Distracted by the Luxury



"Woman: You asshole! What were you doing with my sister in that hot tub?... A diamond? So you do love me!... I don't even know what I was mad at you about!"

- Radio advertisement in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

The stereotype of woman really liking expensive luxuries, to the point where supposedly they can forget any problems, or do any favors, as long as they get some pretty things to admire. Can be true for some, but not all.

The most common luxury is jewelry, followed by fur coats, fancy dresses (don't need to be pimped out), and then other various things. Whatever the luxury, this trope is using it as a way to try to distract or please the lady, or to try to get her to give you something in return.

In some horror stories, the luxury will be cursed somehow, and may even overlap with Death by Materialism.

Often subverted where a rich guy tries to buy his wife/girlfriend these to distract her from a problem, but it clearly doesn't work.

A Gold Digger will actively seek out this trope.

The closest male equivalent is likely Distracted by the Sexy (should be noted one of the uses for this trope is getting the woman to grant sexual favors).

Usually not connected to Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny.

Advertising
""A man proclaims love for his woman loudly, bravely and in one of the most romantic spots in the world. This generally irks her, and so he gives her a diamond and she's okay with him again. Because passionate heartfelt sentiment doesn't hold a candle to cold, hard ice.""
 * Parodies of the DeBeers ad campaign have it turn out to be this.
 * In that show that Demetri Martin had on Comedy Central, they had several De Beers parodies.
 * Many commercials for jewelry stores play to this stereotype—your wife loves jewelry, and you have to buy it in order for her to love you.
 * See it in action. Courtesy of Cracked:

Anime and Manga

 * When Marie Antoinette is about to leave home in Rose of Versailles, her mother gives her a ring as a memento (just in the anime). Marie's expression for a moment certainly fits this trope. Heck, being told she has to give up the ring causes her to almost run away.

Film

 * Almost works in Moulin Rouge. Satine doesn't love the Duke, but when he gives her a magnificent diamond necklace it obviously takes her breath away.
 * Unico The Movie: Katy has an addiction to luxury.
 * Lily in Legend can be distracted from mortal peril by a huge, glittery diamond studded necklace.
 * In the rich man wish in the first Bedazzled, Stanley buys Margaret a mink coat to make her like him. She enjoys how it feels, but then takes it off to run around with other guys.
 * In Singin' in the Rain's "Broadway Melody" sequence, Cyd Charisse's character regularly flirts with the hapless lead male, only to be swayed back to her thug boyfriend by some shiny piece of jewelry he dangles in front of her.

Literature

 * Madame Bovary uses this trope as a way to deal with depression... and lose your shirt over it.
 * In Scaramouche, Climene falls for the Marquis' money.
 * Gender Inverted with Bertie of Jeeves and Wooster. When his Aunt Agatha is about to force him to marry a prissy girl he doesn't love, there's only one thing that can cheer him up...a scarlet cummerbund.

Live Action Television

 * The New Statesman, twisted MEP Alan B'Stard has been seemingly assassinated along with the entire fourth reich. His wife and a member of his staff are Congratulating each other when he arrives and says if things are going the way they seem to he wants to watch. Both turn on him, poised for attack, when he lifts up two large jewels he rescued from Hitler's horde. They stop and look ecstatic, he coughs and ... makes gestures suggesting what he wants in exchange for them.
 * Subverted on Lost in Space: an alien has kidnapped Judy. She cries a river over this. In an attempt to quiet her tears, he fabricates a huge diamond for her. Judy looks it over for maybe two seconds before throwing it away and resuming crying.
 * Double Subversion on The Big Bang Theory, where Sheldon and Amy have a fight, and Sheldon gives Amy jewelry. Amy is chewing Sheldon out for such a shallow gesture, until she sees it's a tiara. She goes into Princess Phase mode and kisses Sheldon in delight.
 * Two Broke Girls has Max when she and Caroline sneak into Caroline's old home.

Stand Up Comedy

 * Ron White has a line basically subverting this trope, "Diamonds -- that'll shut her up. For about two minutes."

Video Games

 * GTA Radio, which includes the scene that is quoted, but shortened due to the Unfortunate Implications it would cause by using the proper line which can be heard HERE.
 * Although Urban Dictionary notes that line as being used to mean distracting ladies with extravagant things.
 * In Dwarf Fortress, pretty much any dwarf (regardless of gender) can ignore the beatings of "criminals" room over not making lignite beds, giant badgers killing said dwarf's family and friends, and seeing a rat, as long as the dining room is nice enough.

Western Animation

 * Family Guy has a fake ad where the shadow of the lady shows her going down on the guy. Has the fake slogan "Diamonds. She'll Pretty Much Have To."
 * In the Teen Titans episode "Date With Destiny", Kitten is shown dating Fang—a guy with a human body and a spider head on top. Apparently looks don't matter in their relationship, or lack thereof, considering how Fang regularly steals jewelry and gives them to her as gifts.
 * Averted in the episode "Sisters." Starfire does go into "shiny pretty yay!" mode when Blackfire gives her a valuable necklace and wears it for most of the episode, but once she realizes that it was stolen and Blackfire only gave it to her to frame her for all her other crimes, she immediately gets rid of it and goes to settle things with her sister.
 * In the DuckTales (1987) episode "The Lost Crown of Genghis Khan," a female abominable snow monster loves jewelry, which is apparently why she has accumulated a massive horde of treasure.
 * Ronda from Hey Arnold! was obviously pleased whenever her father bought her things, or when she got a fancy pearl necklace.
 * gender inverted parody on Drawn Together. Captain Hero is quickly able to get over losing the love of his life when he realizes he won fifty dollars!
 * Fairly Oddparents has an episode where Timmy discovers that this works on his mother and fairy-godmother, so he wishes up the perfect boyfriend for his evil babysitter. Since said wish resulted in a human, this also counts as Distracted by the Sexy.
 * In The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius episode "Time is Money", Jimmy learned his father once had the chance to become wealthy by investing in a fast-food franchise. Jimmy, Sheen and Carl then went back in time to prevent Hugh from missing the chance. When Jimmy returned to present time, he saw that his parents became rich bitches. Jimmy's father insulted Carl and Sheen, who stopped minding about it when he gave them a gold bar.
 * A Goofy story where he was The Gambling Addict had Mrs. Goof scolding him after he came back home late at night. The scolding ended when she found out he actually won.