History Main / DispenseWithThePleasantries

* ''Francise/StarWars'':

* As implied by the page quotation, Vader's blunt dismissal of Jerjerrod's flattery in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' provides the trope name.
* Downplayed in ''Film/PrettyWoman'', where it at first seems to be this but turns out to be about redirecting the flattery to someone else.
-->''[After Edward informs salesclerk Hollister that he will be spending an obscene amount of money buying clothes for Vivian at Hollister's shop]''
-->'''Hollister:''' Mr. Lewis? How's it going so far?
-->'''Edward:''' Pretty well, I think. I think we need some major sucking up.
-->'''Hollister:''' Very well, sir. You're not only handsome but a powerful man. I could see the second you walked in here, you were someone to reckon with...
-->'''Edward:''' Hollister.
-->'''Hollister:''' Yes, sir?
-->'''Edward:''' Not me. Her.
* {{God}} to King Arthur in ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'':
-->'''GOD:''' Arthur! Arthur, King of the Britons! Oh, don't grovel! If there's one thing I can't stand, it's people groveling.
-->'''Arthur:''' Sorry--
-->'''GOD:''' And don't apologize. Every time I try to talk to someone it's "sorry" this and "forgive me" that and "I'm not worthy". What are you doing now!?
-->'''Arthur:''' I'm averting my eyes, O Lord.
-->'''GOD:''' Well, don't. It's like those miserable Psalms-- they're ''so'' depressing. Now knock it off!

--> '''Max''': I just want to say what a pleasure it is to meet you.
--> '''Ms. Petrie''': No time for pleasantries.

* In ''Film/LeanOnMe,'' Clark makes abundantly clear at a teachers' meeting that flattery isn't going to work on him.
-->'''Mr. O'Malley:''' We want to welcome Mr. Clark to Eastside; we've heard so much about you; and tell you what we have done in anticipation of your arrival. Mrs. Levias, your other vice principal, and I have appointed an executive committee to oversee certain areas where we have noted a need for improvement, and Mr. Zirella, for example...
-->'''Joe:''' You may sit down, Mr. O'Malley.
* In ''Film/TheFifthElement'', Korben asks the President to stop thanking him and tell what the problem is now.
* Used in ''[[Literature/LeiningenVersusTheAnts The Naked Jungle]]''. It's a bad sign when this happens at your first meeting.

* In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy,'' Gamora won't be distracted by the pleasantries:
-->'''The Collector:''' Oh, my dear Gamora. How wonderful to meet in the flesh.
-->'''Gamora:''' Let's bypass the formalities, Tivan. We have what we discussed.
* ''Film/Conspiracy2001'': Variation. When Heydrich walks into the villa to chair the Wannsee meeting, the other senior Nazis all perform a Hitler salute. Heydrich orders everyone to forego the greeting for the remainder of the discussions to cut down on time. This immediately sets the tone for the rest of the film: Heydrich's sole objective is to remove all red tape standing in the way of the Holocaust, not to discuss policy in any meaningful sense.

-->'''[[AffablyEvil Doug the Head]]''': Avi!
-->'''[[ScrewPolitenessImASenior Avi]]''': Shut up and sit down, you big bald [[PrecisionFStrike fuck]]!
* At the end of ''Film/SmokeyAndTheBandit'', where Sheriff Justice and the Bandit are in virtual arm's length and communicate by C.B. radio:
-->'''Bandit:''' Before I tell you where I am, I just want to tell you something. You must be part coon dog. 'Cause I've been chased by the best of 'em but you make 'em all look like they're running in slow motion. Just want to tell you that.\\
'''Justice:''' (''a little humbled'') Well, thank you kindly, Mr. Bandit. And may I just say that as the pursuer, you're about the God damndest pursuee I ever pursued. Now that the mutual bullshit is over...'''''WHERE ARE YOU, YOU SOMBITCH??!!'''''

* Inverted by Creator/AgathaChristie in ''The Pale Horse'' where [[AmoralAttorney Mr. Bradley]] is shocked at Mark Easterbrook dispensing with the pleasantries.

