History Main / AccidentalAesop

* ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'': Everything that you can do to protect yourself from the animatronics costs power. Use too much and [[GameOver you'll run out of power before the night is over]]. What does this mean? [[GreenAesop Conserving energy is good]], and if you don't do it, you'll be ''murdered''.

Like MisaimedFandom (where readers fail to catch the moral or satire intended by an author), an Accidental Aesop may result from poor authorial communication or, indeed, the UnfortunateImplications that come with poor use of common symbols.

Compare with: AlternateAesopInterpretation (where a work ''is'' intended to have an AnAesop, but people just manage to find a ''different'' one), BrokenAesop (where a work's moral is contradicted by its delivery), CluelessAesop (where a work fails to get its moral across), HardTruthAesop (where the moral goes against accepted wisdom), WhatDoYouMeanItsNotDidactic or DeathOfTheAuthor. Unintended Aesops in horror and speculative fiction often end up as {{Space Whale Aesop}}s. Occasionally these unintended Aesops have UnfortunateImplications. However, [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools tropes are not bad]]; just because a text wasn't ''intended'' to be a commentary doesn't mean it can't work perfectly well as one.

%%* Even though ''ComicBook/TheSmurfs'''s book "The Black Smurfs" was just a fun story about a ZombieApocalypse (though family-friendly and luckily reversible), some people tend to consider it an allegory of black immigrants. They were made purple rather than black in the AnimatedAdaptation to avoid those UnfortunateImplications.

* ''WesternAnimation/RubyGillmanTeenageKraken'': The plot's second and third acts involve Ruby's life being saved by Chelsea whom she befriends despite being a mermaid whom Ruby's Grandmother warned her about being inherently evil and was openly being baffled that Ruby's mother, Agatha, didn't kill them all when the chance was present during the Kraken-Mermaid wars. Ruby and Chelsea find common ground as secretly lonely non-human teenage girls and become "Super Sea Girl Besties" despite their on-paper differences and messy history between their people and so attempt a plan to help unify both kingdoms in the name of peace in the ocean so both of them could a live a life without a generational, inter-species conflict. [[spoiler: The fact that Chelsea is proven to be [[EvilAllAlong evil mermaid]] queen Nerissa who was only manipulating Ruby and any plot thread about krakens and mermaids making peace and co-existing being quietly dropped caused a sizable amount of viewers to notice the UnfortunateImplications of the film having an accidental "Your racist Grandma is right about certain people being inherently evil, you should distrust and hate said people collectively for your own safety, any act of kindness from them is deception, and peace is impossible" message.]]

* ''Film/MeBeforeYou'' has, especially with the release of TheFilmOfTheBook, been interpreted as having the UnfortunateImplications of [[spoiler:if you're a quadriplegic, your life isn't worth living, so the best thing you can do is commit suicide and have it benefit the (abled) ones you love]].

Compare with: AlternateAesopInterpretation (where a work ''is'' intended to have an AnAesop, but people just manage to find a ''different'' one), BrokenAesop (where a work's moral is contradicted by its delivery), CluelessAesop (where a work gets its intended moral across, but it's a bad moral), HardTruthAesop (where the moral goes against accepted wisdom), WhatDoYouMeanItsNotDidactic or DeathOfTheAuthor. Unintended Aesops in horror and speculative fiction often end up as {{Space Whale Aesop}}s. Occasionally these unintended Aesops have UnfortunateImplications. However, [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools tropes are not bad]]; just because a text wasn't ''intended'' to be a commentary doesn't mean it can't work perfectly well as one.

Compare with: AlternateAesopInterpretation (where a work ''is'' intended to have an AnAesop, but people just manage to find a ''different'' one), BrokenAesop (where a work's moral is contradicted by its delivery), CluelessAesop (where a work fails to get its moral across), HardTruthAesop (where the moral goes against accepted wisdom), WhatDoYouMeanItsNotDidactic or DeathOfTheAuthor. Unintended Aesops in horror and speculative fiction often end up as {{Space Whale Aesop}}s. Occasionally these unintended Aesops have UnfortunateImplications. However, [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools tropes are not bad]]; just because a text wasn't ''intended'' to be a commentary doesn't mean it can't work perfectly well as one.

* If the way reincarnation works in the Reincarny webgame series is to be believed, the safest way to prevent criminals from committing crimes again for a long time is to give them life imprisonment without parole, since executing them will just allow them to escape from Hell and be reincarnated as adults who immediately start doing the same things they did before. (The game series is at least 90% of the way toward the cynical side of the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism.)

