Tropes that movies, etc. use that you hate.

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Sa person killed multiple innocent people, many of them children. The father of one of those murdered children goes after that person, and kills that person. Is that justice or revenge?

It's definitely revenge, but I wouldn't call it justice as such.

Justice is the sole purview of the State. Justice comes when a criminal is convicted and sentenced according to the LAW. If we start letting random people on the street execute those who have wronged them whenever they want, that's not justice. That's anarchy. That's mob rule.

I mean, even the fact that Dexter Morgan only killed people who deserved it (if he ever made a mistake and killed a truly innocent person, I'm not aware of it) doesn't make it right. It doesn't make him the good guy. Only the State determines who deserves to be punished, and only the State determines the manner of that punishment.

 

[fireproof78]

Again, depends on the story and context.

What if the state is enforcing injustice?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

What if the state is enforcing injustice?

Then there are mechanisms in place to change that.

Unjust laws can be abolished. Unjust actions can be punished. Unjust governments can be deposed and replaced with just ones. But all of this must be observed with order and care. Otherwise, as I said, we are left with violence, anarchy, death, and the tyranny of the mob.

 

[fireproof78]

Then there are mechanisms in place to change that.

Unjust laws can be abolished. Unjust actions can be punished. Unjust governments can be deposed and replaced with just ones. But all of this must be observed with order and care. Otherwise, as I said, we are left with violence, anarchy, death, and the tyranny of the mob.

While I applaud the aspiration real life and stories are rarely so clean.

The idea that only the State can exact justice means the State gets to define justice. That's a risky proposition in of itself.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The idea that only the State can exact justice means the State gets to define justice. That's a risky proposition in of itself.

Perhaps. But somebody's got to do it.

 

[fireproof78]

Perhaps. But somebody's got to do it.

I trust that you will if the time arises.

 

[Tallguy]

Whew. I'm going to skip right over the terribly weighty and timely issues of morality being discussed here. (BEST case scenario I'll start ranting about Batman).

I am sick to death of "Head trauma is nature's pause button". You're the good guy. You need to subdue the bad guy so he /she doesn't sound the alarm or otherwise cause trouble. You then hit this person on the head HARD ENOUGH FOR THEM TO LOSE CONSCIOUSNESS.

In real life this is a very very serious medical condition. In movies and TV it just puts you out of the game for a few minutes.

But taking this trope away would be like giving people in 1940's detective movies cel phones.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

I suppose you could tie them up and gag them, or shove them into a closet and lock them up, but the good guy doesn't have much time. It's often more expedient, plot-wise and in-universe.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I trust that you will if the time arises.

Not my job. But I will vote for those who will.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

How about the one where the main character can't go anywhere without running into someone who recognizes them? Or the characters who are constantly told (because they have no clue) by everyone they meet (standing in for the audience) that they'd make a cute couple...which they awkwardly laugh away or deny until it happens?

 

[Tallguy]

Spoiler: Not a couple!

 

[fireproof78]

Not my job. But I will vote for those who will.

We shall see.

How about the one where the main character can't go anywhere without running into someone who recognizes them? Or the characters who are constantly told (because they have no clue) by everyone they meet (standing in for the audience) that they'd make a cute couple...which they awkwardly laugh away or deny until it happens?

Annoying but having experienced it in real life I can say I know were the trope comes from.

 

[Richard Baker]

...Or the characters who are constantly told (because they have no clue) by everyone they meet (standing in for the audience) that they'd make a cute couple...which they awkwardly laugh away or deny until it happens?

Oddly enough that is how I met and married my wife. Neither of us were even slightly interested in getting involved- she was separated and getting divorced from an abusive piece of cr@p, I had just had a 5 year relationship end very badly and was actively avoiding having anything but a casual connection with anybody. We met, kept each other at arms distance socially but common friends saw our bond long before we did. We even denied it but in the end, well next week we will have been married 9 years

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

I don't know if it's a trope, but main and supporting characters whose lives have similarities. (Don't know that I hate it, exactly, just a little annoyed)

(@Owain Taggart Murdoch and Crabtree both dated coroners, then women with young sons.)

 

[Owain Taggart]

(@Owain Taggart Murdoch and Crabtree both dated coroners, then women with young sons.)

Hah! I hadn't even noticed that, but you're quite right. How ironic is that?

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

I realize the former allowed George and Emily to have something in common, and more reasons to interact with each other in the line of duty (criminal investigations they could discuss together), but the latter didn't.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Yeah, I wonder if the writers wrote it that way as a way to mirror Murdoch's life intentionally? Either that or they'd run out of idea already at that point. I have to say, it took me awhile to warm up to Effie as George's new suitor who interestingly enough is the same actress who played Dennas in Discovery, but I never would have recognized her under all that makeup and prosthetics.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Is anyone annoyed about the "religious character is evil" trope?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Is anyone annoyed about the "religious character is evil" trope?

Not really, no.

I mean, I'm not exactly happy about it, but I'm not particularly bothered by it either. It's just not worth the waste of mental energy required to BE bothered. Water under the bridge, as it were.

I have to say, it took me awhile to warm up to Effie as George's new suitor who interestingly enough is the same actress who played Dennas in Discovery, but I never would have recognized her under all that makeup and prosthetics.

I saw her on stage with Second City Toronto a few years ago. She was hilarious!

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

@Owain Taggart you know the Subaru Crosstrek "urban legend" commercial where the woman holding the baby talks about the sound she heard it makes? Is that the actress who plays Ruth Newsome (Henry's wife)?