Obnoxious In-Laws/Playing With

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Basic Trope: In-laws who drive an otherwise Happily Married couple crazy.

  • Played Straight: Alice and Bob have their family over for Thanksgiving. Alice's mother tells Alice, "You could have married Remington Winston III, but no, you had to marry this buffoon..." and keeps complaining vociferously about Bob the whole weekend.
  • Exaggerated: Mrs. Troper does incredibly Jerkass things, such as pulling the Flushing Toilet, Screaming Shower routine on Bob.
  • Inverted: Bob spends the whole weekend complaining about Mrs. Troper.
  • Justified: Mrs. Troper is a Rich Bitch.
  • Subverted: Mrs. Troper is civil towards Bob
  • Double Subverted: But complains about him when she gets a moment alone with her daughter, and it's obvious that between Mrs. Troper and her son-in-law, there's a chill in the air.
  • Deconstructed: Alice finally has enough of Mrs. Troper treating her husband so badly, and in a Calling The Old Lady Out moment tells Mrs. Troper to stop treating her like a little girl and start respecting her decisions.
    • Alternately, Alice herself remains silent, but Alice and Bob's children are the ones who take exception to the way Grandma Troper treats their father and give her a taste of her own medicine by subjecting her to the same kind of bile that she throws at their dad.
  • Reconstructed: After getting called out by her own family, who make it quite clear that if she continues like this she is going to be the one frozen out of the family, Mrs. Troper makes an effort to get along better with Bob.
  • Parodied:
  • Lampshaded: "Alice, do we have to invite your mom to Thanksgiving dinner?" Beat What?
  • Averted: Mrs. Troper adores her son-in-law as much as her daughter, and treats him accordingly.
  • Enforced: Using Rule of Funny in an Awful Wedded Life Dom Com
  • Invoked: Alice (who comes from a very wealthy background) marries Bob (who is very poor). Her mother is not pleased.
  • Defied: Mrs. Troper decides that she may not love (or even like) her daughter's choice of a mate, but she will respect her choice, if only for Alice's sake.
  • Discussed: "I know you don't get along with Mama, but please try..."
  • Conversed: "Why are all these mother-in-laws such bitches?"
  • Played For Laughs: Almost always is.
  • Played For Drama: See Parental Marriage Veto and/or Honor-Related Abuse

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