Tropescilloscope: Broken Aesop

A story's narrative defies its message. (read more at tvtropes.org)

More Tropes The Mole Sanity Slippage No Antagonist What the Hell, Hero? The Bad Guy Wins Artistic License – Geography It's Personal Totally Radical Vacation Films My God, What Have I Done? Drives Like Crazy Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other Leaning on the Fourth Wall Insane Troll Logic Mooks Meet Cute Bilingual Bonus Adaptation Distillation Big Fancy House Villainous Breakdown Shout-Out Rasputinian Death Fire-Forged Friends Dropped a Bridge on Him Kick the Dog Bring My Brown Pants Creative Closing Credits Romantic False Lead Take That! Toilet Humour aka: Toilet Humor Fat Bastard Evil Is Petty Offscreen Teleportation Humans Are Bastards Action Prologue Big "NO!" Roger Ebert: Great Movies List Psychopathic Manchild Groin Attack Older Than They Look Blonde, Brunette, Redhead Manly Tears Karmic Death 20 Minutes into the Future Drugs Are Bad Adaptational Heroism Chekhov's Gun Recap / RiffTrax aka: Riff Trax Movies Narrator Didn't Think This Through Ragtag Bunch of Misfits Outrun the Fireball Call-Forward Everyone Has Standards The Voiceless "Well Done, Son!" Guy The Atoner Ripped from the Headlines Russian Films Does Not Like Shoes Villain Protagonist Real Life Writes the Plot Names to Run Away from Really Fast Combat Pragmatist Camera Abuse Card-Carrying Villain Danny Peary Cult Movies List Fatal Family Photo Unresolved Sexual Tension Naked People Are Funny Line-of-Sight Name Mama Bear Crazy-Prepared Sassy Black Woman The X of Y Mr. Fanservice Pet the Dog Domestic Abuse Eyepatch of Power Curb-Stomp Battle Downer Ending Determinator Obviously Evil Closed Circle The '50s Parental Substitute Unspoken Plan Guarantee Author Appeal Soundtrack Dissonance Death by Sex Setting Update Sealed Evil in a Can Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold Comically Missing the Point Hypocrite Unusually Uninteresting Sight Rewatch Bonus More Dakka Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane Gainax Ending Maybe Ever After Public Domain Feature Films Evil Sounds Deep Title Drop Pyrrhic Victory Evil-Detecting Dog Pun aka: Incredibly Lame Pun Dies Wide Open Fan Disservice Film Noir Index All There in the Manual May–December Romance Not Even Bothering with the Accent Say My Name Idiot Ball Alpha Bitch Pretty Little Headshots Death of a Child Biopic Country Matters Offscreen Moment of Awesome Re-Cut Jerk Jock Suspiciously Similar Substitute An Arm and a Leg Bloodier and Gorier Taking You with Me Slasher Movie Evil vs. Evil My Beloved Smother Drill Sergeant Nasty Recycled IN SPACE! Death by Irony Improbable Infant Survival aka: Infant Immortality You Have Got to Be Kidding Me! Word of God Took a Level in Badass Stylistic Suck Deconstruction Sequel Escalation Trailers Always Spoil A Date with Rosie Palms Evil Plan Imagine Spot Mighty Whitey Betty and Veronica Meaningful Background Event Apocalypse How Cool Guns Framing Device Revenge Gorn A Father to His Men Contrived Coincidence Chekhov's Gunman Funny Foreigner Badass Longcoat Leave the Camera Running Toplessness from the Back Taking the Bullet Almost Kiss Face–Heel Turn Vomit Discretion Shot Boom, Headshot! Blood Knight I Did What I Had to Do Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking Animated Credits Opening Improbable Aiming Skills O.O.C. Is Serious Business Foregone Conclusion Sacrificial Lion I Have Your Wife Broken Aesop Rape as Drama Actually Pretty Funny Lampshade Hanging Faking the Dead Screw This, I'm Outta Here! Chewing the Scenery Double