Tropescilloscope: Broken Aesop

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

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