History Main / FilibusterFreefall

* ''ComicBook/{{Marville}}'' went from an unfunny ShallowParody to an even more unfunny AuthorTract about evolution and the comic book industry, or something. No one thinks the change was for the better, even though no one actually liked what came before.

** Though he had long been something of a populist (and the strip reflected it), the New Deal and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration prompted a change in his personal politics, and he began to include more and more lectures on the benefits of economic conservatism into his work, sometimes [[CharacterFilibuster regardless of whether it seemed out of place or not]]. This reached a head when [[UnclePennybags Daddy Warbucks]] melodramatically passed away following Roosevelt's election to fourth term, stating that he wasn't "wanted" anymore -- the metaphor being that the New Deal was literally killing capitalism; after FDR himself died, Gray then wrote [[DudeNotFunny a series of widely criticized strips]] where Warbucks revealed he was back, saying he felt the "new climate" was much healthier for him.

* ''ComicStrip/LilAbner'' had always been in part a vehicle for social satire, but creator Al Capp slowly became more ultra-conservative in the 1960s until almost every strip was openly griping about hippies. While a lot of younger readers were turned off by this shift, other longtime fans complained that the feature's humor went downhill with it, and the strip had become much more mean-spirited and unfunny; the [[{{ComicStrip/Peanuts}} "Peewee"]] arc, where [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uZk-AJuP4wE/TNRoMVuW_QI/AAAAAAAACQM/3QsvWZKiBqQ/s1600/1968_10.20_CAPP.NEWS.COLOR.jpg Capp blasts Charles Schultz as an untalented neurotic]], is seen as an all-time low.

* Creator/OrsonScottCard started tracking this way with essays condemning marriage equality and gay people in general. Then came ''[[Literature/OrsonScottCardsEmpire Empire]]'', which was about liberal terrorists attacking conservative military interests. ''Empire'', as well as his essays, has somewhat colored Card's works, to the point that there was a fight over ''VideoGame/ShadowComplex'' because Card wrote ''Empire'' as a tie-in novel that ended up coming out before the game (the game itself was written by noted comic book writer Creator/PeterDavid). Card actually did suggest the decidedly hyper-conservative ideology of the Restoration for the game... then proceeded to make them liberal in the novel anyway. His thoughts on homosexuality are possibly seeping into his other work, such as in ''Hamlet's Father'', where all of Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'s issues can be traced back to getting molested by his father, who also then molested around half of the play's cast as children, and then sent Hamlet on a revenge spree so they could all join the father in Hell (Card, however, claims there are no gay characters in "Hamlet's Father"--only pedophiles and damaged adults, but whether that's the truth or after-the-fact backpedaling is severely debatable, to say the least).

* The ''Literature/AnitaBlake'' series is another famous example of this. Unlike the ''Literature/MerryGentry'' series (which pretty much started off as porn), the Blake series initially started as the adventures of a professional necromancer who alternatively hunted and enjoyed sexual tension with the creatures of the night. Then around book six, the sexy times got ramped up to the point where they devoured the book, leaving little space for the actual plot. Many consider [[CreatorBreakdown the breaking point]] to be author Laurel K. Hamilton's divorce from her husband.

* Creator/OrsonScottCard started tracking this way with essays condemning gay marriage and homosexuals in general. Then came ''[[Literature/OrsonScottCardsEmpire Empire]]'', which was about liberal terrorists attacking conservative military interests. ''Empire'', as well as his essays, has somewhat colored Card's works, to the point that there was a fight over ''VideoGame/ShadowComplex'' because Card wrote ''Empire'' as a tie-in novel that ended up coming out before the game (the game itself was written by noted comic book writer Creator/PeterDavid). Card actually did suggest the decidedly hyper-conservative ideology of the Restoration for the game... then proceeded to make them liberal in the novel anyway. His thoughts on homosexuality are possibly seeping into his other work, such as in ''Hamlet's Father'', where all of Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'s issues can be traced back to getting molested by his father, who also then molested around half of the play's cast as children, and then sent Hamlet on a revenge spree so they could all join the father in Hell (Card, however, claims there are no gay characters in "Hamlet's Father"--only pedophiles and damaged adults, but whether that's the truth or after-the-fact backpedaling is severely debatable, to say the least).

* Minna Sundberg's first two major works, ''Webcomic/ARedtailsDream'' and ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'', were apolitical fantasy stories steeped in Scandinavian culture and history. However, Sundberg became a born-again Christian while working on the second webcomic, leading her to announce its abrupt conclusion because it no longer reflected her new religious values. Her third webcomic, ''Webcomic/LovelyPeople'', heavily reflects this change, railing against political correctness, consumerism, atheism, and having the ultimate lesson that only complete devotion in God and Christ can lead people to salvation. Her following webcomics also followed this same type of strict adherence to evangelical Christian beliefs and storylines.

* Internet funnyman Creator/{{Seanbaby}} used to write hilariously biting commentary on all kinds of weird and random subjects for years, with an occasional sociopolitically-charged jab that was still [[ActuallyPrettyFunny clever enough to be funny]] even to a lot of its targets. After the 2016 election of UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump, the jabs became much more frequent, gratuitous, and vicious towards anyone Sean held responsible for electing him, but his style of humor still largely remained the same. His latest project, [[http://www.1900hotdog.com 1-900-HOTDOG]], more or less continued in that direction until around 2022 when he decided that his previous work was an OldShame, but instead of just continuing on without using derogatory words like "retard" or "fag" anymore, he whittled his list of AcceptableTargets down to contain ''only'' Trump and anyone who might have voted for him, peppering even his articles on non-political subjects with "jokes" in the format of "Anyone to the right of Pol Pot is a Nazi and total piece of human garbage whose ass I want to kick," slightly reworded over and over. Basically, he's gone from writing humor that most readers enjoyed, to writing humor that most readers in and around the Bay Area enjoy.

* Internet funnyman Creator/{{Seanbaby}} used to write hilariously biting commentary on all kinds of weird and random subjects for years, with an occasional sociopolitically-charged jab that was still [[ActuallyPrettyFunny clever enough to be funny]] even to a lot of its targets. After the 2016 election of UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump, the jabs became much more frequent, gratuitous, and vicious towards anyone Sean held responsible for electing him, but his style of humor still largely remained the same. His latest project, [[http://www.1900hotdog.com 1-900-HOTDOG]], more or less continued in that direction until around 2022 when he decided that his previous work was an OldShame, but instead of just continuing on without using derogatory words like "retard" or "fag" anymore, he whittled his list of AcceptableTargets down to contain ''only'' Trump and anyone who might have voted for him, peppering even his articles on even non-political subjects with "Anyone to the right of Pol Pot is a Nazi and total piece of human garbage whose ass I want to kick," slightly reworded over and over. Basically, he's gone from writing humor that most readers enjoyed, to writing humor that most readers in and around the Bay Area enjoy.

* Internet funnyman Creator/{{Seanbaby}} used to write hilariously biting commentary on all kinds of weird and random subjects for years, with an occasional sociopolitically-charged jab that was still [[ActuallyPrettyFunny clever enough to be funny]] even to a lot of its targets. After the 2016 election of UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump, the jabs became much more frequent, gratuitous, and vicious towards anyone Sean held responsible for electing him, but his style of humor still largely remained the same. His latest project, [[www.1900hotdog.com 1-900-HOTDOG]], more or less continued in that direction until around 2022 when he decided that his previous work was an OldShame, but instead of just continuing on without using derogatory words like "retard" or "fag" anymore, he whittled his list of AcceptableTargets down to contain ''only'' Trump and anyone who might have voted for him, peppering even his articles on even non-political subjects with "Anyone to the right of Pol Pot is a Nazi and total piece of human garbage whose ass I want to kick," slightly reworded over and over. Basically, he's gone from writing humor that most readers enjoyed, to writing humor that most readers in and around the Bay Area enjoy.