* In ''Literature/{{Pyramids}}'', Pteppic keeps asking Dios to say something without prefacing it with all of his titles, which are extremely lengthy and Dios insists on announcing at the start of every sentence. Dios ignores him.
* In ''Literature/TheHobbit'', Beorn loses patience after the first handful of dwarves bow to him and say, "At your service," proceeding to brush the next ones off before they can say anything by telling them he doesn't need their service and they should just say their names.

* [[Series/TheSopranos Tony Soprano]] usually has little tolerance for beating around the bush, particularly when in an irritable mood (which is a lot of the time). He's very much a "let's get straight to business" kind of guy.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones''. Lady Sansa and Jon Snow must appeal to the ten-year-old ruler of House Mormont for armed support in attacking Winterfell. They try to flatter Lady Mormont by comparing her to her namesake Lyanna Stark and talking about her uncle Jeor, but she will have none of it and demands to know what they want.

* In the ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' episode "Doppelganger", as Not-Tony tries to hit on Kate, inviting her to dinner:
---> '''Kate''': Why not just go right back to your place?
---> '''Not-Tony''': [[SarcasmBlind Are you serious?]]
---> '''Not-Gibbs''': ''[gives him a DopeSlap]'' She's not, but I am.
* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}''. Jerry is perplexed at the forwardness of a woman he encounters in a store--asking him out, suggesting that they go back to his place, immediately jumping on him--without any lead-in to any of these activities, until she breaks down and tells him her [[ItMakesSenseInContext husband asked her to behave like this]].
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': In "Amends", Buffy manages to combine this trope with "DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu":
-->'''The First''': You think you can fight me? I'm not a demon, little girl. I am something that you can't even conceive. The First Evil. Beyond sin, beyond death. I am the thing the darkness fears. You'll never see me, but I am everywhere. Every being, every thought, every drop of hate—\\
'''Buffy''': Alright, I get it. You're evil. Do we have to chat about it all day?
* ''Series/BlakesSeven''. Used for an EstablishingCharacterMoment when the audience is [[Recap/BlakesSevenS1E6SeekLocateDestroy first introduced]] to [[BigBad Supreme Commander Servalan]] and [[TheDragon Space Commander Travis]]. Servalan tells her aide to have Travis wait outside just to show him who's boss. Travis, however, pushes his way into her office, an [[YouGotSpunk act of insubordination which Servalan takes entirely in stride.]]
-->'''Travis:''' Your aide said I was to wait. He was obviously mistaken. [[ThisIsNoTimeForKnitting He doesn't realize the urgency of the matter.]]
** This gets a CallBack in "Deliverance" when Servalan makes Travis wait to speak to her again. She points out that Travis would never have put up with that before, so the fact that he's willing to do so now is a sign of how desperate he is to [[YouHaveFailedMe regain her favour]].

* After being freed in ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'', Po Kong the Mountain Demon tells her sibling "Enough fanfare. [[BigEater What's for supper?]]"

-->'''GOD:''' And don't apologize. Every time I try to talk to someone it's "sorry this" and "forgive me that" and "I'm not worthy". What are you doing now!?
-->'''Arthur:''' I'm averting my eyes, oh Lord.

* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': On more than one occasion, Sisko has told Weyoun that he can skip his whole AffablyEvil act.
-->'''Weyoun:''' How delightful. You feel comfortable enough around me to make jokes. I'm so pleased to see our relationship evolving beyond the stale adversarial stage.
-->'''Sisko:''' No it's not. But before you twist that into a compliment, let me be blunt. I don't like the Dominion, I don't like what it stands for, and I don't like you. So let's dispense with the hollow pleasantries and stick to business.
* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''. When Captain Janeway first encounters Seven of Nine, the Borg drone cuts short Janeway's questions about her [[ThatManIsDead pre-assimilation past]]. "Do not engage us in further irrelevant discourse."
* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "Face of the Enemy", Troi is forced to impersonate Major Rakal, a Romulan [[SecretPolice Tal Shiar]] [[ThePoliticalOfficer officer]], aboard a Romulan Warbird. The Warbird's commander, Toreth, [[JurisdictionFriction already distrusting of Tal Shiar officers]], tries to pull this on Troi by asking about Rakal's life story, e.g. where she went to school. Troi gets out of this by telling Toreth to just get to her point.
* In the ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' MirrorUniverse episode "In a Mirror, Darkly", Mayweather helps Archer [[KlingonPromotion oust Captain Forrest]] and become TheCaptain himself, and is rewarded by becoming Archer's personal bodyguard.
--> '''Mayweather:''' And Captain...I'd like to be the first to congratulate you on a brilliant stratagem. I'm certain that in years to come--\\

---> '''Kate''': "Why not just go right back to your place?"
---> '''Not-Tony''': "[[SarcasmBlind Are you serious?]]"
---> '''Not-Gibbs''': ''[gives him a DopeSlap]'' "She's not, but I am."

