Movies and television shows are supposed to be forms of entertainment that work by suspending us in a different world for a while. We, as the audience, are just supposed to kick back and enjoy.
But admit it, we've all been watching something and just decided "NOPE!"
One Reddit user asked:
What instantly ruins a movie/series for you?
Look, we're not saying Reddit is full of deliciously petty Betties, but some of the reasons people stop watching things have us legitimately cracking up over here.
Look at these responses
If you've spent any length of time in theater or production, you know it basically breaks down into 2 camps - talent and tech.
The comments section did pretty much the same thing.
The "talent" crowd had major complaints about acting, writing, plot, etc.
High Achieving High Schoolers
stockard channing grease GIF
Giphy
30 something high school students.
To hitch onto this, I'm not a fan of the constant hyper-sexualization of teenagers.
99% of teen dramas could be set in a university. But for some reason Hollywood (or whoever) insists that we watch 25 - 30 year olds pretend to be 16.
Yeah Riverdale is a good example. Literally every "teen" on that show is constantly casually drinking and constantly having sex.
And most of the characters run some sort of actual business or organization.
Ahh yes because I too own a bar or run a Biker Club in my teen years.
Oh of course, I myself am currently the manager of a speakeasy and also a whole ass YMCA. I also intern with the FBI in my somehow existing free time.
Very relatable. It reminds me of my teen years when I ran a rival criminal enterprise and rum company against my father.
Joey
When characters become caricatures of what made them great in the beginning. Prime example is Joey on Friends. Started out as goofy and slightly dumb, ended up functionally brain dead.
One example that really bugs me is how in an early season he explains to Ross what pets going "to the farm" means, but in a later season he believes Chandler when the duck and chicken went "to the farm."
Forcing The Fireworks
Forced romance.
Especially in western action movies, where there is a male lead, and a hot female side character, who shows no signs of being in to each other, but will always end up kissing in the end.
- ogger15
Any TV show that forces romance on the main characters.
You guys have been cool for a few years now all of a sudden you love each other? And you're cops, doctors, firemen, etc? That sh*t don't fly in the real world.
Just stick to shooting bad guys and killing about 30 without any police inquiry or administrative leave. Oh wait. That really does happen.
That Riddick movie where Vin Diesel is just sooooo sexy that even the lesbian goes straight for him, lmao.
Accentuate The Positive?Â
When the actors can't do the accent of the place they're supposed to be from accurately. Just hire a person from the area. It's so stupid, but once I pick up on it I can't stop focusing on it. It's so distracting.
Even worse is when actors/actresses start of a show/movie with one accent but slowly over the duration of the show revert to their native accents. And then never use the proper accent again.
Also! When there are families where every member grew up together (within the context of the show) but everyone has a different regional accent.
Bogus.
Petyr Baelish changing his accent every single season of Game of Thrones!
Just Kill Them Already!Â
"If you kill him, you'll become just like him!"
So all those countless goons that were slaughtered don't count, huh?
- Evus1999
What bugs me about this trope is that it ignores the innocent people who are almost definitely going to die if you don't kill the big baddie.
Killing for vengeance or justice might be subject to debate, but killing a certifiably-bad person to stop innocent people from getting killed is not.
- Forq2
My favorite episode of the Mighty Max cartoon was the one where Norman was fighting the guy that killed Norman's father. He has the bad guy backed up to the edge of a cliff and the bad guy says "if you kill me, you'll be just like me"
Norman says "I can live with that" and shoves him over the edge
The "tech" crowd had an awful lot to say, too.
Sound Shenanigans
On Air Dj GIF by The Mowgli's
Giphy
When there's too much audio fluctuation. Like you can't hear a word they're saying in a dialogue, then cut to an action scene and volume is so high the neighbors think there's a shootout at your house.
Ugh! This!
Nothing yanks me out of a film more than having to play DJ.
This, definitely. Or when the score is too loud compared to the dialogue.
I wind up having to really concentrate to pick out the words while some bullshit string section saws away mindlessly, ugh. When I watch at home I turn the volume down to virtually nothing and watch with closed captioning on to avoid the auditory overload.
Product Placement
Blatant product placement. It works in certain situations, but when it's "in your face" or overdone, it's distracting. Count the logos in Man of Steel or that shiny new Hyundai Tucson in the Walking Dead that never gets guts on it or dust on it for a couple of seasons.
