What Sterotypes do you hate?

[Huw]

My wife pointed this one out to me: The Disney Stereotype of having one or both parents killed off in their movies.

Much as I love to blame Disney for butchering stories, orphans have always been a staple of fiction. The Grimms in particular liked to replace the mother with the wicked stepmother stereotype, because they believed in family values, and didn't like the fact that the original stories frequently had the kids' biological mothers as the villains.

For the record, the original wicked stepmother is Cinderella's (the "fairy godmother" is the ghost of her real mother). Snow White, Hansel and Gretel have to cope with their own mothers trying to kill them.

 

[Ranger REG]

The 'average guy, hot wife' stereotype. This is especailly rampant in sitcoms, but I've seen it in movies too. The guy always looks fairly average, not unattractive, but not anywhere People magazine's Top 10 list. Yet his wife or girlfriend is always far more attractive than he is. You never see the reverse situation, though.

Because that would appeal to the barely-homely Oprah audience.

 

[Darth Shoju]

Count me as another person who dislikes the "moron dad, infallible mom" syndrome. Home Improvement was the worst for this IMO. Also the kids being much wiser than their parents and teaching them how to think. Also kids who act like horrible little wretches and never see an iota of punishment (although I fear this may be more true-to-life than I like to admit). Feh. One show that handles this stuff well is The War at Home. The family in that show really plays against these stereotypes and it comes across realy well.

I also detest:

-The "misunderstanding that causes conflict" in romantic comedies. My wife drags me to these and they always feature this in the middle of the flick. I understand they need to create the illusion that they might not get together (after all, we all know they will indeed get together), but please please find a way to do it without insulting our intelligence.

-Action stars in gunfights hiding behind flimsy wooden desks or doors. Now, I'm no ballistics expert, but I figure this might work for smaller-calliber weapons. But considering some of the ordinance that these items from page 9 of the Ikea catilogue are stopping you'd think they were made of titanium.

-Along with the kids outsmarting the villains is kids who can literally beat-up grown adults (some of which are experienced combatants). Those freakin' Three Ninjas movies are really bad for this. I don't care how much martial-arts experience that 8-year-old has, I'm pretty sure even I (an out-of-shape geek) could absorb their best kick and then wring their little necks (as per that episode of Seinfeld...not that they actually do that but that is what Jerry points out to Kramer).

-Villains employing Weapons of Mass Destruction that have some increadably long count-down sequence and who keep the heroes alive to see it used (obviously giving them time to thwart its deployment). See the Simpsons (Hank Scorpio) or The Watchmen for the antithesis of this nonsense.

-TV/movie cops that seem to have all the time in the world to drive around and be cool or wacky, but never seem to have to do paperwork.

-Why is it in movies targeted at youth, drinking always has some horrible consequence, yet when it is an adult movie it seems to be the only path to some sort of partying nirvana?

-Characters who have crappy jobs that have nice houses (like Al Bundy...although in that case it was actually funny).

-Boxing movies where the fighters abandon defense and punch each other in the head, full-force, for the whole fight (mostly the Rocky movies here).

-Ben Stiller. He's talented IMO (see Permanent Midnight) but he's become a stereotype of himself. Will Ferrell is in danger of hitting this realm as well. Owen Wilson is allready there keeping Ben company. Steve Carrell has done a decent job of avoiding this thus far.

-Jocks who are date-rapists, nerds who are sensitive and are really "unique, wonderful, special little snowflakes" and the beautiful girls who can't see the difference until the end of the movie. Yes, in some ways this is an important message and can be done well (Mean Girls), but it has also been done to death. Most people I know are a mixture of jock and nerd and pretty much any hobby can and will be considered lame or nerdy by someone who doesn't like it for whatever reason.

heh. That's all I've got for now.

OOOh wait...angst. I dislike never-ending angst. Teen or otherwise.

 

[Darth Shoju]

And weighing in on the white protagonist/antagonist angle: I just saw Snakes on a Plane last night and it featured an African-American protagonist (Sam Jackson motha-f***!) and a Chinese (or perhaps Korean...I believe his last name was Kim) antagonist. Also Daredevil had an African-American villain as well (counter to the comics).

Not sure if this proves anything. Just saying is all.

 

[Dark Jezter]

Count me as another person who dislikes the "moron dad, infallible mom" syndrome. Home Improvement was the worst for this IMO.

