So What's The Deal?

Americans tend to see Congress as a bunch of old, out-of-touch white men deep in the pockets of special interests. We don't agree on much these days, but we do agree on how much we hate the people we elected to office. In real life, the American government is protected by a system of checks and balances that don't allow any one branch (or person) to completely take over. But an efficiently run bipartisan commission doesn't readily lend itself to shootouts with M16s or badass one-liners.

Marvel StudiosAnd even fewer lend themselves to the president wearing Iron Man armor.

Americans hate their congressmen because they are, by definition, members of a large body that have to compromise to get things done. We don't want limitations or compromise; we want them to deliver on their campaign promise of making Taco Bell the national religion. All the backchannel dealings and political doublespeak isn't very heroic. We want to see a hero make a grand speech before shooting an undead fascist reptilian in the neck, and we don't want to see it get held up in committee.

On the flip side, there's nothing more horrifying than a younger woman with an old man. Every woman in a relationship with an older man is forced into it -- like in Beetlejuice, Lemony Snicket, or Mad Max: Fury Road. Or else they're a seriously screwed up and broken person, like in Adventureland, White Bird In A Blizzard, and American Beauty. If a young woman is involved with an older man, there's sure to be some kind of problem in the relationship, and it's a big deal and a huge driver in the plot of that movie.

So What's The Deal?

In the real world, it's older men who most frequently date and take advantage of younger women. In many cultures, women are valued primarily for their youth and sex appeal. Sometimes the use of this trope can be an attempt to call out that paradigm, but often it ends up reinforcing it instead.

DreamWorks PicturesRegardless of what the attempt was, this shit is still stupid.

By suggesting that it's hilarious and ridiculous for an older woman to be into a younger man (or for a younger man to be attracted to her), they're still enforcing the idea that young men can and should sexually conquer whatever woman they feel like. When Fez and Kelso (falsely) believe Eric slept with Donna's mom in That 70s Show, they worship him like a god. That isn't exactly empowering Donna's mom.

Even when it's not played for laughs, older women dating young men is almost always a score for the man. Big, 17 Again, and Blank Check all involve minors winning the affection of women at least 15 years their senior. Despite the statutory rapiness of these relationships, we as the audience are led to believe that everything is cool, because women couldn't possibly take advantage of men. That's something only creepy old men do.

New Line CinemaIt helps if you're as unfairly good-looking as Zac Efron.

And with old men and underage women, it's still the same power dynamic, even though the ages are reversed. The older men are dominating young women, and while some movies do depict this as a bad thing, they still act like women are essentially powerless. No matter how you slice it, men are still the sexual instigators and hold all the power in these relationships, whether by forcing the young women to do what they want or seducing them with their irresistible, disturbingly boyish charm.

What is the final step in the loss of Anakin Skywalker's humanity? Getting all his body parts chopped off, forcing him to be remade as an evil magical space robot ... wizard. The one-armed man in The Fugitive was hired to knock off Dr. Richard Kimble's wife despite A) it being way harder to kill people with only one arm, and B) a one-armed guy being infinitely easier to trace. That leads us to think that in the world of The Fugitive, it's damn near impossible to hire a murderer with all his appendages. Bucky from the Captain America: The Winter Soldier isn't merely killing people; he's killing people with a robot arm. That's so much worse!

Marvel StudiosOriginally, instead of the red star, it was going to be little stamps for how many puppies he crushed.

So What's The Deal?

"But there are examples of heroes having prosthetics," you scream at your phone, drawing odd looks from the other bus passengers. "Ever heard of Luke Skywalker?" There's a difference: He can "pass." Luke's hand looks and functions as normal, no matter how close you get, whereas Vader has that weird harmonica set-up when they take off his helmet.

20th Century FoxThis is what you get when all the kings horses and men couldn't put Humpty together again.

Screenwriters think they're saving time by showing us a character's inner evil. Missing a chunk of arm is analogous to missing part of their humanity. That's why half the Bond villains replace body parts with weapons and every pirate captain is missing a leg. It's an easy way to tell the audience "Hey, this one-limbed dude is evil. You can tell, because he doesn't have a as many limbs as he should."

The problem is that by repeating this trope so frequently, it starts to feel like Hollywood actually has some kind of issue with handicapped people. And sure, some people with prosthetic limbs are probably housing some sort of ion cannon in there, but not all of them, certainly.

Warner Bros.Not every handicapped person is hiding mechanical spider legs. P- probably.

Jordan Breeding has a blog, a band, and is prejudiced against PG-13 thrillers. It's his cross to bear.

Also check out 6 Absurd Action Tropes You Never Noticed And Can't Unsee and 12 Specific Scenes That Superhero Movies Have Perfected.

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