r/TopCharacterTropes • u/BrotherDeus • 2h ago
Characters One friend matures, but the other doesn't
King of the Hill: Bobby, now a young adult and successful owner of a restaurant, feels his father's frustrations with his friends in dealing with his own irresponsible childhood friend and roommate Joseph who can't even be relied on to pay their electric bill.
The Forgotten Island: Much of the conflict stems from the frustrations between friends Raissa, who intends to leave The Philippines to attend Caltek in the USA, and Jo, who has no plans for the future and struggles to hold onto a part-time job.
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u/Far_Orange_8492 2h ago
Carver and Herc (The Wire)
Carver: "It all matters. I know we thought it didn't, but it does."
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u/chcknlttlwhtmeat 1h ago edited 51m ago
That scene where Carver drops Randy off at the group home at the end of season 4 is so powerful.
Carver gets in his car and starts punching the steering wheel, trying to process that this kid’s life has been so damaged by the police outing him as an informant. We the viewer just sit outside, in silence, realizing that there’s no happy ending here.
It’s so tragic that the people in The Wire who do manage to break the cycle—Carver, Namond, Bubbles, etc.—all do so at the cost of a trauma forcing them to realize that it’s either get out or get consumed
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u/Deely_Boppers 36m ago edited 32m ago
Funny enough, two of those characters grow up for the same reason: Bunny Colvin.
Carver has a CO that sees something in him and invests in him- he sits him down and tells him, straight up, what's holding him back and how he's failing to do his job.
Naymond takes a slightly different path- he so desperately wants to be in the life, but he's not cut out for it, and in desperation while flailing at the police station, he reaches out to his school teacher, who is willing and able to give him the lifeline. In a world where Bunny never taught him, Naymond probably doesn't get out and is likely dead on a corner in a year or two.
While The Wire doesn't make it an explicit theme, it understands and demonstrates that parents/mentors have such a huge impact on whether you can escape the life or not. Look at Michael to see the opposite happen: he's mostly on the straight, and happy with it, until his step-dad gets released from jail. His old abuser comes back into his life and takes control of the family, and Michael immediately turns to Chris, who has been waiting for an opening bring him into the fold of the Stanfield crew. His need for a strong father-figure drives him into crime instead of away from it.
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u/_Sausage_fingers 19m ago
Makes me think of Season 2, as well. Ziggy and Nick want so much the life their parents had. Work the docks, believe in the Union. Ziggy's dad bends and breaks the rules, and the boys follow suit in their own way.
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u/samrobotsin 2h ago
Though for King of the Hill, Joseph, Bobby & Connie have the exact relative maturity levels they had when they were kids. Seems like they're all maturing at the same rate.
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u/TheLostPariah 2h ago
That one Drake & Josh episode, Josh Is Done, where Josh basically breaks up with Drake because Drake screwed up something in Josh’s life yet again. (It basically ends with a tearful apology from Drake, which Drake Bell definitely put in his acting reel for awhile, before they make up and play ping pong.)
Great show. Hug me brotha.
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u/ScaredTemporary 1h ago
I think what really highlight how genuinely good that apology was is how the teacher, who we see was a strict man (refused to let Josh do the exam because he was late by like 1-2 minutes, told him he could retake it but with one point automatically taken )asked Josh if he needed a moment to talk with Drake
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u/JingoboStoplight4887 2h ago
Mordecai and Rigby (Regular Show)
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u/ARC-Diver 1h ago edited 1h ago
I kinda like how it applies to both of them lol. In the beginning, Rigby was the childish one and Mordecai the responsible one. But then later in the series Rigby puts in actual work to better himself and grow as a person while Mordecai stagnates and starts to become worse. But by the end of the series both have matured and became responsible people with families.
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u/PurpleDreamer28 2h ago
Stranger Things Season 3. The gang is growing up and having girlfriends, while Will just wants to be a kid and play DnD. Though you can't really blame him, since he had a traumatic experience in the Upside Down. Plus, he probably didn't know he was gay yet.
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u/zo0ombot 2h ago
Tuca & Bertie is a deconstruction of this. When the show starts, Tuca is newly sober relying on gig jobs & her allowance from her aunt and Bertie has a stable job as a data analyst at a major magazine company & a devoted architect boyfriend. Except the show explores how all of them are traumatized, struggling, and immature in their own ways including the architect boyfriend
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u/TheREALProfPyro 1h ago
Yay! Another person who's seen Forgotten Island! In Jo's defense, the times she's planned things out (going to the USA with her dad for example) have only resulted in disappointment which probably contributed to her not wanting to make plans. Then when she tries to do it again (ROOOOOMIEEEEEES!) she learns Raissa isn't going to Manila and everything falls apart again.
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u/GodAmIBored 1h ago
C'eravamo tanto amati (We all loved each other so much): three partisans win the war and then slowly grow apart, as love and class gets in the way of their friendship. Ultimately, one of the protagonists is left to realize that everyone else has already aged past him. A beautiful, beautiful movie. Def watch it if you can
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u/TobiasMasonPark 1h ago
Cut Joseph some slack. It can’t be easy being the only white guy on his crew.
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u/carlvic 1h ago
Frances Ha (2012)
Follows a Frances, a New-yorker in her 20's, and her bond with her more "mature" best friend, Sophie. I think the movie's point is that all of us grow up in different ways and different paces. And sometimes taking the "chaotic" path can be beautiful. I like how the film stays grounded, esp the end where sometimes stability is a noble goal and there's really no need for a "Hollywood ending"
Solanin (The dynamic between Meiko and Ai)
The main plot is about two fresh university graduates struggling to find their footing in a busy world and the disillusion that creative passion can defeat structured routine.
Meiko, one of the protagonists, quits her office job to escape the boring grind, workplace disgruntlement, and get a taste of freedom. Ai, is Meiko's close friend and is basically the more mature member of their inner circle. It's a great Manga, and I personally think the 2010 live action adaptation is great.
Me, and hopefully not a lot of us.
Fooled around too much in my 20's. Now my friends are established professionals with their own families and I'm still struggling to find my footing. We still remain friends despite the gap in "maturity".
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u/pound_cake69 2h ago
Joseph is pretty grown up tbh, he’s still not the brightest but he’s a lot better than he was
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u/transparentfootprint 44m ago
American Reunion: Stiffler has not grown up, and this is a key plot point of the movie.
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u/CussMuster 11m ago
That's the plot of Miss March, starring acclaimed horror director Zach Cregger. Terrible movie, highly recommend it.
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u/R0ymustan9 10m ago
Ryan and Min-Gi, Infinity Train book 4.
The train picks them up due to their struggling friendship, which comes to a head when Ryan (left) tries to get their duet back together and tour their home country of Canada. In the end, Min-gi does join Ryan as he genuinely likes playing music with him and felt pressured by his parents’ high expectations, while Ryan matures and learns to think things through a bit more.
Sidenote, but I just love that Cartoon Network and HBO cancelled season 5 because it had ‘no child entry point’. I love that they pulled the plug right before the most anticipated arc.
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u/Nop_Nop_ 2h ago
The World's End. Except it's the whole group matured but one.
https://giphy.com/gifs/10Gj8oMIdNGT4c