This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Working Title: War Is Hell: From YKTTW
Camacan: I notice that the trope became more general over the course of the YKTTW discussion. I think it was originally focused more on the hardship of war and its effect on the individual solider, but became a generalised 'war is bad' trope. Since we don't have a top-level anti-war trope I guess it's good place to start. Perhaps we could have sub-tropes if this article doesn't do justice to specific anti-war themes.
I'm not sure if pro-war works need a separate trope or should be filed under this trope as counter-examples.
Camacan: I'm really happy with the quality of this article. We did well here.
The tendency for war stories to hover around the cynical end of the Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism. War is a hellish, traumatizing nightmare, and anyone who comes out of it alive end up a Shell Shocked Senior or worse. Anyone who takes any delight out of war is a psycho.
Ross N: I'm not entirely sure this trope does hover on the cynical end actually - it seems very much a clear cut 'war is bad and only bad or crazy people enjoy it'. That seems a fairly idealistic stance to me. A more cynical take would surely be that even good men can find a certain excitement, or even pleasure in war.
Camacan: I think the Troper who wrote that line was using (roughly) this logic: if war is wrong, and we do it, it follows that we are bad; thinking ill of humanity is the definition of cynicism: therefore the trope is a cynical one. I got what they meant, but I think your logic is better. I'd add that it's the true cynic that promotes war because they can use the tragic folly of others to their own ends: they "game" war to gain power, prestige and/or money without facing risks themselves. I think you'll agree it's a nuanced area.
Camacan: Three quotes? C'mon one is enough.
