Dead Horse Trope: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:
A [[Trope]] which has gone way beyond being a [[Discredited Trope]] to where the very act of parodying and/or subverting that trope has itself become a trope.
Clever idea → [[Trope]] → [[Discredited Trope]] →
[[Trope Namer|Named for]] "Beating<ref>Or 'Flogging'</ref> a Dead Horse" - an old idiom that describes continuing to do something pointless long after it would be obvious to anybody not mentally handicapped/under the influence of the [[Sunk Cost Fallacy]] that said course of action will yield no results and is simply a waste of time. For instance, continuing to [[Trope Namer|whip a dead horse]] in an attempt to get it to wake up and start running - [[Captain Obvious|the horse is
Naturally,
▲[[Trope Namer|Named for]] "Beating<ref>Or 'Flogging'</ref> a Dead Horse" - an old idiom that describes continuing to do something pointless long after it would be obvious to anybody not mentally handicapped/under the influence of the [[Sunk Cost Fallacy]] that said course of action will yield no results and is simply a waste of time. For instance, continuing to [[Trope Namer|whip a dead horse]] in an attempt to get it to wake up and start running - [[Captain Obvious|the horse is ]] ''[[Captain Obvious|dead]]''; [[Don't Explain the Joke|it's not going to move anymore]].
If a
▲Naturally, [[Dead Horse Trope|Dead Horse Tropes]] tend to be [[The Oldest Ones in The Book]], too.
A common cause of [[Seinfeld Is Unfunny]], because it's hard to imagine yourself back into the innocent frame of mind when this was ''new''. A similar trope is [[Deader Than Disco]], where something once extremely popular falls out of popularity and becomes better known for being mocked as a past fad than for its own merits.▼
▲If a [[Dead Horse Trope]] is still used straight in recent works despite seemingly being subverted or parodied to death, it's an [[Undead Horse Trope]]. If it was never really played straight enough to be a trope in the first place, it's a [[Dead Unicorn Trope]]. If it was very popular in its days, and becomes infamous instead of forgotten, it's [[Deader Than Disco]]. If it's so natural to the medium of storytelling that it can still be played straight no matter how often it's used and abused, it's an [[Omnipresent Tropes|Omnipresent Trope]]. If the trope not only makes viewers/readers groan but also makes them angry, you've probably got a [[Pet Peeve Trope]].
▲A common cause of [[Seinfeld Is Unfunny]], because it's hard to imagine yourself back into the innocent frame of mind when this was ''new''.
* [[All That Glitters]] (don't expect anyone to take this [[An Aesop|Aesop]] seriously, though the revelation the treasure is worthless can still be part of a [[Pound of Flesh Twist]] or [[Shaggy Dog Story]] for one in [[Perpetual Poverty]] instead of a genuine lesson)
▲{{examples|Examples:}}
* [[America Saves the Day]] has been one since the seventies at the latest; the [[Vietnam War]] and an overdose of this trope in the Hollywood of the forties, fifties, and sixties conspired to kill it. This trope is at the point now that when it's ''not'' subverted it feels like a subversion.
* [[Asian Speekee Engrish]] has been one for decades due to [[Values Dissonance]] over racism.
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* [[Blackmail Is Such an Ugly Word]]: "But in this case, it's appropriate."
* Anything with [[British Royal Guards]] in London.
* Due to their usage as far back as silent movies and early theatrical cartoons, some of the more common [[Death Trap]] conventions are
** The [[Dastardly Whiplash]] mustache-twirling villain also present in such things is almost never used seriously these days.
* [[The Dark Age of Comic Books]]; while many series have continued to get [[Darker and Edgier]], the specific stylings of 90's comics, such as pouches, random metal ornamentation, and bizarre headpieces have all been parodied well after they went out of style.
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* [[Dunce Cap]]
* Pretty much ''everyone'' has done an [[Exploding Calendar]] or [[Spinning Paper]] gag at some point or other, making the "[[Exploding Calendar]] joke" and the "[[Spinning Paper]] joke" tropes of their own.
