Tropescilloscope: Stepford Smiler

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

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