* If the way reincarnation works in the Reincarny webgame series is to be believed, the safest way to prevent criminals from committing crimes again for a long time is to give them life imprisonment without parole, since executing them will just allow them to escape from Hell and be reincarnated as adults who immediately start doing the same things they did before. (The game series is at least 90% of the way toward the cynical side of the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism)
* ''WebVideo/TwitchPlaysPokemonRed'' became an almost debate of democracy vs. anarchy as well after democracy was implemented.

* WebVideo/HBomberguy, in his review of ''Film/TheRoom2003'', explains how he believes that the film is a close impression of how Creator/TommyWiseau saw an actual breakup. Lisa's characterization as a manipulative gold-digging harpy who cuts off her relationship ForTheEvulz and Johnny's as an IdealHero suffering from the senseless betrayals of everyone around him are pretty accurate to how a lot of people feel about their exes and themselves after a bad breakup. This means that the film (unintentionally) works very well as a statement about how bad relationships warp your perceptions, with the nonsense characterization, rampant misogyny, and RandomEventsPlot being a symptom of the fact that Wiseau's viewpoint wasn't healthy or accurate.
* ''WebVideo/JetLagTheGame'': The [[MemeticLoser German Deutsche Bahn]] in the ''Tag Across Europe'' seasons, in comparison to other European transit services, gives the lesson that providing proper care to your train networks is essential for helping people in high-stress situations get to where they need to go.
* WebVideo/MaggieMaeFish, when talking about ''Theatre/{{Cats}}'' (both the play and the movie), she mentions how, in a weird way, the two work as a parody of fascism. T. S. Eliot, the man behind the source material, was a royalist whose fascist beliefs bled into his work, and elevating his original poems into this weird, fever dream-like works, while keeping the stuff that made it fascist-like, like the death cult, make it seems like an ode to how his beliefs were flawed and crazy to begin with.
* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhU_u4rq1Tg I Am a Building]]'' is a comedic short where two guys having a picnic see the Empire State Building come to life and give a lecture about how not to be racist. The obvious joke is [[SurrealHumor the absurdity of the premise]], but given how the building never really goes in to why its wrong to be racist, you could make the case its a mockery of campaigns that claim to preach against social issues while doing nothing to contextualise the message or add nuance to it.
* Website/{{Facebook}} and Platform/YouTube comments, usually from older people (particularly from India), often point out moral lessons on just about anything, even in the most unexpected places. For example, the SoBadItsGood nature of ''Film/WhoKilledCaptainAlex'' is, to them, a reflection on how [[DoingItForTheArt passion]] can lead to great things even with a lack of money or sophisticated equipment, contrasting with the perceived inauthentic, MoneyDearBoy nature of Hollywood.

* InUniverse example from ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'': One story had Mr. Weatherbee assigning Archie to give a speech to the male students on a subject that interests them. He chooses inflation and has Betty, Veronica and Ethel help him demonstrate its effects. Big Ethel is shown in an early 20th-Century swimsuit that covers her whole body, Betty in a standard one-piece suit, and Veronica in a bikini to symbolize "The Shrinking Dollar." Mr. Weatherbee compliments Archie on his speech, but tells him, "There's only one problem, Archie. You have the entire class looking forward to further devaluation." In other words, there won't be much on the next girl if the dollar shrinks ''more''.

* A lot of comics written by Creator/MarkMillar seems to have pro-family messages. Several of his characters have issues that can be traced to their family lives. For example, Ultimate Red Skull and Spider-Girl in ''ComicBook/OldManLogan'' are both despicable psychopaths because they had an absentee father, toward whom they hold a grudge. [[Comicbook/KickAss Hit-Girl]] is completely messed up because of her psychopath father. ''ComicBook/TheUnfunnies''' Troy Hick has a FreudianExcuse in the mental breakdown he suffered after his wife left him, and Millar's run on ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' portrays Reed and Sue Richards as perfect and extremely happy with their lives. However, Millar has said he never intentionally put any sort of message into his works, so all of this is either completely accidental or subconscious on his part.

* A common observation on ''Franchise/XMen'' is that, while the X-Men are consistently feared and reviled, other superheroes who are functionally the same thing as mutants don't tend to get nearly as much scrutiny, even if the only difference is a different MetaOrigin. Characters like the ComicBook/FantasticFour can be lauded as celebrities while the X-Men are struggling to survive. Some commentators have observed that, while this is mostly a result of inconsistent writing, it's actually a pretty good message on prejudice: bigots generally ''don't'' have a consistent cause-and-effect for why they hate their targets, because bigotry is senseless, petty, and cruel by nature. That other superheroes are allowed to go relatively unmolested is reminiscent of how many bigoted groups have tolerated or even lauded groups or individuals nigh-identical to those they despise for completely arbitrary reasons.

