Black Best Friends, Mystical Queers and Disposable Women

Umm, can we talk about annoying movie tropes?

There are hundreds of movie tropes and you can read about all of them here, if you'd like. Today, I'm focusing on a few that I've seen recently and quite frankly, I'm tired of.

A while back I watched How to Build a Better Boy on Netflix. Obviously I am not the target audience for this Disney contrivance, but I digress. The movie poster drew me in because it tricked me into believing these two characters were somehow equal in their quest for male companionship. Boy, was I wrong!

Turns out "Gabby" or China Anne McClain is just the Black Best Friend slash Magical Negro. (This happens to other people of color, see Michael Peña in Ant-Man). Gabby's one job in this movie is to partake in a one-sided friendship and serve "Mae" (Kelli Berglund) in her time of need. In fact, Gabby disappears into thin air for most of the movie and only comes back when Mae is in trouble, needs guidance or wants a pep-talk.

If you study the movie poster like I did, it tricks you into making assumptions about the movie. The girls are standing on the same plane back to back which suggests they are equal. They're both wearing glasses and are surrouded by computer jargon which suggests they're little geniuses. While they are smart, they definitely aren't equal. In fact, Gabby is smarter than Mae because she's the one who writes the program that creates a boy.

I have nothing against friend's helping each other, but Gabby's obsession with Mae's happiness supercedes her own. Doesn't Gabby want a boyfriend? Does Gabby want anything else? At all? This movie came out in 2014 and falls victim to the same tired trope we've seen a decades before in movies like Gone With the Wind and the first Imitation of Life.

Moving on.

Last night, I re-watched My Best Friend's Wedding and I couldn't get over how selfish Julia Robert's character is.

Not only is she dispicable enough to try and break up her best friend (Dermot Mulroney) and his fiance (Cameron Diaz), but she has to drag her "gay best friend" along for the ride. Similiar to the Black Best Friend, the Mystical Queer's one job is to help the cis-gendered main character and provide the comic relief.

Only Julianne (Julia Roberts) benefits from this lop-sided pairing. George (Rupert Everett) serves his mistress well by answering her every backoned call. Throughout the movie, George drops out of his seemingly busy life to aid Julianne in her struggle to win Michael back.

Did I mention this movie is whiter than the cream in an Oreo? There are only a few people of color and they're all background actors who don't say anything.

Let's move on to another annoying trope. The Disposable Woman. A couple of weeks ago I had the dishonor of watching a movie my boyfriend picked out called John Wick.

I want to clarify that I do like Keanu Reeves despite what the masses have said. However, my like for him does not extend to this steaming pile of chauvanistic crap.

This movie's worst offense is its treatment of women. Sure, John Wick goes on a rampage to avenge the death of the puppy his dead wife left him, but that doesn't make up for the fact that she serves no other purpose than a painful reminder of the rage he feels. We only see flashbacks of her in the 'good times' and when she was on her death bed.

We learn that John gave up a life of crime to be with her and she betrays him by dying of cancer. She is disposed of, therefore giving John a reason to return to his former lifestyle. I'd also like to add that the actress playing Reeves' wife, Bridget Moynahan, is only credited as "Helen." She could be Helen anybody - plot devices don't need last names. I mention this only because "John Wick" is spoken SO MANY TIMES in this movie, it will make you want to gag.

But she isn't the only one. Adrianne Palicki plays "Ms. Perkins," a sexy assassin sent to put John Wick out of his misery.

Her first few scenes depict her as a "strong female" who can outsmart men. That is of course until her service to the plot is complete and they kill her off in a way that completely contradicts her character.

That's her, falling down after being surrounded and shot to death. Women don't stand a chance in male-driven action films; I'm looking at you, Liam Neeson. Women are nothing more than plot devices, disposable plot devices.

Movies need to change. We can't keep relying on the same old tropes over and over again. There are hundreds of other examples like this, but pulling them out would just depress me further. For now, I'll leave you with this:

Screenwriters of the world, take a risk and do something new. Stop using tired tropes. If not, you will be called out.