 1830s. When the heroine and her friend are faced with the choice of whether or not to help an escaped slave flee to Canada, they eventually do: but it's far from automatic. In fact, they spend days discussing whether it would be right or wrong. Isn't it wrong to keep slaves? Yes, but ... slavery is a chance for the slave to be obedient, and isn't obedience a virtue? Yes, but ... doesn't it seem that the real virtue is in obeying by choice, not being made to obey by force? Yes, but ... helping a slave, who's his master's lawful property, to escape -- isn't that the same as stealing, which is a sin? Yes, but ... They don't instinctively Just Know that slavery is wrong. They can think of it only as they've been brought up to think of it. And when they do help the man to make his way to Canada, it's because they've made a conscious moral decision, not because of any instinctive Just Knowing.

[Smilla]

Here's one I'm damn sick of: female (although I guess it sometimes could be a male, but I'm honestly trying to remember if I've ever seen that) character wakes up The Morning After by rolling over, expecting to find the body of her partner from the previous evening next to her in bed, and instead discovering empty space. And being all upset, or worse, pissed off about it. Just once, I'd like the character in question to shrug, roll over and go back to sleep, grateful for the extra room, extra covers, and extra space in her morning schedule.

[Deleted]

How about the Child Wise Beyond His/Her Years?

Just recently (can't remember the movie) I saw this, and I know I've seen the same thing before: The kid's pet turtle, for instance, dies and rather than tell the kid, the father gets a new one and tries to pass it off as the old one. The Wise Child pretends to go along with this and when the satisfied father leaves the room the Wise Child smiles knowingly and you realize that he knew right off the bat it's not the original turtle but he indulged the father's deceit out of compassion. OR, the father dresses up as Santa Claus and, again, the Wise Child pretends to believe it but gives the same knowing smile once he leaves.

Do these Wise Children actually exist outside of the movies?

Another Wise Child thing -- The adults are having a huge spat and the Wise Child suddenly pipes in with his innocent voice and spouts some bit of wisdom that stops everyone in their tracks -- The Wise Child has innocently made them realize the error of their ways!

[Smilla]

I feel you there, Bonsai. That "a little child shall lead them" crap can go anytime. And it can take the Wise Senior Citizen Filled With Benevolence and Quiet Joy right along with it. I've known a lot of older people in my relatively short time on this earth, and while many of them do possess more knowledge and life experience than I, not all of them were entirely eager to share it, particularly in the constant, eternally positive manner that older characters in movies always seem to want to, "for the good of humankind, and its future." I'm also not fond of the converse of this cliché: the ever-cantankerous older men and women constantly screaming dumb things like "get off my lawn--damn kids!!!" Sometimes seniors have their own meaningful and involving lives, you know? Lord knows, my grandma goes on more dates than I do.

[Deleted]

Not only are the children Wise, but they're also Serious. They never play hard or get into trouble. Sitting queitly w/ a doll or a train on the rug is about as riled up as they get.

If they're not Serious, then they're Rebels. They cause trouble and strife for their families (although,, there's always a reason in said child's past to explain this rebellion, since kids never go against their parents or other authoratarians for no reason). Sometimes they're even Mean, only they're usually only Mean to animals or smaller children, unless they're Mean and Sneaky. Then they might plan something awful to happen to a peer or adult.

[Deleted]

Smilla -- I get tired of the elderly relative full of benevolence and wisdom, but I did see a movie recently on t.v. that put a little twist on it. In Parenthood, Steve Martin and his wife and talking about what a madhouse their life and family has turned into. The grandmother smiles gently and gives this little speech about how at the amusement park, the merry-go-round is nice and pleasant, but it's predicatable. The roller-coaster, on the other hand, is fast, scary and exciting and ultimately more memorable. She says her words of wisdom then goes out to the car to wait for them. Steve Martin's wife looks at him and says something like, "That was very wise, what she said..." and Steve Martin glances out the window and says, "Yeah, she's wise all right -- She's waiting for us in the neighbor's car right now!"

Anyhow, I'd thought it was a little corny and cliched and loved the way they undermined it a little. Sort of like the writers were thinking, "Yeah, yeah, we trotted out the wise old lady cliche, but we'll make fun of her a little, too!"

[katiebear3]

Scenes we'd like to see:

Cop/Detective: "I'm getting a new partner? Great! I love working with people! I'm sure he'll be much better than my old one, too!"

[jollityfarm]

When someone in a group comes up with a totally crazy plan to help save the day, the reaction generally falls into one of two categories:

1)"Pah! This is another one of your crazy schemes, isn't it?" in which the people in charge Do Not Understand, and only the free spirits see the potential. This will end up with either (a)an impassioned plea for Understanding, usually set to Dramatic Strings, or (b)the do-it-behind-their-back comedy option, with hilarious consequences.

2)"It's totally crazy...let's do it!" in which the good guys at once see the potential in something which makes no sense. Of course, they triumph.

Rarely in this situation do either of the following happen:

A)The people in charge say "No, I don't think we'll be doing that." and takes measures to make sure they don't. They eventually take a sensible route and triumph.

B)They try the crazy plan and fail hideously.

[chiqui]

When two characters are in a vehicle about to crash, or are standing together and see some large object about to impact into them, both will bug out their eyes, open their mouths wide, and say "AHHHHH!" in unison. I think we can thank the "Home Alone" movies for that one.