** Schulz said he only created the [[WesternAnimation/ItsTheGreatPumpkinCharlieBrown Great Pumpkin]] as a fun idea: "What if someone believed in a Halloween Santa Claus?" Many saw Linus's efforts as [[BeliefMakesYouStupid a mockery of the foolishness of religious people]], but Schulz himself was quite religious, at least in the early years.[[note]] Around the 1980s, Schulz became a secular humanist and he stopped going to church, but The Great Pumpkin was introduced in 1960.[[/note]] Linus's statement that you should never discuss "religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin" was intended to show that he doesn't view the Great Pumpkin as his religion ''per se'' (Linus quotes the Bible in other strips, which he seems to believe in, so he's presumably a Christian-the Great Pumpkin appears to be unrelated).

** The sheer [[AdultsAreUseless incompetence]] of most adults in the series demonstrates that a surprising amount of people just accept what technology is capable of at face value, and aren't aware of what sorts of hazards they have open. In the first game, people are ''easily'' scammed into trying to buy something for their car to keep it from crashing. (As these are self-driving vehicles) It shows that adults really ''really'' need to be taught about the risk(s) of technology.

* Website/{{Facebook}} and Website/YouTube comments, usually from older people (particularly from India), often point out moral lessons on just about anything, even in the most unexpected places. For example, the SoBadItsGood nature of ''Film/WhoKilledCaptainAlex'' is, to them, a reflection on how [[DoingItForTheArt passion]] can lead to great things even with a lack of money or sophisticated equipment, contrasting with the perceived inauthentic, MoneyDearBoy nature of Hollywood.

* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'':

** Know when to compromise. No one likes an overly stubborn {{Determinator}} who won't give an inch of ground no matter what. Calvin and his Dad have one thing in common: they absolutely refuse to be flexible. Dad insists on [[taking the family on camping trips for vacations HorribleCampingTrip]] [[IgnoredAesop no matter how much they dislike them]], and won't consider Calvin's requests of wanting to go to a casino (which is actually not a bad idea for families) or a regular hotel. Calvin, in the meantime, always thinks that he knows best and won't listen to others, and this often messes him up. Case in point, when Hobbes tells him he should do his homework on a day when school is canceled due to snow, Calvin refuses and procrastinates until it's too late.

** Know when to compromise. No one likes an overly stubborn {{Determinator}} who won't give an inch of ground no matter what. Calvin and his Dad have one thing in common: they absolutely refuse to be flexible. Dad insists on taking the family on camping trips for vacations [[IgnoredAesop no matter how much they dislike them]], and won't consider Calvin's requests of wanting to go to a casino (which is actually not a bad idea for families) or a regular hotel. Calvin, in the meantime, always thinks that he knows best and won't listen to others, and this often messes him up. Case in point, when Hobbes tells him he should do his homework on a day when school is canceled due to snow, Calvin refuses and procrastinates until it's too late.

* ''COmicStrip/PearlsBeforeSwine'': In one strip, Rat and Pig take to online shopping, buying all sorts of things, then one day they go into town and notice that all the local shops have gone out of business. The intended message was "Shop local," but instead it came off as "Retailers must have an online presence to be successful in this day and age."

