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The Glory of Rom Com Trope Bingo

Yesterday, as a Valentine's Day event, a friend (Remoo) and I decided to play Rom Com Trope Bingo. For those who don't know what that is, it may be because we invented it. Or maybe we didn't. Not sure, but it was sure as hell a wonderful time, and I hope that we can get many more people to play it (with us!) in the future.

Also, we have comments on 500 Days of Summer, the movie. You might agree with us. Skip down if you want to skip down to that.

Rom Com Trope Bingo works as follows:

Create a standard (5x5) bingo board

Think of as many tropes that frequently occur in rom coms as you can. For those who don't know what a trope is, I'll pull the TV Tropes definition: "Tropes are devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members' minds and expectations. On the whole, tropes are not clichés. The word clichéd means "stereotyped and trite." " Except that we definitely pulled some cliches too. Because the more you hate them, or find them pathetically hilarious, or just plain hilarious, the more fun it is to play the game. Need help? Look up a favorite rom com (or one you find extremely stereotypical) on TV Tropes and start picking out the ones you think are hilarious.

Write those tropes in a list for future reference.

Choose tropes to go on your board. You may have a free space; you may not. Whatever floats your boat.

Choose a rom com to watch, one that you love, one that you hate, one that you love-to-hate. I personally choose the 'love-to-hate' ones, because at least then I won't be tempted to give up halfway through the movie.

Watch the movie and look for tropes. Play by standard bingo rules. Whoever gets their tropes earliest in the movie wins! (and usually, the faster you get the tropes, the more you're laughing through an otherwise overly-typical movie.)

As you think of more tropes, add them to the list! Use them in your next game!

So Remoo and I *may* have gone overboard on the tropes list. By the time we were done playing, we had 110 tropes. Some we stole from TV Tropes, some we subconsciously stole from TV Tropes, and some we just made up (and renamed for our amusement, a la Cards Against Humanity). We also managed to record our reactions to our favorite 'Love-to-Hate-It' Rom Com, "500 Days of Summer". If you'd rather see that, skip down.

The Tropes (if you want to play)

Fails Bechdel test

Looks are love-interest's only personality

Girl is Clumsy

Adorkable

Boy is architect

Manic Pixie Dream Girl

Boy is living father's dreams

Deus ex Machina (is only reason plot moves)

Douchey guitar-playing guy

Takes off glasses- suddenly attractive

Mistaken Identity

Choose between career and guy

Fake dating becomes true love

Reformed misunderstood bad boy

Best friend secretly carrying a torch

Forever alone comic relief character

Doesn't get on the plane

Mistaken relationships

Late to important date

It's not a date!

Saves her life

Uptown Girl

Mr. Fanservice

Stock Bestie

Random unsolicited advice

Out-of-context eavesdropping

Award bait song

I'm not like other girls

Ex enters the game

Beauty = goodness (or blondeness = goodness)

Bad intentions girlfriend

Never say never

Brainless beauty

Dead parent

From the mouth of babes

Rushing to the end

Getting lost

Best friend betrayal

Caught in the rain

"Why am I single?" talk

White people falling in love (popular as our free space)

"Destiny"

Montage

What to wear/Makeover

Sweet bf= stalker

Strict family

Secret genius

Oblivious to the signs

Childhood bedroom

Make a wish

Line Refrain

My family loves you, so I do too

Secret Charming Humanitarian

Pair the Spares

Powerhouse Girl Job

Unknown adventure

Shirtlessness (extra points if it's gratuitous!)

Good omen

Broker job

Advertising job

Wow, this movie is dated

Smitten secretary

Really obvious foreshadowing

DTR! (Defining the relationship talk)

Being afraid of your potential

Crying for no reason

Foreshadowing on the TV

She's an artist/pretentious hipster

Extremely appropriate music

Overused Sound Effects

Drunk sex

Phallic imagery

Everything about my penis

Impractical clothing

Song of the year as soundtrack

Awkward morning after

Sex not in bed

Secrets

Simple Pleasures are Best (aka Unwind by the lake/ by baking- it's better than the Opera)

Self-Centered Protag

Grand gesture

No one calls the cops

Unintentional imprisonment

The hand reach (when two people reach for each other, whether they can clearly *actually* reach each other, or not)

The struggle is real (another favorite free space) (referring to someone struggling with an otherwise mundane task)

Doesn't look like ____ (city) (aka Vancouver/Toronto again!)

Quotes Shakespeare/poetry

Call off the wedding!

