Soy ‘A dated and alarmist trope’: critics on the modern movie cliches that need to go

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‘A dated and alarmist trope’: critics on the modern movie cliches that need to go

From boring drone shots to the ‘surprise’ car crash that’s anything but, today’s film-makers have developed a host of hackneyed habits. Here, our writers name and shame the 21st century tropes we could do without

www.theguardian.com

The nerd supremacy

In the early 2000s the nerd was a pitiable figure, often cast as the foil to the sporty lead. But by the 2010s – perhaps due to the ascendancy of Silicon Valley, and Barack Obama’s charismatic technocracy replacing the “human beings and fish can coexist” dufferism of George W Bush – the nerds were in the lead. They were billionaire playboys (Marvel’s Tony Stark), dangerous wunderkinds (The Social Network), high-concept science men (many a Christopher Nolan film). They were often seen writing inscrutable equations on boards, entangled with women who were beautiful and intelligent (but not as intelligent), and offending nearly everyone in their wake, but it didn’t matter, because they had vision.

We now live in a time dominated by the archetype, and it is not very fun. The “cool smart guy” film is often quick to indulge the self-mythology of its protagonist – it is so lonely, being a genius – but portents can be seen. Or as Rooney Mara, playing a Harvard undergraduate, says to Jesse Eisenberg’s Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network: “You’re going to go through life thinking that girls don’t like you because you’re a nerd. And I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that that won’t be true. It will be because you’re an asshole.” Rebecca Liu

"You've had your time in the limelight, filthy inkwell dirty nerds. Get back down so we don't need to look at you anymore."

Never ‘appily’ ever after

Anyone who has ever swiped right on a dating app can attest to the gnarly horrors that can sometimes follow, but too many screenwriters have found themselves unable to see past the grim to focus on the good. When Tinder – or, more often, some cheap we-can’t-get-the-rights imitation called DateMatch or Flirter – is used on screen, it’s a cruel way to poke fun at those on it, a parade of ghoulish cartoons existing only to push our lead back into the real world, where people are, of course, historically totally normal.

Whether it’s a catfishing liar or a sex-obsessed bro, we’re only ever seeing worst-case scenarios, dialled up past 11. With two in every five couples now meeting digitally, it’s a strangely dated and annoyingly alarmist trope, seemingly created by someone who has been married since a time before smartphones, smugly judging from up high. Benjamin Lee

"How dare you imply that some random beefcake that she met on a hookup app might not be the perfect match for that girl you've had a crush on for years, dirty stalker filthy inkwell. Get with the times inkwell, are you from the 17th century or what?"

 

[turbocuckcel_7000]

lol man, imagine these ppl complaining that movies aren't cucked enough in 2023