r/TopCharacterTropes • u/KalzK • Sep 06 '26

miscellaneous Tropes that became problematic

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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/CrimsonStriker999 Sep 06 '26

I love that south park once called out the ‘kids and adults’ one: a kindergarten teacher is in relationship with her studetn Ike, kyle is the only one who disturbed by it, and when she’s arrested all male adults are baffled because ‘she’s hot’ ignoring the morality of it

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u/Pferdface Sep 06 '26

https://giphy.com/gifs/pCO5tKdP22RC8

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u/Simon_Drake Sep 06 '26

It's the first episode with the new police station. Because the point of it is the cops seem like sensible intelligent people but they're actually idiots who don't understand a grown woman having sex with a kindergartner isn't 'nice'.

But that whole joke wouldn't land the same with Officer Barbrady who is so dumb he can barely read. You need cops that look normal to do a joke like this.

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u/AliceColdAlright Sep 12 '26

They were on the Michael Jackson episode before this