History Main / ButNotTooWhite

-->'''Hannibal (to Face, who just stepped out of a tanning booth):''' You are really, ''really'' tan.

* ''Film/IronMan2'': If you look closely at Justin Hammer's palms, you'll notice that they are bright orange. Apparently Justin was a little overzealous with the fake-n-bake and forgot to wash his hands afterwards.

Also see EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette, UndeathlyPallor. Compare ButNotTooBlack, where a character faces colorism discrimination, usually by being told that their skin is too dark. Compare ButNotTooForeign. May be considered a reason why AlbinosAreFreaks.

Also see EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette, UndeathlyPallor. Contrast ButNotTooBlack -- despite the name, mind, this trope is not strictly its opposite. Compare ButNotTooForeign. May be considered a reason why AlbinosAreFreaks.

Today, the extent of this trope varies from country to country. In most of Asia [[RavenHairIvorySkin paler is better]], but in the general western world, a light tan is a sign of healthy physical activity. Pale skin is often associated with being a nerds, {{goth}}s, [[BasementDweller shut-ins]], or invalids. People who rarely venture into the sun will often be unwilling to wear shorts or take off their shirts in public for fear of revealing a "pasty" complexion beneath their standard clothing. Even people who lack the ability to tan will often be ashamed of their white skin tone.

* In an {{inver|tedTrope}}sion, Creator/RobertPattinson and Creator/KristenStewart from the ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' movies have been praised for their pale looks and many hope they can lower the skin cancer rates for teens due to excessive tanning.

* ''Series/OneDayAtATime2017'': The fairskinned Elena despairs when she realizes her skin tone doesn't make her look as {{Latino|Is Brown}} as her darker family members.

* The 8th-gen ''VideoGame/WWEVideoGames'' have a tendency to make caucasian superstars a lot more tanned than their real-life counterparts usually are. Most wrestlers who are on the pale side in reality have a noticeably darker tan in-game, and wrestlers who are normally well-tanned make Creator/GeorgeHamilton look like Creator/TimBurton, with the aforementioned Wrestling/{{Sheamus}} being one of the very few who's accurately represented in all his pasty glory.

* The 8th-gen ''VideoGame/WWEVideoGames'' have a tendency to make caucasian superstars a lot more tanned than their real-life counterparts usually are. Most wrestlers who are one the pale side in reality have a noticeable tan in-game, and wrestlers who are normally well-tanned make Creator/GeorgeHamilton look like Creator/TimBurton, with the aforementioned Wrestling/{{Sheamus}} being one of the very few who's accurately represented in all his pasty glory.

* Several Western celebrities nowadays are rumored to practice excessive tanning, hair treatments, altering makeup and even plastic surgery to copy features from more fashionable black, latin or Asian women. Foremost among those accused of it are notably the Kardashian-Jenner sisters and Creator/ArianaGrande.

* Several Western celebrities nowadays are rumored to practice excessive tanning, hair treatments, altering makeup and even plastic surgery to copy features from more fashionable black, latin or Asian women. Foremost among those accused of it are notably the Kardashian-Jenner sisters and Arianna Grande.

* In an inverse from ''Soul Calibur III'''s accidental use of ButNotTooBlack, ''WWE Day of Reckoning'' has created wrestlers lose the most of red component in their skin tone (and ''all'' of the blue) the lighter you try to go, so that pale skin always looks jaundiced and sallow. Caucasian skin tones are perfectly natural with any level of a tan, but trying to make, say, Wrestling/{{Sheamus}} will have him turn out looking like he's doing a guest spot on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''.

Today, the extent of this trope varies from country to country. In most of Asia [[RavenHairIvorySkin paler is better]], but in the general western world, a light tan is a sign of healthy physical activity. Pale skin is often associated with being a {{Nerd}}, {{goth}}, [[BasementDweller shut-in]], or invalid. People who rarely venture into the sun will often be unwilling to wear shorts or take off their shirts in public for fear of revealing a "pasty" complexion beneath their standard clothing. Even people who lack the ability to tan will often be ashamed of their white skin tone.

* Wrestling/{{Sheamus}} plays up his Irish heritage with his pale skin. This makes him stand out amongst almost every other Caucasian Wrestling/{{WWE}} wrestler, most of whom have tanned skin. Of course, Sheamus's skin is often poked fun at on wrestling online forums. Sheamus has said in interviews that he actually ''tried'' to get a tan early in his pre-WWE career, but would just turn red then back to white. Realizing that his pale skin and red hair gave him a unique look, however, he decided to just go with that. On an episode of ''Raw'', Wrestling/JohnCena referred to him as a big tub of mayonnaise. Also mentioned in NXT. Wrestling/{{Edge}} has also gotten a chance to poke fun at Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}'s paleness, remarking that ''Raw'' had apparently "been taken over by an evil Ronald [=McDonald=]!" As has Wrestling/SantinoMarella in a few hilarious segments, joking about Sheamus's "lack of skin pigmentation.

