Tropescilloscope: Broken Aesop

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

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