* The "[[Extra! Extra! Read All About It!|Extra Extra]]" Paper boy.
* [[Face
* [[Floating Advice Reminder]]
* [[Glove Slap]]
* [[Good Angel, Bad Angel]]: Straight examples are rare in these days. Parodies and subversions are more common (for an example, having 2 devils appear).
* [[Great White Hunter]] - this trope has become associated by some with racism and hunters are [[Villain
* The [[Greedy Jew]] stereotype in the western world, after it was used as a justification for the Holocaust.
* [[G
* Hippies are seldom played straight outside of sixties period pieces, having been mostly replaced by [[New Age Retro Hippie
* [[Hypno Ray]] (As well as non-magical, non-super science hypnotizing as a plot device altogether, save for loads of justifications or [[Excuse Plot]] for porn.)
* [[Instant Cultured]]
* [[I Remember It Like It Was Yesterday]] as a segue into a [[Flash Back]]. Or, for that matter, [[I Remember It Like It Was Yesterday]] being followed by "It ''was'' yesterday" or even "It happened today!".
* [[It's a Wonderful Plot]]: Even the specific variation that everyone's life '''is''' better without them is cliche at this point.
* [[It
* [[Lie Back and Think of England]]
* [[Lights Off, Somebody Dies]]
* [[Look Behind You!]]: including the subversion of the villain refusing to look behind, lest [[The Hero]] gets away, only to find that [[The Hero]] was actually right. This is mainly for the fact that a lot of problems could be avoided [[Evil Overlord List|by simply stepping aside]], so that the villain could eye both [[The Hero]] and whatever was behind him simultaneously.
* [[Mattress Tag Gag]]: For nearly three decades as of this edit, the phrase 'except by the consumer' has been added to mattress tags, meaning that it's not illegal to remove the tags after you've bought and paid for the mattress and taken it home.
* [[Non
▲* [[Non Ironic Clown]] - For some reason, every clown in these days tends to be [[Monster Clown|scary]] or [[Sad Clown|sad]]. Portraying a clown as a genuinely friendly cheerful jester seems to be the subversion these days.
* Likewise, most fictional priests nowdays tend to be either [[Sinister Minister|evil]] or [[Pedophile Priest|a child molester]], to the point where seeing a genuine [[Good Shepherd]] is seen as a subversion. ''[[Frontline]]'' Deconstructed the [[Unfortunate Implications]] of this [[Driven to Suicide|HARD.]]
* Nuns beating students at Catholic school. At least in the United States, nuns stopped doing this a long time ago (and also a good many Catholic schoolteachers are lay people), and yet Hollywood and TV shows constantly act like it's still standard procedure, as sitcom parents often threaten their rebellious teen with a transfer to a school run by nuns, implying that they will be beaten.
* The hillbilly [[Party Line Telephone]] with every country farmhouse physically wired to the same line used to be a comedy staple, with widespread gossip and [[Exact Eavesdropping|eavesdropping on calls]] running rampant. Eventually, [[Technology Marches On]].
* [[Prince Charming]]. Time was, every fairytale had a character whose main function was to be a) physically attractive and b) a socially advantageous marriage prospect for [[The Hero]]/heroine, by virtue of being wealthy and/or a member of the aristocracy. Information about this character's actual ''personality'' tended to be sketchy at best. Remained popular through the early [[Disney Animated Canon]]. Nowadays often subverted as being clueless and vain, if not downright evil. See...
** [[Prince Charmless]], which is the current form nowadays. See what we meant by the spoof becoming a trope?
* [[Red Wire Blue Wire]] - [[The War
* [[Retirony]]: It's far more common to see this outright [[Discussed Trope|discussed]], [[Subverted Trope|subverted]] or [[Averted Trope|averted]] than played straight anymore.
* [[Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue]]: Parodied more often than played straight.
