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{{trope}}
* Pretty much the entirety of the ''[[Scream (
* And long before the ''Scream'' movies there was ''There's Nothing Out There'', which had the premise of a single genre-savvy character surrounded by genre-blind people in a horror film and trying to convince them of what's happening.
* Also before the Scream movies there was [[Friday the 13th|Friday the 13th Part VI]], which contained this little gem: “I’ve seen enough horror movies to know that any weirdo wearing a mask is never friendly.”
* In the ''[[Halloween (
* ''[[Hot Fuzz]]'' plays off one of the characters' detailed knowledge of action cop films.
* The Jean Claude Van Damme movie ''[[Double Impact]]'' has a hilarious moment when a Mook is genre savvy enough to look in the opposite direction of the noise the main character makes, however said character even anticipates his genre-savviness and knocks him out.
* Played for endless laughs within the ''[[Austin Powers]]'' trilogy, particularly any scene with Dr. Evil and his son. Austin's father Nigel also has a lot of fun with this, such as when he's being escorted at gunpoint
{{quote|
'''Dr. Evil''': "Oh he's good!" ''(another henchman approaches Nigel)''
'''Nigel''': "Do you know who I am?" ''(henchman nods)'' "Do you have any idea how many anonymous henchmen I've killed over the years?" ''(nods)'' "And look at you, you don't even have a name tag, you've got no chance! Why don't you just fall down?" ''(henchmen drops his weapon and slowly slumps to the ground)'' }}
* Subverted in the ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'' film, in which Liu Kang refuses to bow to a "mere beggar" whom his grandfather identifies as the god Raiden. Liu's grandfather begs Raiden's forgiveness and explains that America and too much television has made him crass -- yet, not two minutes later, Raiden asks Liu to attack him and Liu promptly gets trounced. Apparently Liu has, in fact, not been watching ''enough'' television.
* Goes double for just about everyone in ''[[Not Another Teen Movie]]''. Several scenes featured characters taking a moment to stand around describing the quirks and aspects of their character portrayal with great detail.
{{quote|
'''Jake:''' Well, so do I.
'''Ricky Lipman:''' ''(slight pause)'' Yes, but I'm the best friend, and I have been in front of her face the whole time, and she just... hasn't really realized it yet, but she will.
'''Jake:''' Well, I'm the reformed cool guy, who's learned the error of his ways. She's gonna forgive me for my mistakes, and realize that I really love her.
'''Ricky Lipman:''' ''(pause)'' Dammit, that's true. }}
** Let's not forget the "slow clap" rules.
{{quote|
'''Areola:''' I am here only to serve as object of lust for poor American nerds who cannot get pussy. }}
* Pretty much all of ''[[
{{quote|
** In possibly one of the most well done moments of villain genre savviness ever, once shown the "historical documents" Sarris is the only nonhuman character who actually realizes that he is dealing with actors who have been mistaken for real explorers. This implies that unlike the Thermians, his own race produces entertainment.
{{quote|
*** Which creates a bit of [[Fridge Horror]] when you realize the [[Big Bad]] empathizes with humans much easier than the kind, gentle Thermians.
* The plot of ''[[Lady in
{{quote|
* One of the many good things about ''[[Independence Day]]'' was a scene during the initial attack on the alien ships. As soon as Will Smith's character sees their missiles exploding at some distance from ship with [[Some Kind of Force Field|a special effect]] he immediately yells "They have shields!" and everyone knows [[Deflector Shields|what he's talking about]].
* In ''[[Mystery Men]]'', Mr. Furious insists -- correctly -- that Lance Hunt is actually superhero Captain Amazing, and that it's only by [[Clark Kenting|wearing or removing a pair of glasses]] that he is able to switch his identity. Unfortunately, his colleagues are [[Genre Blindness|not quite so savvy]], and this leads to many frustrating arguments in which they insist that Hunt ''can't'' be Amazing because "He wouldn't be able to see."