Michael Bay pretty does this a lot and is pretty unapologetic about it in the Armageddon commentary.
"Yeah it doesn't even fit Liv Tyler's character that she would have that car, but they gave me a lot of money, and that's money I can use for more special effects.."
- 3-Dman
The worst I ever saw was in Bones
"Wow Angela, a Prius? I didn't take you for the type".
"As an artist, I love the spacious cargo area and fold-down seating, perfect for bringing my next piece to the gallery. And the back up camera makes pulling into the loading dock a snap!"
Then she shows off the lane assist and they get arrested for drunk driving.
- akefay
One of the Paranormal Activity movies was awful with it.
"Guys, I heard something. Let's turn on the XBOX KINECT and see what it shows us."
What's going on guys? -- "We just found a ghost using our XBOX KINECT!"
"I'm so startled! Let's turn on the XBOX KINECT to lessen our startledness."
It's been awhile since I've seen it, but those might be direct quotes.
Shakycam
Action sequences filmed in Shakycam.
I'm looking at you, Paul Greengrass, or at least I would be if the picture would stabilize for just a second.
When I went to see the hunger games and they already had shaky cam for when Katniss was just jogging I went, "Oh no...."
That's why I just can't stand the "found footage" style of movie.
Like so many rave over the first Blair Witch and scorn the second but to be honest I prefer the second simply because it doesn't give me a headache from the bouncing around of the camera.
Justin
When it has been adapted from a book and they change things. When doing what was in the book did would have been just as easy or easier to replicate on screen. I will still give all adaptations a chance before dismissing them. E.g. The Passage series by Justin Cronin. Loved the books, but the Fox series changed people's race, gender, and literal storylines. Why?
Boring
Work From Home Kids GIF by MOODMAN
Giphy
When fun characters have kids and their whole role gets reduced to being parents.
Titans
I know I shouldn't be bothered by this, but the fans usually ruin the show for me.
I'm watching Attack on Titan Season 4 right now, and the fans are berating the animators for using CGI when they only had like 10 months to make the season while other seasons had much longer, and they're sending death threats to the creator for - I kid you not - the MUSIC choice in one of the episodes.
I love the show but boy do the fans make me feel like I'm supporting something that's not worth supporting, which I know is incorrect, but it just bugs me.
Kill the Killer
Not killing the serial killer.
You know, that scene where the serial killer is knocked out and the main characters start running instead of hitting his head with a f*cking hammer.
Edit: Or shooting him right in the head.
babies...
raising arizona babies GIF
Giphy
When the childfree character, suddenly decides to have kids. Like wtf this happens in every show. Big Bang Theory with Penny. Even a progressive show like Brooklyn Nine-Nine with Jake and Gina not wanting kids at first then having them.
Just Go
Series mainly for me. Shows that have longer episodes but when the episode is just talking about stuff that is irrelevant, something we already know, or dragging conversations out when they could of ended a while ago.
- Oscer560
I feel this with the border patrol series. If they covered each case beginning to end it would only be a quarter as long. Instead they have 3 stories in parallel, but when changing between each one they throw in a recap, for every scene.
The Good, the Bad
In films: Convoluted circumstances of getting together.
In series: Characters making the same mistakes and never learning from them - Nurse Jackie going back on drugs, The Flash where Barry goes back in time to mess with the time line Again.
Poor Writing: Sorry, how many times did the H50 writers crap all over Danny William's character to make Steve look good?
Brain Games
Brain Amnesia GIF by William Garratt
Giphy
Episodes where some or all characters forget all their memories and lives and are put into a new alternate reality and slowly figure it out to escape back to their original lives.
Those sort of episodes are the kind I never get through.
Screenshots
Trailers.
No seriously, stop showing us three seconds of every scene in the film. Now I know what to expect as soon as we enter a location because I recognize it as "the cave with that fight scene" or "the office where they were making out" or "that cliff that she almost falls off". The second the scene opens I know where it's headed now if I watched the trailer. and that SUCKS!
Do it Right
'Representation'
When movies shoehorn in representation for no valid reason. "This character is gay" The character will never act on it, and it adds nothing to the conflict. "This character is gay" can do good things for a plot. For something like a murder mystery, it could change everything about the case.