* [[Save the Princess]]
* [[Scoring Points]]
▲* [[Slow No]] -- This trope is mocked now.
▲* [[Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace]] -- not commonly used in [[Real Life]], either.
* [[Standard Fifties Father]]: The [[Bumbling Dad]] has become so prevalent in modern media that showing a sensible, competent father is <s> almost</s> a subversion in itself.
* [[Subverted Suspicion Aesop]] - This type of Suspicion Aesop is NEVER played straight- there's a reason that [[Subverted Trope|Subverted]] is in the page title. Sometimes a [[Double Subversion]] is put on it, but it's never played straight.
* [[Super Sentai Stance]]: Almost universally made fun of in these days. Except of course [[Toku|within]] [[Super Sentai|such]] [[Power Rangers|series]], and even then it'll be [[Lampshaded]].
{{quote|
* [[Tall, Dark and Handsome]]
** More like an [[Undead Horse Trope|Undead]], [[Cyclic Trope]] that alternates with [[Knight in Shining Armor]]. Because of both of these tropes in combination with [[The Hero]] and [[Anti
** On the most literal level, however, this trope is still alive and well. After all, Americans and northern Europeans ''are'' on the average taller than other peoples; black and brown are still the most common hair colors; and [[Hollywood Homely]] has yet to become a widespread, non-ironic look for protagonists.
* [[Take Me to Your Leader]]: Despite the fact that there is some [[Truth in Television]] in the sense that an explorer in a distant land, upon meeting some of the locals, might wish to speak with whoever's in charge around here, the form of this where visiting extraterrestrials request this is almost never played straight these days.
* [[Torches and Pitchforks]] is now more used as a [[Stock Parody]] than used seriously.
* [[Trope 2000]]: In part due to the fact that we are already in the 21st century. This got replaced with [[
* [[Utopia]] is mostly deconstructed in these days.
* Because many drama series deal with touchy real life subjects these days as a matter of course, the [[Very Special Episode]] is more often parodied than played straight these days.
* [[Vampire Vords]]
* [[Working
* Early settings for ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' and derivatives used to feature gods of death as undead loving always evil assholes. Newer settings and updates to older settings went to subvert it by making gods of death neutral agents of a natural part of the cycle of life that hate undead. Now the second is far more common and undead making gods are more minor gods of ''un''death specifically rather than having a portfolio over death in general.
** Which is ''[[Greyhawk]]''. Because ''[[Mystara]]'' aside of [[Norse Mythology|Hel]] has Nyx (who is more philosophical about it all, can be nice when got no good reason to be ruthless, and has worshipper alignment All/All, despite being in the Sphere of Entropy and among many other things patron of the undead) and Terra (who has worshipper alignment Lawful Good or Neutral, is in the Sphere of Matter and as such more about the whole death-and-rebirth cycle), even if they don't get along. And ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'' (aside of not being originally a D&D setting) has Jergal before Myrkul and Cyric, and Kelemvor after.
* Doctors who make house calls. Even in the 60s, it seemed this was only mentioned as a joke about how doctors no longer do this, and eventually, even ''that'' started to go stale In more modern works, the joke has become one where only ''very'' rich people have doctors who do this. In reality, this practice started to decline in the 1930s for a variety of reasons; concerns about providing low-overhead care in the home, time inefficiency, and inconvenience made it impractical.
* [[Video Game Lives]]. This was the go-to mechanic back when coin-ops were popular, but is almost never used in modern home consoles. Most now have a one-and-done lifebar with infinite continues, plus [[Save Point]]s, and/or spawning points, depending on the genre. Many games even have auto-save mechanics that do it for you. This of course means that Tropes associated with it like [[1-Up]] are not used either.
{{Featured article}}
{{reflist}}
{{Trope Life Cycle}}
[[Category:Trope Tropes]]
[[Category:Tropes of Legend]]
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[[Category:Dead Horse Trope]]
[[Category:Trope Life Cycle]]
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