History Main / BothSidesHaveAPoint

* The entire film FiddlerOnTheRoof runs on this trope. Tevye is caught in the clash between the traditional world and the modern world. He's a really smart guy, but poor and uneducated. He tries his best to be fair and see both sides of the situation, with many inner monologues about "on the one hand [...] but on the other hand". In the page quote above he gets ridiculed for not simply picking a side when two guys who both have valid ideas stick to parroting slogans at each other instead of making more nuanced arguments for their causes.
* TheSocialNetwork is done this way, and the characters themselves reach this conclusion: None of them is truly unsympathetic, and they all have more or less valid claims and complaints.

All that is left for her, then, is something much harder: To try her best to see both sides fairly, and value the merits of each arguments.

* In ''TeamAmerica'', both 'dicks' and 'assholes' have a point, according to Gary's (plagiarized) speech at the end.

* In regards to American [[MainstreamMedia]], this trope has been deconstructed by Nobel Prize winning economist, Paul [[http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/26/the-cult-that-is-destroying-america/ Krugman]].

* In regards to American [[MainstreamMedia]], this trope has been [[Deconstructed]] by Nobel Prize winning economist, Paul [[http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/26/the-cult-that-is-destroying-america/ Krugman]].

* In regards to American [[MainstreamMedia]], this trope has been [[deconstructed]] by Nobel Prize winning economist, Paul [[http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/26/the-cult-that-is-destroying-america/ Krugman]].

* In regards to American [[MainstreamMedia]], this trope has been [[Deconstruction deconstructed]] by Nobel Prize winning economist, Paul [[http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/26/the-cult-that-is-destroying-america/ Krugman]].

* In regards to American [[Mainstream Media]], this trope has been [[Deconstruction deconstructed]] by Nobel Prize winning economist, Paul [[http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/26/the-cult-that-is-destroying-america/ Krugman]].

** Similarly, in the Canadian 2011 election, the arguably most centered party (Liberal) was squashed out in favour of the NDP, which is, for the most part, more to the left, and the Conservative party, the right-most major party, which was already strong beforehand. It's up to debate how much of this was because of increasingly polarized politics, and how much it was because of the poor showing of the Liberals.

** It's a real shame, because Obama's right, partisanship kills intelligent debate, all it does is cause the two sides to sling mud back and forth at each other ad infinitum, and both sides are to blame for this state of affairs. It happens in all major debates of course, and always ends up with both sides demonising the other, and the extremists on both ends gaining power. Once people reach out to those who they disagree so vehemently with, they see they are (for the most part) decent human beings after all.

* It's also why political power can and frequently does swing back and forth between different parties in democratic countries, as voters decide they like one party's policies at one time and then decide to switch to another party's policies later on. Sometimes parties who win elections and form governments end up plagiarizing parts of their opponents' platforms in order to broaden their own appeal in the electorate.

* The later versions of MageTheAscension used this perspective. The Technocratic Union wants a stable and democratic reality where everyone is able to create miracles through technology. They have largly succeded: The modern world with computers, airplanes and modern medicine exists by their design. Their opponents, The Traditions, prefer a more [[strike:unstable]] dynamic reality with more personal freedom - a freedom of expression that includes rewriting reality itself rather then merely writing words. (The original version had this same conflict of interest, but hardcoded that the technocracy's ideals made them DirtyCommies.)

* The Templar/Mage conflict in Dragon Age II is the epitome of this trope. The Mages are horribly oppressed by the Chantry's Templars, imprisoning them to keep the city safe and treating all Mages as dangers. At the same time there ''are'' a lot of Mages who seem to turn to Blood Magic and the like, due to the weakness of the Veil in the area. Better safe than sorry?

* The Templar/Mage conflict in Dragon Age II is the epitome of this trope. The Mages are horribly oppressed by the Chantry's Templars, imprisoning them to keep the city safe and treating all Mages as dangers. At the same time there ''are'' a lot of Mages who seem to turn to Blood Magic and the like, due to the tear in the Veil. Better safe than sorry?

* [[LawfulGood The Sheriff of Nottingham]] is able to do this to ''himself'' in ''In A Dark Forest'', Michael Cadnum's WhiteAndWhiteMorality retelling of RobinHood. Halfway through the book, he is able to recognize that although Robin Hood is an outlaw, he is also a [[ChaoticGood good man]]. It isn't until the end of the book that he is able to find a point of reconciliation between this and his duty to uphold the law.

Alice is faced with two different opinions: Bob strongly believeד in one thing, and Charlie in another. The easiest choice would be to simply pick a side-- decide that Bob is right or that Charlie is right. But Alice won't do that. The second easiest choice would be to simply remain neutral and urge them to AgreeToDisagree. But Alice won't do that either. And she will neither [[NoExceptYes pretend that the two opposing views are actually the same thing]], nor [[FromACertainPointOfView conclude that it's merely a matter of perspective]]. Finally, she will not engage in some extreme mental acrobatics, [[{{Doublethink}} simultaneously but separately agreeing with both opposing views]].

Alice is faced with two different opinions. Bob strongly believe in one thing, and Charlie in another. The easiest choice would be to simply pick a side, decide that Bob is right and Charlie is right. But Alice won't do that. The second easiest choice would be to simply remain neutral and urge them to AgreeToDisagree. But Alice won't do that either. And she will neither [[NoExceptYes pretend that the two opposing views are actually the same thing]], nor [[FromACertainPointOfView conclude that it's merely a matter of perspective]]. Finally, she will not engage in some extreme mental acrobatics, [[{{Doublethink}} simultaneously but separately agree with both opposing views]].

In RealLife, this process can be very stimulating and rewarding, and it is also necessary for people to truly coexist in a a decent manner. In fiction, it ''can'' work in the same way... ''if'' you have the time and energy for it.

Contrast WhatIsEvil, which is a aversion or two of this trope: The villain tries to invoke BothSidesHaveAPoint, but it is made clear to the audience that he [[StrawmanPolitical does in fact not have any valid point whatsoever]] and the protagonist is also very unlikely to listen. This aversion is much simpler then playing the trope straight, and is thus far more common - especially in action stories where the audience want big fights and are likely to find a valid moral debate to be a boring disruption.

Not to be confused with DoubleWeapon, where both sides of your weapon have a point. Compare GreyAndGreyMorality, BlackAndGreyMorality and WhiteAndGreyMorality as well as RousseauWasRight and GoodVersusGood. Characters stuck in this situation may decide to TakeAThirdOption. But beware of falling into the GoldenMeanFallacy, where a compromise is reached, but one side is flat-out ''wrong'', and has no valid point after all.

-->''FiddlerOnTheRoof''

->'''Avram''': ''(gestures at Perchik and Mordcha) He's right, and he's right? They can't both be right.''
->'''Tevye''': ''You know... you are also right.''
->'''FiddlerOnTheRoof''

* In KarakuridojiUltimo, the protagonist Yamato learns he is the cause of an apocalypse in the near future. (This is part of the premise, so it's not really a spoiler.) Yamato chooses to avert this by finding every person in the world who would be involved in the event and understanding their points of view so that he can choose the best possible action once the time comes.