->'''Darth Vader''': You may [[TropeNamers dispense with the pleasantries]], Commander. I'm here to put you back on schedule.

->'''Darth Vader''': You may dispense with the pleasantries, Commander. I'm here to put you back on schedule.

--> '''[[CainAndAbel Cain]]:''' [[TryToFitThatOnABusinessCard From the Lord of the Dreamworld, Prince of Stories, Monarch of the Sleeping Marches, His Darkness Dream of the Endless]], to His Infernal Majesty, Lucifer, called Morningstar: greetings. Our right trusty and well-beloved cousin -

* ''[[Film/{{DEBS}} D.E.B.S.]]'' Ms. Petrie (the team's boss) arrives for a visit.

* [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] in ''Series/StargateSG1'' episode ''Full Circle'' when Daniel (who has at this point AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence) shows up again and immediately launches into a detailed explanation of what Anubis is up to and what they need to do about it. O'Neill gets upset ''because'' Daniel didn't even bother with such basic pleasantries as saying hello to him first, and forces the conversation to restart with greetings and pleasantries.

* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''. When Captain Janeway first encounters Seven of Nine, the Borg drone cuts short Janeway's questions about her [[ThatWomanIsDead pre-assimilation past]]. "Do not engage us in further irrelevant discourse."

* In ''VideoGame/DetroitBecomeHuman'', [[PlayerCharacter Connor]] can be on the receiving end of this trope if he joins Hank in his meeting with Detroit police captain Fowler. If the player picks the [POSITIVE] [[DialogueTree dialogue choice]] when Hank leaves the office, he'll tell Fowler how happy he is to have joined the team and makes sure to do his best. Uninterested, Fowler simply [[GetOut points towards the door and interrupts him mid-sentence, telling him to close the door on his way out]] without even bothering to look up from his computer screen. [[{{beat}} Connor gives a dejected look as the police captain takes a sip from his coffee mug]] before finally leaving.

* After being freed in ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'', Po Kong the Mountain Demon tells her sibling "Enough fanfare. [[BigEater What's for supper]]."

'''Justice:''' Well, thank you kindly, Mr. Bandit. And may I just say that as the pursuer, you're about the God damndest pursuee I ever pursued. Now that the mutual bullshit is over...'''''WHERE ARE YOU, YOU SOMBITCH??!!'''''

-->'''Bandit:''' Befor I tell you where I am, I just want to tell you something. You must be part coon dog. 'Cause I've been chased by the best of 'em but you make 'em all look like they're running in slow motion. Just want to tell you that.\\

TruthInTelevision, of course.

Sister trope to HatesSmallTalk

->'''Darth Vader''': You may [[TropeNamer dispense with the pleasantries]], Commander. I'm here to put you back on schedule.

One side of the conversation will start it with flattery and[=/=]or small-talk, perhaps out of fondness for such things, or perhaps simply as a way to put off addressing the relevant subject. The other side, however, will have none of it; they want to get straight to the point, and won't let flattery or small talk distract or delay them. They tell the other side to [[TitleDrop dispense with the pleasantries]] and get down to business right away.

* In ''Discworld/{{Pyramids}}'', Pteppic keeps asking Dios to say something without prefacing it with all of his titles, which are extremely lengthy and Dios insists on announcing at the start of every sentence. Dios ignores him.

* In ''Disney/OliverAndCompany'', when Fagin is visited by a [[AllDevouringBlackHoleLoanSharks mafia loan shark]] named Sykes; one whom Fagin owes money to and is implied not to be able to pay it back in time; he tries to put off admitting this by talking about the weather and about Sykes' dogs.

