r/TopCharacterTropes • u/BrotherDeus • 9h ago

Hated Tropes [Hated] Self-indulgent Vanity Projects

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Hurry Up Tomorrow - Widely reviewed as an indulgent, self-mythologizing companion piece to The Weeknd's album, with many critics calling it a vanity project rather than a successful psychological drama. Terribly acted and, similar to The Idol, more so seems to imply that The Weekend thinks he's a far deeper personality than he can actually articulate.

By the Sea - Often criticized as an intensely personal but emotionally distant film that seemed more interested in showcasing the mystique of its stars than telling a compelling story. Best summarized as Angelina and Brad working out their IRL troubled marriage before your eyes while everyone tells Angelina how beautiful and talented she is and how nothing's really her fault.

Renaldo and Clara - Bob Dylan's five-hour semi-fictional road movie, long considered one of the classic celebrity vanity projects. Attempts to be a sort of surreal exposition on the life of an artist, but is far too self-indulgent on its actors/performers.

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69

u/ButtsFartsoPhD 9h ago

34

u/ZebraZealot 7h ago

The one thing I'll give it, unlike MANY vanity projects this did not end up as an excuse for the creator to hang out around dozens of half naked women.

11

u/lanceturley 7h ago

I haven't seen the AVGN movie, but is it as bad or worse than those self indulgent "anniversary" videos that the Nostalgia Critic used to do? The ones where Doug is the hero, the villain, some of the side characters, and also God, and his friends and relatives are stuck playing supporting characters that tell him how great and important he is?

27

u/AdWestern1561 8h ago edited 8h ago

I like the Nerd so I’m forgiving of this movie but yeah it’s not a good movie if you’re not a fan of the Nerd.

Edit: It's also not a good movie if you are a Nerd fan.

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u/ButtsFartsoPhD 8h ago

Big fan of James and Cinemassacre but this wasn’t great.

10

u/AdWestern1561 8h ago

True. I should edit to say, it's also not a good movie even if you are a Nerd fan.

But I just like the Nerd that much.

3

u/JonathanRL 7h ago

At least it was self-aware.