** The voting process to remove Imposters shows the dangers of condemning people on flimsy or incomplete evidence. There is rarely an open-and-shut case in real life, but it's easy to doom people based on accusations, rumors and happenstance.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* While it is hard to tell whether ''Literature/FiftyShadesOfGrey'' the book has any kind of aesop the movie, with added focus on the actual character interactions (plus whatever nuances the actors put in), can be easily interpreted as "BDSM is awesome, but you should get into it gradually and don't rush with contracts and hardcore practices, or it will destroy your relationship."
* ''Film/{{Apaches}}'': While the obvious one is for children to be careful, there’s an additional one for parents: watch your kids and don’t let them run buckwild through somewhere potentially unsafe. Had the parents not let the kids play on the farm, the 5 of them who died would still be alive.
* ''Film/ArmyOfTheDead'': Do not assume that you are alone in remote roads. The lead convoy car soldiers had a DriverFacesPassenger conversation while the oncoming car decided to have their "fun" because they likely thought they were alone on the roads. The resultant crash starts the whole ZombieApocalypse plot.
* ''Film/BeingThere'': While the movie's comedy comes from people putting so much faith and reverence into a man without much intelligence, the movie seems to also argue that people like [[MadwomanInTheAttic Chance shouldn't be kept isolated from society]]. The Old Man not preparing Chance for the real world meant that when he died, Chance was forced from his home with no survival skills and would've been worse off if not for Ben's generosity. Chance's problems stem from being isolated from society more than any innate intelligence, and throughout the movie, he does show some emotional growth and mental development once he's given a chance to enter society.
* ''Film/BillyMadison'': The standard "BeYourself" aesop slips in with minimal fanfare. Billy effortlessly connects with the elementary school kids [[{{Manchild}} because he's essentially an 8-year-old in a man's body]]. When he starts going to school with teenagers, [[TotallyRadical he puts way too much effort into trying to be cool]] and is either avoided or mocked for it.
* ''Film/CyberSeductionHisSecretLife'' can be interpreted as having one of these (besides the {{Anvilicious}} "porn is bad" aesop): Don't forget to lock your bedroom door and store your porn in a secure location to prevent anyone from being accidentally exposed to it.
** It also has the unintentional aesop that [[MyBelovedSmother overbearing parenting]] and [[FelonyMisdemeanor overzelous reactions and punishments]] can cause significantly more harm than the actual problem would if it were handled with more tact.
* Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse:
** ''[[Film/Shazam2019 SHAZAM!]]'': Billy and Freddy spitting out their beer in disgust (after the robbery scene) is an effective tool against underage drinking.
** ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'': Keep your damn eyes on the road. If you grab a cheeseburger (truck driver about to hit Iris West), stare at a pretty guy you like (Iris herself) or have a heart-to-heart talk with your son (Elinore Stone), do not [[DriverFacesPassenger look away from the road if you are still driving]] under any of these circumstances. Iris had the luxury of having the Flash to save her. Elinore didn't and died while crippling her son Victor as a result.
** ''Film/WonderWoman1984'':
*** An object being made of citrine, a stone used for forgeries, may be more valuable than it seems. Handle with caution in case that value is more negative than positive.
*** Don't focus on what's behind you or you will miss what's in front of you. Such as when Diana runs into a tree during the tournament, and how she is so focused on being with Steve that she can't deal with the task at hand.
*** You don't always get what you want, and sometimes, [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor that can be a blessing in disguise]].
** ''Film/TheSuicideSquad'': King Shark's portrayal makes a good case for training animals through kindness and not blaming them for their inherent urges. Waller and the government keep him locked up in prison where he can never better himself, even though the only crime we ever see him do is follow his animal instinct. When he's on the squad though, Ratcatcher treats Nanaue far better, sweetly appealing to his good nature and explaining why he shouldn't eat his friends. This very quickly gets through to him and he limits his feasting to the bad guys from that point on, with a simple talk bringing him far more growth than his colder captors likely ever could. This also makes the case that the dehumanizing prison environment is the wrong way to treat people who are a danger because their mental state makes them incapable of understanding right and wrong, and instead they should be treated with compassion and provided proper psychiatric help.
* While the aesop of ''Film/DontLookUp'' is that climate change is a very real, very bad thing that will kill all of us if we don't do something about it, it also has the unintended message of always testing equipment before using it, especially if it's for something as risky as saving the world. [[spoiler:Had Peter Isherwell actually tested the BASH drones before trying to use it on the comet, his plan might've actually worked.]]