But more often than not, it gets shoved in so they can tout it about on twitter and show off how 'progressive' and 'inclusive' their media is. It's so incredibly frustrating. I just want to see good tv, I want an interesting story. Instead, I've burned half an hour on virtue signaling television that has added nothing to the story, which is kind of the only thing I am there for.
I hate poor representation of characters in media, especially when it is done solely to draw in an audience, rather than tell a story. Just represent characters as is appropriate to the character, not the audience. Look at Critical Role, a wonderful web series. The characters portrayed feel alive, and at least one off the top of my head is blatantly gay, but it is in character for her. It works. This kind of thing can be done, but the media repeatedly does it incorrectly, all to pander to a group they don't understand.
So now that you've read what everyone else has to say, I'm going to confess that I'm a big "tech" person when it comes to this. I can forgive ridiculous plot points, insufferable Mary Sue characters, and loose ends like WHOA.
But let one boom mic drop into the shot or have something on set be out of place and I pick up on it right away. There is an episode of the original American Gladiators that I distinctly remember from childhood because one of the obstacles was starting to come apart and I was upset that I couldn't put my hand through the TV and fix it.
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I am out of options. Unless all of my prior fail safes current relationships don't pan out, I'm going to the grave alone. I'm too tired to look, or too lazy. Potato/potatoe... let's see who has better luck.
Decades Later
just married love GIFGiphy"Yep, worked out pretty well. We've known each other for close to 30 years now and jokingly said something similar years ago. Anyway, we got married almost 6 years ago and pretty happy with the situation."
BFF
"We were best friends for a long time in high school, I was really into her but the feeling wasn't mutual. I told her if we were single 5 years from now I could see us getting together and getting married. I moved across the country and we mostly lost touch for a couple years, but then almost exactly five years after I'd said that, we reconnected and I told here I was miserable where I was."
"She had just moved to a new city, I moved in with her, and we got together pretty quick. In two weeks, that'll have been six years ago. We just bought a house and our daughter's first birthday is next month. It was rocky at first, since we were both escaping miserable situations and living in a studio apartment, but everything worked out and I live with my best friend."
- drmwve
She said yes...
"Funny enough, there was a girl I liked in High School, but I was 17 and she was 15. She asked me out but I said no because I just got a girlfriend, but I was interested in her and I told her. She said if I'm single by the time I'm 25, can we get married? I was like yeah sure. I asked her when she was 25 if she was single. She said yes. Reminded her about our agreement and she said "I'm only really dating girls right now." So yeah."
Jumped the gun a little...
"I made this arrangement with my best friend from college. We spent so much time together, people thought we were dating and it led to some strife in many of my possible relationships because they saw her as a threat. But that wasn't the nature of our relationship. Strictly friends, I had interest in her one time but was quickly friendzoned and didn't try to make any advances. She never held interest in me."
"One night, close to the end of college, we went out and grabbed some beer at a local place and were transparent that we could see ourselves getting married to one another. We made an agreement that if, by the age of 30 pr 35 (I can't remember now), we were both single, we would get married. After college, we went our separate ways—I continued with school, she got a job."
"We talked inconsistently (maybe once every few months?) for about 2 years. I happened to be in her city one day in 2020 and we grabbed coffee. We talked a little more after that, then things REALLY picked up here in the last few months. We're engaged, getting married in March. Jumped the gun a little, but dammit this is the best decision and relationship I've ever been in."
In the End...
This Is Absolutely Ridiculous Mandy Moore GIF by This Is UsGiphy"Couple I knew both thought very highly of themselves and thought they could do better than the other person. They're now together and miserable."
- PCB4lyfe
Well those sound pleasant enough. Well, most of them do. But hey, when you gotta go with what's in front of you, you can't beg. Maybe others had it better.
Cheers to Us...
Season 17 Cheers GIF by The BacheloretteGiphy"Had an agreement. Both were married far before the date. Did however go out for drinks to celebrate the fact that we were both happily married!"
- Zulias
Finally
"I know a couple who were best friends but dating other people for about 15 years. No one was surprised when they finally started dating and got married, but they didn't have an agreement like you mention. They just finally got over the idea that love had to start with romance rather than friendship."
What happens... happens...
"My best friend dated this chick through high school. They broke up to go to separate colleges, dated other people obviously. Got back in town after graduating, got back together, got married. That was like 19 years and 3 kids ago. He was telling me they never would've lasted a year if they didn't separate for the 4 years of college."
