All the problematic movie tropes that play out on the big screen, and why we can't get enough of them

‘Allegedly Problematic’ is a monthly column by Kuzhali Manickavel, which takes a cheeky look at literary/cultural offerings from the past that would now be considered, well, problematic — and asks, ‘But are they really?’. Read more from the series  here . *** Read part 1 of this column. Hallo fam! Are you ready to dive into more problematic movie genres I enjoy? I’m not! But let’s do it anyway and let’s do it together! Here we go! Previously on Problematic Movie Tropes:  Immigrant Spelling Bee Movies ,  Hero with Heart of Milk/Gold Movies ,  The Amazing White Dude Movie ,  The White Saviour Movies ,  Poor People Work Hard and Get Rich Over the Course of One Song Movies Conquering Racism Through Team Sports Like all good people, I am very fond of the idea that racism can be conquered by things like rap battles, cheerleading and competitive team sports. Much like trauma porn, these movies offer us a clear-cut resolution to racism in about two hours, which is super convenient. Plus there is sports. We cheer when the good guys win. We go ‘ooooh’ when someone gets walloped in the groin. We feel bad for the oppressed. We feel bad for the misunderstood oppressors (because being misunderstood is apparently worse than being oppressed). Anyway, despite all their racial differences, the players come together for the “big game”, which is an absolute rollercoaster of emotion because they are losing, then they are winning, then they are losing again OH THE HUMANITY! In the end, they not only win the “big game”, they also win racism. Problematic Rating — Obviously when you watch a movie like this, it all just seems so amazing. And it’s easy to think hey! Life should be like that. Life is like that? Life is like that! No it isn’t. You can’t conquer any kind of oppression through competitive team sports. Sorry guys, you just can’t. Drug Movies I think this flavour of cinema is best savoured by those who have a passing acquaintance with drugs. These people know DRUGS BAD. They also know someone who knows someone who knows someone who sat beside someone who smoked pot once. You know who I mean. These drug movies are all about watching very unhealthy and unwashed people doing drugs. That’s it. We are not interested in anything else. We want to see needles in arms and teeth falling out but no dirty toilets obviously. Why do I watch these movies? Because I’m gross. I know I shouldn’t watch them but I do anyway. I’m so sorry fam. Problematic Rating — It behooves us to remember that drug abuse is an actual thing. It also behooves us to think about how problematic it is that we keep making movies like this, where we look at certain drug abuse experiences in what can only be described as a pornographic way. Absolutely problematic. The Thug Lyf Movies One of the reasons why I like a good Thug Lyf movie is because they are very good at romanticising terrible things. Being a pimp becomes something glamorous, involving pretty women and money. Shooting people in a drive-by or hacking someone’s head off is exciting. Everyone has cool clothes and can dance. Sometimes a Thug Lyf movie will also have a drug story in it, thus becoming a two-for-the-price-of-one bumper bonanza film. I like to think that I don’t watch these movies as much as I used to. That’s probably not true though. Problematic Rating — Fam, these are def problematic. And it’s not so much because they show someone getting their head hacked off, for example. It’s because that hacking is done in slow motion, the dude doing it is the “hero” and his hair is waving in the wind while his gaze smoulders into the camera and a rousing anthem plays in the background. Then he walks away against a backdrop of fire and we all clap and whistle like he just sang a patriotic song. What the heck fam. There are many more kinds of problematic movies that I enjoy watching but for now, I am going to end this column here. In our next instalment, I will hopefully remember to watch The Stranglers of Bombay so I can tell you all about it. Wear a mask! Bai! Kuzhali Manickavel is the author of the short story collections ‘Insects Are Just like You and Me except Some of Them Have Wings’ and ‘Things We Found During the Autopsy’, both available from Blaft Publications