* ''Film/FallingDown'' is a movie that preaches against [[GoingPostal responding to society's ills with unhinged violence]]. However, the film also seems to argue against [[MuggingTheMonster antagonizing a total stranger]]. [[AntiVillain The reason why Foster is seen in a sympathetic light]] by many is that not ''all'' of his violence was unprovoked. The gangbangers, Neo-Nazi, and the impatient golfer went out of their way to provoke a man and suffered dearly for it. Meanwhile, the people who showed empathy and patience to Foster, like Prendergast, the house sitters, and the "Not Economically Viable Man", [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe were spared his wrath]].
* The original ''Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers1956'', made at the height of the Red Scare, was praised by people on both sides of the issue who assumed the villainous pod people were meant to be analogous to either Communists or people being swept up by Senator [=McCarthy=]'s witch hunts. Director Don Siegel was quick to say that he did not intend to portray any kind of message and just thought he was making a simple alien invasion film. Seeing as the film ends with the hero shouting into the camera "They're here already! You're next!", opinions are still divided. The [=McCarthy=]/[=HUAC=] furor had more or less died down by the time the movie was made, so the director was probably telling the truth.
* ''Film/KnivesOut'':
** [[spoiler:Fran the housekeeper]] was a fan of murder mysteries and attempted to solve the case on their own without notifying the police of the crucial evidence they found. This eventually would lead to [[spoiler:her death and almost lets the culprit destroy evidence incriminating them]]. [[WrongGenreSavvy Don't assume you are competent to do something just because you consume a lot of media about it]]. And even if you do find useful information, you're probably not qualified to understand or handle the consequences unless you are a trained professional.
** Harlan's death could have been avoided if [[spoiler:he had simply listened to Marta's advice to call an ambulance after his alleged fatal morphine overdose]]. If there is a trained professional that you trust and they are giving you reasonable advice, you should ''listen to them''.
* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'':
** ''Film/DoctorStrange2016'': Stephen Strange's accident was caused by his use of a smartphone while driving, so the potential Aesop is "Distracted driving can get you out of a good career... and into a ''great'' career."
** ''Film/AntMan1'' can serve as a pretty bleak (but sadly accurate) reminder how hard it is for an ex-convict to find work, even after they've served their time.
** ''Film/BlackPanther2018'': "Checks and balances are vital for a stable government." The villain Killmonger's whole plan is to [[spoiler:usurp T'Challa as king of Wakanda and wage war against the outside world, serving to both destroy Wakanda and send a message against the mistreatment of African- and African-descended people around the world]]. If Wakanda had ''any'' system of government besides one that rested sole power in the hands of its monarch--such as elected representatives or a high court able to overturn the leader's decisions--Killmonger wouldn't have been able to just waltz in and take over the most technologically-advanced nation on Earth by way of ritual combat and have the nation be [[MyCountryRightOrWrong forced to go along with his self-destructive crusade]].
** ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'': Many saw an Aesop that LoveIsAWeakness; [[TheFettered the heroes unwillingness to sacrifice loved ones]], hesitation to do so until too late, and [[BlindedByRage letting their emotions get in the way]] repeatedly [[NiceJobBreakingItHero causes them to fail to stop Thanos]] while [[TheUnfettered Thanos's willingness to sacrifice loved ones and hesitating at nothing]] resulting in [[TheBadGuyWins him getting everything he wanted]]. The [[Film/AvengersEndgame next movie]] goes for the opposite message, which wouldn't be the case if the Aesop here was intentional.
** ''Film/ShangChiAndTheLegendOfTheTenRings'': Read the terms and conditions before you sign anything. Shang-Chi signed his name on the way to meet his sister assuming it's a visitor's log. He actually signed up to join the underground fight club.
** ''Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness'': Work as a team. [[spoiler:The Illuminati don't coordinate their efforts, leading Wanda to pick them off one at a time.]]
* Exploitative nudity and historical inaccuracy notwithstanding, ''Film/TheNakedWitch'' could be interpreted as an unintentional feminist parable with the moral: Women are not sex toys to be used and discarded at your whim.
* ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968'':
