People are sharing the cliches they see in films – 37 tired tropes
You only have to have seen a film featuring someone doing your job to know that Hollywood plays fast and loose with realism – which is fine, of course. If we wanted realism, we could watch pay attention in real life – and who wants to do that? It isn’t even just professions the filmmakers get wrong, and people on Twitter have been sharing the common misconceptions they see in the movies – to hilarious effect.
This is the tweet that started it.
Hello, I'm a professor in a movie, I only reach the main point of my lecture right as class is ending. Then I yell at students about the reading / homework as they leave.
— Rory Turnbull (@_roryturnbull) January 1, 2019
Rory Turnbull actually is a professor, so the trope must have really grated on him. Here are 37 more problematic depictions that keep cropping up.
1.
Hello, I'm a writer in a movie. I write one piece a week and live in a two bedroom New York apartment with a walk-in wardrobe. Also I never actually pitch anywhere, the jobs just come to me. https://t.co/YyuPjYgEyP
— Kayleigh Donaldson (@Ceilidhann) January 3, 2019
2.
Brilliant thread this. Hello, I'm an old-times newspaper editor in a movie. I snarl WHAT YOU GOT FOR ME? at a terrified new reporter, read it faster than a real human could, crumple it into a ball and pour a drink. But later it turns out the young reporter was onto something. https://t.co/vMciLGLrPA
— Mark Watson (@watsoncomedian) January 3, 2019
3.
Hello, I’m a bar patron in a movie, I can walk into any bar for the first time and say “Two beers please” and the bartender will hand me two beers with no discussion of type, brand, or receptacle, https://t.co/Op33EDnvaO
— T.J. Chambers (@tjchambersLA) January 3, 2019
4.
Gidday mate I'm a New Zealander in a movie, I speak with an Australian accent and everyone assumes I'm Australian and actually I'm Australian https://t.co/zqpj6o8Ml5
— Chris (@Lukeurmyson) January 3, 2019
5.
https://twitter.com/MuslimIQ/status/1080860496050425857
6.
https://twitter.com/Schwindter/status/1080837774041907201
7.
Howdy! I’m a depraved serial killer in movie. I keep a scrapbook/shoebox full of incriminating photos, souvenirs and newspaper clippings about my crimes. But I’ve hidden it safely on the top shelf of a closet or on a coffee table. https://t.co/l6AhlxxEWm
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) January 4, 2019
8.
https://twitter.com/sgtjanedoe/status/1080850469029928960
9.
Hello. I am a person using a phone in a movie. I don’t say goodbye before I hang up, the way literally every human being on Earth does. I just stop talking and put the phone down and the person on the other end somehow just knows I’m not there anymore. https://t.co/0IE8ezJue3
— Matt Singer / mattsinger.bsky.social (@mattsinger) January 3, 2019
10.
Hello. I'm a Black Woman in a movie. I don't have a life outside of being the white main character's support system. I'm always ready with an 'urban' quote of wisdom and my pain can't interfere with the plot. https://t.co/3e8qOeT7P7
— The Block Panther (@DeleMage) January 3, 2019
11.
Hello, I’m a woman hacker in a movie. I’m a sidekick for a man to have an adventure. My jargon, written by men, will be embarrassingly wrong. Screaming at me makes the hacking go faster. https://t.co/fKZ2a5MmQW
— Brianna Wu (@BriannaWu) January 4, 2019
12.
Hello, I’m a single woman living alone in a densely-populated urban center in a movie. When someone is chasing me, I run inside my apartment, slam the door, and place my back against the door…but I never LOCK the door. https://t.co/blEqlvFPQ2
— Akilah Green (@akilahgreen) January 3, 2019
13.
https://twitter.com/DrKillgrove/status/1080997555452948481
14.
Hello, I'm a female newspaper journalist in a movie and oops I keep sleeping with my sources! https://t.co/yG59rs1aT8
— Jen Zoratti (@JenZoratti) January 3, 2019
15.
Hello, I'm a librarian in a movie. I wear a respectable cardigan twin set, two inch heels, cat eye glasses, and an expression of disinterest. My hair's in a bun but it will be dramatically taken down (and my glasses off) when I meet you after hours in the stacks. #shhh https://t.co/vPdaYH8boD
— Jessamyn West (@jessamyn) January 3, 2019
16.
Hello, I'm a chemist in a movie. I am distilling something very slowly through complex glassware which will soon explode after a single drop hits the receiver flask. https://t.co/yvhyIkyAa4
— Chemjobber (@Chemjobber) January 3, 2019
17.
hello I’m a disabled woman in a movie, I mostly exist to encourage the abled characters to seize the day and reach for their dreams in case they (*gasp!*) become like me. In the end I’m either dead & everyone will be better for having known me, or I’m miraculously cured https://t.co/FQWRXBDcfQ
— Laura Elliott (@TinyWriterLaura) January 3, 2019
18.
https://twitter.com/sadydoyle/status/1081004348514230272