Five Tropes in Books and Movie that Get Me Every Single Time

I refuse to call them guilty pleasures, because I don’t feel guilty about liking these tropes. Some might view these things, but I don’t care, because I like what I like. These are the top five things that, even when done badly, will still hook me into a book or a movie every single time.

Counting down, from the least to most addictive:

5. Pretty Costumes

I’m a girl. So sue me. I like seeing pretty dresses, especially ones from older time. Be it rich medieval gowns or buttoned-up Victorian trench coats or any random mish-mash in between, I just like to look at them.

One of the first movies I remember seeing in theatres without adults was Ever After, and while I liked the movie just fine, what made me wear out my DVD watching it over and over again was the lush Renaissance-era dresses. Rich colors, flowing fabrics, hints of jewels—what’s not to love?

I’m not a fashionista. I hate going clothes shopping. I haven’t a clue what’s in style, and frankly, I don’t care. So it’s weird that this one gets to me. All I can say is that I like beauty and romance, and I think when you wear these kinds of costumes, you feel beautiful and romantic, like you’re from a different world, a world of new and interesting possibilities.

4. Games

I began to notice that, when I visited my local Barnes and Noble and scanned the titles on the shelf, the one word caught my eye, time again and again, was: “game.” Now it helps that some books I really love have the word “game” in it: Ender’s Game, The Hunger Games, Game of Thrones. But it’s more than that.

 

To me, games are all about rules and strategy. The rules represent the boundaries, but within those boundaries the player is free to act however they want—pressing the limits, maybe even breaking rules. In a game, two or more rivals butt heads, each matching wits with one another. What’s at stake is usually so much more than pride or money, with people’s lives or even the fate of the world resting on the outcome of the match.

Basically, games are like fights, but rather than being all about violence and physical strength, it’s all about intelligence and creativity. Last week, I established how much I hate stupid characters, but if the writer wants to convince me a character is smart, one of the easiest ways is to have them play a little game.

3. Epics

After watching Avenger: Infinity War for the fourth time, I was trying to figure out why I was so into it. It occurred to me that Infinity War is a true epic: it balances multiple heroes, multiple storylines, multiple settings; it has big battles, grand stakes, and real sacrifice.

I love fantasy and science fiction and all its subgenres, from paranormal romance to dystopias, but the genre I love the most is the epic. I cut my teeth on The Lord of the Rings trilogy—to this date, they’re among my favorite movies. And when I think about what I like about epics, they are ambitious. They are not aiming for light and fluffy and amusing—they are aiming for powerful emotions.

Honestly, I think life is epic. At least, I like to think it is. When I see characters who grapple with good and evil, hope and despair, the lives of friends and the fate of the world, honestly, I feel I can relate. Not because I myself carry such burdens, but I do struggle to do the right thing and I want to make the world a better place and there have been times (like last year) when I have wondered whether all my hard work will mean anything.

So, yeah, epics give me hope that I can matter.

2. “Beauty and the Beast” Love Stories

You know what these “tales as old as time” are: there are two people and one usually starts off as ugly (either outwardly, inwardly, or both), but the process of love transforms the “beast” into a kind and beautiful soul.

These are such beautiful love stories, but I’ve heard so much controversy about them. People seem to think that the moral is either: “lock a girl up until she loves you,” or “see, girls, if you put up with a boy’s abusive behavior long enough, he’ll change” or something like that. But that is not the message. The message is that love has the power to transform people—not that it will transform, but that it can.

Also, please look more closely at these stories. “Beauty” never falls in love with the “beast” because he is mistreating her. She falls for him because he is kind. If he doesn’t start off as kind, she either calls him on it or she treats him with a compassion and human decency he’s not used to receiving. This inspires him to become a better person and to change. That’s when she falls for him.

Call me a hopeless romantic, but for me, this is the only kind of love story worth telling. Love should change people for the better. If love doesn’t change someone—or, heaven forbid—makes them worse—is it really a love? I’m not interested in material wealth or having cute kids. To misquote Elizabeth Bennet, “Only the deepest love will persuade me to read love stories, which is why I so rarely read them.”

1. Bad Guys

You knew this was coming, right? This is the one thing that gets me each and every time, and it sucks because I hate the whole “girls love a bad boy” stereotype, but I love bad guys. They be anything from full on crazy villains to cold and intelligent rivals to angsty anti-heroes with a bad rap, but I swear, 9 times out a 10, you find the bad guy in a book or movie, you’ll find my favorite character.

Gollum. Snape. Seto Kaiba. Saito Hajime. Team Rocket. Iago. Scarecrow. Loki. Kylo Ren.

I am so easy.

The reason I love these characters so much is because in genres that typically play with good and evil, these guys are always a little gray. They are not usually fully evil. They usually have a tragic backstory and exhibit noble qualities; they often dangle the fruits of redemption right in front of my nose. I want to see them become heroes, because I want to believe that anyone can choose to be good. But I’m never entirely sure where they’ll end up. They tend to be freer, more unpredictable, and more playful than the hero.

Honestly, I judge the hero based on how they treat these characters.

I love dissecting these characters, because I want to know if they’re truly evil, and if so, what makes a person evil? Is it possible for an evil person to be redeemed? How? If not, at what point do you actually give up hope? What is evil? What is good? How do you know if you’re really closer to the darkness or the light?

Obviously, this is not something I want to deal with in real life, but in books and movies, I fall for these characters each and every time, no questions asked.

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So, just out of curiosity, do you agree with me or do you find that you can’t stand my tastes? What are your favorite things to see in books, movies, or T.V. shows?