You Can Keep Her: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

"YIPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Free at last!" }}

 

Classic scenario: [[Alice and Bob|Alice]] is kidnapped. The kidnappers contact Bob, who is the legal guardian/spouse/caretaker/someone who ''should'' care about Alice and explain they are holding her for ransom.

 

 

A small variation of this would be Bob not taking the kidnapping seriously, seeing as Alice has previously faked similar attempts as a cry for attention. Unfortunately, this time it's for real and the [[Crying Wolf]] principle applies...

 

== Fan Fic ==

 

 

== Film ==

* From ''[[Hudson Hawk]]'':

'''Hudson Hawk:''' Betty Jo Bialowski? I can get you an address on that if you want. }}

* This is the entire point of the Danny DeVito movie ''[[Ruthless People]]''

* In ''Problem Child'', when the Bow Tie Killer kidnaps Flo and Junior, Ben is initially overjoyed that they are gone. However after seeing a drawing Junior made, he realizes Junior loves him and goes out to rescue him. (Flo... not so much.)

* In ''[[Tropic Thunder]]'', {{spoiler|Les Grossman refuses to pay for Tugg Speedman's ransom under the false pretense of "not negotiating with terrorists" but actually for the petty reason of Tugg losing his popularity and as such not being worth rescuing}}.

{{spoiler|'''Les Grossman'''}}: Great. Let me get this down. A hundred million... Oh, wait! I got a better idea. Instead of a hundred million, how about I send you a hobo's dick cheese? Then, you kill him. Do your thing, skin the fucking bastard. Go to town, man. Go to town! In the mean time and as usual, go fuck yourself. *Puts phone down* [[Crowning Moment of Funny|We do not negotiate with terrorists]]. }}

* In ''[[Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels]]'' Nick Moran's character (Eddie) loses a large amount of money at a rigged card game. He has 5 days to pay. Vinnie Jones (Big Chris) offers Eddie's father (JD) the option of giving up his bar to cover the cost... to which JD (played by Sting), replies:

'''Big Chris''': Now... I'll put that on a shock. Only once. }}

* In ''[[The Big Lebowski]]'', Bunny.

* ''[[Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid]]''

''pause'' "Take her" }}

* In [[The Film of the Book|the original]] ''[[Charlie and the Chocolate Factory|Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory]]'', there's a scene with a woman and some police officers after her husband has been kidnapped. Initially, she's quite frantic and insistent that she'll pay anything and give them anything they want... until she finds out what they're asking for.

"... how long will they give me to think it over?" }}

* In the movie ''Too Many Crooks'', a gang attempts to kidnap a businessman's daughter only to end up with his wife. When they try to ransom her back, he announces that he doesn't want her. This so infuriates the wife that she takes control of the gang and uses it to extract revenge on her husband.

* In ''[[The Red Green Show]]'' [[The Movie|movie]] ''Duct Tape Forever'', the villain who kidnaps Harold worries that this might be Red's reaction. [[Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other|It's not]].

* ''[[Austin Powers]]: International Man of Mystery''.

'''Dr. Evil:''' Not really. Kill the little bastard. See what I care. }}

* ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]] At World's End''

'''Barbossa''': "Kill him; he's not our man." }}

** Subversion - he really isn't a spy for them, but for Beckett.

* ''[[The World Is Not Enough]]'': M tells this to Sir King since the [[Secret Intelligence Service]] does not give in to terrorists and criminals. {{spoiler|Electra is enraged and decides to take revenge against her father and M.}}

* ''[[Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom]]:'' When Indy threatens Willie with a sharp fork, Lau Chen giggles, "Go ahead, kill her. I'll get another!"

 

** Or when the danger is greater than that, he's not RUSHING to rescue her, he's coming slowly and taking his time. [[Beware the Nice Ones]]. Also, because, even though he cares deeply about her, [[The Fettered|"personal" is not the same as "important"]].

* In [[Saki (author)|Saki]]'s "The Disappearance of Crispina Umberleigh", the kidnappers actually get the victim's family to ''pay'' them to keep her. {{spoiler|Even though, as it turns out, they don't really have her...}}

* [[P. G. Wodehouse|PG Wodehouse]]'s short story "Helping Freddie" (later rewritten for the ''[[Jeeves and Wooster (novel)|Jeeves and Wooster]]'' series as "Fixing It for Freddie") features a [[Pity the Kidnapper]] plot wherein the main character kidnaps a small boy as part of a [[Zany Scheme]]. When the scheme backfires, he tries to return the kid, only to be stuck babysitting him when it turns out that everyone in the kid's house has influenza and they needed someone to watch him anyway.

 

== Standup Comedy ==

* Perhaps not strictly speaking appropriate to this trope as no kidnapping is involved, but ''the'' classic line is by Henny Youngman:

* A sample from [[Russian Humor]]: The terrorists have captured the State Duma and threatened to release one deputy every hour unless they are paid a ransom.

* Another sample: bandits kidnap a man's mother-in-law and threaten to clone her unless a ransom is paid.

 

== Video Games ==

 

 

* Played with in ''[[Ansem Retort]]''. Contessa Belle held Larxene hostage and tried to get a ransom from Governor Zexion. Zexion refused, listed ''his'' demands to take Larxene off Belle's hands, and left. Cut to a week later, and Belle's given in.

** Taken [[Up to Eleven]] later, when Axel confronts Xemnas, he asks how he plans to stop him and save his hostage Sora. Axel says he's fine going one for two and kills Sora himself.

 

 

* In the Halloween episode of ''[[Invader Zim]]'', when Zim is captured in the nightmare world and the monsters try to extort Dib into surrendering his head to them, Dib tells them they can keep him and throws a can at the monster's head.

* ''[[The Venture Brothers]]'' In the episode Escape From the House of Mummies Part 2, An unnamed bad guy threatens to kill Hank and Dean unless Dr. Venture gives him the hand of Osiris. Dr. Venture's refusal is amusingly obscene.

'''Dr. Venture''': Give me head. }}

* In the ''[[Archer]]'' episode "El Secuestro," Pam gets kidnapped, and the show gets a lot of comedic mileage about just how little ISIS cares. First, Archer hangs up on the ransom negotiations because he thinks the kidnappers are robots and [["Three Laws"-Compliant|can't harm a human being]]. When pressed, Mallory offers five thousand dollars as ransom, a fraction of what she spent buying a table earlier in the episode. When Archer and Gilette go to rescue her, they get distracted and never get around to it. Then, when there's a [[Mexican Standoff]] and the kidnappers threaten to shoot Pam if they don't lower their weapons. No one lowers their weapons.

* In an episode of ''[[South Park]]'' that strikingly parallels ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]'', Tweek steals a bazooka and aims it at [[Steven Spielberg]] and [[George Lucas]] after they've kidnapped the other major characters (it's a long story). "All I want are my friends," Tweek explains - and then he quickly adds "Except for Cartman; you can keep him."

[[Category:Unisex Tropes]]

[[Category:Plots]]

[[Category:Example as a Thesis]]