Movie
The Nutty Professor
Narrative tropes
Man-Made Monsters
highSherman is the identifiable creator who alters his own DNA to cross a natural boundary. The creation — Buddy Love — gains autonomy Sherman cannot control: Buddy hides a dose in a diet shake to trigger involuntary transformations and plans to permanently consume enough serum to eliminate Sherman entirely. Hubris and desperation blind Sherman to the danger even as Buddy's testosterone reaches lethally dangerous levels (60,000%), validated by lab assistant Jason.
About this trope: A creator uses science to overstep natural boundaries — creating life, resurrecting the dead, engineering organisms, or fundamentally altering nature — and the creation turns destructive.
New Tech Leads to Disaster
mediumThe DNA serum is framed as a promising scientific breakthrough; Sherman initially celebrates its weight-loss results. Unforeseen side effects — Buddy's hyperaggressive, reckless personality driven by dangerously elevated testosterone — escalate to catastrophe (Sherman fired, identity nearly permanently erased). Warning signs (Buddy's growing arrogance and autonomy) are ignored as Sherman keeps self-dosing; Jason's discovery of the lethal testosterone level is the vindicating alarm.
About this trope: A new technology or discovery is introduced and initially celebrated, then reveals hidden dangers that escalate to catastrophe. The arc is: marvel > adoption > warning signs ignored > disaster.
Cultural messages
Be Yourself
highSherman suppresses his true self by creating Buddy Love to escape humiliation over his weight and appearance. Conformity to society's body standards is shown as painful and degrading. The Alumni Ball climax is an explicit self-acceptance reveal: Sherman confesses everything publicly, accepts his body and personality, and is rewarded with reinstatement, a $10M donation, and genuine friendship — all flowing directly from authenticity rather than performance.
About this message: A character hides or suppresses their true identity to conform, then finds strength and happiness by embracing who they really are. Authenticity is the real superpower.
Power Always Corrupts
mediumSherman acquires power through the serum — physical confidence, attractiveness, social dominance — and it progressively corrupts him into Buddy Love, who is arrogant, promiscuous, and willing to steal credit for Sherman's work. Buddy rationalizes increasingly extreme actions, culminating in a plan to eliminate Sherman entirely. The resolution explicitly frames destroying the serum as liberation, and Sherman's rehiring comes only after he relinquishes that power.
About this message: Gaining power — political, magical, technological, or financial — inevitably warps even the noblest people. Power is an inherently corrupting force.
Movies that share these tropes
Full plot (spoilers)
Sherman Klump is a kind-hearted but severely obese genetics professor at Wellman College who is developing an experimental DNA-altering serum intended for weight loss. After being publicly humiliated and mocked by stand-up comedian Reggie Warrington at a club, a humiliated Sherman tests the serum on himself, shedding roughly 250 pounds almost instantly. The transformation is temporary, so Sherman begins dosing himself regularly in order to maintain a slim alter ego he names 'Buddy Love' — a fast-talking, hyperconfident, and sexually aggressive version of himself. As Buddy, Sherman pursues Carla Purty, a chemistry graduate student he has feelings for. Buddy's personality, fueled by dangerously elevated testosterone, grows increasingly arrogant, reckless, and promiscuous; he takes credit for Sherman's scientific work and is eventually fired from the college. When Sherman tries to destroy the remaining serum samples to end the Buddy persona for good, Buddy secretly hides a dose in a diet shake, triggering yet another involuntary transformation. Lab assistant Jason discovers that Buddy's testosterone levels have reached a lethally dangerous 60,000%. At the climax during the college's Alumni Ball, the two identities war for dominance as Buddy plans to permanently drink enough serum to eliminate Sherman. Sherman ultimately reasserts control, stands before the assembled audience — including his family and Carla — and honestly confesses the entire deception. He accepts himself as he is. Carla, though touched, does not become his romantic partner; instead the two remain close friends and share a dance. Dean Richmond, moved by Sherman's honesty, rehires him, and philanthropist Harlan Hartley pledges a $10 million donation to the college's science department.
Sources: Wikipedia