Entendre Only Known by Their Nickname Hate Sink Kill It with Fire You Have Outlived Your Usefulness Plucky Comic Relief Empathic Environment Covers Always Lie Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping Last-Name Basis Insistent Terminology British Films Instant Death Bullet Loophole Abuse Driven to Suicide Bond Villain Stupidity Evil Laugh Pay Evil unto Evil Unreliable Narrator Off-into-the-Distance Ending Based on a True Story Thriller Punctuated! For! Emphasis! Animal Title Index Skewed Priorities Screw the Rules, I Have Money! Slap-Slap-Kiss Match Cut Early-Bird Cameo Light Is Not Good I Need a Freaking Drink Leitmotif The Smart Guy Silence Is Golden Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique Beard of Evil Small Name, Big Ego Make It Look Like an Accident Major Injury Underreaction Suddenly SHOUTING! Japanese Films NO INDOOR VOICE War Is Hell Anti-Hero BFG Freeze-Frame Bonus Gratuitous English Once More, with Clarity! Cold-Blooded Torture Bland-Name Product He Who Fights Monsters World of Ham Storming the Castle Darker and Edgier Easily Forgiven Creator Cameo Corrupt Corporate Executive Jerkass Works Set in World War II Stock Footage Even Evil Has Standards Big Damn Heroes Department of Redundancy Department Gender Flip Twist Ending No Ending Sole Survivor Alliterative Name Bare Your Midriff Badass Normal Determinator aka: The Determinator Facial Horror Daddy's Girl Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! Asshole Victim It Can Think Be Careful What You Wish For Continuity Nod Fish out of Water Very Loosely Based on a True Story Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil Market-Based Title Due to the Dead Adaptation Name Change Film Noir Composite Character Fake Shemp Index of Film Westerns Abhorrent Admirer Improbable Weapon User Big Bad Duumvirate Creepy Child Hair-Trigger Temper Woman in White Bad "Bad Acting" Tranquil Fury Retcon Adaptational Villainy Up to Eleven Friend to All Children Heel Realization Posthumous Character Foil The Load Red Eyes, Take Warning Calling the Old Man Out Oh, Crap! Translation Convention Extremely Short Timespan This Is Gonna Suck Pre-Mortem One-Liner Destination Defenestration The Reveal Mr. Exposition No Name Given As Himself Loads and Loads of Characters Stepford Smiler Punch-Clock Villain Call-Back Never Found the Body The Hero And I Must Scream Dark and Troubled Past Well-Intentioned Extremist Wicked Cultured Belligerent Sexual Tension Extreme Doormat Every Car Is a Pinto No OSHA Compliance All Girls Want Bad Boys Arch-Enemy La Résistance Those Two Guys Rated M for Manly Spell My Name with an "S" Dull Surprise Aluminum Christmas Trees Costume Porn Rule of Cool Death Glare Yandere Hollywood Darkness Married to the Job Adapted Out Author Avatar The Lost Lenore Curse Cut Short Brick Joke Race Against the Clock As the Good Book Says... The Alleged Car Spared by the Adaptation Back from the Dead An Axe to Grind Running Gag Diabolus ex Machina A God Am I Ascended Extra Broken Bird Ms. Fanservice Cowboy Cop Only Sane Man Reckless Gun Usage It's All About Me Ambiguous Disorder Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas Historical-Domain Character Vomit Indiscretion Shot Vampire Fiction Riddle for the Ages Darkest Hour Disney Villain Death Intrepid Reporter Mundane Made Awesome Parental Abandonment You Killed My Father Jitter Cam Wretched Hive Self-Deprecation Fingore Arc Words Genre Throwback Would Hit a Girl Hero of Another Story Music Stories Science Fiction Films Rule of Symbolism Better to Die than Be Killed Malevolent Masked Men Only in