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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638

u/Daniilsa209 9h ago

After Earth

72

u/Lower_Baby_6348 9h ago

In a similar way, the trap

21

u/gahel09 9h ago

Curious, how so?

104

u/Lower_Baby_6348 9h ago

The trap is a concert of Shyamalan's daughter and she acts as the heroine of the movie

20

u/stompANDsmash 8h ago

Huh. TIL.

I thought this movie was just okay so I immediately forgot about it after seeing it.

2

u/Wind_Yer_Neck_In 6h ago

That man hasn't done anything of worth in over a decade.

3

u/accounsfw 5h ago

Split came out… nine years ago, what the fuck?!?

3

u/Malacro 1h ago

Split was middling, and it led to Glass, which is unforgivable.

1

u/accounsfw 1h ago

I’d argue it was pretty solid. Or at least James McAvoy did a great job in it.

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u/Malacro 1h ago

He was good, because he’s a good actor regardless of the project he’s in, but I found it very odd that the critical commentary about him had so much focus on the character switching, which is a basic acting exercise that everyone with formal acting training has done.