Movies and TV shows are a great way to escape from reality. They allow us to explore new worlds, meet interesting characters, and experience exciting adventures. But while we’re enjoying these stories, we often don’t stop to think about what makes them so enjoyable. It’s easy to overlook the tropes that are present in almost every movie and TV show.
In film and television, a trope is a common convention that refers to anything that gets used often enough to be recognised.
Movies and TV shows use tropes to create a sense of familiarity for the viewer. By using the same tropes over and over again, writers can create a sense of comfort and predictability. This allows the viewer to focus on the story, rather than on the mechanics of storytelling.
Some of the most popular movie and TV tropes include:
- The Hero’s Journey
- The Love Triangle
- The Evil Overlord
- The Macho Man
- The Damsel in Distress
- Third act misunderstanding
These tropes are popular because they tap into our shared cultural experiences. They allow us to explore familiar themes in new and exciting ways.
Some tropes can make a story more enjoyable to watch or read because they provide a structure that is easy to follow. They give the viewer or reader something to latch onto, and they help to keep the story moving forward. However, obvious and poorly written stories that use familiar tropes can pull viewers out of the story.
Negative aspects of using tropes in storytelling
While tropes can make a TV show or movie more enjoyable to watch, they can also have negative consequences.
First, tropes can be stale and predictable. By using the same tropes over and over again, writers can create a sense of monotony for the viewer. This can lead to boredom and disengagement. The MacGuffin, Deus ex Machina (hand of god) and The Third Act Misunderstanding are common tropes that can have the viewers groaning in contempt as they are able to predict where a story is going.
Second, tropes can be restrictive. They often dictate how a story should unfold, and they can limit the creativity of the writer which can result in bad storytelling.
Third, tropes can be offensive or cliched. They can rely on stereotypes and recycled plotlines, which can be insulting to the viewer. This is often seen with black and gay characters.
Some tropes are inescapable as they form the overarching plot of many stories. For instance, The Hero’s Journey lets us know that the protagonist of the film or TV show will have challenges ahead to achieve an outcome. In the same story, we may see The Evil Overlord that the hero has to defeat in order to save the world/city/universe. Then there’s the Damsel in Distress he may have to save or the Femme Fatale sent by the enemy to distract him.
If the writer has done a good job of writing a compelling tale, viewers can often overlook the tropes and cliches as they submerge themselves into the story. But if you can see the plot threads coming a mile away because cliches and tropes are poorly written then the writer has failed to their job.
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