** Creator/GeorgeARomero always maintained that he did not intend to make any comments about race in the film. He hired Duane Jones, a black stage actor, to play the hero because "he gave the best audition." Much of the movie's dialogue was improvised by the actors during filming, with only a loose adherence to the script. It was only when the film was released that Romero said he became aware of the implications of Jones's character being black. However, some critics continue to insist that it's highly implausible for someone in the 1960s to cast a black actor as the lead without being aware of the significance. For better or worse, Romero subsequently started adding intentional but [[{{Anvilicious}} far less subtle aesops]] in all his following zombie films.
** A particular example of this is the ending of the film, where [[spoiler:Ben, having survived the night, walks out of the house to meet with police... [[DownerEnding and is immediately shot]], apparently mistaken for a zombie, and his corpse is burned in a pile with the dead, his story left untold]]. According to Romero, it was meant to be a simple tragic accident. However, the imagery and treatment of the scene invokes [[spoiler:a lynching or extrajudicial killing]], of the sort that were legion in the South at the time, so well that it's hard to write an analysis of the film that doesn't at least point out the idea that they killed him on purpose.
* ''Film/ThePerksOfBeingAWallflower'' -- if you're struggling to fit in, hang out with much older kids, drink alcohol and take drugs.
* ''Film/PlanesTrainsAndAutomobiles'':
** Whatever your frustrations in life, blowing up at people will only make your situation worse. While Neal had every right to be angry over not getting a car, unleashing a Cluster F-Bomb on the clerk and mocking the cab driver didn't do him any favors. Del, despite his frustrations, manages to get favors from people because he keeps a level head.
** Your good intentions don't excuse careless or grotesque behavior. Del may mean well, but his slobbish behavior, reckless driving, and somewhat insensitive nature don't do him any favors with Neal either.
* ''Film/ProblemChild'': The message of the first two films seems to be "if different people have problems, they should sit down and talk their problems out rather than sniping at one another." On one hand, the people around Junior are often unpleasant jerks who seem to want to make him miserable. On the other hand, the often-violent revenge he takes doesn't actually solve anything and makes him even more hated. The only person who Junior tries to be nice to is Ben, and that's because Ben is the only person who tries to understand Junior's point of view. If Junior and his victims could learn to be nice, there would be less conflict.
* ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl'' -- When making an agreement, be sure the terms are actually beneficial to you and leave as little to interpretation as possible, otherwise you leave yourself open to LoopholeAbuse and ExactWords by a more savvy party. Case in point, Barbossa exploits loopholes overlooked by the other party ''twice'', first when he takes Elizabeth hostage because she neglected to include her own release when exchanging the medallion for their cessation of their raid on Port Royal; and again when he forces Elizabeth to walk the plank after Will exchanges his blood to lift the curse for Jack's crew's safety and Elizabeth's release but failed to specify where or when she was to be set free.
* ''Film/RockItsYourDecision'' was clearly meant to warn teenagers about the evils of rock music, however, most of the songs featured in the movie were for the most part harmless, with a few even having positive messages. Rather, it can be interpreted as warning viewers of the dangers of indoctrination and radicalization with the lead protagonist starting out as an average teenager who just happens to like rock music who gets warped by controlled adults, eventually turning him into [[TheFundamentalist a fundamental fanatic]] who alienates all his friends.
** One could also read Jeff's hate filled speech in the end where he completely misses the point of the songs he list off, as a example of how hateful people with their mind made up can easily misinterpret the meaning of a song to fit their agenda.
** Also Jeff starts having issues with his girlfriend and best friend once he becomes anti Rock and Roll. While the movie is attempting to paint Jeff as the good guy in this scenario, it can instead come off as how fundamentalism can push people away from you. Likewise Jeff's judgmental attitude can be read instead about how no one will put up with your behavior when you constantly vilify what they like and try to get on your moral high horse about it.
* The Christian movie ''Second Glance'' is an ItsAWonderfulPlot movie with the main character who wishes he wasn't a believer getting to live one day of his high school life as if he never had been. While this is mostly a vehicle for the Aesop that non-Christians are all horrible shits who'll just ruin their own happiness so your current unsatisfying life as a Christian is still better, there's a couple of whoppers that seem to have snuck in by accident. The worst one is when the main character finds out his parents are now divorced and his little sister was never born because, as an angel explains, the main character wasn't a believer and didn't pray for their marriage. The message to any teenagers in the audience whose parents are already divorced: "This is all your fault. Clearly you weren't right with God or it wouldn't have happened. Now you've essentially murdered your potential younger siblings."
* The {{A|nAesop}}esop of ''Film/SevenPounds'' is probably not "don't use your cell phone while driving," but that's what at least one critic concluded. It also isn't [[spoiler:[[BrokenAesop killing yourself is wrong unless you give your organs away]],]] nor is it likely to be [[spoiler:don't commit suicide by poison if you intend to donate your organs]].