->'''Vader''': You may [[TropeNamer dispense with the pleasantries]], Commander. I'm here to put you back on schedule.

* In ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya: Remote Island Syndrome'', Haruhi starts out extremely polite to the owner of the mansion. He then mentions that he's surprised since he has heard she's rather... direct. At this point she dispenses with the pleasantries and launches a barrage of questions about how many mysterious events, murders, etc. have taken place there.

* Downplayed in ''Film/PrettyWoman'', where it at first seems to be this, but turns out to be about redirecting the flattery to someone else.

-->'''Hollister:''' Very well, sir. You're not only handsome, but a powerful man. I could see the second you walked in here, you were someone to reckon with...

-->'''Mr. O'Malley:''' We want to welcome Mr. Clark to Eastside; we've heard so much about you; and tell you what we have done in anticipation of your arrival. Mrs. Levias, your other vice principal, and I, have appointed an executive committee to oversee certain areas where we have noted a need for improvement, and Mr. Zirella, for example...

* ''Film/MurderOnTheOrientExpress2017''. Ratchett has been getting anonymous death threats and wants to hire Hercule Poirot as a bodyguard, but he's been ignoring him. Eventually Ratchett sits down at Poirot's table, saying he hates dining alone. Poirot quickly sees through his attempt at small talk.

* [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] in ''Series/StargateSG1'' episode ''Full Circle'' when Daniel (who has at this point AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence) shows up again and immediately launches into a detailed explanation of what Anubis is up to and what they need to do about it. O'Neill gets upset ''because'' Daniel didn't even bother with such basic pleasantries as saying hello to him first, and forces the conversation to restart with greetings and pleasanties.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones''. Lady Sansa and Jon Snow must appeal to the ten year-old ruler of House Mormont for armed support in attacking Winterfell. They try to flatter Lady Mormont by comparing her to her namesake Lyanna Stark and talking about her uncle Jeor, but she will have none of it and demands to know what they want.

* ''Series/BlakesSeven''. Used for an EstablishingCharacterMoment when the audience is [[Recap/BlakesSevenS1E6SeekLocateDestroy first introduced]] to [[BigBad Supreme Commander Servalan]] and [[TheDragon Space Commander Travis]]. Servalan tells her aide to have Travis wait outside just to show him who's boss. Travis however pushes his way into her office, an [[YouGotSpunk act of insubordination which Servalan takes entirely in stride.]]

* In ''Theatre/TwelfthNight'', Olivia will not allow Viola to continue with Orsino's declaration of love to her. In her case it's that the message is nothing ''but'' pleasantries, and nothing she hasn't heard from Orsino's messengers a hundred times before.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

->'''Vader''': You may [[TropeNamer dispense with the pleasantries]], commander. I'm here to put you back on schedule.

* ''Film/{{Conspiracy}}'': Variation. When Heydrich walks into the villa to chair the Wannsee meeting, the other senior Nazis all perform a Hitler salute. Heydrich orders everyone to forego the greeting for the remainder of the discussions to cut down on time. This immediately sets the tone for the rest of the film: Heydrich's sole objective is to remove all red tape standing in the way of the Holocaust, not to discuss policy in any meaningful sense.

* ''Film/{{Conspiracy}}'': Variation. When Heydrich walks into the villa to chair the meeting, the other senior Nazis all perform a Hitler salute. Heydrich orders everyone to forego the greeting for the remainder of the discussions to cut down on time. This immediately sets the tone for the rest of the film: Heydrich's sole objective is to remove all red tape standing in the way of the Holocaust, not to discuss policy in any meaningful sense.

* ''Series/BlakesSeven''. Used for an EstablishingCharacterMoment when the audience is first introduced to [[BigBad Supreme Commander Servalan]] and [[TheDragon Space Commander Travis]]. Servalan tells her aide to have Travis wait outside just to show him who's boss. Travis however pushes his way into her office, an [[YouGotSpunk act of insubordination which Servalan takes entirely in stride.]]

** This gets a CallBack when Servalan makes Travis wait to speak to her again. She points out that Travis would never have put up with that before, so the fact that he's willing to do so now is a sign of how desperate he is to [[YouHaveFailedMe regain her favour]].