215
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Origin of movie trope where impaled character pulls/pushes blade/spear further into body?
TL;DR: The trope came from the facts that:
- If you were impaled on a spear, the smart way to remove it would be to keep pushing it through your body and out the other side.1 So people who actually ...
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145
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Why are films where the bad guy "wins" at the end so rare?
TLDR:
There are plenty of films where the "bad guy" wins.
Ultimately, the reason why the bad guy wins can come down to a number of reasons, including to be more realistic, to set up a later "good"...
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131
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Origin of movie trope where impaled character pulls/pushes blade/spear further into body?
In Le Morte d'Arthur, published in 1485 and popular ever since,
Then the king gat his spear in both his hands, and ran
toward Sir Mordred, crying: Traitor, now is thy death-day
come. And when Sir ...
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125
votes
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Who was the oldest actor to play a teenager?
Aamir Khan was 51 when he played the role of a 19 year old boy in Dangal.
From Bollywood Life article
So Aamir Khan has done it again what he does the best. The PK actor has gone through a drastic ...
A J♦
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72
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Has there been a movie or a TV show where an abortion was portrayed without negative connotations?
Obvious Child
A somewhat recent romantic comedy has actually been lauded for its treatment of this subject: Obvious Child from 2014 starring comedian Jenny Slate. From a Slate article:
In the new ...
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60
votes
Who was the oldest actor to play a teenager?
Shirley Henderson was around 37 when she played Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter movies. Born 1965, appeared in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets which came out in 2002 and Harry Potter and ...
- 1,155
51
votes
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What is the point of the Red Thread/Tape around evidence or newspaper clippings?
The practice is called link analysis, and its purpose is to show us how certain people may be related to each other or specific events.
It's not done so much by hand anymore in the manner you see, ...
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50
votes
What exactly is an Anti-Hero?
My friend said that an anti-hero does not care about anything and would kill innocent people.
No, someone who kills innocent people is a villain. With the exception of the innocent casualties being ...
- 26.2k
49
votes
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Why is Skinner so awkward in Hot Fuzz?
It's not awkward, it's bragging. Badass Boast, Evil Boast, Evil Gloating. In character building it's a feat given to make audience sure who is the villain from the start. Usually with bad puns. Or for ...
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46
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Why are films where the bad guy "wins" at the end so rare?
You asked a number of questions here; as often happens, not all of them got answered. Try to ask only one question per question.
Are there actually rules, written or unwritten, preventing a script ...
- 1,039
44
votes
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A "groundhog day" world of animated series. Does this trope have a name?
This is called Comic-Book Time aka Floating Timeline aka Sliding Timescale.
The problem is this. On one hand, Superman is a high-selling,
successful character with a lot of licenses and so on ...
- 1,765
44
votes
Who was the oldest actor to play a teenager?
Stockard Channing (born 1944) played teenager Rizzo in Grease (1978) at the age of 34.
- 2,465
44
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Why do assistant type characters tend to have British accents in movies?
There is no real official reason but it's mainly because of the (old) British culture.
Namely, butlers were/are servants in large households who tended to their employer’s wishes. Despite being in a ...
- 3,015
41
votes
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Who came up with the "death trap" concept?
The use of death-traps far pre-dates films and TV series, dating back to novels and theatrical productions.
Take the Sherlock Holmes story The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb [1892]. To quote from a ...
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30
votes
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Is there a name for the trope when there is a moments dialogue when someone pauses just before they leave the room?
It's called "And Another Thing"
Two characters are in a room having a conversation. One of them makes to leave. But as this character reaches the door, they turn back to deliver a final line. Often ...
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29
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What is the point of the Red Thread/Tape around evidence or newspaper clippings?
I don't know if this has a definitive name, but TV Tropes refer to it as String Theory. I've also heard it referred to as a conspiracy wall.
Effectively a character creates a board with all the ...
- 51.3k
28
votes
Who was the oldest actor to play a teenager?
Ferris Bueller's sidekick Cameron was played by 29-year-old Alan Ruck in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
Alan Ruck was born in 1956, and appeared as Ferris Bueller's trusty high-school friend Cameron in ...
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28
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Who was the oldest actor to play a teenager?
Robert Redford was 48 when The Natural was released. Granted he played a 35 y/o for most of the movie, but he plays a 19 y/o pitcher on a way to a tryout in the prologue.
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28
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What exactly is an Anti-Hero?
From wikipedia:
An antihero, or anti-heroine, is a protagonist who lacks conventional heroic qualities such as idealism, courage, or morality. These characters are usually considered "conspicuously ...
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28
votes
Why do assistant type characters tend to have British accents in movies?
It's more than just a British accent. It's a specific kind of British accent officially known as "Received Pronunciation." It conveys a level of refinement and social prestige. When an assistant talks ...
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27
votes
Why are films where the bad guy "wins" at the end so rare?
For a writer, it's important to get your audience to care about your protagonist (whether they are good, bad, ugly, or neutral). If they don't care about and aren't interested in the protagonist, and ...
- 369
27
votes
Is there a specific name for a character that is a sacrificial "example"?
As @BrettFromLA mentioned is the comments, I would suggest this character is called the:
Red Shirt
Warning! TV Tropes Link!
The trope name come from Stark Trek: The Original Series where the new ...
- 9,290
27
votes
Has there been a movie or a TV show where an abortion was portrayed without negative connotations?
In S1E8 of GLOW (Netflix 2017), Ruth has an abortion. There is some emotion, of course, but it turns into a sweet bonding experience between Ruth and the gruff director, Sam. The show doesn't paint it ...
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27
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Is there a name for a trope where protagonist's family members are kidnapped in the climax of the movie?
There are multiple tropes for it:
TV Tropes has a index for such tropes : I Have Your Index:
It may shock you to know that I Have Your Index. How I came to obtain it is not important at this ...
- 118k
22
votes
Has there been a movie or a TV show where an abortion was portrayed without negative connotations?
Possibly The Cider House Rules from 1999 with Michael Caine as a Dr. Larch, Tobey Maguire as Homer Wells, Charlize Theron as Candy Kendall, and Erykah Badu as Rose Rose.
Dr. Larch, director of an ...
20
votes
Who came up with the "death trap" concept?
How does Daniel in the lions' den sound, for a Biblical example of exactly this trope?
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Why are films where the bad guy "wins" at the end so rare?
The first, most prominent film that springs to my mind is Star Wars : The Empire Strikes Back.
** spoiler alert **
By the end, a Rebel base has been destroyed.. our hero Luke has just had his hand ...
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19
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Why are films where the bad guy "wins" at the end so rare?
The film Swordfish (2001) has part of its plot around this particular subject. The good guys always winning, the bad guy losing; and the whole idea is for the audience to feel happy.
It's also an ...
- 1,554
19
votes
Has there been a movie or a TV show where an abortion was portrayed without negative connotations?
Dirty Dancing
The character Penny gets an illegal abortion from a shady doctor. Legal abortions are either banned in her state or too expensive for her to afford as she has to borrow $250 from Baby ...
- 291
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible