Tropes that movies, etc. use that you hate.

[Moviefan2k4]

Just thought of one that really grates on my nerves. The "know-it-all/kid is the smartest person in the room'" trope.

In Heartland, there was this character that had become really annoying in the way she was written. First was in the way she was written in, in the first place (Character's parents aren't currently home, so she gets to stay the summer at the farm.) Then the writers had given her facts and figures to randomly quote, even if they're topics she has no experience in. This had been done so often that it started becoming a character trait of randomly deploying facts and figures. And always when there are more experienced adults in the room. The one thing that made me roll my eyes was when one of the characters was pregnant and about to have their baby, and the know-it-all who's probably in her early teens with no experience is suddenly the expert in pregnancy trumping characters 3 times her age who are in the room with her. I couldn't wait for her character to be written out of the show, and it was a relief when she had. What an awfully written character.

I despise this trope with every fiber of my being. That's why I love both The Mask of Zorro and the 1999 version of The Mummy, but the sequels to both aggravate me like crazy. Each of those installments give the once "brave and bold" heroes a child that's so smart, their parents become total idiots by comparison. It's truly pathetic, which is why I will never buy those sequels on Blu-Ray or 4K.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I mean, it's one thing to have a smart kid, and it's another to have them be written well and in a meaningful way. The latter is more of a rarity.

Just to use Young Sheldon as an example, that worked because his whole family and those around him loved him and supported him and the character himself was really entertaining to watch as he grew into the person in BBT. And he's a well-rounded character. And it wouldn't have worked nearly as well if the character sapped the energy in the room by upstaging everyone, although amusingly the writers poked fun at that trope several times throughout the course of the show, with some family members complaining he was getting all the attention. And that in turn helped make it so endearing.

But to have a kid that supposedly smart spouting facts in nearly everything they come across and have it become one of their main traits to the point that they're considered an expert, that would raise flags, and it would also be incredibly annoying.