this post was submitted on 13 Jan 2025
1280 points (99.5% liked)

Comic Strips

13586 readers
2739 users here now

Comic Strips is a community for those who love comic stories.

The rules are simple:

Web of links

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 172 points 3 weeks ago (6 children)

Malcolm in the middle was always excellent for showing exaggerated examples of realistic family meals. For breakfast the kids are all eating some kind of sugary cereal and maybe some orange juice and dad is running as fast as he can to grab coffee and go burning himself in the process. Or on the occasion they make a nice weekend breakfast, the older boys grab most of the food and there's almost nothing left for Dewey. If that show could manage to come up with a multitude of family meal scenarios over the course of the show, why can't people writing movie scripts write one single semi-realistic scene? This trope bugs me just as much as hanging up without concluding the call.

[–] [email protected] 57 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

That one gets me too. Everybody in movies just hang up on each other all day.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 3 weeks ago

I vocally say "Byeeeeee...!" whenever the call is hung up.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] [email protected] 15 points 3 weeks ago

I remember seeing somewhere that they would actually eat on All In The Family to make it more realistic, and if you watch scenes of them doing it, it definitely worked.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

How hard is it to say goodbye? What the actual fuck?

[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 weeks ago

This is part of a bigger movie trope which is basically "ain't nobody got time for that". You never see them lock the door behind themselves when leaving the house, or fumble to find their keys, or any of these small actions that are actually required in real life just gets skipped over during the editing unless there's a specific reason the audience needs to see it.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 weeks ago

Focus groups show that the audience gets confused by the word "goodbye" and think the movie is over and leave.

They kept getting bad reviews about how the movie was only 37 minutes long and had an unsatisfying story arc.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 weeks ago

It's outdated shorthand for "look! she's a good mom!"

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

Ew! Drinking orange juice while eating cereal is gross.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 84 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (4 children)

I remember when I was a kid in the 80s, they would advertise cereal as being "part of this complete breakfast," which was supposed to be cereal with milk, toast, a glass of juice and a glass of milk. And even as a kid who would eat a meal of practically any size put in front of him, I was like, "who is having all of that at breakfast?!"

Edit: I forgot! Also fruit! There would be like a whole banana next to the cereal bowl!

[–] [email protected] 40 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

Yay, marketing. The nutritional value of the cereal is probably next to nothing, but if you ate everything else, you'd get all the nutrients you'd need. 1% of the total is still "a part" of the complete breakfast. Technically not false advertising.

Basically, the more food you see, the less nutritional value in the actual cereal.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Depends on the cereal. Granola based cereal with nuts and fruits are pretty healthy if they have low sugar content.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

I can’t believe Frosted Flakes was/is legal to sell and advertise to kids with a mascot.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 weeks ago

Frosted Flakes is savory compared to some of those other cereals. Froot Loops is like just pouring a sack of sugar in your mouth. It also has a mascot and, unlike Frosted Flakes, it comes in lots of fun colors to appeal to kids.

And all of this is legal.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 weeks ago

And a sugar rush from the oj

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 weeks ago

See, the neat part was it was a complete breakfast without the cereal too!

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 weeks ago

The kids who had that kind of breakfast were probably the ones asking to go to the bathroom all the time.

[–] [email protected] 57 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

I'm an aging boomer, and I've never witnessed or experienced a family breakfast as seen on camera.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

Well......start video taping your family meals. Then it'll be on camera.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I'm on the older end of millenial. Breakfast was a bowl of corn flakes, and arguing over who gets which part of the newspaper, then everyone munches in silence in different rooms while reading.
As the youngest brother I usually didn't get any part of the newspaper, so I read the back of the corn flakes package for the hundredth time.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I remember I used to eat cereal for breakfast then die at school from stomach pains and it wasn't until a few years ago that I realized it was because I'm lactose intolerant

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 weeks ago

My two best friends always had breakfast like you see on TV because both of their moms were homemakers. Another friend's grandparents were like that too. I always loved staying at their houses.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 42 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I wondered if there was a TV Tropes page for this, and was surprised to not find one. Maybe I just missed it.