It for the Money Brainless Beauty Disproportionate Retribution Death Seeker Insult Backfire Jerk with a Heart of Gold Deadpan Snarker Beauty Is Never Tarnished folderlabel How We Got Here A.I. Is a Crapshoot The '90s Daylight Horror Accidental Murder Ghost Fiction Smug Snake Together in Death Intergenerational Friendship What Happened to the Mouse? Christmas Movies Index The Power of Love Black Best Friend Scenery Gorn After the End Adults Are Useless The Dreaded Monumental Damage Really Gets Around Superhero Faux Affably Evil Wounded Gazelle Gambit Interrupted Suicide Made of Explodium Hooker with a Heart of Gold My Greatest Failure Psycho for Hire Dramedy What You Are in the Dark Artistic License – Military Foreshadowing Catapult Nightmare Impaled with Extreme Prejudice Broken Pedestal Action Girl Ungrateful Bastard Children Are Innocent Police are Useless Red Herring Refuge in Audacity The Vamp Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? Gory Discretion Shot Knight Templar And Starring Screw the Money, I Have Rules! No-Sell Captain Ersatz The Great Depression Eagleland Serial Killer Kick the Son of a Bitch Not So Above It All Pragmatic Adaptation Canadian Movies Properly Paranoid Implacable Man Genre Shift Good Is Not Nice A Minor Kidroduction Artistic License – Gun Safety Spanner in the Works Anyone Can Die Red Oni, Blue Oni The Sociopath Cloudcuckoolander Half the Man He Used to Be Show Within a Show Anguished Declaration of Love Body Horror Bloodless Carnage Spiteful Spit Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" Left the Background Music On Slashed Throat There Is No Kill Like Overkill Manchild Race Lift Overly Long Gag Anti-Villain Here We Go Again! Romantic Comedy Eldritch Abomination Karma Houdini Ass Shove Expository Hairstyle Change Straight Gay Cassandra Truth Parental Neglect Politically Incorrect Villain Kubrick Stare Defrosting Ice Queen The Chessmaster Video Credits Henpecked Husband Depraved Bisexual Precision F-Strike The Oner Product Placement Hidden Depths Getting Crap Past the Radar Agony of the Feet Dual Wielding Historical Hero Upgrade Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds Big Brother Instinct In the Back Fanservice Extra Psychological Thriller Advertised Extra Whole Plot Reference Love Triangle Rousing Speech Establishing Character Moment Red Shirt Dirty Cop Famous Last Words Have a Gay Old Time B-Movie Colour-Coded for Your Convenience aka: Color Coded For Your Convenience Super Strength Improvised Weapon Distracted by the Sexy Killed Mid-Sentence One-Man Army The Bully Artistic License – History Fantasy Films Italian Films The Smurfette Principle Demonic Possession Awesome, but Impractical For Want of a Nail The Ghost Those Wacky Nazis Girl-on-Girl Is Hot Smoking Is Cool Cat Fight The Stoic Mexican Standoff Fiery Redhead Dogged Nice Guy Flashback Fainting Nice Job Fixing It, Villain! The Stinger Bloody Hilarious Celebrity Paradox Deus ex Machina Dramatic Gun Cock The Ace Retired Badass Fatal Flaw Bait-and-Switch Television Movie Index Heroes Want Redheads Shirtless Scene Badass Boast Cool Old Guy Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! Lighter and Softer Award-Bait Song Suspiciously Specific Denial Mood Whiplash Knife Nut Book-Ends Wrong Genre Savvy Love at First Sight Reality Ensues Stealth Pun Auto Erotica Deliberate Values Dissonance Brother–Sister Incest Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy Dressing as the Enemy The Faceless Evil Is Hammy Antagonist Title The Ditz Fourth Date Marriage Bar Brawl Coming-of-Age Story Soft Glass Overprotective