125
votes
Accepted
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♦
- 58k
72
votes
Accepted
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 ...
- 100k
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
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 ...
- 27.2k
49
votes
Accepted
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 ...
- 11.1k
44
votes
Accepted
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 ...
- 1,795
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.
- 2,485
44
votes
Accepted
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 ...
- 3,313
30
votes
Accepted
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 ...
- 141k
28
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 ...
- 9,665
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 ...
- 23.9k
28
votes
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.
- 4,309
28
votes
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 ...
- 9,957
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 ...
- 621
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 ...
- 23.9k
27
votes
Accepted
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 ...
- 119k
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 ...
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
18
votes
Who was the oldest actor to play a teenager?
There is a very popular Mexican comedy TV show named "El Chavo del Ocho" (1972-1979), in which all the characters are played by adults even when they are playing children's roles.
I understand that ...
- 2,593
15
votes
A "groundhog day" world of animated series. Does this trope have a name?
TVTropes calls this Status Quo is God.
Within a work, particularly long-running series and franchises, almost nothing changes. If something does change, it's generally reset back to the way it was ...
- 788
14
votes
Who was the oldest actor to play a teenager?
Here's one from Japan: The lead role in My Love Story!, a major production from a major studio, was played by Ryohei Suzuki. The character is 15 years old throughout (no flashbacks or early life scene ...
- 299
14
votes
Has there been a movie or a TV show where an abortion was portrayed without negative connotations?
On Season 2 of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2016), the character of Paula (a paralegal at the start of the show, and the best friend of main character Rebecca) becomes pregnant just after she decides to ...
- 3,283
13
votes
Is there a specific name for a character that is a sacrificial "example"?
In literature what you're looking for is called the 'sacrificial lamb'. A character whose sole purpose is to die so as to give the protagonist a reason to act. It also can be used to show just how '...
- 131
13
votes
Why is Skinner so awkward in Hot Fuzz?
He likes screwing with Angel. He knows he's well covered with alibis, but gives those hints to make Angel think he's onto something and then triumphantly glows when watching Angel embarrassing himself ...
- 301
11
votes
Who was the oldest actor to play a teenager?
Wet, Hot American Summer (the Netflix show not the film) had multiple actors in their 40's and early 50's portraying teenage and early 20's characters.
Granted this was part of the joke, but for your ...
- 3,424
11
votes
What exactly is an Anti-Hero?
By that trailer alone, it's hard to know whether or not Jackie Chan would be considered as an antihero or not. His goal in the long run is arguably good - stop a terrorist. Also his means are by no ...
- 910
11
votes
Is there a name for this illogical sequence of events that often shows up in movies?
In the second scenario, before the second gun is revealed, there is an imbalance in leverage. The second gun "evens the playing field". After this it becomes either a matter of gambling with your own/...
- 227
11
votes
In films, especially horror, Why does the devil interact with random people?
Someone who is already powerful or important either made a deal with the devil to get there or doesn’t need to make a deal with the devil any more.
There’s also the trope that the rich and powerful ...
- 12.3k
11
votes
What's the term for TV series / movies that focus on a family as well as their individual lives?
First of all, there almost certainly won't be any one term for this because it would be too broad to be useful. It'd cover one very common detail of a premise: if someone told you "I'm watching ...
10
votes
Is there a name for the “last henchman that runs away” trope?
A quick search on TVTropes.org found this particular entry: Screw This Im Outta Here
Henchman Bob is beginning to have second thoughts about his career
with the Evil Overlord. Maybe he's ...
- 33.7k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible