
A lot of people watch certain kinds of movies because of their familiarity. Actors are also often typecast so it's entirely possible that you'd find certain performers playing the same roles in different films. For example, there was a period where Julia Roberts, for all her star power, appeared in each huge romantic comedy of the 1990s. "Boy meets girl, girl meets boy..." (Funnily enough, she's doing her best work now that she's broken out of that shell; check out August: Osage County, The Normal Heart, and Homecoming to see what I'm talking about). These films followed the same tried and true formula––and people ate it up!
After Redditor stripedsocks00 asked the online community, "What are some of the most overused plotlines in moves?" people chimed in with the ones that annoy them the most.
"Wise character..."
Wise character dies right before they can finish giving the necessary information, but non wise character always has enough time to finish saying their meaningful message before they die
"Manly man doesn't like kids..."
Manly man doesn't like kids, gets thrown into a situation where he has to take care of kids, kids hate him too. Manly man and kids have to defeat bad guy completely by themselves. Manly man and kids now love each other.
"The Hallmark plot."
The Hallmark plot.
Girl works at place preparing for Christmas, and a dream of a man shows up. She is reluctant at first, but by the end they live happily. Bonus points if she already has a boyfriend but he's a boring dude.
"Instead we get a contrived scenario..."
"It's not what it looks like!" scenarios in rom/coms. These movies are not inclined to dive into realistic, but trickier sources of disharmony because people would invariably take sides.
Instead, we get a contrived scenario where something easily explainable just looks bad. I'm pretty sure anyone would actually hear their partner out—and in fact would be eager to hear whatever explanation may follow—rather than storm out in a fit of anger.
"An outsider kid..."
An outsider kid, most likely an orphan, learns he has supernatural abilities, most likely inherited from his parents, which allow him to join some secret order and eventually depose an evil lord, most likely responsible for the death of his parents.
"The main character..."
The main character has a partner of 6, 7, 10 years and leaves them right away for the shiny new person. Instead of feeling completely betrayed and outraged, the dumped partner behaves like a comedic desperado trying to do anything to win them back.
"How has nobody mentioned..."
How has nobody mentioned the annoyed veteran cop being partnered with a new officer who is trying to prove himself, only for them two to discover something really big, and the rookie cop saves the day?
"Villain kidnaps someone..."
Villain kidnaps someone and is about to kill them, but the hero saves them at the last second. Defusing a bomb while it's like 2 seconds before exploding. Protagonist doesn't know which cord to cut, but chooses the right one at the last second.
"There are much better places..."
The whole blood ritual/pact where they slice their palms.
I've talked about this before, because it pisses me off how so many movies and TV shows have this trope. It originated because it was an easy place for them to hide a blood packet back when special effects weren't what they are today, but I don't think Hollywood will evolve from that.
It's so dumb though because if you've ever had a cut on the palm of your hand, you would know that's a terrible place to make a wound. It's such an awkward injury and you pretty much lose the use of that hand, plus it can take a while to heal.
There are much better places to draw blood from, yet we still see it all the time. And on top of that the characters are fine in the scenes after or in the case of shows like Supernatural and the 100, they are making fists and fighting with no problem.
"Also, the nerdy unnoticed chick..."
The "mean" cheerleader VS the nerdy chick that never gets the attention she feels entitled to. Kind-hearted popular people exist and don't always follow the crowd. I've read too many wattpad stories with this insufferable sh!T.
Also, the nerdy unnoticed chick only becoming popular once she's made a significant superficial change in appearance or joined the cheerleading squad. As if there's no redeeming qualities in terms of personality, attitude or approach to social situations. It's just so done to death and boring at this point.
"Two characters of opposite sex..."
Two characters of opposite sex have to end up together at the end. Which sometimes makes sense and they are good for each other but many times is just complete bull. Cause no we cannot leave them single or have them already be married or end up with someone else.
Also when you have two characters who are perfect for each other and have great chemistry and the only reason they don't end up together is because they are the same gender.
"Can we just accept..."
"She can't do that, she's a woman"
Can we just accept the fact that men and women can generally do all the same things and just forget that trope?
"We meet..."
Post apocalyptic world. We meet likable main character. Society led culling occurs. Main character escapes. Meets the rebellion. Becomes spiritual leader. Wins war with society heads. Leads with kindness.
"Group of young people..."
Not now, but the late 70s/early 80s:
Group of young people (late teens) have a cool place to hang out, owned by a nice older man or couple. Somehow a local crooked developer wants the place to knock down for condos, and send his heavies out to make it happen. The teens have none of that and fight the developer and his henchmen away.
Or the crooked developer is instead a small town hood, to which the old man has a debt, and the teens get that erased by exposing a smuggling operation the hood is running, and the old man might know to much about.
With lots of short shorts skateboards, hoods in limos, teens in sportscars or custom vans.
"The main female love interest..."
The main female love interest in a teen romance is bullied for being "unattractive" when she's beautiful and just has a ponytail in her hair, wears some glasses, doesn't wear make-up and wears sweaters all the time. At the end of the movie, she lets her hair down, takes off her glasses, is suddenly able to do excellent make-up and starts wearing the outfits all the popular girls wear.
"Man who loves his wife and children..."
Man who loves his wife and children becomes too poor or too boring so wife leaves him for rich exciting scumbag. Then usually the poor boring man saves the world or saves the child's life or does something extraordinary.
"He wins her back..."
Uptight, professional woman who is really good at her job meets boy-man who woos her and reminds her what it's like to have fun. Boy-man inevitably screws it up somehow because boy-man. He wins her back with a grand gesture as proof he's able to grow up and she goes right back to him since she's learned not to be so uptight and all.
Also, watch her hair transform from a severe ponytail to her wearing it down more often.
"Grizzled detective..."
Grizzled detective with demons (divorce, alcoholism, etc) must crack the case.
"If the main character..."
Every martial arts movie ever:
Main character's sibling is killed and main character must seek vengeance by killing the killer. If the main character is a man, it's his brother who was killed. If the main character is a woman, it's her sister who was killed.
"Washed up, alcoholic former hot shot lawyer..."
Washed up, alcoholic former hot shot lawyer (burned out/traumatized by a previous case) gets a shot at redemption by representing the common man against a corporate giant. And wins against all the odds.
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- People Break Down The Most Cringeworthy Themes in TV Or Film Everyone Ignores - George Takei ›
- People Confess Which Movie Tropes They're Sick And Tired Of Seeing - George Takei ›
People Share Their Craziest 'You've Become The Thing You Swore To Destroy' Experiences
Life's viewpoints can be so different when you're younger, when you have your whole life ahead of you, when you think you're fighting back against some tyrannical power bent on keeping your rebel heart in check. It's then, in those rage-filled glory years, you might think, "I'll never become like them. I'm going to keep sticking it to the man."
But years pass, and before you know it, you are "the man."
Reddit user, Zealousideal-Golf984, wanted to hear about the time when you became that which you vowed to destroy when they asked:
"What is your "You have become the very thing you swore to destroy" moment?"
You know who you are right now?
Your parents.
Doesn't matter if you responded, "No I'm not!" to that statement. You are your mother. You are your father. And there's nothing you can do about it. Cue evil laughter.
Rhetorical Questions Abound
"I told my friend's kids they could have a toy if they didn't fight over it, and if they fought I would take it back, they agreed, then proceeded immediately fight over it when I turned around. Without any conscious input from my brain I span back and heard myself exclaim "What did I just say?!""
"And suddenly I was my mother."
ttnl35
Coming Round Full Circle
"I teach at my old high school lol literally have coworkers that have sent me to the principal’s office before"
Watchtwentytwo
It's Going To Rot Your Brain!
"Complaining to my son about him playing to much video games."
skwolf522
Nothing Better Than Plans Getting Cancelled
"Growing up, my dad hated going out. When we went on church outings, we were always the first family to leave. He just wanted to stay in and read the paper or watch tv. I vowed to never be as boring as him when I got older."
"Now that I'm older, nothing makes me happier than when plans get cancelled and I can just chill at home, and not worry about the commute or how much money I'd have to spend going out. Even if it's something I'm looking forward to like a band I really wanna see, part of me still wants to not go because of how crappy the late night commute will be."
YounomsayinMawfk
Where Do You Even Sit?
"My couch has no less than 8 decorative pillows on it. I am a monster."
MargotFenring
"This is the worst one"
lowtoiletsitter
You don't think the job changes you. "I'm never going to sell out to the man," you tell yourself as you wake up at 4am to make your commute to the office.
Little do you know...
It's In The Fine-Print Within The Fine-Print
"I make commercials for a living. I f-cking hate commercials to the core of my soul."
JhymnMusic
"Ugh dude same."
"I got hired as an animator at an agency not too long ago, so I figured I'd be doing lots of fun and flashy animations. I don't mind making commercials so long as they've got interesting visuals, which is something I greatly enjoy doing."
"I've been making glorified powerpoints about Medicare ever since I got hired. I've frequently received feedback to literally "make it less fun". A project I made 2 years ago, a fun and flashy internal use video, is getting a new iteration that I'll be doing soon. The old version made setting up web pages and product descriptions look interesting."
"They said they didn't like it and to "have less fun" with it, so I plan on being spiteful and making it f-cking awful to sit through. The problem with that is that I know that's exactly what they want."
"I'm reminded of the Pixies from Fairly Odd Parents, and how Timmy and the gang are the exciting antithesis of the drab corporate culture the pixies represent. I didn't think I'd become one. Lord help me."
Tokiw4
Karmic Payback Is Amplified In The Classroom
"I was in a computer class in high school and would drive the teachers nuts. I even had the other kids mocking the teachers by shouting out "on task!" whenever the teacher would start looking around to make sure we were working."
"I now teach a high school computer class. A student the other day stopped me before I could tell them to put their phone away and go back to work by saying "I know, I know, on task, on task".
"I was speechless and just left the student to return to my desk and rethink my life choices."
majorscud
Stopping People From Having Fun
"When I setup the website blocker on the company network. I spent so much of my childhood trying to get around those blockers at school, and now I'm the one setting it up."
"Edit: Admittedly, I'm not so evil as to block things for being categorized as "tasteless" like my school did, it's really just porn and illegal things, but I still feel slimy for doing it."
"Edit 2: Also, so be clear, I don't work at a school. My company does however employ a lot of Salesmen, and they're basically children, so..."
Nik_Tesla
Leaving The Grunt Work To Someone Else
"When I was an apprentice electrician it always pissed me off when my journeyman would make me do the hard manual parts of a job while he did the easier, but more technical work. I always swore that when I got my license and my first apprentice that I’d be different."
"That went out the window pretty quick."
Anakin_Skywanker
We're products of those who raise us. We take in what they do, what they say, and how they act to become the people the outside world gets to interact with.
It's critical we recognize this, for better or worse.
Seeing, Growing, Learning
"Sh-t, a looooong time ago (when I was 11 or so) I was walking across the school yard. My dad used to beat my butt when he was having a bad day and it really f-cked with me, so I was walking and just fuming, hating on him and how much of a tyrant he was for taking out his anger on me."
"Well, in that moment I bumped into a kid like 1/2 my size and he went to the ground. He hugged my legs (I think reflexively) and I just started pounding his face. I remember him crying, begging me to stop, the hatred, and then just a sudden moment of clarity. I realized I was a sh-tty person, that I was super mean, and that the kid I was hitting had done nothing wrong but was just a helpless target for my anger. I instantly flipped to empathizing for him, and saw myself for who I was. I can't describe the horror."
"I started crying and helping the boy up, we walked to the office together in tears and I ended up telling my principal everything. It was a long time ago, so they just decided to give me an in school suspension and not inform my parents."
"Also, that kid and I ended up exchanging SNES games and playing mtg/warhammer together a bunch in the following years. Andrew, dude, I can't apologize enough, and thank you so much for not leaving me in a hell of my own creation. Decades later and I still think about you, and how kind of a person you were, you changed a life, man."
"EDIT: Okay, just to clear up misconceptions and mass respond. This did not flip a switch and end my relationship with violence and anger. That took, well, up until today and then some. I still have anger that flares up and completely blinds me, but after decades, I'm not losing control or lashing out. Andrew wasn't one of the kids that I went after at school, I picked on kids that I thought were bullies, totally oblivious to the commonalities between me and them."
"I don't really have words for those of you that were bullied, or hurt while at school. Except that those of you that fantasize about beating up bullies now, as adults, need to find a better method for feeling empowered. You are literally just adult versions of playground bullies, we all had the kids that we thought were okay to victimize for some justification or another."
IonlyusethrowawaysA
We all have to grow up sometime.
Maybe don't worry so much about picking up that ice cream on the way home.
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Shared mutual interests are a pretty good place to start when navigating new relationships.
And while couples don't have to agree on everything, dating someone new can be exciting as the people explore their new romantic prospects together.
However, there are some things that Redditors are quick to dismiss about a potential romantic partner.
Curious to hear from strangers online, Redditor RAMORAMORA asked:
"What is the pettiest reason you can't date someone?"

It started out with promise until things took a turn.
The Critic
"I literally re-thought about my relationship with my ex when we went to the zoo (I paid for everything, tickets, parking, food, gift shop, etc which all wasn’t cheap) and he had the nerve to say our trip to the zoo was 'boring.'"
– lionprincesslioness
The Artistic One
"Wasn't my pettiness, but a girl I went on a few dates with wouldn't date me because she wanted to be the 'artistic' one in the relationship and she was worried that me being a musician would spoil that for her."
"Edit: wasn’t real deep into it, it was just a couple of dates. I don’t feel negatively toward her. She was a nice enough person lol. Also, music isn’t my career, more of a passionate hobby. I work in IT by day."
– theronaldchase
The Obsessed Fan
"Ended things with a guy over various other reasons, but the most annoying was how many times he told me that 'He'd leave me for Miranda Lambert in a heart beat.' Which okay, I get it some people have a 'list' of celebrities they'd leave their S/O over, mostly as a joke. But this was like everyday, just randomly said not related to the conversations we were having at the time, and he meant it. He made sure I understood that if for some god forsaken reason Miranda Lambert walked in through the front door, I was gone."
– Kiasurp17
The Pete Owner
"Only went on one date but he named his cat Creamy, and the way he said it grossed me out."
– GoBanana42
A Matter Of Taste
"She didn't like museums."
– AyUnit
The things people do are, well, not for most people.
Come Again?
"Inability to form a coherent sentence in text."
– leg00b
Mind The Volume
"She talks to people like they're a hundred meter away from her"
– friededs3
What A Mess
"She wouldn't clear the excess time off the microwave display."
– spenghali
Life On A Sitcom
"She insisted on hanging out at home. She lived with like 6 people, and they always had friends over. I felt like a bf extra on Friends or Seinfeld."
– NewEnglandRoastBeef
These Redditors couldn't get past being on a first-name basis.
Too Southern
"My grandparents were very southern. When I was a kid, I spent the night at their house and heard them…wrestling. I heard my grandpa say my grandma’s name, Sarah, but with his accent he said 'Ooh Say-ruh!'”
"I met a girl named Sarah who was also southern. When she introduced herself as 'Say-ruh' I had to nope out. It just gave me the heebie jeebies."
– Sp3nc3r420
Nope To The Name
"Rewind to college, me and my friends are out at a bar. My buddy Dave and I are seniors and his sister is a sophomore, and just turned 21 so she's out with us. We are having a good time and look over and his sister is chatting with this guy at the bar. Fast forward an hour or two and they are still talking, except she's basically on his lap and they're making eyes at each other. 1:30, last call, we are getting ready to go and checking to see if she is going home with this guy or coming with us. She's not there. We look around and she's sitting with her girlfriends at a table. We collect her and as we're walking out I ask what happened to the dude."
"Turned out his name was Dave. I can't go home with a guy with the same name as my brother."
"Bro got turned down because of his first name. Savage."
– YoureInGoodHands
Hi Grandpa
"She had the same first name and last name as my grandpa."
– Fit_Sheepherder_3894
We'll admit while some of these reasons may be petty, they're pretty understandable.
Do you have similar experiences to share? Let us know in the comments below.
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You would think in this age of modern society and seemingly faster-than-light information sharing, we'd see the reaped rewards of sharing positive information with one another. Tales of a better world, filled with people doing their best to help one another.
Then you read stories like these and it's hard not to think we're all maybe a little deserving of it.
That's obviously not the right line of thinking, and you should always do what you can to help someone out once a day, but wow. Some people suck.
*The following article contains discussion of suicide/self-harm.
Reddit user, kwarterz, wanted to know when people showcased the absolute bottom of humanity's offerings when they asked:
"What is the most f-cked up thing a person you know has done?"
There's not an easy way to categorize these, so just take them story by story and do your best not to replicate the acts seen by others listed below.
We Can Start Off On A Lighter Note
"I know a dude who sh-t down a chimney. Impressive as it was f-cked up."
cjthayes
Could've At Least Sent An E-Mail
"I know someone who was doing a semester abroad in China during college. She let her boyfriend at the time fly out from the US for a week+ visit, knowing she was going to dump him the second she saw him. She did it because it would have been “too hard” to dump him over the phone."
"...the guy did not speak Chinese, and he didn’t have enough money to change his flight so he just kinda bumbled around China for a week being miserable."
stebuu
Moral Of The Story: High School Kids Are The Dirt Worst
"There was a decomposing dead cat stuck between a fence and a wall next to the gym in my school. If physical education was our first lesson, we had to wait in front of the gym until someone fetched the keys. My friend Jason went to fetch the keys and left his bag. This fat class bully Toby used two sticks to pick up the dead cat, opened Jason's bag, and put the cat in. Jason hasn't noticed anything until we were in the locker room. He opened the bag, saw the dead cat, dropped the bag, cat fell apart, soup of rotten cat insides crawling with maggots splashed to the floor."
"Class was cancelled. Cleaning company had to disinfect the locker room."
LeaveThatHorseAlone
Surviving Doesn't Always Mean Living
"The brother of a girl I dated years ago, almost hacked his ex girlfriend to death with a machete and then tried to kill himself by overdosing."
"They both survived and I believe he's still in prison."
nelsonalgrencametome
Taking It Out On The World Usually Leads To People Getting Hurt
"My cousin was killed because a guy decided he’d kill himself by flooring it into another car on a major road. My cousin died, and his girlfriend had to undergo multiple extensive surgeries."
"The guy survived with minor injuries."
thisismycourage
Lucky To Not Be At Home
"My friends dad stabbed his wife in a heated argument and blew up their house while he (dad) was still inside. Heard the explosion from my own bedroom. Luckily my friend and his sister were elsewhere. The local newspaper articles were hauntingly graphic about it."
Qyro
Unable To Handle Your Own Insecurities
"He went to his wife's work new years party and got really drunk. He suddenly decided his wife was having an affair with her boss. A loud shouting match ensued and he suddenly pull out a gun. He shot his wife, her boss, and himself in the head. He and her boss were DOA. His wife lost her vision but survived. They had 3 small children."
404photo
With family like this, would you even want to have more family?
That's not the expression, but wow, there are some messed up families in the world today.
Money Was Never The Issue
"My Aunt and Uncle are rather wealthy farmers. They have spent the last several decades building up new divisions of the business for their kids to run and eventually inherit. One of the big expansions was going from simply raising beef cattle to handling the butchering and selling the meat themselves."
"Anyway, for the butcher shop they built a beautiful million dollar shop and sent my cousin's husband to butcher school to get all his licensing to be the operations manager while my cousin would be bookkeeper. They never did a thing to earn it and were essentially handed a golden ticket."
"It's a little complicated what happened next, but after a few years my Aunt/Uncle started getting negative feedback about how the place is run. When they spoke to my cousin's husband they offered him more money thinking it was a motivation issue. They were already overpaid and could afford their own million dollar home. The husband made a snarky retort that he already makes that much."
"That raised red flags, they ended up looking at the accounts and things seemed fishy. They went to the business after hours and took the bookkeeping files, the husband found out and drove to their house to essentially scream at them in rage. In the end it turns out they had embezzled over a million dollars by cooking the books."
"They got kicked out of the family business (with no legal repercussions and a fat buyout bonus) and generally have little to do with any of the family. My Aunt and Uncle have made attempts at reconciliation because they want to see their grandchildren, but have been thus far rejected."
"It's insane because they were handed everything and it still wasn't good enough. They were going to inherit the business and they blew it."
Regnes
Don't Be Surprised When You're Taken Off The Family Thread
"He slept with his son's long-term girlfriend. Like his son's first love. Told his son like it was no big deal."
"He told us about it at work, and said his son was being a bit of a b-tch about it. We then watched his life fall apart as both his kids cut him out of their lives. Dude found out he became a grandpa from his older daughter via an email with no pictures."
"As you can imagine, sleeping with his son's GF was the worst thing (I'm aware of) that he's done, but he was a horrible person generally speaking."
Ganglebot
Not The "Welcome Back" You Were Hoping For
"I was getting out of the army and had put back over $70k for a home for my family. My mother got my banking information and took every penny for drugs. When i tried suing my family disowned me"
Melodic-Spot7651
Keeping It...sigh...All In The Family
"My uncle left my aunt for their son's wife."
bluejester12
Just try to live your life, day by day, without making someone else's worse. If you can do that bare minimum then you'll be leaps and bounds over the people in this story. Sainthood Status, really.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/
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Everyone has their travel bucket list.
The list of places they absolutely must visit before they die.
There are those, however, who also have a rather different list of destinations.
The places that have no intention to visit.
Be it for safety concerns, language barriers, or simply that there's nothing at these places that calls to them, there are places some wouldn’t dream of spending the time and money to visit.
Redditor TrooperJohn was curious to hear which places were at the very bottom of the list of travel destinations for his fellow Redditors, leading them to ask:
"What is a popular tourist destination you have no interest in visiting?"
Oasis in the desert? No thank you.
"Dubai."
"Why and whats special about it?"
"Its a modern city in a desert."- Maximum_Calendar_791.
"Dubai."
"A fake city with fake people, no human rights, where the world's tallest buildings hide corruption and slavery in their shadows."
"It's like someone decided to take every problem of mankind and concentrate it in one spot."- PayNoNoticeOfMe.
"Dubai one i think it is ugly two I would die in two minutes of me being there I can't stand anything above 40 c°."- BookWormPerson.
One of the seven wonders is one too many for me.
"The pyramids. "
"Too many horror stories of Egypt."- Aemiom.
Landlocked.
"Not really a destination, but taking a cruise."- Shortbus_Playboy.
Mountains aren't really my thing.
"Everest."
"Just why."
"You use a bunch of money to get in there them come down."
"And trash your whole way there. It's literally a corner in the Earth insufferable for humans and we still made a way to go there to trash it."- ACLullaby.
It's in my own backyard... but still not interested.
"I have lived about 15km away from the Burj Khalifa ever since it was made."
"I could not care any less besides the occasional pointing out the 'shiny tall building' to my nieces.- legolosss.
The pictures are enough for me.
"Mount Rushmore."
"Friends who've made the journey to Mount Rushmore mostly say it was no big deal and not worth the effort or expense to travel there."- Back2Bach.
Hustle and Bustle? No thanks.
"Anything busy.'
"Whether it's cities, structures, I don't care."
"I'd rather go to a boring empty quiet place than a place full of people."- TheSmeep.
They're watching us.
"That creepy a** place in Japan with all the realistic dolls."
"No thank you."
Some dream of paying a visit to these places.
Others hope they never have to set foot there, and will choose to leave it to the other millions of tourists.
To each, their own.
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