I f***ing hate it when writers (of movies, tv programs, comics, books, etc.) use the plot device i like to call “save the stupid ass kid who doesn’t give a shit about endangering the lives of those who love him”. This is waaaa….y too overused and i always cringe whenever i recognize it in its many different forms and incarnations in storytelling regardless of media used. I know you know what i’m talking about but for those who don’t, this usually involves introducing a child into the story and having the protagonist save him/her in the end. This child is often cute, and soooo freakin’ adorable that you you can’t help but root for him/her. He/she is usually related to the protagonist of the story, and usually the protagonist likes the child a lot (although sometimes the child used can be a total stranger). The early parts of the story will show the bond formed between the child and the protagonist. It will try to draw you in, so that you will care for the child too. This often involves showing funny and cute scenes (like the hero playing with the kid, doing something stupid together… etc.) and in “watchable media”, lots of close ups of the kid’s innocent face with his/her bright eyes and sunshiny smile (aaaawww, so cute!!!). After that is done, something will happen that will traumatize the child. Lotsa’ times, someone close to the child dies, or will die due to sickness or any bad event. Then the next part involves showing the grief of the child, usually achieved through showing scenes wherein the child does things alone like playing for example because his/her loved one is sick or already dead, and then a close up of his/her face showing tears blurring the bright eyes, and a frown pulling down the sunshiny smile (aaaawww, how sad…. Well and good so far but this is when things start to f**k up! First, usually the child gets it into his/her stupid head that there is something he/she can do (stemming from a very noble reason or may be a result of sorrow) about the sick or dead loved one or whatever bad situation the writer used, then he/she will plan to do it alone (or with another stupid kid) without asking for help or advise from his neglectful guardians! Which is absolutely preposterous. This “something he/she can do” usually involves going to a dangerous place or doing a dangerous thing and the stupid plan goes awry and eveything falls apart. A child is used for this plot device so the story will make sense because if an adult is used, it won’t be realistic anymore (therefore implying that nothing is too stupid for a child to do, which is their view, not mine). This is when the protagonist will be busy doing some crap causing him/her to fail to keep watch on the child along with the moronic supporting cast. This is what I term as “collective and very efficient for the story” neglect, wherein all of a sudden everyone who should be watching over the child has something to do and the child runs away and does his/her idiotic plan. A variant of this is that the child does his/her getaway through an ingenious trick so the guardians won’t be blamed. The next part will show the hero returning and noticing that the child is gone. You will usually hear a dialogue that goes something like “I thought you were watching him?” “No, I thought YOU were watching him!” then “WHAT THE F**K? I thought you were watching him!!! YOU PIECE OF S**T!!!” and so on… Then they will all talk and will realize where the child has gone off to and will endeavor to follow and save him/her. Oftentimes this will really endanger the life of the protagonist through sacrificing him/herself for the sake of the child or sometimes even causing his/her death or that of another character altogether. In the end, the child is usually saved and everyone is so relieved of that fact that they forget to reprimand the child or beat him to death (and so the brat goes on with his/her s***ty behavior). This is sad because it makes the child very hateful to me, and I end up cursing the f***ing delinquent. The image of the bright eyes and sunshiny smile (aaaawww… so cute!!!) turns into malicious eyes and devious smirk (aaaawww…. so DAMN HATEFUL!!!). All so that the writer can prolong his/her story and to establish the heroic virtue of the protagonist. This teaches us that you can get away with anything as long as you’re cute and adorable with bright eyes and sunshiny eyes. I F***ING HATE IT!!!!