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* Preacher in ''[[Deep Blue Sea]]'' at one point exclaims, "Ooh, I'm done! Brothers never make it out of situations like this! Not ever!" Ironically, perhaps, he's one of only two survivors at the end of the movie. Interesting to note, originally he died and Saffron Burrows' character lived, but test audiences [[The Scrappy|disliked her character so much]] (reportedly screaming "DIE BITCH!" at the screen) and liked his, so they re-shot the ending.
* In ''[[Last Action Hero]]'', Danny Madigan, the kid from the real world, having seen so many action movies, knows all the clichés and plot devices when he winds up inside one. Jack Slater, the fictional Hollywood action hero who lives in the movie, refuses to believe him, suffering from [[Genre Blindness]]. However, Slater does have flashes of Savvy apparently learned from experience, such as always shooting his closet when he gets home to kill the inevitable assassin. Several of the tropes that Danny points out are actually set up by Slater to make him look good.
* Michael Jordan becomes this at the very end of ''[[
** Justified: He knew it was possible for the cartoons to do weird things, he just didn't know ''he'' could until it was pointed out to him, [[Eleventh-Hour Superpower|during the last ''ten seconds'' of the game]].
* Scarecrow in ''[[Batman Begins]]''. When told that Batman had infiltrated Arkham, he told his men to do "what anyone does when a prowler's around. Call the police." His plan was to lure Batman outside, where the cops would take care of him, reasoning that his own operation had gotten far enough that there was no way it could be stopped. It didn't work, but it was a much more intelligent decision than most villains tend to make.
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** Batman gets his own [[Genre Savvy]] moment at the same point in the movie: he warned the officer not to let the Joker piss him off, as he'd just be playing into the Joker's hands.
** Joker himself fits definition of the ''[[Dangerously Genre Savvy]]'' [[Magnificent Bastard|perfectly.]]
* John McClane in 2007's ''[[Live Free or Die Hard]]'' turns out to be pretty [[Genre Savvy]]: for example, at one point he asks whether there's some sort of "Henchmen 'R' Us" where the [[Big Bad]] gets all of his [[Mooks]] from. But then, he has been through roughly the same plot three times before, with only the details changed, so you'd be a bit worried if he ''[[Genre Blind|hadn't]]'' spotted a pattern. As brilliantly parodied by Ben Stiller on ''The Ben Stiller Show'' with ''[[Die Hard
{{quote|
** The first movie has Hans show the slightest bit of [[Genre Savvy]] as well. When Holly comes to him with requests, one of them starts with, "We've got a pregnant woman out there..." and Hans immediately rolls his eyes, as if to say, "Oh lord, she's going to go into labor, isn't she?" until Holly clarifies she's not due for weeks.
** Hans virtually accuses McClane to his face of being [[Wrong Genre Savvy]], for expecting to ride off triumphantly into the sunset like a Western hero!
* Nick Cannon's character in the ''Day of the Dead'' [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZd_OdK1KEo remake]. Could also be considered [[Death By Genre Savvy]], as someone dies moments after he says this (but it's a teaser, so that's up for debate)
* Genre savviness abounds in the 1985 film ''[[Rustlers' Rhapsody]]'', a parody of [[The Western]] that spoofs everything from [[Western Characters|its stock characters]] to clean-cut "[[singing Cowboy|singing cowboys]]" like Gene Autry to gritty "spaghetti westerns". The singing cowboy hero has gone through the same western formula so many times that he's able to see exactly what's coming. However, this time, the villains get [[Dangerously Genre Savvy]] themselves. Realizing that good guys always defeat bad guys, the villains hire another good cowboy to fight the hero. It turns out that the other good cowboy is also a lawyer, so he's not good enough to defeat the hero.
* The Operative in ''[[
{{quote|
"I am of course wearing full body armor. I am not a moron!" }}
** Unfortunately he fails to realize that Inara is ''not'' a helpless [[Damsel in Distress]].
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* One person in ''Diary of the Dead'' was [[Genre Savvy]] enough to suggest that people could survive the [[Zombie Apocalypse]] from watching how he and his party had survived. The characters were making a horror movie using some classic tropes and then lampshading them when they happened for real.
