Not sure how frequent these are on a day-to-day basis, as I'm not a professional script reader, but anything involving hackers/nerds tends to be full of clichés. Things like: [character hits a few keys on keyboard] - "I'm in!" Or the various unrealistic beeps and noises coming from movie computers. Things like that... And in general, the reduction of nerds to socially awkward beings glued to their computers -- that always makes me cringe. Nerd characters are fine, but they still need to have some kind of personality (including negative traits -- not every nerd is an innocent victim hiding from bullies). And also: not every nerd/computer geek has to be a boy/man. There are female members of that species as well!

This is a great post, Scott! One of my favorites. I think a lot of these stem from an unawareness more so than a deliberation. I think I've seen every example above in recent years. From scripts circulating to the actual Black List. Even recent movies. Number one is quite interesting. I've been aware of it for some time, but I don't expect that description trend to stop. I've seen if from both male and female writers. Mostly male though, but I think most people read scripts and see it used, so they just assume that's how you're supposed to do it. Until somebody points it out, you just don't know. As for number five, I find this one interesting as well. 'Cause there are some teases that work. While others don't. I've read many scripts, where if it wasn't for the tease, I might have stopped reading. Due to it slowing down too much after that. With that said, most teases aren't effective. But I wouldn't say there's no place to use them.

I'm an aspiring script writer and this is a subject I've been thinking/fuming about for a long time -- mainly as a woman, and then from the perspective of hackneyed story-lines for male leads (buddy story, coming-of-age story, Cinderella story).... Then yes, finally, from the angle of movie tropes and stereotypes -- especially ones that are damaging/demeaning. Like this: Dead Mother Syndrome. WHY is this an acceptable and enthusiastically employed shortcut to rigorous character development in almost every (action) film? And WHAT does it tell us about Hollywood storytelling and sexism? I have more, but just wanted to toss that out there for thought... Btw, there are tons of other stereotypes in movies that are sexist, racist, specieist, you name it. None so sinister as DMS, however.... Oh or maybe this: I'm-such-a-schmuck-of-a-dad/father/son-I-deserve-everything-bad-that's-coming-to-me-till-I-heroically-make-amends-by-saving-my-(ex)wife-(and-the-world-)from-some-horrible-catastrophe-then-denouement-Zzzzzzzzzzz.... AND said lead is probably a first class loser (cue above cliches), a little on the homely/dumpy side, but cute, and of course his estranged lover is a self-deprecating knockout with three spoken lines and one facial expression, but who wears men's pajama tops or plumber t-shirts (to relax in bcs they're comfortable) in every scene except The Rescue where her party gown is ripped and hanging off her body in ways that defy physics. Oh and her mascara is running because it was raining but now the sun has come up because the Earth was saved. The End. I'll call that the Die Hard storyline trope. ;p And finally: The-more-deserving-but-too-freaking-annoying-(because-she-just-doesn't-know-her-place)-overqualified-underacknowledged-female-sidekick-character... This would be funny except that it surreptitiously refers to (and demeans) ALL women -- including those in film-making (ouch). And that ha-ha-not-so-funny subtext has become an overt plotline itself (including dialogue) in recent, popular kid (!) films -- like The Lego Movie -- which explicitly acknowledges a more-qualified woman for the Hero role but then unceremoniously relegates her to second fiddle and the usual stereotypes: falling in love with male lead and having nothing better to do with her life than help him realize his own heroic potential. Sum: Women are consistently cast as second-rate characters in second-rate roles in film and television, and this stereotyping belies a wider treatment of women as "second-rate" members of society, everywhere and every day. Changing stereotypes in media -- eliminating cliches and/or replacing them with positive role models -- can address the underlying problem, however. So besides making for better movies and entertainment, it's just right to ask these questions. Thank you for that! Btw, I'm guessing readers know about the Bechdel test? ;) /rant

My least two, which I still see: Key character gets shot, and everyone thinks he is dead, but lo and behold the bullet was stopped by cross/bible/badge etc. Most recently seen in White House Down. After a bunch of plot twists, the protagonists life is a mess. Flash forward six months. There is there bestselling book on display about this exact story. Most recently seen in Gone Girl, The Affair.

simone257, the nerd stereotype is certainly much abused in movies and TV. The HBO series Silicon Valley does a great job both playing with these tropes AND revealing specific and unique human qualities in their series characters. In Season 2, they introduced a new Pied Pier employee named Carla and I was really hopeful she would emerge into a major character, but that didn't happen. Too bad. She was an ace coder and there were some good moments between she and the guys re gender issues.