- meh35m
This is a date?!
"My husband and I were friends. I said ,"if you don't have a date on Valentine's Day, why don't you come over and we can drink/ hang out." ( it was senior year of college… this was everyone's past time on non football days or club nights) Valentines came, and we both had nothing to do. He came over with beer AND yellow/red flowers."
"He offered to take me to dinner. I turned around and looked at my roommate like," huh?! Ooohhhhh... This is a date?!" I accepted the flowers and the 6 pack, got changed and 3 days later I just knew he was the one I wanted to annoy for a lifetime. We were swimming in the Jupiter inlet and I said "I think we should get married" he said "Yep. Sounds like a plan."
"That's all it took… friends + valentines + trajectory change = 2 kids, 2 careers, 6 moves, 1 serous illness. We survived together as a team, and It will be 25 years together in February. Man, I got it right and I couldn't even think of anyone better a fit for me. It's been AWESOME!!!"
Let's Party...
Marriage Love GIFGiphy"In my case i had good friend studying together abroad who had boyfriend."
"I told her to call me when she's free. Two years later she came to work to my city she was already free. She called me and we went to a party where after an hour or two we decided to be together and we are for 10 years."
I'm comforted by a lot of this. Maybe I'll meet some new back ups. And then love will overcome. Anybody free for a chat? ;)
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But in a stressful work environment, many of us are inclined to drop the f-bomb but choose not to for the sake of professionalism.
Is there a way to professionally tell someone to F off without actually using those exact words?
This is something that was explored on an Ask Reddit thread when user daniabear asked:
"How can someone say 'f'k you' in a professional situation?"
Getting a supervisor involved was mentioned as an intimidation tactic.
Using A Superior
"I spoke with your supervisor about the matter and they agree with me."
– cray63527
"*just CCing the supervisor*"
– AeolianMelodies
Backfiring
"My favorite is when a co-worker sends me an email and CCs all pertinent supervisors under the guise of 'I've told you repeatedly about X not working and months later it's still not working."'
"And then I go dig up my original, professional reply that explained how they were doing it wrong and that X is in fact working just fine, please just follow procedure. I forward that original reply with no explanation to the whole thread as a response to the very unprofessional tantrum they're currently throwing."
"Then I sit back, sip my coffee and wait. I typically turn on my read receipt for these types of communications so I can sense the disturbance in the force in real time."
– eimmac
Read The Email
"When someone asks in an email for something you already sent them, you just forward the original email."
– wxguy215
"It pisses me off that I have to keep track of what's been said and when, just to be able to find it and point to it - while it's easy for the a**hole who's not paying attention to just ask again, and again."
If read between the lines, these statements is like flipping the bird.
Being Heard
"I've taken your idea/feedback/POV under advisement. Thank you for your contribution."
Finding The Tone
"There's nuance in context. If I'm in a meeting (in person or remote) and I say 'let's talk about that offline'. That might be neutral as something is another topic or concern or the flow or time constraints are such that, that's more ideal. It can also mean other things. I think most people know the difference."
– myWillIsMyExile
There was room for some creativity.
I Hear You
"With all DUE respect."
– Jallinostin
"'With all due respect.... f'k you' and then push send"
– Ambitiousbiomed
A Slight Misinterpretation
Say to the person 'You should go f'k off eh!'"
"They will to the predicable thing, act shocked/offended and say something like 'Excuse Me?!' or 'Pardon me?!?!' or "WHAAAT?!!!"
"Then you 'repeat' yourself 'I said, You should go for coffee."
– Shawnaldo7575
The responses varied depending on the work situation.
I work in entertainment. Many people in the industry are very passionate and they are not limited to those we see on stage and screen.
A production team is comprised of individuals who have integrity and have no problem mincing words when things go awry.
In my experience, when the occasional f-bomb is dropped in a non-combative situation, no one bats an eye.
What immediately follows is a collective, unspoken understanding that something didn't go over well, and everyone goes about their business.
We leave the drama for the stage.
I know I could never be a parent. I've never even kept a plant alive. It's a miracle my dog is semi-normal. That's the first step, acknowledge your faults and truths.
little things...
Season 4 Swag GIF by Rick and MortyGiphy"Confidence/worrying. Little things seem to be a big deal with them Also both of them would make unnecessary comments about my looks."
The Menu
"Absolutely no food guidance at all. I was allowed to have as much soda, cookies, candy, cakes, chips, all sorts of junk food, etc., as I wanted. Seldom was there any healthy food in the house. I struggled with my weight most of my childhood and the early part of my adulthood because I was never taught to eat healthy. Finally as an adult I started figuring it out and finally lost the weight but I was not raised, ever, to eat healthy but I wish I was."
- llcucf80
Suffocating
"Independence, I was the kid who had an overprotective parent so when other kids went to parks/shops/friends houses I was told no you can't go because it's unsafe, made me very socially isolated because everyone else did things and I had to stay back on my own."
No Big Loss
"My mom, she complained about me losing weight (I didn't) when I wanted to just eat enough to not be hungry. She kept asking me where I got this crazy idea to only eat when I'm hungry. And the worst part? When She was complaining about the weight I didn't lose, I was STILL overweight."
Impact
couple yelling GIF by The Maury ShowGiphy"They failed at keeping their relationship issues to themselves and not letting it spill over into our childhood and impact our daily lives."
Children are always watching. That is lesson number one. Also, focus on imparting the ways your babies can live a full life and not just how to survive struggle.
Explosions
Intimidating Season 4 GIF by The OfficeGiphy"How to manage my anger. I was implicitly taught to bottle everything up because anger is an unacceptable emotion. It has had unexpected effect in a variety of areas down the line, especially when it comes to dealing with authorities."
"everything is ok"
"I have this reward issue, but for a different reason. My father used to just disappear for months at a time when I was a kid. We were a 2 income household and my mother was always too proud to ask for help or even admit there was a problem, so we usually went hungry and without power sometimes."
"Whenever my father came back, it meant we had money again and to compensate for how awful things were, my mother would take us grocery shopping and we'd get whatever we wanted. I remember vividly the times we'd come home from shopping and just pig out on ice cream, snack cakes, frozen pizza, candy, cookies, whatever we wanted."
"Having food, especially junk food, meant "everything is ok" in my brain. A lot of feast and famine as a kid. As an adult, it took me a while to work out healthier eating habits. There is still nothing as comforting as a stomach full of processed junk, but it doesn't happen often anymore."
Never Far Enough!
"My parents were extremely strict. I had to go to bed at 9pm every night, no matter whether it was a holiday or weekend. I was only able to be with friends my parents approved of. I went out with a guy in high school to see a movie that she chose for us to see. When we got to the theater, the movie was sold out so we chose a different movie."
"Both were rated PG (my mom would prefer it was rated G), and when I got home I told my mom about the movie we saw. She got furious with me because I didn't call her to get permission to change movies. That's just one of the many nightmares I dealt with. My mom would say something was okay to one day, and the next day we weren't allowed to do it ever again."
"I moved out when I was 18 years old. She lives in New England and I moved to Alaska for a while and then California. I haven't lived on the East Coast in almost 30 years. I'm in my 60's and sometimes I wonder if living all the way across the country is far enough away."
Feel the Hate
"When they got divorced it was abundantly clear they hated each other more than they loved us. Prior to that they were pretty good parents considering how young they were. Especially considering my dad had one of the worst examples of a father I'd care to imagine. They just got blinded by the bitterness between them and nobody thought to see above it."
Forget Me
"My sister was the center of attention when I was a kid, and in many ways, she still is. I lived a solitary childhood. My mom was completely disengaged from my life. I never go to do sports, hang out with friends, get involved in after school or extracurricular activities, or develop any hobbies. I was meant to be seen, not heard. I lived my entire childhood reading books, playing chess, and wandering around town aimlessly completely alone."
"And when I became of age to start working, she used my savings account as a means to finance sister's life. In later years when my sister grew up to be a sociopath, pathological liar, and ego maniac, they sort of recognized the mistake. My mom inquired recently why I never brought a girl over and I explained there was no room for me to have a social life in my sister's world."
- wehosh
Living Well
New Girl Facepalm GIF by HULUGiphy"Confidence, money management, and throughout my teenage years, caring for me in general. I get it, my older brother had just died, but you had three other kids. One was only 8, and at 13, I shouldn't have had to step up and be his mother."
- desdmona
See there... failure and consequence. That is why there are so many wealthy therapists out there. Nobody says you have to be the perfect parent, just aim to be decent.
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