Tropescilloscope: Mind Screw

A work looks weird due to its alleged symbolism. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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