My dad used to make me walk upon his back when I was small enough that it wouldn't, well, kill him ;). It is a weird feeling to be doing that isn't it?

I recently came across 'TV Tropes' which is an addictive website listing clichés in television and other genres. Most of what you describes appears to come under the topic of Fake Difficulty, and is very annoying.
[Health Warning: TV Tropes is highly addictive. The first time I came across that site I spent about 4 hours reading it ;). ]