Post by hyoscyamus on Feb 21, 2018 2:46:47 GMT
What are your pet peeves in media, be it movies; books; comics; games or audio drama?
1) Tarot - XIII The Death-card
My mother tried her hands at Tarot cards for some years during my childhood and this was one of many things I picked up in the process too. So since I knew the meaning of the cards before I even was legally allowed to watch horror movies (not that I waited till then, but anyway) the often (ab)used Death-card scene is one that's quite annoying for me. You probably know the one. Someone reads the cards for someone/a group and the Death-card comes up. Cue everyone spooked and convinced someone's about to die soon.
The Tarot has 22 major cards, going from 0 to 21, the major Arcana. The Death-card is the number 13 and symbolizes change of any kind, big and small. This can range from things as simple as advice to maybe change your hair-do to bigger things like the wish to move to another place or some-such. The Death-card is basically the most neutral card in the entire deck.
Now 16, The Tower, truly symbolizes ruin and all things going badly. If writers want to use Tarot as a means to scare, this one would be the one to pick if they did their research right instead of going for cheap, misinformed visual only. It's a small thing, but still. Research fails are irksome most of the time.
2) Suddenly Het-love-plot
By significance this would be my all time No.1 annoyance and sadly something that happens, especially in movies, way too often.
We all seen and read it - a man and a woman somehow meet or work together. Doesn't matter if there's literally no discernible chemistry between them before or really quite pressing other matters to worry about - suddenly there's a completely unnecessary, shoehorned love-subplot, just because. Especially if said 'because' is 'women need a love story to like the movie/whatever media' or 'the hero always needs a love-interest/conquest'.
3) Stupid Protagonists
From the second Q&A of TMA I know Alex hates this too and I can only agree. I especially remember one scene in Absentia that sums this up nicely. Spoiler-cut in case anyone wants to watch it (bad movie overall, though, imo).
1) Tarot - XIII The Death-card
My mother tried her hands at Tarot cards for some years during my childhood and this was one of many things I picked up in the process too. So since I knew the meaning of the cards before I even was legally allowed to watch horror movies (not that I waited till then, but anyway) the often (ab)used Death-card scene is one that's quite annoying for me. You probably know the one. Someone reads the cards for someone/a group and the Death-card comes up. Cue everyone spooked and convinced someone's about to die soon.
The Tarot has 22 major cards, going from 0 to 21, the major Arcana. The Death-card is the number 13 and symbolizes change of any kind, big and small. This can range from things as simple as advice to maybe change your hair-do to bigger things like the wish to move to another place or some-such. The Death-card is basically the most neutral card in the entire deck.
Now 16, The Tower, truly symbolizes ruin and all things going badly. If writers want to use Tarot as a means to scare, this one would be the one to pick if they did their research right instead of going for cheap, misinformed visual only. It's a small thing, but still. Research fails are irksome most of the time.
2) Suddenly Het-love-plot
By significance this would be my all time No.1 annoyance and sadly something that happens, especially in movies, way too often.
We all seen and read it - a man and a woman somehow meet or work together. Doesn't matter if there's literally no discernible chemistry between them before or really quite pressing other matters to worry about - suddenly there's a completely unnecessary, shoehorned love-subplot, just because. Especially if said 'because' is 'women need a love story to like the movie/whatever media' or 'the hero always needs a love-interest/conquest'.
3) Stupid Protagonists
From the second Q&A of TMA I know Alex hates this too and I can only agree. I especially remember one scene in Absentia that sums this up nicely. Spoiler-cut in case anyone wants to watch it (bad movie overall, though, imo).
Creatures have kidnapped the husband of a woman seven years prior. He shows up again, too scared to tell anyone what happened. The wife's sister finds clues that suggest monsters have kidnapped him and then the creatures, who move through the walls in the dark, kidnap him again while she watches. They stay in the house where this happened and some time later go up the stair of the cellar, turn the light off, then the sister hears noise. They don't run or even turn the light back on, both just stand there on the stairs and stare into the darkness for a rather long time. Then of course the monster kidnaps one of them.
