Tropescilloscope: Stepford Smiler

Happy on the outside. Unhappy on the inside. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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