*Some of the examples used in the rules may spoil the plot of the movies.
*Opposites Attract
People who seemingly have nothing in common will fall in love by the end of the movie. Examples: Can’t Buy Me Love, The Break Up, Poetic Justice, Blind Date, The Main Event, The Notebook, Revenge Of The Nerds, Pretty Woman, Grease, Something New, etc. Exception to the rule: Bringing Down The House
Nice Guy Finishes Last
Whenever there’s a love triangle, the nice guy usually loses out unless the nice guy is the star. Examples: Sweet Home Alabama, Liar, Liar, The Wedding Planner, Something New, Bird on a Wire, Grease, In the Mix, The Notebook, etc.
Butchering of the Third Party
This is an extension of the Nice Guy Finishes Last rule. If there are people keeping the couple who are destined to be together apart, expect them to be butchered. They will suddenly become the bad guys. Examples: The Wedding Crashers, Brown Sugar, Bring It On, Bring It On All or Nothing, Move Over Darling,, The Wedding Planner, Maid In Manhattan, Hiding Out, Adventures in Babysitting, etc.
Answering the Phone
A person has a conversation with someone and then they hang up. The phone rings and the person assumes it’s the previous caller. They will refer to the person by name. Expect the person to be wrong. This happens in several movies as well as television show.
*Little Engine That Could
This rule applies mostly to movies about sports teams. If the team is a losing team at the beginning of the movie, they will be a winning team by the end. Examples: Remember The Titans, Glory Road, Sunset Park, Little Giants, Rebound, Gridiron Gang, Hardball, etc.
*Underdog Rule
When characters have the odds stacked against them, they usually come out on top. Examples: Karate Kid, Revenge of the Nerds, Rocky movies, The Last Dragon, The Pursuit of Happyness, Stand and Deliver, Over the Top, etc.
Cross dressing
In movies where men and women dress up as the opposite sex, expect the following to happen:
- They will be exposed in a humiliating way.
- Someone of the same sex will fall for them.
- They are placed in positions where their identities are nearly exposed sooner than anticipated (Guys dressed as women will have to take physicals, showers, etc. Women dressed as guys have to take their shirts off for sports).
- Most people won’t notice that men dressed as women have Adam’s Apples. Women dressed as men have breasts.
- The love interests that fall for the cross dressers never question their sexuality. They spend most of their time with the cross dressers while they are dressed as the same sex as they are, but they fall in love with them when their true identities are revealed.
Pratfalls and Slapstick
In some comedies, expect to see a lot of tripping and falling take place. This is obviously done for cheat laughs. Examples: Wedding Crashers, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Miss Congeniality, Never Been Kissed, Clueless, Uptown Girls, She’s the Man, Major League, Pink Panther, Austin Power movies, etc.
Singers/Rappers in movies
Anytime a singer or a rapper are in a movie, expect them to sing or rap in the movie or their song will be on the soundtrack. Examples: The Bodyguard, From Justin To Kelly, Glitter, Dreamgirls, Poetic Justice, 8 Mile, The Hard Way, Get Rich Or Die Trying, The Preacher’s Wife, Sunset Park, Enough, Maid In Manhattan, The Fighting Temptations, etc.
Humiliation for laughs
A lot of comedies will have characters humiliating themselves and others for laughs. Examples: Meet The Parents, Meet The Fockers, There’s Something About Mary, The Wedding Crashers, Nutty Professor, Liar Liar, Dumb and Dumber, Starsky and Hutch, etc.
The abused victim
People who are abused usually go to people they know to get away from their abusers. This makes it easy for them to find them. Examples: Enough, What’s Love Got To Do With It, The Tracey Thurman Story, Bastard Out Of Carolina, The Burning Bed, etc.
Bad manners on the phone
People who use the phone usually hang up on people without saying goodbye.
Exact change
Whenever people have to pay for something, they rarely count out the change. They always hand cashiers, taxi drivers, delivery people, etc. the exact amount of money needed. They rarely give change out or give change back.
That’s all for now. I’ll be back when I have more rules.