* Nicole Matthews has been affectionately dubbed "The Woman The Sun Forgot" on The World Famous Flea Market(and she's one of the wrestlers they like)

* A big part of [[Series/TheTonightShow Conan O'Brien's]] self-deprecating humor is the act of mocking his porcelain skin. Taken UpToEleven in the ''Pale Force'' cartoons shown in ''[[Creator/ConanOBrien Late Night with Conan O'Brien]]'', where O'Brien and comic Creator/JimGaffigan are superheroes whose powers derive from their blinding pastiness.

* "[[https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/137trd/irish_girl_sunbathing_no_not_her/ Irish girl sunbathing. No, not her... the other one]]." Two women on the beach, but only one is immediately visible because her friend blends in with the white sand.

* "[[https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/137trd/irish_girl_sunbathing_no_not_her/ Irish girl sunbathing. No, not her... the other one]]."

Throughout the pre-1950s world, fair and un-calloused skin was a sign of having the money not to need to do outdoor work or manual labour. Great lengths were taken to maintain pale and dainty skin, including [[MakeUpIsEvil using lead and arsenic-based makeup]] and, during certain fashion cycles, [[ParasolOfPrettiness ladies carrying parasols whenever going outside]]. There's a reason that in pre-modern times the word "fair" came to be a synonym of "beautiful."

* In an inverse from ''Soul Calibur III'''s accidental use of ButNotTooBlack, ''WWE Day of Reckoning'' has created wrestlers lose the red component in their skin tone the lighter you try to go, so that pale skin always looks jaundiced and sallow. Caucasian skin tones are perfectly natural with any level of a tan, but trying to make, say, Wrestling/{{Sheamus}} will have him turn out looking like he's doing a guest spot on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''.

Also see EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette, UndeathlyPallor. Contrast ButNotTooBlack -- despite the name, mind, this trope is not strictly its opposite. Compare ButNotTooForeign.

* In an inverse from ''Soul Calibur III'''s accidental use of ButNotTooBlack, ''WWE Day of Reckoning'' gives created wrestlers a distinctly sallow tone to their skin the lighter you try to go, so that pale skin looks jaundiced and yellow. Caucasian skin tones are perfectly natural with any level of a tan, but trying to make, say, Wrestling/{{Sheamus}} will have him turn out looking like he's doing a guest spot on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''.

* In an inverse from ''Soul Calibur III'''s accidental use of ButNotTooBlack, ''WWE Day of Reckoning'' gives created wrestlers a distinctly sallow tone to their skin the lighter you try to go, so that pale skin looks jaundiced and yellow. Caucasian skin tones are perfectly natural with any level of a tan, but trying to make, say, Wrestling/{{Seamus}} will have him turn out looking like he's doing a guest spot on ''WesternAnination/TheSimpsons''.

* In an inverse from ''Soul Calibur III'''s accidental use of ButNotTooBlack, ''WWE Day of Reckoning'' gives created wrestlers a distinctly sallow tone to their skin the lighter you try to go, so that pale skin looks jaundiced and yellow. Caucasian skin tones are perfectly natural with any level of a tan, but trying to make, say, ProWrestling/{{Seamus}} will have him turn out looking like he's doing a guest spot on ''WesternAnination/TheSimpsons''.

Though fair ('white') skin has historically been - and in many places still is - sought after, Europe and its offshoots have gone off it lately. This has been due to the increasing popularity of long-distance 'holidays', typically to warm and sunny places.

Also see EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette, UndeathlyPallor. Contrast ButNotTooBlack - despite the name, mind, this trope is not strictly its opposite. Compare ButNotTooForeign.

--> "I'm getting sick and tired of all these people giving me crap about what color my skin is. Do you know what? Yeah, I'm ''pale'' - what's the big deal? Wrestling/SamoaJoe made a big deal about it in Connecticut, Wrestling/{{Christian}} made a big deal about it in Long Island, but you know what? It doesn't matter what color my skin is, because I'm the best wrestler in the world! I beat Homicide, I beat everybody that Wrestling/RingOfHonor has put in front of me! And d'you know what? THAT is what makes me a MAN! And do you know what's ''un''manly? All these idiots talking about my skin color, going and sitting in front of a bunch of fluorescent lights with goggles and a Speedo!"

* In ''WebAnimation/TheGrosseryGang'' webseries arc "Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous", Meathead, while coaching the newly-rich Ricardo on how to look the part, says he's too pale and needs a tan, because "rich people love their fake tans", though it ends up a real tan in Ricardo's case...and a very streaky one at that.