Tropescilloscope: Stepford Smiler

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

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