Let's put them to rest and be more creative

Tired Old Characterizations

I’m tired of stereotypical behaviors from characters, both in books and on television or at the movies. I know, I know, I know; what I’m seeing is a plot device. But these behaviors are so predicable that, especially when watching TV, either my wife or I will speak out and say, “Oh, here’s what’s going to happen.” And, yep, it does.

I can’t say how many times I have seen a character (victim) who has been kidnapped, attacked or whatever, gain the upper hand, either by subduing the “bad” guy, or incapacitating him, yet the victim doesn’t either kill the bastard (and believe me, they are evil bad guys and deserve to die), or at least tie him up or something. I get it, perhaps killing another human being (but again, the bad guy is subhuman, isn’t he?) is something many can’t do. But when it’s kill or be killed … well.

In example: The victim hit the bad guy over the head, or whatever, to gain the upper hand; the bad guy falls onto the ground and drops his gun. Yet, the victim either runs, or pounds on the closed and locked door to where the victim was being held and screams, “help me!” And what happens every time? The bad guy gets up, grabs his gun and … well you get the rest.

Another pet peeve of mine: lady cops being characterized as weak. I have known some and they are not weak, nor would they snivel under pressure, and yes, they could kick my ass. Yet I have seen over and over again in many shows female cops attacked and beaten by perps then whimper and cry. I thought we were past this? Most female cops I have known are trained in martial arts and know how to defend themselves and could get out of strangleholds (it’s really easy and I have had this training—hands and arms up into the middle, twist your body and using your arms, brake out of the hold, both from the front and the back). Then, OMG, kick or knee the bloke in the balls! He will go down on the floor and be whimpering for a few minutes.

But, I get it, the story would not continue on, especially if the victim picks up the gun and blows the bad guy’s brains out. The story would be over and cut short by an hour or a hundred pages. I just think we, as writers, need to be more creative and put to rest some of these tired old characterizations.

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The one that gets me, and I’ve noticed it a lot in Marvel Movies, is the trope where the Good Guy is losing to the Bad Guy, Like, getting his shit rocked, and Side Character kills Bad Guy from behind to save Good Guy. The whole, “Now, you die.” And… Read more »

Mate, the predictability! I couldn’t agree more. This is why I’m currently so addicted to Korean dramas – even though I know the rough format now, there is still so little I can predict. But for ballsy women cops – check out a Brit offering: Happy Valley. You don’t get… Read more »

And wasn’t it based on books by our favourite procedural crime couple that used to come to Popups?

R.C Bridgestock, pen name of Mr and Mrs B, were the police advisory consultants for the series, The Happy Valley. They had both served in the police in different roles. Then an agent, David Headley signed them, and they wrote a series of novels. It was mostly Mrs who did… Read more »

Another irritating trope that’s become popular is tiny girl beats up a big adult or monster simply because she is awesome. It’s like when real life parents let their kids play in stingray territory. No, she is not “just gonna show those suckers who’s the boss”. Teach her to stomp… Read more »

Too many stories have a beta male being abused/killed/eaten by the bully/bad guy/miscellaneous foul monster… and then along comes an alpha male who kicks the miscreant’s ass to hell and back. Mind you, a modern twist has an alpha female doing the ass kicking.

I hate the trope where the animal or human is dying and then miraculously comes back to life and goes and kicks the bad guys ass or wins the race. I also hate it when delicate model types with muscles like string cheese whup ass. Women can whup ass, as… Read more »

Last edited 17 days ago by Pamela Jo Keeley

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