Content Warning: alcoholism, sexual assault, harassment, and violence against women in entertainment
The entertainment industry is constantly changing and generally reflects what the public finds interesting and believes in.
Fortunately, this means that some problematic tropes, storylines, and messages are being retired from the writers' room, and viewers are embracing the more inclusive characters and stories they're seeing on screen.
Redditor midnightsonofab***h asked:
"What TV trope was common in the not-so-distant past but is completely unacceptable today?"
Connected At All Times
"Misunderstandings that can now be cleared up by a text or cell phone call. Entire episodes used to be built around people not being able to find or communicate with each other and just having to figure stuff out."
- OccasionallyWright
"I read a story from a horror writer and he said cell phones changed how they have to write because 99% of the stuck-in-a-murder town or house situations would be solved by phones now."
- Cleets11
"Oh yeah, for sure! I write thrillers for a living, and the idea of a 'MacGuffin' that is hidden is a lot harder to pull off when the now-dead character hiding it could've just called the right people and told them, or sent them the data in an email, etc."
"I have a very good editor (he's BAFTA nominated) and had this exact one in my latest story outline, with them 'finding' a report he's hidden. But... he could've just sent it to his daughter by email."
"As I'm older, I have to adjust my mindset constantly to deal with stuff like that."
- jloome
Security Before Love
"Running through the airport to confess one's love for the protagonist. Or the 'Home Alone' premises. These wouldn't happen today with current security measures."
- flawedmentalist69_
Women's Panic Attacks
"Not really TV trope but slapping women that were supposedly having a panic attack was almost a trope in westerns and noire movies."
- Sufficient-Eye-8883
Unresolved Amnesia
"People walking around with amnesia."
"Every freaking show, someone hit their head and had amnesia and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Like, hello, brain injury?"
- darkmatternot
Stalking Love
"Stalking a woman long enough and constantly will eventually make her fall for you."
- SuvenPan
"This was probably the most confusing thing growing up in the late 80s and early 90s."
"This odd thing was sold to both genders: the guy was supposed to keep on going after being told to be uninteresting. This led to guys thinking 'no means ask again' and girls saying 'no' to guys that they were interested in, but thought this is how the game was played in real life."
"Even in my early 20s, I saw girls in my party crew doing this, quite often harshly rejecting a drop-dead handsome guy, then being all p**sy about it when the guy just f**ked off as being told to and didn't instead start the rom-com mating ritual."
- aamurusko79
Voyeurism Was Not Okay
"Spying on naked women or women changing clothes as an innocent boy or teen rite of passage."
- coagulatedfat
"'It’s Always Sunny' does a great episode called 'The Gang Hits the Slopes' or something. They go to a ski resort and live out 80s tropes from their childhood before realizing how f**ked up it all was, including spying on women and skiing without helmets."
- tman291
Homophobia "Humor"
"Gay panic. I love 'Friends,' but how often the joke was AT any of the guys doing anything feminine?"
- HazeAbove
"The flamboyant gay character whose sexuality is either intended for the audience to laugh and make fun of or becomes a joke with other characters."
- DimesyEvans92
"Or in the case of 'Friends,' the straight character who everybody thinks is gay and is the butt (pun intended) of the joke."
- Friesenplatz
The Dark Side of the Town Drunk
"Comedic town drunk. Think Otis from 'The Andy Griffith Show.'"
- dominationnation
"I think part of the problem is the 'comedic town drunk' is something so many people can relate to because every small town seems to have one."
"My town growing up certainly did. His name was Silas. He drove a lawnmower everywhere because he lost his license, and would shout, 'Yee-Haw!' when it reached max speed. The man could consume an impossible quantity of alcohol and just as quickly piss it all out."
"He was homeless and on a first-name basis with every police officer in the county. He could tell the funniest, dirtiest jokes, and in late autumn would commit some minor harmless crime to spend the winter in jail (where he'd put on a lot of weight) instead of spending it in his tent."
"He was also a very reliable handyman, our family hired him a few times to remove massive trees, and he'd drop them right where he said he would."
"But that's where the comedy and trope end. I've referred to him in the past tense because he died of liver failure."
"He was ill with an addiction and desperately needed help to get past it, and that's what the TV tropes fail to discuss. Consequently, it's funny to the audience because it conveniently ignores the harsh reality of the situation."
- Kent_Knifen
Smoking Bans
"'Mind if I smoke?' in places where people would instantly object today, like cars, airplanes, spaceships, the baby's nursery, etc."
- crooked-v
Anti-Tomboy and Androgyny
"'Fixing' the 'tomboy' who likes to wear boys' clothes, no makeup, and do boy things."
"There's an 'Andy Griffith Show' episode that would be considered an over-the-top parody if it came out now."
- Visible_Scallion_489
No Locked Doors
"People living in NYC and L.A. who never lock the front door."
- KAG25
"Pretty sure 'Friends' lampshade this with an episode where they all get locked out and Monica even asks, 'Who locked the door? That door is never locked!'"
- rhapsody98
Questionable Family Dynamics
"An overweight, lazy husband with a smoking hot, nagging wife. Add in one rebellious teen and one nerdy kid and boom. The family sitcom recipe."
- chewedupshoes
The Hate for Wives
"The running joke in sitcoms is that every average American man hates their wife and is always complaining about her 'nagging' and just wants to hang with the boys and dreams about the single life or having more freedom but he’s a dad now."
"I think too many are sick of seeing that. It wasn’t really funny in the first place. And now society is trying to push many to see marriage as the ultimate goal anyway and vilifies people for wanting to be single."
- BellaBlue06
Minorities As Targets
"Black dude dies first. It's basically never done nowadays and the trope is almost always pointed out if there's even the possibility of it happening."
- CoolGuy69MLG
When we look through this thread, we can all think of examples of these old tropes, from smoking to consent, and fortunately, most of these shows are older.
As terrible as it might be that these tropes were once popular, it's at least refreshing to see that we are learning, that the entertainment industry is reflecting that, and some of these tropes are fading away.
@LeeMerrittesq/X
@bob_moss/X
@jelanijones/Bluesky
@Aurkayne/X
@sadcommunistdog; @froglok/Bluesky