History Main / DontShootTheMessage

* ''Series/ICarly'': "[[Recap/ICarlyS02Ep13IMeetFred iMeet Fred]]": It's very possible this episode was meant to be a satire of fandom culture, taking the idea of [[HePannedItNowHeSucks somebody being flamed for not liking something popular]] and greatly exaggerating it. However, many felt, even if this ''was'' the intended message, that the treatment Freddie gets for simply stating he didn't find Fred amusing was far more mean-spirited than it was funny, not helped by Fred's divisive status in real life (compared to the [[CharacterShilling nearly godlike portrayal]] he gets in the episode) making many [[UnintentionallySympathetic sympathize with Freddie all the more]].

* In Creator/AlexGarland's ''{{Film/Men}}'', the patriarchy's existance and enforcement both by powerful institutions (the police, organized religion, etc.), and by the average man are strongly criticized. However, a common criticism of the movie is that, while the message in question it's about as subtle as a sledgehammer to the face, it doesn't really say more than this or add a new perspective to the conversation.

* In ME!ME!ME! by Japanese DJ and producer Music/{{Teddyloid}} with lyrics provided by Music/{{Daoko}}, the Otaku culture, the toxic Anime obsession and the self-alienation because of the former ones, are harshly condemned. But, the absurdly amount of gratuitous nudity and violence present in the music video distracted many viewers from the message.

* ''Film/{{Threads}}'': Although the film was generally well-received by critics, it also had its share of detractors who took great pains to note that they understood the anti-war message Hines was pushing but found the extremely bleak tone to undermine the effectiveness of the message and make the film an unpleasant slog. As with most movies like this, the question has been raised of whether it's worth using such trauma-inducing or otherwise disturbing material without any meaningful catharsis at the end.

Related to the concept of the CluelessAesop, [[TitleDrop Don't Shoot the Message]] is the phenomenon that results when viewers feel the need to explain that, while they are in agreement with the message attempted by a work, they hate the delivery enough that they still find the work intolerable. Quite often, this is because they consider the message's delivery to be [[{{Anvilicious}} about as subtle as an anvil to the face]] in a way that drags the whole work down. They might consider the messenger to be RightForTheWrongReasons, or the message to be too [[BlackAndWhiteMorality oversimplified]] or laden with [[TheWarOnStraw straw]]. The work is seen as preachy, even to [[ConfirmationBias the proverbial choir that is being preached to]]. The above description gives an extreme hypothetical, but you do not need to think a work is outright terrible to qualify; you merely have to dislike it for any of a hundred reasons unrelated to its Aesop.

* ''ComicBook/TheBoys'': Although the comic is remembered more as a lengthy series of insults towards Creator/MarvelComics, Creator/DCComics, and the fanbase of both those franchises. The central theme of the comic is that humans are simply too flawed and undisciplined to be given superpowers. The situations found in comic book settings are best left in the hands of people who are ''actually'' trained to resolve these situations, not random vigilantes with no military training or experience.

* ''[[https://www.wattpad.com/story/112467278-%F0%9F%92%94easliy-broken%F0%9F%92%94 Easily Broken]]'', based on ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'', had messages about family and friendship being beautiful and important. Most of the readers fully agreed with these messages, but ended up hating the fanfic for its bad spelling and grammar, use of the FandomSpecificPlot of Lincoln [[TheRunaway running away]], the plot holes (such as it being uncertain whether it took place before or after Ronnie Anne moved away) and the family being portrayed in an inconsistent, and often uncharacteristically mean, way.

** "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS16E6TheDInApartment23 The D in Apartment 23]]": A problem many had with the episode is that, during Brian's [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech rant]] while ShamingTheMob, he made a very ''valid'' call out on internet culture and Website/{{Twitter}}, it's just the episode itself fails to execute it in a meaningful way. People ''can'' be quick to freak out over a tweet and [[MistakenForRacist call someone a racist]] or "cancel" them rather than focus on more legitimate issues, while acting like a single tweet defines a person's moral character. Except whereas real cases of this have the tweet be spawned from ''[[InnocentBigot ignorance]]'', not racism, Brian ''knew'' his tweet was racist but posted it anyway. Then he figured people just can't take a joke when it was reacted to negatively. Also most of the vitriol comes from ''online'', not in reality like an actual lynch mob. And of course, real life cases have the person who made the tweet at least ''apologize'', something Brian refuses to do until the end, where he instead snaps at the mob while invoking NeverMyFault.