Dad Would Hurt a Child Femme Fatale Grey and Gray Morality He Knows Too Much Bi the Way The Place Authority Equals Asskicking Missing Mom You Have Failed Me Black and Gray Morality Wham Shot Undying Loyalty All for Nothing Happily Married Woman Scorned Bowdlerise Man on Fire Crazy Jealous Guy N-Word Privileges In Medias Res Ominous Latin Chanting timeperiod Truth in Television Obfuscating Stupidity Artistic License – Physics Adaptation Expansion Corpsing Morality Pet Black Comedy Rape Not Quite Dead Badass Bookworm Hong Kong Films Badass in a Nice Suit The Alcoholic Fanservice "The Reason You Suck" Speech Sir Swears-a-Lot Not So Stoic Pre-Asskicking One-Liner I'm a Humanitarian True Companions Rich Bitch Gold Digger Big-Bad Ensemble Large Ham Annoying Younger Sibling All Men Are Perverts She Cleans Up Nicely Actor Allusion Exact Words Black Comedy Noodle Incident Armor-Piercing Question Ax-Crazy French Films Plot Hole Dumb Blonde Fate Worse than Death Captain Obvious Dark Is Not Evil Ironic Echo Evil Counterpart Tap on the Head Your Cheating Heart An Aesop The '60s One-Word Title Bolivian Army Ending Crapsack World Eye Scream Cool Shades As You Know Throwing Your Sword Always Works Accidental Misnaming Batman Gambit Disappeared Dad Evil Cannot Comprehend Good Sexy Discretion Shot Unwitting Instigator of Doom Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome Bad Boss Sci-Fi Horror Wham Line Earn Your Happy Ending All Just a Dream Men Are the Expendable Gender Big Applesauce Dutch Angle Redemption Equals Death Roaring Rampage of Revenge Let's Get Dangerous! Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism Manipulative Bastard The Quiet One Action Genre Redshirt Army Kill 'em All Reality Has No Subtitles Logo Joke Australian Movies Meaningful Name Important Haircut Epic Movie Artistic License – Biology Deal with the Devil Peek-a-Boo Corpse Mad Scientist Big Eater Our Vampires Are Different Genre Savvy Ship Tease Camp Gay Hoist by His Own Petard Slasher Smile Final Girl Break the Haughty Despair Event Horizon Hero Antagonist Character Development Arranged Marriage Mythology Gag Dwindling Party Rule of Funny Central Theme Novelization Victoria's Secret Compartment Greater-Scope Villain Silent Movie The Cavalry Chase Scene Evil Brit Break the Cutie Ambiguously Gay Bavarian Fire Drill Guile Hero I Want My Beloved to Be Happy Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene From Bad to Worse Pragmatic Villainy Expy Dramatic Irony Fun with Acronyms "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue The Remake Heterosexual Life-Partners Scare Chord Aside Glance Horror Films Anachronic Order Sadistic Choice Enemy Mine Animal Motifs MacGuffin Irony "Shaggy Dog" Story Bullying a Dragon The Starscream Developing Doomed Characters Adorkable No-Holds-Barred Beatdown Eiffel Tower Effect Shower Scene Damsel in Distress Meaningful Echo Freudian Excuse Blood from the Mouth Mercy Kill Failed a Spot Check Token Minority Serious Business As Long as It Sounds Foreign Ugly Guy, Hot Wife Room Full of Crazy Butt-Monkey Poor Communication Kills Stalker with a Crush Rule of Three Non-Indicative Name Dying Moment of Awesome Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday Demoted to Extra Laughing Mad Adaptational Attractiveness Mistaken for Gay From Nobody to Nightmare Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer Humiliation Conga Red Right Hand Cat Scare Eureka Moment Cruel and Unusual Death Not What It Looks Like Adult Fear Stealth Hi/Bye Put on a Bus Nice Guy The Dragon Not So Different Jump Scare Time Skip The