Tropescilloscope: Mind Screw

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

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