* ''Film/SleepawayCamp'' is a SlasherMovie that is mostly well-known for its controversial TwistEnding that contains UnfortunateImplications about [[spoiler:transgender people, transwomen in particular]], but the ending can also be read in the complete opposite way: [[spoiler:being forced to present as the gender you don't identify as (like Peter being forced to pretend he's his dead sister) can cause major psychological problems which might end up ruining your life]].
* ''Film/TerminatorDarkFate'' accidentally inverts the aesop of ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay''. While the latter film preaches that all human life is precious and a machine is only ever as bad as its programming, ''Dark Fate'' makes the case that even the most important person is completely expendable and [=AI=] will always be bad no matter how or why it was created.
* The film adaptation of ''Film/ThreeHundred'' is often interpreted to glorify secular, westernized countries standing against the religious extremism and intolerance of the Middle East. However, some critics pointed out that in the film, Persia is a massive, wealthy and culturally diverse empire bent on expanding its influence throughout the world, while the Spartans are a small group of dedicated, zealous fighters who are willing to break the rules of war and martyr themselves to resist the invaders. Some viewers interpreted Persia as representing the United States and Spartans representing the terrorists.
* ''Film/TommyBoy'':
** Tommy and Richard start out struggling to sell break pads thanks in large part to Tommy's inexperience, which is exacerbated by Richard's insults after each failed meeting. But once Richard offers Tommy genuine sales advice rather than snide insults, their working relationship improves considerably and they become an excellent partnership. So, the lesson here may be that students finding it difficult to learn often respond better to positive reinforcement than negative reinforcement.
** Richard's DeadpanSnarker attitude may be [[JerkassHasAPoint kind of justified]] toward [[FatIdiot Tommy]], but [[NoSocialSkills his lack of people skills]] and [[InsufferableGenius smug behavior toward almost everyone he meets]] prevents him from being a good salesman or having any friends despite his technical intelligence. Tommy may not be intellectually gifted, but his friendly persona, charm, and [[GuileHero eventual craftiness]] ultimately keep Callahan Auto from falling apart. [[HardWorkHardlyWorks Hard work doesn't matter]] if you act like a smug {{Jerkass}} who puts other people down to the point of alienating them.
** Businessmen like Zalinsky are [[CorruptCorporateExecutive glorified con men]] and their [[WeCare [=PR=] campaigns]] should ''always'' be taken with a grain of salt.
* ''Film/TheTrumanShow'': If someone you know is having a breakdown, don't belittle their feelings or put your material needs above them, or you'll make their problems worse and drive them out of your life. Meryl choosing to do ProductPlacement in the middle of a serious conversation finally destroys her "relationship" with Truman. If Meryl had chosen to put Truman's mental health above her own needs, or at least ''pretended too,'' she could've convinced him to stay in Seahaven.
* ''Film/TuckerAndDaleVsEvil'': The film seems to have as its message "unless you are actually trained in combat, or you have no choice, don't try and play the action hero and call the authorities if you're in a dangerous situation." Allison's friends may have meant well, but they were clearly out of their depth, not just in assessing the situation but in actually fighting the "deranged hillbillies." If Allison had been in danger, she would've been screwed. Chad himself seems somewhat physically capable [[spoiler: but since he's a mentally unhinged jerk with a severe grudge]], he creates ''more'' problems than he solves.
* ''Film/Utoya22Juli'', a reenactment of the Breivik Massacre (which happened [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin on the island Utøya on 22. July 2011]]) from the perspective of the victims, contains lots of very necessary Aesops, but also unintentionally the following: "sometimes, bravery and wit are useless against violence. Then, ViolenceReallyIsTheAnswer."
* ''Film/WhatEverHappenedToBabyJane'':
** Don't bite the hand that feeds you. Tormenting your primary caretaker while you are wheelchair-bound will leave you in a very precarious situation if the caretaker [[TheDogBitesBack decides enough is enough.]]
** Sibling rivalries are painful to overcome, but it is how you prevent future conflict. [[spoiler: If Blanche and Jane had tried to talk things out years ago, the tragedy of the movie wouldn't have occurred. Instead, they let the anger fester into a decades-long grudge match that ended with Elvira dead, Blanche (possibly) dying, and Jane likely headed for the madhouse.]]
** Just because someone is "polite" does not make that person "[[BitchInSheepsClothing good]]." [[spoiler: Blanche's seemingly posh demeanor masks an incredibly vindictive woman who tried to kill her sister, lied about it, and tormented that same sister for years over something she didn't do. Jane, despite her many flaws, was ultimately the more mature sister, and anyone who could see through Blanche's airs and falsehoods could've figured out how toxic she was.]]
** Show business is a brutal slog that brings painful psychological consequences. If Blanche and Jane had not been exposed to that life, they probably would've grown into much happier adults.
** Obsessing about past fame will leave you miserable, and you should move on and do something different with your life. Jane would probably be happier if she moved on from "Baby Jane."
[[/folder]]