Slapping

Token Wise Old ____

Bad experience with the police

Male gaze camera angles

I'm gonna comfort you with my dick (a personal favorite)

Crying about the friendzone (another personal favorite, and our free space for 500 Days of Summer)

Awkward meal

Struck dumb

Wallowing

"What the hell is wrong with you?" (or similar)

Terrible pick up line

Drunken terrible compliments

Stupid/redundant pep talk

Terrible dancing (aka White Boy Dancing)

Finding himself through a woman

Pretend jargon

Dream-like interlude

Now kiss! (a point when they get close to kissing and should, but don't)

Unrealistically detailed exposition

Scheming character (bonus points if they have no obvious motive) (we should make those motives spaces too)

Finishing each other's... sentences

Love at first sight

Why is everyone obsessed with me? God!

Quick change

And some I thought of just now, including:

The bet

I know I can change him/her

"I never really knew him/her"

I don't have the words- but let me try agonizingly

Thank God he/she didn't hear me!

And now, whoever is reading this, our comments on 500 Days of Summer:

Obiwan- I’m warning you right now, I hate this movie so much

Remoo- Can’t wait for him to cry into his fedora

We just changed our previously agreed upon freespace “The Struggle is real” to “Crying about the friendzone”

Remoo- throwing up already (We're still in the credits)

Obiwan- Damnit I forgot to use song of the year as this: “Us- Regina Spektor”

Remoo- yes I used the incredibly appropriate music space!

R- I didn’t realize Goobs was in this movie

O- Clark Gregg!

O- I love this song so much though, I’m so sad it’s in this shitty movie.

O- I forgot about this, it’s his little sister right. Thomas is a name for losers. No one calls has everyone call them that past the age of 12.

O- 2 minutes in and I have from the mouths of babes, yes

O- DTR!

R- We’re going to get Bingo in 10 minutes

O- Clark Gregg! I just get so excited!

O- Damnit I didn’t have destiny!

R- Remoo double flips off the tv. "Angry feminists cannot watch this movie."

O- The Smiths

R- I wrote she’s a Pretentious Hipster, do I get that?

O-Damnit I forgot the impractical clothing one!

O-I forgot that he wanted to be an architect. He is so stereotypical.

R- In response to "They called me anal girl.": “Oh I so I want to write everything about my penis for that one!”

O How many do you have so far?

R- 6 plus the free space

O-Oh Jesus Christ, this is male gaze. I hate him so much.

Obiwan's Favorite line: “So this weird girl likes the same bizarre crap you do, doesn’t mean she’s your soul mate.”

15 minutes in Remoo has bingo

R- I feel like I should remove fails Bechdel test, because I already have bingo.

Wins on: Fail Bechdel test, why am I single?, DTR, Impractical clothing, She’s a pretentious hipster

R- This is for posterity.

R- *We pause the movie* This is an atrocity. I don’t know if I’ll make it through this movie. I got bingo, time to drink. We’re only 20 minutes in. I can’t do this anymore. I hate this movie so much.

O-He is not doing this. HE IS NOT DOING THIS. Oh my god. I feel like men think…they can treat women like dogs, like if you play them The Smiths, then they’ll come to you. THEY’LL COME RUNNING, OOHOO!

O-who the FUCK are his friends?

R- “movie: holy shit, you’re a dude. YOU’RE A DUDE. (in reference to Summer's line about not wanting to define anything and just have fun while she can, Thomas's douchebag friend says this)” UM NO, HOLY SHIT, YOU’RE A MISOGYNIST. A MISOGYNIST!

R-I hate the way she dresses. That stupid bow.

O-I hate the stupid bow. It’s like, blaaaah I’m a child look at me!

R- just everything about her outfit irks me.

O-I like this beer. This beer and I are friends.

O-SHE’S GOING TO KISS HIM AT WORK? OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD. HOW IS ANY OF THIS REAL? HOW IS SHE WEARING SOMETHING LIKE THAT AT WORK? HOW IS ANY OF THIS REAL? I WISH HE’D WAKE UP AT THE END OF THIS MOVIE AND NONE OF THIS HAPPENED AND NONE OF THIS WAS REAL. THAT’D BE EXCELLENT.

O- “No jobs, I’m still unemployed” WHO SAYS THAT

R- Matthew Gray Gubler looks like he’s embarrassed to be in this movie in every scene he’s in.

O-Why are they in Ikea? You don’t go into Ikea together. WHY ARE THEY IN IKEA SO MANY TIMES? Is it like their fun place to have fun or something?!

O- “Bald eagle?” what the fuck

R- It’s what he calls his penis?

O- only if he’s Jewish. I mean WHAT

O- why is everyone in Ikea so hot, also? This is a problem. This is so unrealistic. I prefer the 30 rock version, where Ikea is where relationships go to die

O- let’s make out on an Ikea display bed. (in reference to the scene where Thomas and Summer make out on an Ikea display bed)

R- that’s not creepy at all

R- HALL AND OATES

O- DID HE JUST WINK AT HARRISON FORD

R- is everyone just glad that the white boy got laid?

O- the animated bird is just too much

O- (in response to shower sex) I forgot about this. I’m glad I forgot about this.

