History Main / DisobeyThisMessage

** VideoGames/SpecOpsTheLine takes this trope into its metafiction. It's a military-themed shooter which delivers a horrific TakeThat to the plethora of military shooters out there while depicting some of the worst atrocities ever captured in a video game. It outright insults the player for continuing to play and tells the player as well as the protagonist that the horrifying atrocities on screen are all their fault. The devs give a WordOfGod interpretation that there was an option to prevent all those horrible things; the player could have just walked away. By the end, the player and protagonist hear the damning line, [[spoiler: "We're here because you wanted to feel like something you're not: a hero."]] A loading screen sarcastically reads, "To kill for yourself is murder. To kill for your government is heroic. To kill for entertainment is harmless." But the player presumably paid for the game and would like to get what they paid for, not just shut it off after two hours, and if the player does what he or she should have (shut it off), he wouldn't have seen the whole message and condemnation of the hero fantasy present in so many games.

** SpecOpsTheLine takes this trope into its metafiction. It's a military-themed shooter which delivers a horrific TakeThat to the plethora of military shooters out there while depicting some of the worst atrocities ever captured in a video game. It outright insults the player for continuing to play and tells the player as well as the protagonist that the horrifying atrocities on screen are all their fault. The devs give a WordOfGod interpretation that there was an option to prevent all those horrible things; the player could have just walked away. By the end, the player and protagonist hear the damning line, [[spoiler: "We're here because you wanted to feel like something you're not: a hero."]] A loading screen sarcastically reads, "To kill for yourself is murder. To kill for your government is heroic. To kill for entertainment is harmless." But the player presumably paid for the game and would like to get what they paid for, not just shut it off after two hours, and if the player does what he or she should have (shut it off), he wouldn't have seen the whole message and condemnation of the hero fantasy present in so many games.

* Classically done in ''TheParkingLotIsFull'' strip shown above.

[[quoteright:250:[[Webcomic/TheParkingLotIsFull http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/587d1d93879c1eeddfb3a4e82e7c999c.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''Just remember. You're unique. Just like everyone else.'']]

[[quoteright:225:[[Webcomic/TheParkingLotIsFull http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/question.PNG]]]]
[[caption-width-right:225:''Just remember. You're unique. Just like everyone else.'']]

* Played straight in ''TeamAmericaWorldPolice'', where the Aesop is "Don't listen to celebrities for political advice, unless they're Trey Parker and Matt Stone".
* ''DeadPoetsSociety'': Don't do what grown-ups like me tell you! Let's all be individuals... together!
* Think for yourself is the main argument of the protagonist in ''ThankYouForSmoking'', one he uses to assert that the schoolchildren should challenge authority, in this case the authorities saying smoking is bad for you and you shouldn't do it (he is PR man for the tobacco industry).

* Another parody of the concept comes from ''{{Scrubs}}''. The Janitor has spent the episode (which spans about a month) growing sideburns and encouraging others to do likewise because he wants to bring them back into fashion. Then he reveals that his are fake, and hopes everyone has learnt an important lesson. Only...

* Toward the end of ''[[Series/BabylonFive Babylon 5]]'', G'Kar gained a large and [[UnwantedFalseFaith unwanted]] following when his writings were published without his permission. He tries to get his followers to think for themselves, and renounces some of the opinions he'd written earlier (such as bitter hatred for the Centauri). At one point, he engages in a practical demostration for why people shouldn't blindly trust him:

* Or, this segment from SteveMartin's first comedy album:

* Played with in the works of BertoltBrecht. Most of his earlier stuff was a critique on a then up-and-coming UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler and his emotionally-charged rhetoric, but Brecht was quite aware of the irony of using one form of demagoguery to attack another. Therefore his plays, rather than telling the audience what to think, only told them ''to'' think. Thus, Brecht came up with the theory of the ''verfremdungseffekt'' (roughly, the 'estrangement effect'), a refusal to manipulate the audience's sympathies through emotional grandstanding, and instead to frequently [[NoFourthWall remind them that they were watching a play]] and that they should draw their own conclusions from it.

* ''{{Depict1}}'' combines this with MissionControlIsOffItsMeds. If he says you need to collect gems, you die the moment you touch them. If he says the [[SpikesOfDoom spikes will kill you]], you can pick them up and use them as throwing weapons. If you fail to "press Esc to end the game" at what he says is the ending, he leaves you in a huff.
* In [[BitTrip Bit.Trip FLUX]], this ''would'' be the message [[spoiler: to the ''player'', ''from'' the player character in the ending. His journey is over, but yours isn't. '''Put down the controller and live your life.''']] Instead this trope is played with, as [[spoiler: [[SheatheYourSword it is required for the ending to the series.]]]]

* Lampshaded in ''{{Daria}}'', "The Pinch Sitter", in which Daria and Jane un-brainwash two [[CreepyChild "kids"]] and teach them to think for themselves. Near the end of the episode, the children turn to Daria and ask how they can trust what she said to be true, to which Daria replies: "You can't, and that's the greatest lesson of all."

* Parodied in an episode of ''TheSimpsons'', where a teacher tells his entire class to think for themselves. They all immediately repeat him in monotone: "Think for yourself..."

* The ''{{Illuminatus}}'' trilogy works with this issue quite a bit. Often charismatic, powerful leaders of the anarchist protagonists deliberately lie or spread false rumours of themselves painting them as monstrous villains, in order to make their followers suspicious of their motives and make up their own minds. The problems start when the followers choose to follow despite this; it's implied that the evil Illuminati was born because of a mistake like this.

