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  • Adaptation Displacement: Most people in the USA have either only heard of Cruel Intentions or the 1988 Dangerous Liaisons film. Despite it being a French classic, the book is relatively unknown to the average non-French person.
  • Aw, Look — They Really Do Love Each Other: "Were you too, Vicomte?" or even more explicitly in the play and film, Merteuil telling Valmont that he made her very happy once.
  • Everybody Remembers the Stripper
  • Evil Is Cool: The only reason Valmont and Merteuil avoid crossing the Moral Event Horizon is because they're just so damn awesome whenever they do something bad
  • Magnificent Bitch: Merteuil, at least before her jealousy causes her to go too far, is on par with Iago in her ability to play everyone around her like a fiddle while making her petty spitefulness come across as awesome rather than pathetic. Valmont to a lesser extent. Though he is an accomplished and manipulative charmer in his own right, he is essentially just an agent of Merteuil.