News

These "Bad Movie Trope" Memes Hilariously Describe Every Stock Character Ever

by Lizzy Rosenberg
Lionsgate

If you know me at all, you're most likely somewhat aware of my affinity for bad movies. Whether it's a cheesy romantic comedy, a dumb slasher movie, or if it's simply a taste of care-free slapstick comedy, there's a pretty good chance that I've seen it, and that I love it. Recently, my fellow bad movie-lovers out there in the Twitterverse started pumping out a series of really stellar memes which satirize typical stock characters found in many movies, and they're actually hilarious. So if you, too, love mediocre filmography, you'll most definitely understand these "bad movie trope" memes. You can't see my face, but I'm LOL-ing right now.

After watching each Hangover sequel, any and all Twilight movies, and, of course, every single film in the Scary Movie franchise, you may have noticed that there tend to be a lot of really specific "stock" characters. Maybe it is a really kooky college professor, it might be a totally incompetent doctor at the hospital, or it could simply be a "typically" overworked and under-appreciated journalist who always magically has a freelance job lined up. Since these kinds of people are pretty typical in most bad movies, Twitter came up with a series of tweets about each "type" of character. So, if you haven't already seen the bad movie trope tweets, check out some of my faves, below. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind they'll give you a laugh, or three.

OMG, I. Am. Dying. In all seriousness, each and every one of these "characters" are way too darn real. Whether the stereotyped character is based off of their profession, their look, or if it's simply making a statement on their background, there are so many "basic" stock characters that are practically the same in every single movie. It's so true, right?

If you are, in fact, a fan of cheesy films, though, studies show that people who enjoy watching bad movies tend to be smarter than those who don't. A 2016 study by Keyvan Sarkhosh, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, and Winfried Menninghaus, Director of the Department of Language and Literature of the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, called "Enjoying trash films: Underlying features, viewing stances, and experiential response dimensions," essentially showed that a strong interest in watching mediocre movies is linked to above average intelligence. They explain that this is because smarter people are interested in taking in a wider range of culture, aside from solely "good" film. The most commonly appraised "bad movie," they say, is horror (because of their ubiquity), and let's be real: I always love a cheap scare.

As you can see, I'm almost always in the mood for a good "bad" movie (oxymoron, I know). There are always a few classic characters in each so-called "mediocre" film, and as you can see, Twitter did an impeccable job of outlining them all. I know this kind of thing would probably deter most people from watching a movie they already know will be bad, but to be completely honest with all of you, it makes me want to watch one, like, right now. Bring on the popcorn, y'all.