* Subverted in ''The Return of the Living Dead'' in which ''[[Night of the Living Dead]]'' was ''loosely'' based on a true event. Frank, the medical supply warehouse manager, later tells his boss, Burt, how to dispose of a zombie, based on what was done in the movie; unfortunately, it turns out "the movie lied!"
* Eddie Valiant, in ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit?]]'', had a special kind of [[Genre Savvy]]. His past dealings with Toons gave him insight on how they worked, and allowed him to manipulate multiple situations to his advantage, such as using the [[Duck Season! Rabbit Season!]] trick to get Roger to take a drink and ripping a road marker to trick Mina Hyena into running into a brick wall. Judge Doom had similar abilities, allowing him to capture Roger at one point, by tapping "[[Shave and
** Of course, Doom's in-depth knowledge of Toons comes from the fact that {{spoiler|he is one himself.}}
* In ''[[Jeepers Creepers]]'', the heroine runs down the Creeper with her car and skids to a halt a short distance away. When her passenger asks if it's dead, {{spoiler|she says, "They never are." Then proceeds to throw it into reverse and run the creature over several more times}}. {{spoiler|Unfortunately, it still doesn't work.}}
** Also as Darry is climbing down the drain pipe {{spoiler|looking for a dead body}}, Trish tells him, "You know the part in scary movies when somebody does something really stupid, and everybody hates them for it? This is it!"
* Jack Sparrow of ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]''. In fact, most of the insults he heaps on Will have to do with the other's [[Genre Blindness]].
{{quote|
'''Jack:''' ''(rolls eyes)'' Pirate! }}
** [[Catch Phrase|Savvy?]]
* Many of the recurring characters in [[Kevin Smith]]'s films seem to be genre-savvy. One glaring example is Azrael from the film ''[[Dogma]]'', who, as his plan for the destruction of all reality comes together, is asked how he did it and what he needs to do by the imprisoned good guys. Azrael's response:
{{quote|
* Smith in ''[[The Matrix]] Revolutions'', specifically near the end of his climactic brawl with Neo. Even though Smith -- thanks to the Eyes of the Oracle -- can ''see'' how the fight will end, he ''still'' thinks Neo might be tricking him into defeat when the protagonist gets up to offer himself as the sacrificial lamb one final time.
* Jentee of ''[[Magical Legend of the Leprechauns]]'' seems perfectly aware that the circumstances around him are a romantic tragedy waiting to happen -- to the degree that when the protagonists in love come to him for help, he suggests that committing suicide might persuade their warring families to resolve their differences. {{spoiler|Turns out he's right.}}
* In ''[[Time Bandits]]'', Kevin, at least, knows what's up when they meet [[Robin Hood]]. He even tries to explain to the dwarves afterwards that of course Robin is going to hand out the treasure they stole to the poor.
* [[Evil Dead|Ash]] knows that, just because a [[Not Using the Zed Word|Deadite]] is down, doesn't mean it's dead. This is largely due to [[Took a Level
{{quote|
* In ''[[Road
{{quote|
'''Bob:''' Yeah, and back to us! }}
* Jim in ''[[
{{quote|
'''Frank:''' HOLD ON!
(Frank's car rockets up the pile of wrecked cars, and travels across its flattest point for about ten seconds before landing back on the road with a shredded front tyre.)
'''Frank:''' Fuck!
'''Jim:''' [[Deadpan Snarker|World's worst place to get a flat, huh?]] }}
** Selina also knows just [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism|exactly what kind of movie she's in]].
{{quote|
* Pretty much the entire point and struggle of ''[[Stranger Than Fiction]]'' revolves around the lead character (who hears a voice narrating his life) trying to figure out what kind of story he's in. If it's a comedy, he'll live; if it's a tragedy, he'll die. For help he visits a professor of Literature, who asks him bizarre questions like "Are you the King of anything?" and "Do you have magical powers?" His negative responses eliminate fantasy, mythology, historical fiction and other genres in order to find out the type of story he's in.
