Seinfeldian Conversation/Playing With

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Basic Trope: Characters share an idle, pointless conversation.

• Played Straight: Alice and Bob talk about socks.
• Exaggerated: The conversation becomes Serious Business, eventually becoming a Cavemen Versus Astronauts Debate.
  • Alice and Bob are having a Seinfeldian Casual Danger Dialog during a huge shootout.
• Downplayed: The conversation ends after two sentences since it's so boring and pointless.
• Justified: Alice and Bob have nothing else to talk about, but wish to break the silence.
  • Alice and Bob are rather bored with their normal duties, or just want to pass the time.
• Inverted: Alice and Bob have a serious conversation.
• Subverted: Alice and Bob start a pointless conversation but it quickly becomes important.
  • Alice and Bob are actually using code words and double-meanings to have a rather pointed conversation.
• Double Subverted: Alice and Bob then start to Talk About the Weather.
  • Alice and Bob, as it turns out, are being literal, or are using double meanings and idioms to have a Seinfeldian conversation.
• Deconstructed: Alice and Bob have nothing to discuss, which can be awkward.
  • Alice and Bob are pegged as being unproductive and blase.
• Reconstructed: Alice and Bob find stuff to discuss, and find that they have stuff in common.
  • They realize Alice and Bob are calm and in control at all times, and instead peg them for as being cool and collected instead.
• Parodied: Someone writes an entire PhD dissertation on the merits of different kinds of socks.
• Zig Zagged: Sometimes Alice and Bob have serious conversations, other times silly ones, and every kind in between, or conversations that cross all of these lines regularly.
• Lampshaded: "Why are we talking about this?"
• Averted: Alice and Bob don't discuss stupid things.
  • Alice and Bob don't speak to one another.
• Enforced: "We need these characters to be sympathetic, so we need to introduce a few humanizing elements here."
• Invoked: Alice is standing alone in a slow elevator with Bob.
  • This is a characterization device for Alice and Bob's general outlook or their relationship.
• Defied: Bob ignores Alice when she starts going on about socks.
  • Alice tells Bob to shut the hell up about the pointless conversations about the varieties of motorcycle fenders.
• Exploited: Alice walks up to Charlie and starts a petty conversation, where she casually says something important or gets him to without being obvious.
• Discussed: "This is usually the part where we listen in, but they're usually talking about how a pair of socks look like they're making love or something."
• Conversed: "Usually, they talk about nothing at this part to fill in extra film time."
• Played For Laughs: Almost always is.
• Played For Drama: Alice and Bob are trying to avoid a serious issue, like the death of Charlie.

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