What’s the most annoying trope in books or movies?
The Trope That Rankles
Books and movies mirror reality, exaggerate power, or peddle impossible dreams — but I choose what enters my mind. The tropes that annoy me most are those too distant from life, or those I can predict halfway through. Only those that survive my satellite view — that surprise me — earn my respect.
Ironically, many consume what they despise. In my city, the best-selling newspaper was never the most respected; people bought it not for truth, but for gossip. When the buzz faded, so did the paper.
A book or film’s popularity may reflect a community’s values — or manipulate them. If it fails to resonate, it dies. Worse still, when collective values are steered by social media trends, we lose our moral compass.
Today, netizens are the new Big Brother. Children no longer heed parents; teachers no longer command respect. Parents indulge, teachers abandon. Discipline crumbles upwards.
My niece, a drama graduate now filming short social commentaries, observes this firsthand: young children are shaped not by schooling, but by screen culture. Their idols are virtual friends, not the revered teachers of my generation. Parents blame everyone but themselves. This erosion of traditional virtues is slow but relentless.
So tropes in books or movies matter little. Family cries go unheard. Teacher pleas fall flat. The virtual world has swallowed the real — and defines all.
—
“All Is Void”
Virtual tide, the wired stream —
A life indoors, a waking dream.
Parents speak, and teachers plead,
Virtual friends — for likes, they bleed.
Gestures crafted, truths erased,
Culture viral, tightly cased.
A screen-borne plague — can it break through?
Not the screen — but the world we knew.
—
en yan hua fang 