* In ''[[Stay Tuned]]'', a TV addict played by John Ritter buys a TV set [[Deal
* Nero in ''[[Star Trek (
** Of course, he already messed up the timeline on arrival...
* M in ''[[
{{quote|
'''Tanner''' (to Bond, over a cell phone): She wants to know about Slate.
'''Bond''': Slate was a dead end.
'''Tanner''' (to M): He said it was a dead end.
'''M''': Damn it! He killed him. }}
** M is rather aware of what James Bond is all about in most of her appearances, and not above an [[One-Liner|one-liner or two of her own;]]
{{quote|'''Admiral''': (watching Bond {{spoiler|wage a one-man assault on a massive arms sale to prevent a nuclear incident}}) What does he think he's '''doing?'''|'''M''': His job.}}
* In ''[[
** He's also savvy enough to have Bond hand over his watch after capturing him, and asks, "So how is old Q? Still up to his usual tricks? Still press here do I?" before using the watch to deactivate the explosives Bond has placed.
*** However, he isn't savvy enough to {{spoiler|take away Bond's pen grenade}}... or to just kill Bond when he has the chance.
* The two cab drivers in the diner in ''[[The Hudsucker Proxy]]'', who are smart enough to provide a running commentary on Amy's (staged) attempts to meet Norville.
* Penelope and Stephen Bloom in ''The Brothers Bloom'', a rather [[Genre Savvy]] movie altogether.
{{quote|
Penelope: It totally is! }}
* Ned from, of all things, ''17 Again''. Particularly strong when he tries figuring out what triggered Mike's transformation.
{{quote|
Mike: You've know me since, what, first grade? Maybe I would have ''told you''--
Ned: Vampire wouldn't tell...cyborg wouldn't know. }}
* Tallahassee, Columbus, Witchita and Little Rock's survival in ''[[
* Although the ''[[Friday the 13th (
* Quentin Tarantino's ''[[Pulp Fiction]]'', in addition to being a textbook [[Genre Busting|genre buster]], is also a study in [[Genre Savvy|genre savviness]]. Its main heroes undergo something of an education in this trope as the movie progresses: Jules' character arc starts with cheap burger commercials and ends with [[An Aesop|an Aesopian]] and lofty shift from gangster to [[The Drifter|drifter]]. Vince's tragic end, while primarily connected to the [[Idiot Ball]], also can be seen as either [[Genre Blindness]] or perhaps [[Death
* In the comedy film ''[[Evolution (
* Paris (Orlando Bloom) in ''Troy'' has a flash of this near the end. The Greek fleet has disappeared, leaving a giant [[Trojan Horse|wooden horse]] behind. Paris tells his father to burn it. He doesn't listen.
** Earlier, Achilles refuses to fight Hector, because you can't have the two greatest heroes fight each other on the first day. This fight has to wait for a more climactic point of time.
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* In ''Dead Snow'', a Norwegian film, the characters are hiking into the snowy mountains (without cell phone reception, of course) when one of them remarks "How many movies start with teenagers going on a trip without cell phone reception?" This does not actually deter them, which is unfortunate {{spoiler|considering they all wind up slaughtered by Nazi zombies.}} In a [[Crowning Moment of Funny]], another character says "''Friday the Thirteenth''" only to have a third say, "Yeah, because they didn't ''have'' cell phones."
** The [[Genre Savvy]] character actually causes some problems for the other characters, as he {{spoiler|tells everyone not to get bitten when he realizes that they're under attack by zombies. One character later saws his own arm off with a chainsaw after being bitten because of this, even though it's never been established that being bitten by a zombie leads to zombification.}}
* Barney in ''[[Evil Laugh (
{{quote|
* Carl in ''Van Helsing'', with one of the film's best lines: "If there's one thing I've learned, it's never be the first to stick your hand into a viscous material." This turns out to be ''very'' good advice.