Un-Reveal Naïve Newcomer Those Two Bad Guys Drowning My Sorrows Ambiguous Ending Moment Killer Beware the Nice Ones Villain with Good Publicity Never Trust a Trailer Jerkass Has a Point Only One Name Canon Foreigner Pretty in Mink Police Brutality Kids Are Cruel Historical In-Joke Black Dude Dies First No Celebrities Were Harmed Martial Arts Movie The Un-Favourite aka: The Un Favorite Age Lift Fantastic Racism Casting Gag The '80s Chiaroscuro Catch-Phrase Mugging the Monster Dirty Coward Manic Pixie Dream Girl Anachronism Stew Male Gaze Vitriolic Best Buds Dark Action Girl Green-Eyed Monster The Film of the Book German Films Retirony Sinister Minister Crucified Hero Shot For the Evulz Abusive Parents Spiritual Successor Early Installment Weirdness Decoy Protagonist Action Survivor Chuck Cunningham Syndrome Heroic Sacrifice Mystery and Detective Films Villain Song Funny Background Event Dissonant Serenity Amoral Attorney Honor Before Reason Never My Fault Cool Car '80s Hair Bunny-Ears Lawyer Deliberately Monochrome Disguised in Drag Too Dumb to Live Your Head A-Splode All There in the Script It Will Never Catch On Bittersweet Ending Tempting Fate The Lancer The Cameo Madness Mantra Get Out! Bitch in Sheep's Clothing Five-Man Band Blackmail Exactly What It Says on the Tin Shoot the Shaggy Dog Shut Up, Hannibal! Double-Meaning Title Male Frontal Nudity Heroic BSoD The Hero Dies Brutal Honesty Guns Akimbo Dirty Old Man Does This Remind You of Anything? Four-Temperament Ensemble Cain and Abel The Brute Cluster F-Bomb Informed Ability Paper-Thin Disguise Horror Comedy Our Zombies Are Different Cool Old Lady Neck Snap Nice Hat Shown Their Work Film Series Handicapped Badass Gilligan Cut The Chick Villain Ball Shell-Shocked Veteran Nothing Is Scarier Even Evil Has Loved Ones Grievous Bottley Harm Lock and Load Montage I Just Shot Marvin in the Face Bottomless Magazines Neck Lift Heel–Face Turn Playing Gertrude Flipping the Bird Beta Couple Only a Flesh Wound Amusing Injuries Dark Reprise Off with His Head! Face Death with Dignity Training Montage Did Not Get the Girl Disney Death Real Life Bald of Evil Car Fu Reality Is Unrealistic Hell Is That Noise And the Adventure Continues Adaptation Dye-Job The Dog Bites Back Motor Mouth The Big Guy Defiant to the End Immune to Bullets Laser-Guided Karma Same Language Dub Death by Adaptation Alas, Poor Villain Conspicuous CG Scary Black Man Breaking the Fourth Wall She's Got Legs Documentary Epic Fail Chekhov's Skill Made of Iron Unusual Euphemism Babies Ever After Becoming the Mask The Stoner Blatant Lies Bond One-Liner The Casanova Punny Name The '70s Random Events Plot Adaptational Badass Villain Opening Scene Scenery Porn The Mafia Obstructive Bureaucrat Tagline Protagonist Title Bury Your Gays Parental Incest Take a Third Option No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Hollywood Law Air-Vent Passageway Artistic License – Law Hypocritical Humor Gone Horribly Right Hope Spot Worthy Opponent Sports Stories Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass In Name Only Pimped-Out Dress Attempted Rape "Awesome McCool" Name Never Trust a Trailer aka: Trailers Always Lie Sequel Hook Not Using the "Z" Word Papa Wolf Bound and Gagged Homage Needs Wiki Magic Love Shipper on Deck Badass Grandpa Stuff Blowing Up Berserk Button Affably Evil Zombie Stories Big Bad Frame-Up Took a Level in Jerkass The End... Or Is It? Mind Screw One Steve Limit The Musical Star-Crossed Lovers Credits Gag Visual Pun Affectionate Parody Reasonable Authority Figure Historical Villain Upgrade Military and Warfare Films