I'd argue that Jill Taylor from Home Improvement is not portrayed as infallable. Although she's definately more interested in academic persuits than Tim is, throughout the series she shows that she can be sometimes be pedantic, insecure, smug, arrogant, petty, and hostile towards women who are more attractive than she is.

Oh, and she's also a horrible cook (which was one of the show's many recurring jokes).

 

[Iku Rex]

C-Action stars in gunfights hiding behind flimsy wooden desks or doors. Now, I'm no ballistics expert, but I figure this might work for smaller-calliber weapons. But considering some of the ordinance that these items from page 9 of the Ikea catilogue are stopping you'd think they were made of titanium.

Good one.

-Boxing movies where the fighters abandon defense and punch each other in the head, full-force, for the whole fight (mostly the Rocky movies here).

I don't watch boxing, and I don't know about "the whole fight", but fighters do sometimes abandon defense for full offense. Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjOLblfUaRw (Frye vs. Takayama in Pride FC, mixed martial arts.)

 

[Frostmarrow]

I hate when God* kills off the bad guy. In the end the villain deserves to die but is given mercy by the protagonist yet is horribly killed by some freak accident. Plummets on to the spokes of a wheel, is electrocuted, or beheaded by heavy machinery. (* God in a Deus ex Machina-way.)

I also hate when producers give the audience what they want at the expense of sub-context. For sure I like the idea of Van Helsing killing off all the major horror monsters in one flick but please; show me something I didn't know I'd like too. By this I mean I love a bank robbery gone wrong but I didn't know I'd like to hear of where Madonna's Like a Virgin came from. Or that meddling with nature can be unhealthy, for a simpler example.

I also hate when a stereotypical character turns out to have a hidden skill completely opposite to what has been shown, at professional level. Can't think of an example right now but you know the idea of the e.g. female hacker who just happens to be a black belt in the final scene. (Weird thing to complain about in an anti-stereotype thread, I know.)

 

[trilobite]

I hate the sterotypical sterotype hater.

 

[Ranger REG]

Oh, and she's also a horrible cook (which was one of the show's many recurring jokes).

Hey, truth is stranger than fiction. It's hard to find a girlfriend who can cook better than me.

 

[Nuclear Platypus]

I blame Dr. Phil and Oprah. Women want equality yet chivalry must be respected. What a double standard.

Somewhere I remember reading the actual reason behind women going before men was back before color was invented. If someone was hiding in the shadows ready to kill the man, the woman would take the hit but leave 'emself wide open for a counter like say in the narrow corridors of a castle.

As for marksmenship, yes, I do think its pitiful. Heck, I got a handgun license when my vision wasn't completely back after eye surgery. I just aimed for the big blurry thing.

Oh, I do hate the stereotype that Texans (or Southerners in general) are a buncha gun toting cowboys that talk slower than a nudist climbing a barbed wire fence aka the drawl.

Also about Aladdin, the Arab Americans were offended at the lyrics of a song and demanded it was changed. Something about having one's nose cut off or whathaveyou. Gee, this coming from the culture that brought us the Code of Hammurabi and the thieving hands cut off still is practiced (afaik)? Similarly, the original Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers were criticized for being -racist-! Of course it had to do with the ethnicities of the Black and Yellow Rangers.

The idea of Star Trekkian races would all look so similar to us not to mention be compatible enough to allow reproduction - half Klingons, half Bajorans, half Vulcans, half wits, etc.

Admittedly it has to do with having a 'happy ending' but having some alien race invade our planet and after getting our butts handed to us, we manage to defeat them despite having inferior technology like an Apple computer.

Various racial stereotypes like Asians all know martial arts, blacks and / or the popular kids will the be the first to die in a horror flick but the 'leftovers' will invariably defeat the monster (probably because they play D&D or some other RPG).

Those who play D&D (or other rpgs) are some sort of social misfit while painting one's body in a favorite sports team's colors isn't?

The idea that big explosions / great special effects will compensate for a craptacular plot.

Standard Hollywood physics like anyone standing by a window in a gunfight will be flung thru said window with extraordinary force, etc.

The stereotype that someone who excels in another field can crossover into acting, singing, whatever. Halle Berry, Mariah Carey, J-Lo, etc.