* GoblinHollow: "You laugh at me because I'm different. I laugh at you because you're all the same" -- on, [[http://www.rhjunior.com/GH/00039.html as Ben points out]], a mass-produced T-shirt.

* ThrobbingGristle's "Don't Do As You're Told, Do As You Think" is an ''[[InvokedTrope intentional]]'' version of this. The entire point of the song—to which the title serves as [[MadnessMantra the sole lyric]]—is to [[DeconstructiveParody highlight the absurdity of such statements]] while, paradoxically, [[MindScrew giving the listener exactly that message]]. "Convincing People" is similarly circular.

--->'''Dumbledore:''' It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to our enemies - but just as much to stand up to our friends.
* The ''{{Illuminatus}}!'' trilogy works with this issue quite a bit. Often charismatic, powerful leaders of the anarchist protagonists deliberately lie or spread false rumours of themselves painting them as monstrous villains, in order to make their followers suspicious of their motives and make up their own minds. The problems start when the followers choose to follow despite of this; it's implied that the evil Illuminati was born because of a mistake like this.

* Lampshaded in the Franchise/{{Batman}} [[{{Elseworld}} Legends Of The Dead Earth]] story "Fables of the Bat-Man". In a {{dystopia}}n future, [[SdrawkcabName Posea]] tells kids stories about Batman that each have AnAesop designed to make them question their society. The first one is that you shouldn't let anyone force you to think their way. One of the kids asks "Except for you, Posea?" and he replies "Well now, maybe you've got me there, pup, so I'd urge you to question ''everything'', even what I tell say. Find your own truths - and always think for yourselves."

* ''[[GURPS]] Illuminati'': "Never believe in conspiracy theories - they are all a plot from the intelligentsia, to stop you from finding the truth!"

** Which leads some to the logical conclusion that conspiracy theorists are part of a ViralMarketing [[TheConspiracy government conspiracy to cause this effect on people]]. As expressed on the cover of [[GURPS]] Illuminati: "Never believe in conspiracy theories - they are all a plot from the intelligentsia, to stop you from finding the truth!"

** Which leads some to the logical conclusion that conspiracy theorists are part of a ViralMarketing [[TheConspiracy government conspiracy to cause this effect on people]].

* Subverted in ''TheReplacements''. Riley becomes a celebrity and everyone starts imitating her. After spending the whole episode trying to get them to stop, she realizes it's their right to act like whomever they want.

* Think for yourself is the main argument of the protagonist in ThankYouForSmoking, one he uses to assert that the schoolchildren should challenge authority, in this case the authorities saying smoking is bad for you and you shouldn't do it (he is PR man for the tobacco industry).

* Played with in the works of BertoltBrecht. Most of his earlier stuff was a critique on a then up-and-coming AdolphHitler and his emotionally-charged rhetoric, but Brecht was quite aware of the irony of using one form of demagoguery to attack another. Therefore his plays, rather than telling the audience what to think, only told them ''to'' think. Thus, Brecht came up with the theory of the ''verfremdungseffekt'' (roughly, the 'estrangement effect'), a refusal to manipulate the audience's sympathies through emotional grandstanding, and instead to frequently [[NoFourthWall remind them that they were watching a play]] and that they should draw their own conclusions from it.

* {{Tool}} was well known for tricking concerts goers into saying stupid things like the above Scrubs example.

Can also be a FamilyUnfriendlyAesop, if the author's intent was obviously to send the message, "Don't blindly obey anybody -- except me." This can especially be the case when the [[AuthorOnBoard author is trying to convince the audience to take up particular political causes]]; see the Real Life example of conspiracy theorists below for how that can turn out badly.

* ''LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' perfectly illustrates the problem with this message in the episode "Authority." RobinWilliams' character Merrit Rook is constantly telling people to question authority and "don't be a sheep", but you can clearly see that his followers ''still'' follow ''him'' like mindless sheep... which he clearly enjoys. [[spoiler: Elliot "defeats" Rook by repeatedly refusing to bow to him, even when subjected to MindRape type psychological games with the plus of his "rival" using Olivia as a hostage. Rook then admits his defeat (and even says Elliot won because he didn't let Rook get to him), lets Olivia go and then pretty much disappears (it's heavily implied he was DrivenToSuicide by drowning.]]
* Subverted again in ''ThePrisoner'' episode "Checkmate", the prisoner of the title teaches other prisoners how to tell real prisoners from guardians. They apply this lesson to him and conclude he's a guardian, foiling his escape plan.

* The whole concept of mass-produced [[http://banksyt-shirts.com/shop Banksy paraphernalia]] fits this trope perfectly, especially considering the artist's vehement anti-commercial stance.

* The old Nickelodeon sketch comedy ''Series/{{Roundhouse}}'' had an episode about this, including a memorable song.

* The basic message of the essay Creator/RalphWaldoEmerson's ''Self-Reliance'' was "Everyone should be a nonconformist".

* The basic message of the essay ''Self-Reliance'' was "Everyone should be a nonconformist".

See also: BeYourself, JumpOffABridgeRebuttal, TheManIsStickingItToTheMan.

* Lampshaded in the {{Batman}} [[{{Elseworld}} Legends Of The Dead Earth]] story "Fables of the Bat-Man". In a {{dystopia}}n future, [[SdrawkcabName Posea]] tells kids stories about Batman that each have AnAesop designed to make them question their society. The first one is that you shouldn't let anyone force you to think their way. One of the kids asks "Except for you, Posea?" and he replies "Well now, maybe you've got me there, pup, so I'd urge you to question ''everything'', even what I tell say. Find your own truths - and always think for yourselves."

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