[–] [email protected] 56 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (8 children)

This is the most fitting:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodSandwich

With these being adjacent:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LateForSchool
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ToastOfTardiness

One explanation is that food spoils very quickly in studio lighting (especially after multiple takes), so the food shown are fake inedible props.
The trope's purpose is to show an intact family preparing a hearty breakfast, then giving an excuse for why the actors aren't actually eating it.
Additionally, characters can't drive the story forward through conversation while chewing. Eating isn't relevant to the plot.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 3 weeks ago (5 children)

I've been listening to a lot of TV and movie podcasts. Fake food is often more expensive than real food. Unless there is a good reason, food is more often than not real.

But it's rarely eaten.

Actors have to do several takes and if they eat in the shot, they have to eat in every shot. A lot of young actors who don't know often learn this very early in their career to never eat the food because they will forever be sick of it.

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Yeah, they're elements of that scene, but not the whole thing, which seems strange because it's such a common one. I know I've seen it many, many times over the years.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 weeks ago

Seems like maybe another trope is a character refusing to eat when they are upset or grieving. This happens in real life, too, of course. But it's kind of a frequent go-to for writers.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 weeks ago

Brad Pitt doesn't seem to have any problems eating on film, but you make everything you do look good when you're that charismatic and handsome.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] [email protected] 38 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Breakfast in real life: "why did I toast both poptarts?"

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 weeks ago

Or... Should I finish the box? I ate the five of them, seems weird to just let the sixth one sit here.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

Is there any possibility this is done just to make it blindingly obvious to the viewer that Breakfast Is Happening™?

Seems like someone grabbing a couple breakfast bars and a canned beverage might plausibly finish the task quickly enough that a viewer may not notice, particularly if it’s not the foreground of the scene.

Or maybe it’s for the same reason anyone coming back from the grocery store will have a paper bag with celery stalks and a baguette poking out the top? No reason other than that it’s the conventional way of demonstrating the trope.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

Could just as easily do like I do for my family:

"You wanted bagel with cream cheese, right?"

"I only have time for half."

"Then take the other half with you, it's hand-held food. The whole point is you can take it to go."

"They don't allow food on the bus."

"Whatever, I'll eat the other half. Have a good day. BOY! DID YOU FINISH YOUR WAFFLE WITH PEANUT BUTTER? I NEED YOU TO SIT ON THE POTTY SO FINISH YOUR BREAKFAST! Oh, hey, did you want toast or english muffin or something, Hon?"

"Nnnnnnhghh.... just coffee..."

"It's already out to cool down, there on the stove. I WILL THROW OUT THAT WAFFLE IF YOU DON'T FINISH IT WE HAVE TO GOOOO!"

I feel like that would get the "breakfast is happening" vibe out there.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

"They don't allow food on the bus"? Seriously? Has your family never snuck food into a movie theater before?

Just stick the bagel in a sandwich bag, and hide it under your coat or in your bag. Eat it at your destination. It's not hard to pull off.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 3 weeks ago

to make it blindingly obvious to the viewer that Breakfast Is Happening™?

True, its often used to signal that we have jumped to the next day in the same way they might use a rooster call in a rural setting.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 weeks ago

Is there any possibility this is done just to make it blindingly obvious to the viewer that Breakfast Is Happening™?

I think it's either that, or directors for major movies tending to be fabulously wealthy and not knowing what normal people have for breakfast.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

The just leaving it without taking so much as a bite like it's no big deal is as hard for me to believe as the spread itself. On the face of it, it shouldn't be, after all it's entirely plausible and narratively sensible that the character doesn't have time and technically it only reinforces the ludicrousness of the giant meal on a weekday morning but, if I was late in the morning but also someone had cooked me pancakes and bacon and eggs with orange juice and coffee and all these cafe breakfast dishes altogether on the table like that then work is just going to have to wait. I'm not spurning pancakes for anything.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 weeks ago

The fact that it's daytime outside always bothered me too. My parents were always rushing us out the door before the sun was up. Maybe in the spring but even then it wasn't full daylight outside like in these scenes.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 weeks ago

I once had a manager tell me "If you're late, but you haven't had breakfast, be later"

If you work a taxing job (mentally or physically) you gotta have a calorie store

[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I can see she is holding 7 flapjacks with a pad of butter. I am going to assume the yellow is a eggs. Glass of milk and OJ on the table. The dad has more flapjacks with bacon and eggs. What is the orange stuff in the kids plate and what are the multi-colored things in the bowl?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

The multi-colored stuff is probably cereal.

The yellow could be homefries (cubed potato's), corn flakes, or a big bowl of butter. (I like you egg theory)

The orange goop is probably oatmeal or one of these cereal that's supposed to turn chocolate, but failed.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›