You're Cute When You're Angry

"You're Cute When You're Angry" is a Stock Phrase.

Bob succeeds in pissing Alice off. Instead of running away fast, Bob tells Alice she's funny/cute/sexy when she's mad. This goes over as well as one might expect, though Bob probably wasn't trying to diffuse the situation in the first place. Expect Alice to storm off, attack Bob, "attack" Bob, or inexplicably burst into tears.

Anime and Manga

 * Flip says this to Princess Camille in Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, and gets a hook to the jaw for it.
 * Spoken pretty much word-for-word by Ranma to Akane in an early issue of Ranma ½, which catches the girl off-guard. A little later, she looks in a mirror, and thinking on Ranma's words, goes to smile... at which point Ranma pops his head in and asks if mirrors make her smile or if she's just testing her cheeks. She punches him out.

Comic Books

 * Jesse Custer in Preacher uses this on Tulip, with not very good results. May be drawing on the inspiration of his Dad, who snarkily approves of John Wayne as Ghenghis Khan using the line "Yer beautiful in yer wrath".

Film
""Well, what have we got here? Will you look at her? Those flashing eyes, those flushed cheeks, those trembling lips. You know something Princess? You're ugly when you're angry.""
 * Inverted in Spaceballs:

"Albert Godby: ...you look wonderful when you're angry...just like an avenging angel."
 * Brief Encounter:

"Frankie: Is that a date, Bob? You get so cute when you're angry."
 * G.P.S.:

"Beau Middleton: Who's kinda cute? Beth Franklin: You, of course. Especially when you're angry. Your dimple twitches."
 * High School U.S.A.:

"Robin Hood: Don't play games with me. Maid Marian: You're so handsome when you're angry."
 * Robin Hood (1991):

"Bender: You're kind of sexy when you're angry."
 * The Breakfast Club:

"Capt. Karl Ehrlich: Did anyone ever tell you that you're beautiful when you're angry?"
 * The Sea Chase:

"Perry: You're sexy when you're angry."
 * Two Moon Junction:

"Bortai: For me, there is no peace while you live, Mongol. Temujin: You're beautiful in your wrath."
 * The Conqueror:

"Adam: The boss wants a quick conviction, and I'm just the little guy who can get it for him--so he says. Amanda: You great big he-men make me sick! Adam: What? Amanda: An outrage, that's what I think! Adam: You're getting awful dramatic... Amanda: Why, why, what's so funny? Adam: Ha, ha, ha--nothing. You just sound cute when you get cause-y. Amanda: Oh-- (hangs up)"
 * Adam's Rib, where Adam Bonner is telling his wife over the phone that he's been assigned to prosecute Doris Attinger for shooting her husband:


 * Also used in Revenge of the Nerds during the panty raid scene.
 * Tom says it to Hallie at least twice during The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Literature
"Or if thy mistress some rich anger shows, Emprison her soft hand, and let her rave. And feed deep, deep upon her peerless eyes."
 * Older Than Radio—courtesy of John Keats;


 * The Truth: This line flashes through William de Worde's mind when a very, very angry Sacharissa Crisplock comes storming into his office, against a general backdrop of terror.
 * Twilight: Edward Cullen is all about this in Midnight Sun. "Furious kitten that thinks it's a tiger" much?

Live-Action TV
"Larry Underwood: You're awful cute when you're angry, Stu."
 * Turlough from Doctor Who uses this on Tegan, who already thinks he's an annoying, condescending public school sneak, and does not soften at being told she looks "so sweet" when she gets angry.
 * Said by Mata Hari to Indiana in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles episode "Paris, October 1916."
 * The Stand miniseries, part 3 "The Betrayal":

"Zack: Has anyone ever told you that you're really pretty when you're angry? Maddie: WELL I MUST BE GORGEOUS RIGHT NOW BECAUSE I AM FURIOUS!"
 * Invoked in The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.


 * Whenever Major Burns wanted to complain to Colonel Blake in early seasons of M*A*S*H, he'd bring Major Houlihan into Blake's office with him, and just stand or sit there glaring while she did all the talking. At one point, after Margaret delivers an angry tirade on Frank's behalf, Hawkeye says to her, "You know, you're beautiful when he's angry."

Music

 * "When You're Mad" by Ne-Yo is this.
 * "One Week" by Barenaked Ladies. "Can I help it if I think you're funny when you're mad? Trying hard not to smile though I feel bad..."

Newspaper Comics

 * Explained in this Life in Hell strip.
 * In Peanuts, Lucy once said this after telling Schroeder that she would be taking piano lessons, on a real piano.
 * In Mutts, Earl said this to Mooch, who was complaining about humans finding them cute.

Video Games
"Lola: Oh I love it when you get angry, Johnny. I really do. You're so... bestial!"
 * Bully:


 * Happens in Evolution: The World of Sacred Device when Chain is having a go at Mag, then he defuses the whole confutation by title dropping the trope.
 * In the Play Station 3 version of Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 2: The Siege of Spinner Cay, when Guybrush gets Morgan LeFlay angry by repeatedly checking out the mast while battling her on the Screaming Narwhal, one of the bronze trophies that the player is awarded is "She's Cute When She's Angry".

Web Comics

 * A variant of this line is said in Kid Radd.
 * In Candi, Linda is told that her breasts get larger when she's angry.

Western Animation

 * One song in Animaniacs ends with Yakko saying this to Dot. The song is about Dot bragging about being so cute, so it actually fits in that case instead of just being a male not taking an angry girl seriously, since Yakko may have been apologizing for ruining Dot's song (since that's why Dot was angry in the first place).
 * Said by Riven to Bloom in the Winx Club episode "The Day of the Rose."
 * Thundercats had an... awkward example in the first episode, where Wilykat frog-marches his sister into a suspension capsule and locks her in. When she orders him to let her out or else, he tells her, "You're beautiful when you snarl." This scene was cut from later showings and the DVD.