Hollywood has a history of nonchalantly infusing stock characters in movies that round out the story.
A stock character is a stereotypical archetypal character that is distinguished by their one-dimensional flatness. For instance, examples of stock characters would be the “crazy cat lady,” the “damsel in distress,” or the “elderly martial arts master.” You probably get the idea.
And one hilarious comedian trolled stock characters in Hollywood movies.
There is a long history of stock characters in literary or dramatic plays. In fact, it dates all the way back to Ancient Greece when Greek tragedies were made famous around 300 B.C.
Some Ancient Greek stock characters included “man without moral feeling,” “absent-minded man,” “the coward,” “the shamelessly greedy man.” That’s about as one-dimensional as you could possibly get.
But arguably the greatest playwright in history, William Shakespeare, implemented them into his work nearly two thousand years later as well.
Shakespeare would overuse “the drunken glutton,” “the clumsy fool,” “the clever and conniving servant,” and “the shrewish wife” all the time. The difference though is these characters were intended to be insignificant expository characters – occasionally used as comedic personas to cut tension – because all of his others were well rounded and incredibly complex.
Some examples are the “furious chief of police,” “the hooker with a heart of gold,” “the extremely smart stripper,” “the relentless bully,” or “the hotheaded cop.”
And comedian Chris Calogero compiled a list of hilarious short videos where he mocks a plethora of stock characters with lines they seemingly use in all movies.
“The police chief in every action movie who’s had it with the FBI”
Every Police Chief In An Action Movie pic.twitter.com/hx2lq2iQIz
— Chris Calogero (@RealChrisCal) February 27, 2019
“The sports coach giving the last inspirational speech to an underdog team”
The Ultimate Inspirational Movie Coach pic.twitter.com/HNpg6gKw0M
— Chris Calogero (@RealChrisCal) March 5, 2019
“The overly dramatic performance designed as Oscar bait”
Every Desperate Oscar Bait Moviepic.twitter.com/LGXetXieCN
— Chris Calogero (@RealChrisCal) March 7, 2019
“The main character’s best friend in a Romantic Comedy”
Every Best Guy Friend in a RomCompic.twitter.com/jQhlwtps0c
— Chris Calogero (@RealChrisCal) March 12, 2019
“Every scientist in a disaster movie”
Every Movie Scientist Who Discovers The World Ending Disasterpic.twitter.com/3cKAmvGKrw
— Chris Calogero (@RealChrisCal) March 13, 2019
“The amazed guy on the street who’s just seen a superhero for the first time”
Every Guy on The Street Who Just Saw a Superhero pic.twitter.com/iculzVFYTw
— Chris Calogero (@RealChrisCal) March 14, 2019
Maybe the funniest: “The guy who convinces the retired career criminal to pull one last job that will set them for life that the audience knows will kill them”
Every Guy In a Movie Who Convinces
His Old Partner to Pull One Last Job That The Audience Knows Will Kill Himpic.twitter.com/cKN6Sr0po1— Chris Calogero (@RealChrisCal) March 15, 2019
Lastly, “Every skeptic in a Horror movie who’s obviously about to be murdered”
Every Guy In a Horror Movie Who Is Unreasonably Skeptical Until It’s
Too Latepic.twitter.com/08IpRnHyxC— Chris Calogero (@RealChrisCal) April 16, 2019
This will forever change how you view stock characters in movies.