r/TopCharacterTropes • • Sep 06 '26

miscellaneous Tropes that became problematic

The Persistent Suitor: A guy who is after the girl and just wont take no for an answer. Nowadays we just call stalking and harassment, but it used to be romantic. Example: The Notebook (2004), Noah asks Allie out while she's on a date with another man. She refuses, but he threatens to let go and fall unless she agrees to go out with him.

Comedic Woman On Man Violence: Mostly seen in anime, recently it has decreased a lot but years back every show had a woman hitting a guy and showed it as funny. Example: Toradora!, where the quintessential tsundere, Taiga, beats up the MC regularly.

Kid Bags Adult Baddie: I remember a few of these, sometimes it was to show how cool and awesome a kid was because an adult woman fell for him, now it's just seen as problematic shit. Example: Blank Check, the woman likes the kid and kisses him telling him to look for her in 10 years.

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u/Acheloma Sep 06 '26

Community is a weird mix of calling out harmful tropes and also falling into them, like the "we try not to sexualized annie" joke

495

u/Situation-Busy Sep 06 '26

It's a comedy staple. You can get away by using cheap tropes as long as you make it a joke at the same time. TONS of comedies do that.

190

u/Salarian_American Sep 06 '26

The only way to deconstruct a harmful trope is from the inside

12

u/AgentCirceLuna Sep 06 '26

That’s why I’m co-leader of the Republican Party. I just didn’t expect to become Veep.

10

u/Draffut Sep 06 '26

Guys look! It's Jorken Dapenis Vance!

3

u/AgentCirceLuna Sep 06 '26

No, fucking way… that’s… no.. no, that can’t be his real name?! This guy is s JOKE!