8 of our favourite film cliches that refuse to die

Does it drive you crazy when people in movies continue to do things that don’t actually happen in real life? Things like how action hero’s always emerge unscathed after a hail of bullets fly their way, or when people have the most fantastic sex without any awkward moments, or when the girl runs into the woods trying to escape bad guys. These events are common place in films and somehow continue to be used again again again. 
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Here are some of our favourite examples:

1. When paying for a taxi, the person doesn’t look into a wallet or purse as you take out the bills. They just grab one at random and hand it over. Somehow It will always be the exact fare. 

2.  How many times have you shut the mirrored bathroom cabinet to see someone behind you in the reflection? Uh… never?? It seems to happen often in horror movies. The protagonist finds the antagonist standing right behind them. 

3. This is one of our favourites… When a character hits a mirror, shattering it in frustration. The character then realizes their mistake and wraps their hand in a bandage. 

4. It is never necessary to say "Hello" or "Goodbye" when having a telephone conversation. How A disconnected call can always be restored by frantically beating the cradle and saying "Hello? Hello?" repeatedly. 

5. Who keeps scrapbooks any more? Everything is digitized. In films only teenage girls and psychopath, scrapbook anymore. who knows that the scrapbook will clear up any ambiguities when it is discovered in a drawer in the final reel. 

6. The ventilation system of any building is the perfect hiding place. Nobody will ever think of looking for you in there and you can travel to any other part of the building undetected. 

7. All beds have special L-shaped sheets that reach to armpit level on a woman but only up to the waist of the man lying beside her. When people are wandering around before or after making love, and they’re decorously covered with sheets, it’s always seemed phoney. 

8. The first punch always connects properly, usually on the chin. In real life this almost never happens. Most people who get into fights are not expert boxers. The first couple of punches usually miss or just scrape the side of their intended target. 
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There are many more examples which we could never fit into a single blog post. In fact, Roger Ebert wrote a whole book about movie clichés. We expect some suspension of disbelief, movies by their nature rely on certain conventions, but writers and directors really need to come up with some better ways to convey stories. 
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