Orange Pop, re #1, check out this Twitter feed from producer Ross Putnam: @femscriptintros. It goes beyond cliche writing to the 'male gaze' phenomenon. #5: That's only a problem in my book if it's a poorly executed opening and/or its eventual intersection with the Plotline doesn't offer much in the way of meaning or impact. OTOH if written well, if creatively conceived, if there IS a good payoff, a 'tease' can be a GREAT narrative device: * It gets the script off to a running start. * It buys the writer time to get into story setup and exposition because the reader KNOWS the story is going to have some fireworks as exhibited in the opening. * It creates a question: How is this opening scene going to play into the Plotline? To me, this descends to the level of cliche ONLY when it is poorly done.

I've been a script reader for about 6 years. A lot of the ones I see a lot have been mentioned already, but here goes: 1. Lame jokes about Twitter, Facebook, Tinder, etc. 2. Characters who seem to have a lot of opinions about screenwriting/the entertainment industry even though it has nothing to do with their job or the plot 3. Scripts ABOUT the entertainment industry 4. Unreliable narrators who might have a mental illness 5. Teenagers in high school English class who discuss a novel and say the exact theme of the movie out loud 6. Character who loses cell phone service at the exact convenient moment 7. Character who makes a big "what I learned" speech in act three (not inherently bad, but can it be funny? Different somehow?) 8. Woman who's "beautiful but doesn't know it" 9. Characters who all have blonde hair and blue or green eyes (you really hate diversity casting, huh?). But beyond that, is hair color and eye color really the most revealing thing you could choose to tell us? 10. Women who are described as "sexy," "lithe," have large busts, etc. even though men are not described physically and it's not an erotic thriller or anything like that 11. Flashbacks that illustrate what's just been said without adding anything new or advancing their own story 12. Character who goes into the bathroom and splashes water on his/her face 13. Bad dates at restaurants or bad date montages (not saying you can't ever do this -- but make it NEW please) 14. Character who is an aspiring writer or artist of some kind 15. Characters who make endless pop culture references (a few are okay and I love HAPPY ENDINGS as much as the next person, but do your favorite movies/shows contain pop culture references or original dialogue?) 16. Characters who make pop culture references from TV shows that went off the air 20 years before they were born 17. Female characters who are all younger than their co-workers and romantic partners 18. Character who goes home to dysfunctional wealthy family for reunion or holiday 19. Scenes that are unnecessarily set in strip clubs 20. Strippers with hearts of gold who need to be rescued 21. Multiple women who sleep with the main character even though he has no attractive qualities 22. Precocious kids who say the darndest things 23. Precious kids with wisdom beyond their years 24. Someone who goes on a reality show 25. Limited-scope biopic about A) someone boring or B) a boring part of a cool person's life 26. Rape scene that exists to affect the victim's boyfriend (we never explore the victim's emotional experience) 27. Script about a white character experiencing a person of color's world, a male character experiencing a woman's world, a straight character experiencing an LGBT world, etc. (Are you telling the right person's story?) 28. Online gambling (i.e., people staring at screens as the main plot) 29. Hackers who can immediately hack into anything 30. Teenage characters who can only attend expensive private colleges 31. Storylines about getting your kid into a competitive private preschool or school 32. Character who twirls their wedding ring to show us they're unsure about their marriage/thinking of cheating 33. Character who has an embarrassing video go viral

roningirl, the Dead Mother (Wife / Brother / Sister) Syndrome can be an example of sloppy, surface level writing. It's a cheap way of attempting to manufacture sympathy for a character. I literally had this conversation with a screenwriter some years ago:

Friend: And they thought the Protagonist isn't sympathetic enough. So-- Me: Wait. Lemme guess. Give him a dead wife. Friend: Exactly! That's what they suggested.

Which is not to say a writer CANNOT use this as a narrative element. It could be essential to the characters in their specific story universe. The writer just needs to go into the story and dig deeply into the characters to explore the psychological ramification from such a tragedy. Re the Male living a dissipated life who then gets involved in a storyline in which he rescues someone or some such thing, again that can be treated at a surface level. OTOH if explored at depth, it can make for a strong redemption story. In other words, it can descend to the level of cliche if handled poorly or elevate to the level of a great story if handled well. Re the Bechdel Test: I posted on that as early as 2009 and 2010. Indeed, NYT film critic Manohla Dargis recently coined The DuVernay Test, a race-based Bechdel Test. I have pushed myself and made a point often here and in my classes for all of us writers to stretch the 'casting' of our stories. Instead of defaulting to a male cop, why not a female? Instead of a white doctor, why not an African-American? The world needs and deserves more and different characters in more and different stories!

If we weren't all writers here I would restrain the urge to go all Grammar Gestapo on you, but the editor demon inside me can't be stopped from bursting out of my chest. "You may follow Amanda…" Um, I'm so glad I have your permission, but I think you were referring to possibility, not permissibility, so "can" fits where "may" does not. Please forgive me for being an asshole. My father was an English teacher. And an asshole. I have issues.