The Real Problem With Tropes Is Unquestioned Assumptions

I was noodling recently and thinking about tropes. Everybody always says that a trope can be good or bad, it’s just a matter of how well you execute it. I totally believe that, although I also think some tropes are just too overused. (Like Bullet Time was, for a while.)

But really, the thing that can make tropes bad is when they reflect an assumption that’s never questioned. Of course the keys to every car are going to be inside that flap over the car’s windshield, because everyone always leaves them there. Of course the badass female lead will fall in love with the male hero after thinking he’s pathetic for two hours, because that’s what chicks are like. Etc. etc. Tropes are fine, but one of the reasons why we get so much pleasure out of seeing them subverted is because they usually come bundled with lots of unquestioned assumptions, and expectations about the way the world works. I’m all for a trope that feels like someone has thought about how this works for 30 seconds. Not asking for a whole minute, just 30 seconds.