Nuking the Fridge
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
It is proposed that this article be deleted because of the following concern:
If you can address this concern by improving, copyediting, sourcing, renaming or merging the page, please edit this page and do so. You may remove this message if you improve the article or otherwise object to its deletion for any reason. To avoid confusion, it helps to explain why you object to the deletion, either in the edit summary or on the talk page. If this template is removed, it should not be replaced. The article may be deleted if this message remains in place for five days. This template was added 2008-05-26 18:24; five days from then is 2008-05-31 18:24. If you created the article, please don't take offense. Instead, consider improving the article so that it is acceptable according to the deletion policy. Author(s) notification template: {{subst:prodwarning|Nuking the Fridge}} ~~~~ |
Nuking the Fridge is a colloquialism used by U.S. Cinema critics and fans. It has a meaning similar to jumping the shark.
It is used to denote the point in a movie or movie series at which the
characters or plot veer into a ridiculous, out-of-the-ordinary
storyline. Films that have "nuked the fridge" are typically deemed to
have passed their peak, since they have undergone too many changes to
retain their initial appeal, and after this point critical fans often
sense a noticeable decline in their quality. It is considered as the
movie correspective of what Jumping the shark means for television.
The term is an allusion to a scene in the 2008 film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull of the Indiana Jones series, when the title character Indiana Jones is literally hit by a Atomic Bomb blast while hiding inside a refrigerator in a desperate attempt to escape a nuclear test facility. The fridge is hurled several miles through the sky, and tumbles hard to the ground. The scene was considered so preposterous that many believed it to be an attempt at outdoing the over-the-top action of the classic introduction sequence of the series.
Nuke-the-fridge moments may be scenes like the one described above that finally convince viewers that the film has fundamentally and permanently strayed from its original premise. In those cases they are viewed as a desperate and futile attempt to keep a series fresh.
[edit] Origin
The phrase refers to the opening scene in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, first worldwide released on May 22 2008. The infamous scene was seen by many as betraying the normal half-serious tone of the series, by introducing an element of cartoonish factuality and typical excess.
The first public use[1] of the phrase as a direct metaphor is reported to have been on May 25, 2008, on IMDB boards by user beachedblonde.
The phrase has been used more recently outside the realm of popular culture, representing anything that has reached its peak and has turned mediocre. If one thinks a stock or a sports team or a subcultural phenomenon has reached its peak, for example, one can say that it has "nuked the fridge."