* O'Connell in ''[[The Mummy
** The soldier mummies anyway. From the climax of the first movie, the ones leaping around and scaling walls like Spider-Man. The shambling slave mummies? Sure, locking the doors would work for a while.
* By the third film of Universal's series beginning with ''[[The
* The Fallen himself from [[Transformers (
** Sam in ''[[Transformers: Dark of the Moon]]'' displays these moments throughout the film. The moment he realizes the Decepticons are active, he immediately goes to warn Optimus and the Autobots. He sees through NEST's attempts at hiding in plain sight and when he is dismissed purely because he's a civilan, he contacts Simmons and finds out why the Russians stopped trying to get to the moon. He was the one who figured out that {{spoiler|the Decepticons were going after Sentinel and the remaining pillars.}}
** Likely the reason {{spoiler|Sentinel}} survived his encounter with Optimus, when others didn't, is because he used a shield.
** The Autobots realized that {{spoiler|Sentinel and the Decepticons won't live up to their end of the bargain and likely try to destroy their spaceship to kill them all in one shot. So they sent up their ship empty and sure enough, Starscream obilerates it, declaring them dead. Which would allow the Autobots to pull their [[Big Damn Heroes]] moment later without anyone seeing it coming.}}
* [[Samuel L. Jackson|Elijah Price]] from ''[[Unbreakable]]'' is how someone could use [[Genre Savvy]] to discover the world's first superhero {{spoiler|and become the world's first supervillain}}.
* ''Lake Placid Three''. Susan is trying to turn on a chainsaw {{spoiler|to cut down the massive croc that's trying to break into her husband's car}} when her son tells her she has to press the red button.
{{quote|
'''Connor:'' It's always the red button! }}
* Darth Vader shows a good bit of genre savviness in [[Star Wars]]: A New Hope. Having formerly been a hero prior to his [[Face Heel Turn]], he knows the lengths to which the heroes will go to in their attempts to thwart the Empire. As a result he correctly predicts that Leia would never reveal the location of the Rebel base, and he knows that Obi-Wan would risk his life to help his teammates escape. And during the final battle he also knows that the heroic freedom fighter types have what it takes to stop an evil planet-killing juggernaut, so he flies out in his own starfighter to deal with them personally.
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* In the 1974 film Death Wish, Inspector Ochoa notes that he suspects the vigilante to have served in the Vietnam War. This serves as a genre savvy moment, considering the various vigilante novels and films featuring Vietnam veterans acting as vigilantes. <ref> Gordon's War, the Executioner by Don Pendleton, Hitman/Dirk Spencer, Kill Squad, The Exterminator, etc..</ref>
* Both brothers in The Boondock Saints.
{{quote|
'''Connor:''' You don't fuckin' know what you're gonna need it for. They just always need it.
'''Murphy:''' What's this 'they' shit? This isn't a movie.
'''Connor:''' Connor: Oh, right. }}
* Subverted in the second ''[[Home Alone]]'' movie. Just before Harry and Marv decide to chase Kevin up the stairs, they remember that one of the booby traps they encountered in their last showdown involved getting bashed on the head with swinging paint cans. After fooling Kevin into dropping the cans, the duo proceed to rush up the stairs... only to get hit by a large pipe.
* ''[[Carriers]]'' puts a lot of emphasis on how much it ''sucks'' to be [[Genre Savvy]] in a setting where [[Everybody's Dead, Dave|anyone who isn't savvy is going to wind up dead]].
* In ''Labyrinth'', once they've made it to the Castle Beyond the Goblin City Sarah explains to her newfound friends that she'll have to confront Jareth alone "Because that's the way it's done." As it turns out, ''Jareth'' may have a touch of this too, when he notes in his climactic [[Circling Monologue]] that he's "exhausted from living up to [Sarah's] expectations" of his behavior throughout the story (which took off, after all, from a [[Fairy Tale]] play she likes).
* In ''[[G.I. Joe:
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