** While "[[Recap/TheLoudHouseS2E8NoSuchLuckFrogWild No Such Luck]]" brings up a valid moral against lying and how it isn't a healthy way to solve a conflict, it isn't saved from how everyone (including the parents) picked up the IdiotBall and Lincoln was [[DisproportionateRetribution overly punished for it]], while ignoring the implications of the family's actions.

* ''[[https://theloudhousefanon.fandom.com/wiki/A_Disgraced_Athlete A Disgraced Athlete]]'' (based on ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'') was meant to be a negative criticism on the episode "No Such Luck". However, most of its readers, even those who hated "No Such Luck", ended up hating the fanfic even more, due to [[AdaptationalVillainy Lynn's portrayal as a monster]] who [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals kills cats]] and tries to kill her own brother.

* ''Film/{{Enough}}'': Most would agree that a woman would have a moral right to claim self-defense to premeditated murder to protect herself and her child from her abusive husband, especially if the husband has enough connections to track down her every move, and can therefore set her up to be defenseless, and unable to get any help from the law. However, the movie undermines this message by totally overdoing the female empowerment/good wife vs. evil husband aspect, such as justifying her breaking into his house and setting him up to be completely defenseless, and giving him a taste of his own medicine before finishing the deed, and happily living ever after (when she had cut the phone line) with no inquiries from the police. There's also the fact that entire movie takes place from her perspective and we don't get any insight to how the marriage went or her husband's abusive nature. As such, the film seems more like about the fantasy of an abused woman getting revenge against her male partner, as opposed to a story of self-defense.

* "Film/{{Enough}}": Most would agree that a woman would have a moral right to claim self-defense to premeditated murder to protect herself and her child from her abusive husband, especially if the husband has enough connections to track down her every move, and can therefore set her up to be defenseless, and unable to get any help from the law. However, the movie undermines this message by totally overdoing the female empowerment/good wife vs. evil husband aspect, such as justifying her breaking into his house and setting him up to be completely defenseless, and giving him a taste of his own medicine before finishing the deed, and happily living ever after (when she had cut the phone line) with no inquiries from the police. There's also the fact that entire movie takes place from her perspective and we don't get any insight to how the marriage went or her husband's abusive nature. As such, the film seems more like about the fantasy of an abused woman getting revenge against her male partner, as opposed to a story of self-defense.

* Film/{{Enough}}: Most would agree that a woman would have a moral right to claim self-defense to premeditated murder to protect herself and her child from her abusive husband, especially if the husband has enough connections to track down her every move, and can therefore set her up to be defenseless, and unable to get any help from the law. However, the movie undermines this message by totally overdoing the female empowerment/good wife vs. evil husband aspect, such as justifying her breaking into his house and setting him up to be completely defenseless, and giving him a taste of his own medicine before finishing the deed, and happily living ever after (when she had cut the phone line) with no inquiries from the police. There's also the fact that entire movie takes place from her perspective and we don't get any insight to how the marriage went or her husband's abusive nature. As such, the film seems more like about the fantasy of an abused woman getting revenge against her male partner, as opposed to a story of self-defense.

* "Film/{{Enough}}: Most would agree that a woman would have a moral right to claim self-defense to premeditated murder to protect herself and her child from her abusive husband, especially if the husband has enough connections to track down her every move, and can therefore set her up to be defenseless, and unable to get any help from the law. However, the movie undermines this message by totally overdoing the female empowerment/good wife vs. evil husband aspect, such as justifying her breaking into his house and setting him up to be completely defenseless, and giving him a taste of his own medicine before finishing the deed, and happily living ever after (when she had cut the phone line) with no inquiries from the police. There's also the fact that entire movie takes place from her perspective and we don't get any insight to how the marriage went or her husband's abusive nature. As such, the film seems more like about the fantasy of an abused woman getting revenge against her male partner, as opposed to a story of self-defense.

* ''Film/{{Blonde}}'': Several critics and general viewers have noted that the film wants to criticize and deconstruct the abuse, excessive sexualization and exploitation Norma Jeane Mortensen (and numerous women like her) went through in Hollywood, which is certainly not a bad thing, but that the execution is flawed; it's been argued that beyond graphically depicting Norma Jeane suffering one occurrence of trauma and degradation after another, the film doesn't have much else to say on the subject (which also tends to reduce Norma Jeane herself to being a helpless victim), and at times even feels like it indulges in the same exploitation of Norma Jeane [[BrokenAesop it tries to condemn]].