* Even though ''ComicBook/TheSmurfs'''s book "The Black Smurfs" was just a fun story about a ZombieApocalypse (though family-friendly and luckily reversible), some people tend to consider it an allegory of black immigrants. They were made purple rather than black in the AnimatedAdaptation to avoid those UnfortunateImplications.

* The short horror film ''WebAnimation/TheTwins2022'' doesn't really have an overt message, but one can interpret the film as peddling the message: {{Sibling rivalr|y}}ies must always be regulated. Harmless bickering is one thing and fine enough. But when taken to insidious, manipulative, and toxic levels, the parents of authority figures ''must'' step in to prevent anything worse from happening.

* The short horror film ''WebAnimation/TheTwins2022'' doesn't really have an overt message, but one can find one in this: {{Sibling rivalr|y}}ies must always be regulated. Harmless bickering is one thing and fine enough. But when taken to insidious, manipulative, and toxic levels, the parents of authority figures ''must'' step in to prevent anything worse from happening.

* ''WesternAnimation/RubyGillmanTeenageKraken'': The plot's second and third acts involve Ruby's life being saved by Chelsea whom she befriends despite being a mermaid whom Ruby's Grandmother warned her about being inherently evil and was openly being baffled that Ruby's mother, Agatha, didn't kill them all when the chance was present during the Kraken-Mermaid wars. Ruby and Chelsea find common ground as secretly lonely non-human teenage girls and become "Super Sea Girl Besties" despite their on-paper differences and messy history between their people and so attempt a plan to help unify both kingdoms in the name of peace in the ocean so both of them could a live a life without a generational, inter-species conflict. [[spoiler: The fact that Chelsea is proven to be EvilAllAlong, is the evil mermaid queen Nerissa, was only manipulating Ruby, and any plot thread about krakens and mermaids making peace and co-existing being quietly dropped caused a sizable amount of viewers to notice the UnfortunateImplications and irony of having an unintended message that could be boiled down as "Your racist Grandma is right about certain people being inherently evil, you should distrustingly hate said group of people collectively for your own safety, any act of kindness from said people is deception, and peace with them is impossible" in a kids film about a lovable family of misunderstood krakens who immigrated to be among humans and had to hide who they are.]]

*** "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E13TheMasterpieceSociety The Masterpiece Society]]" features a colony that practices strict eugenics to create perfect people free of genetic weaknesses. As a blind man, Geordi bristles several times at the idea that the colony would have aborted him in utero. In the end, it's Geordi's vision prosthesis that provides the technology to save the colony. It's easy to see this as an aesop against abortion, particularly for reasons of genetic defects, but the showrunner Michael Pillar insists that this was not intentional, saying that most people on the production staff would have refused to work on a Pro-Life episode. Some people have also interpreted it as having a moral about disabled people, and how they shouldn't be looked down upon or seen as inferior.

* ''WesternAnimation/RubyGillmanTeenageKraken'': The plot's second and third acts involve Ruby's life being saved by Chelsea whom she befriends despite being a mermaid whom Ruby's Grandmother warned her about being inherently evil and was openly being baffled that Ruby's mother, Agatha, didn't kill them all when the chance was present during the Kraken-Mermaid wars. Ruby and Chelsea find common ground as secretly lonely non-human teenage girls and become "Super Sea Girl Besties" despite their on-paper differences and messy history between their people and so attempt a plan to help unify both kingdoms in the name of peace in the ocean so both of them could a live a life without a generational, inter-species conflict. [[spoiler: The fact that Chelsea is proven to be EvilAllAlong, is the evil mermaid queen Nerissa, was only manipulating Ruby, and any plot thread about krakens and mermaids making peace and co-existing being quietly dropped caused a sizable amount of viewers to notice the UnfortunateImplications of having an unintended message that could be boiled down as "Your racist Grandma is right about certain people, you should distrustingly hate said group of people collectively for your own safety, any act of kindness from said people is deception, and peace with them is impossible" moral in a kids film about a lovable family of misunderstood krakens who immigrated to be among humans and had to hide who they are.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/RubyGillmanTeenageKraken'': The plot's second and third acts involve Ruby's life being saved by Chelsea whom she befriends despite being a mermaid whom Ruby's Grandmother warned her about being inherently evil and was openly being baffled that Ruby's mother, Agatha, didn't kill them all when the chance was present during the Kraken-Mermaid wars. Ruby and Chelsea find common ground as secretly lonely non-human teenage girls and become "Super Sea Girl Besties" despite their on-paper differences and messy history between their people and so attempt a plan to help unify both kingdoms in the name of peace in the ocean so both of them could a live a life without a generational, inter-species conflict. [[spoiler: The fact that Chelsea is proven to be EvilAllAlong, is the evil mermaid queen Nerissa, and was only manipulating Ruby caused a sizable amount of viewers to notice the UnfortunateImplications of having an unintended message that could be boiled down as "Your racist Grandma is right about certain people, you should distrustingly hate said group of people collectively for your own safety, any act of kindness from said people is deception, and peace with them is impossible" moral in a kids film about a lovable family of misunderstood krakens who immigrated to be among humans and had to hide who they are.]]