O- e-ver-y-thing she says has-ta be ca-yoot and se-xy (mocking summer)

O- IS THAT THE JOY DIVISION SHIRT

R- YEP. He probably doesn’t listen to Joy Division.

O- DO YOU NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT PEOPLE?

R- this little girl is a national treasure

O- she is. I love this girl. She is the only real character in this movie. (in reference to Thomas's little sister)

O- do you feel like he has a personality yet? I feel like he doesn’t have a personality yet.

R- ITS BEEN ALMOST 45 MINUTES

O- Oh god he’s preaching about nowadays and telling her not to get a tattoo.

Men are douches, that’s all this movie proves. (with the yuppie guy offering her a drink)

This is the only time in this movie that I will like JGL, when he punches the yuppie guy.

R- She has moments where she’s a real person and a rational human being, but mostly she’s just a caricature.

O- You need more than one person to decide you’re a couple.

R- You know who else is a couple? You and your hand.

R-Don’t you ring, phone.

O-Why are you apologizing to him?

“I can’t give you that, nobody can.”

O-This is the penis game part. I do like this part.

R-I like this part.

R- Same. I would scream “PENIS” too. I love the penis game too. I always win.

O- They would go to a movie named “Vagiant”

O- Slapping! Yes, I had that.

Spaces count at 54 minutes

R- 11 out of 25

O- 11 out of 25

O- No, that’s the best line in this movie “Roses are red, Violets are blue, Fuck you whore”

O-Clark Gregg, you are perfect (by assigning him the funerals and saying “Yes, misery, sadness, no reason to live”)

O- Wow, what a douche.

R- Does this count as “self-centered protagonist”

O-Wow, it’s always about her and the issues with her, like he could never do anything wrong. You are worst at dating, buddy.

“She didn’t cheat on you. She told you up front she didn’t want a boyfriend.”- said by a girl Thomas goes on a date with. Also another great line.

I just hate this guy so much. He’s like “I’m handsome and the world belongs to me”

R- This is literally the worst.

O-I still want to put down cry for no reason. (because I wanted JGL to cry) They are sitting at this kids table because he is still a child.

R- I already told my friend that I’m not doing that at her wedding. Catching the bouquet? I’m purposely gonna drop it.

O- She caught the bouquet, such foreshadowing!!

R- Are you just Coulson all the time? (in reference to Clark Gregg)

R- “Robyn’s better than the girl of my dreams. She’s real.” There you go! You go Goob! He’s one of the few redeeming characters.

R- Is he crying yet? I want to put crying about nothing?

O-He’s drinking tequila and that’s almost the same.

O-How did he not notice her engagement ring before?

O- Why is Regina Spektor playing? She is wasted on this movie. ‘I’m the hero of the story I don’t need to be saved." I do like that lyric because she said that before.

O- THIS is crying for no reason. This counts as crying for no reason.

Twinkies, that’s the ultimate sign of depression, not real depression, but stupid depression.

O That’s supposed to sound stupid, but cats are adorable. (in reference to the cat-based greeting cards)

R- I would buy every one of them.

O- Please get fired. I hate you.

“It’s these cards and the movies and the pop songs. They’re to blame for all of the lies.” R eyeroll Are you seriously having an existential crisis over Hallmark right now?

O- More black shirts. Wah wah wah.

R- I’m so emo goth.

O- That just shows that brooding is not hot when you get to be a real person.

O-I’m so glad that he can finally see that this was bad.

“I guess I should tell you Congratulations.” “Only if you mean it.” “Well in that case…” silence

O- Wow, you’re still a dick.

“So why’d you dance with me?” Uh, cause you’re her friend? – R

O- Stop accusing her, man. It’s her life. You’re a douche.

“I just woke up one day and I knew… what I was never sure of with you”

O- Oh damn.

O Dorian Grey is a lot better of a choice than the Smiths.

“I really do hope that you’re happy”

O- Wow

R- That sounded heartfelt.

Obiwan got bingo! With: The hand reach, never say never, crying about the friendzone, deus ex machina, Mr. Fan Service

O- Autumn. That’s not a stripper name at all.

R- You learned nothing! You literally learned nothing. What was the moral of that story? Was there anything?

Wow we got angry. And it was amazing. I will definitely post results when we do this again!

Bonus:

We also watched Ghost. It was the first time watching for either of us, and while we did not record our extended reactions as we did for 500 Days of Summer, we did record reactions.

“I’m going to comfort you with my dick.”

“Just think about Sam…” “while you’re fucking me!” in unison

“No day but today” (I think the best friend character really did say this) *singing on our part* "There’s only us, there’s only this, forget regret."

“You ain’t got a body no more son!”- love you Whoopi

#remoo #tropes #tv tropes #romcoms #bingo #500 days of summer #feministrage #hilarityensues