** Beyond the fact that ''BLACK SUN'' conveys its anti-racism message using [[{{Dehumanization}} literal animal men]], it also takes place in a setting where the practical solution to the issue is to stop new kaijins from being made, effectively putting an end to kaijins as a species. While this makes sense in universe since kaijins are for the most part humans who've been unwillingly turned into kaijins, its unable to coexist with the heavy-handed analogies ''BLACK SUN'' makes between kaijins and real life civil rights struggles.

* ''Literature/NemesisSeries'': Some of the book's critics accused the writing of being too exaggerated with its "transphobia is bad" message, saying that the transphobic characters are so over the top that it comes across more as a WarOnStraw. Author April Daniels responded that a lot of what the transphobic characters say is [[RealityIsUnrealistic pretty much lifted wholesale from things said by real-life transphobes.]]

Related to the concept of the CluelessAesop, [[TitleDrop Don't Shoot the Message]] is the phenomenon that results when viewers feel the need to explain that, while they are in agreement with the message attempted by a work, they hate the delivery enough that they still find the work intolerable. Quite often, this is because they consider the message's delivery to be [[{{Anvilicious}} about as subtle as an anvil to the face]] in a way that drags the whole work down. They might consider the messenger to be RightForTheWrongReasons, or the message to be too [[BlackAndWhiteMorality oversimplified]] or laden with [[TheWarOnStraw straw]]. The work is seen as preachy, even to [[ConfirmationBias the proverbial choir that is being preached to]]. The above description gives an extreme hypothetical, but you do not need to think a work is DarthWiki/SoBadItsHorrible to qualify; you merely have to dislike it for any of a hundred reasons unrelated to its Aesop.

* ''Anime/SonicX'':
** One of Knuckles' flaws throughout the anime is him constantly being manipulated by his enemies and ending up being tricked by them (mostly Eggman) into doing their bidding and his friends always criticize him for that and tell him that he shouldn't let people manipulate him. But they've shown that they have no qualms about playing Knuckles like a fiddle either, such as when they goaded him into playing a baseball game that Eggman was hosting when he showed reluctance in participating, and when they duped him into distracting a Metarex with a beach ball that they told him was Secco's Planet Egg which offended Knuckles when he found out (though the latter is more downplayed in the dub where instead making it about the others teasing him like in the sub, they make it more into a sympathetic insight by Cosmo over Knuckles' forgiveness to a fault).
** Chris' parents, Nelson and Lindsay Thorndyke, are painted as [[ParentalNeglect neglectful parents]] and their main flaw was that they focused too much on work and never spent any time with Chris while he was growing up. In the episode where Chris catches a cold, both Nelson and Lindsay rush to check up on him and then Chuck harshly criticizes Nelson for setting a bad example by abandoning his work and checking up on his son over such a trivial issue. While it is an exaggeration on Chris' parents' part, the fact that their main problem was focusing too much on work and now they're being criticized for taking time off of work to see Chris is so very inconsistent.
** During the campfire scene in Episode 51, Sonic says “friendship is freedom”. Which is in itself a great message, except that he spent the entire episode allowing Chris to kidnap him and drag him far away while delaying his return back to his world.
** At the end of Episode 56, Knuckles finds out that his friends tricked him into distracting a Metarex and laments about it. In the original Japanese dub Cosmo tells Knuckles that it's better to be deceived than to deceive since you can't hurt anyone that way. While a message like that would already be perceived as condescending and ignorant, it's contradicted by Knuckles fighting Sonic earlier in the episode because Eggman tricked him again.

One possible form this could take is a SpaceWhaleAesop. Contrast this with StrawmanHasAPoint, when one can't help but agree with the ''opposite'' of the work's position, not so much because of one's prior beliefs as because the work did such a bad job of portraying the opposition. This could also lead to a LogicBomb if your reason for shooting the message is because of the messenger's hypocrisy. Also contrast HardTruthAesop, when AnAesop is viewed as valid despite its unpleasantness due to its handling in the work. Compare StealthParody, which can differ from this trope only in creator intent, and due to PoesLaw may be confused for each other. If this occurs InUniverse, it's JerkassHasAPoint.

* ''Anime/YuGiOh'': Regardless of how one feels about the way Mai giving into Doma post-MindRape in the "Waking the Dragons" {{filler}} arc was handled, given how she seemed fine at the very end of Battle City, delayed PTSD is a very real thing.