Divided by a Common Language - On-screen Cliches

 

Are they based on tradition, are they grounded in truth, or are they just examples of bad screenwriting?

Whatever they are, having grown up on US sitcoms and Hollywood movies, I tend to get tired of:

• The notion that a woman has dreamed of her wedding day since she was a kid


• The relationship break-up in a public place


• The nightmare family reunion over a public holiday


• The older, sassy, sexual grandmother/aunt (because we all know a woman daring to be sexual after 30 must be the object of hilarity)


• The fat friend - confidant,but never competition


• Making bridesmaids wear hideous dresses


• Losing your virginity at Prom

And in case you think I'm being anti-American, here are some British on-screen cliches you may recognize:

• Love accross class lines


• Gender-bending


• Keeping tight lipped when communication would solve all problems


• Misunderstandings and near-misses, farce


• Looking down on foreigners


• The English person who talks loudly and slowly at the non-English speaker

Are these things a hyperbole of who we really are?

I hope not...