* ''Film/ThePurgeUniverse'': [[Film/ThePurge1 The first film]] is a [[ProtectThisHouse home invasion]] horror film with a {{dystopia}}n edge set in [[NextSundayAD a near-future]] where, for one day a year, all crime is legal. The film hints that the New Founding Fathers, the FictionalPoliticalParty that created the Purge, had darker motives in doing so and that the Purge exists primarily as an excuse to KillThePoor, but this is mostly background material, with the film using the premise largely as [[HandWave an excuse]] for why [[PoliceAreUseless the police aren't stopping the villains]]. Starting with the sequel ''Film/ThePurgeAnarchy'', however, the series leans a lot more heavily on politics, portraying the New Founding Fathers as the series' GreaterScopeVillain and framing them as specifically right-wing [[CorruptCorporateExecutive plutocrats]] and [[RightWingMilitiaFanatic ultra-nationalists]] while the heroes are broadly multiracial, [[WorkingClassHero working-class]], and coded as left-leaning. General opinion on whether this was a good thing is [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools mixed]], though generally more positive than not. For fans of the series, the shift to a more overt political angle was [[GrowingTheBeard for the better]] after an underwhelming first film, which was criticized for a shallow plot that [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot didn't explore the full implications of its unique premise]], and that it helped the series [[SurprisinglyImprovedSequel come into its own]] as a topical satire of 2010s American radicalism. Among those who don't like it, though, the opinion is that it was a lateral shift from one extreme to another, from an empty treatment of politics that had nothing to say to heavy-handed, simplistic "us versus them" agitprop.

* Internet funnyman Creator/{{Seanbaby}} used to write hilariously biting commentary on all kinds of weird and random subjects for years, with an occasional sociopolitically-charged jab that was still [[ActuallyPrettyFunny clever enough to be funny]] even to a lot of its targets. After the 2016 election of UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump, the jabs became much more frequent, gratuitous, and vicious towards anyone Sean held responsible for electing him, but his style of humor still largely remained the same. His latest project, [[1900hotdog.com 1-900-HOTDOG]], more or less continued in that direction until around 2022 when he decided that his previous work was an OldShame, but instead of just continuing on without using derogatory words like "retard" or "fag" anymore, he whittled his list of AcceptableTargets down to contain ''only'' Trump and anyone who might have voted for him, peppering even his articles on even non-political subjects with "Anyone to the right of Pol Pot is a Nazi and total piece of human garbage whose ass I want to kick," slightly reworded over and over. Basically, he's gone from writing humor that most readers enjoyed, to writing humor that most readers in and around the Bay Area enjoy.

* Creator/SteveDitko made a name for himself as one of the co-creators of ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' and countless other superhero stories in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, but following his departure from Marvel in the late '60s (the reasons for which remain disputed due to [[ReclusiveArtist the high obfuscation of his personal life]]), his work started to become vastly more influenced by his appreciation of UsefulNotes/{{Objectivism}} and Creator/AynRand, represented by ComicBook/MrA and ComicBook/TheQuestion (the latter being [[SelfPlagiarism a more commercial-friendly expy]] of the former to be released through Creator/CharltonComics). While The Question was generally more sanded down in such political views (something which has lent the character to explore more philosophical directions following his later induction into Creator/DCComics with other writers), ''Mr. A'' is a thorough AuthorTract, posturing the titular character as a "true" superhero through Objectivist fables of [[BlackAndWhiteMorality moral absolution]] at [[WallOfText enormous length]].

* Shad of ''WebVideo/{{Shadiversity}}'' started his career examining historical weapons, armor, and buildings, fantasy weapons in light of Historical European Martial Arts, and many science-fiction and fantasy tropes; all his videos made little, if any, mention of his conservative stances. Over time, Shad became more open about his conservative leanings and freely expresses this on ''Knights Watch'', his spin-off channel (he tends to keep his political views off his main channel, and the times he does bring them up are few and far in between, and only then if he finds them relevant to his commentary). For example, Shad has a strong stance on how [[ActionGirl girls who can fight]] are portrayed in media, stemming from his traditional stance on women, like how [[WomenAreDelicate women on average tend to be physically weaker]] and more expressive about their feelings than men. He faults ''Film/{{Captain Marvel|2019}}'' for her lack of emotional vulnerabilities, saying that it gives her the personality of a stump of wood. On the other hand, [[Film/AlitaBattleAngel Alita]] is just as capable of fighting, and yet her moments of vulnerability make her a more "human" and relatable character. Likewise, Shad made a video touting [[Franchise/MastersOfTheUniverse He-Man]] as a symbol of "Virtuous [[RatedMForManly Masculinity]]" who is worthy of imitation.

* ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'' started out as an adult-oriented, gag-a-day humor strip, albeit one that nevertheless commented on a variety of political and social issues. In the early 2010s, however, it shifted to a second-wave feminist theme that was highly critical of pornography and sex work in particular, a shift that alienated much of its audience, which leaned strongly towards the sex positivity of the rising third-wave feminist movement. In 2019, it added extreme anti-trans and (to a lesser extent) anti-surrogacy views to the mix, which it followed up in 2020 by tilting hard into [[PoliticalCorrectnessIsEvil "anti-woke" right-wing culture war politics]] and {{conspiracy theori|st}}es that served as a sharp 180-degree turn away from the progressive politics it used to support. The strip's creator Tatsuya Ishida being a poster boy for a ReclusiveArtist, the reason for these changes remains unknown. [[Webcomic/CriticalMiss Grey Carter]] goes into more detail [[https://twitter.com/GreyTheTick/status/1414901004743725057 here,]] describing ''Sinfest'' as a case of a "passionate person [who] gets ass deep in [a] pet issue to the point it alienates everyone around them." As of 2024 Tats has now crossed the antisemitism Rubicon and isn't likely to recover.

* The idea behind Creator/AlanMoore's ''ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'' is that he takes famous characters from popular culture, such as [[Literature/SherlockHolmes Professor Moriarty]] or [[Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea Captain Nemo]], and deconstructs them. Usually, it works out pretty well and you can see where he is coming from. For example, he's hardly the first person to portray Literature/JamesBond not as TheCasanova, but as a [[HandsomeLech misogynistic jerk]] plagued with venereal diseases who's overly reliant on [[ShoePhone his gadgets]]. However, his take on Literature/HarryPotter embodies practically every stereotype about millennials there is, turns him into what amounts to a school shooter, and suggests him to be TheAntichrist. Even some who don't even like Potter think that [[ShallowParody the characterization is so off]] that it can barely be considered a {{Deconstruction}}, and comes off as Moore's personal opinions leaking into his writing. (Now that JK Rowling has had a freefall of her own (see Literature below) and there has been something of a backlash against the Potter books because of it, this may come off as an especially cringy sort of HilariousInHindsight.)

* Creator/JamesPHogan's works started off with an anarcho-libertarian bend, but it eventually got to the point where he was writing entire stories supporting AIDS denialism, combined with a one-hundred-eighty-degree reversal of many of his previously strongly held viewpoints, mostly on quack science such as Velikovskiyan catastrophe theory and the integrity of the scientific establishment. Hogan's [[AuthorTract Author Tracts]] became so infamous that he inspired the former TroperNamer phrase "The Brain Eater".

* Creator/JamesPHogan's works started off with an anarcho-libertarian bend, but it eventually got to the point where he was writing entire stories supporting AIDS denialism, combined with a one-hundred-eighty-degree reversal of many of his previously strongly held viewpoints, mostly on quack science such as Velikovskiyan catastrophe theory and the integrity of the scientific establishment.

* The idea behind Creator/AlanMoore's ''ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'' is that he takes famous characters from popular culture, such as [[Literature/SherlockHolmes Professor Moriarty]] or [[Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea Captain Nemo]], and deconstructs them. Usually, it works out pretty well and you can see where he is coming from. For example, he's hardly the first person to portray Literature/JamesBond not as TheCasanova, but as a [[HandsomeLech misogynistic jerk]] plagued with venereal diseases who's overly reliant on [[ShoePhone his gadgets]]. However, his take on Literature/HarryPotter embodies practically every stereotype about millennials there is, turns him into what amounts to a school shooter, and suggests him to be TheAntichrist. Even some who don't even like Potter think that [[ShallowParody the characterization is so off]] that it can barely be considered a {{Deconstruction}}, and comes off as Moore's personal opinions leaking into his writing. (Admittedly, now that JK Rowling has had a freefall of her own (see Literature below) and there has been something of a backlash against the Potter books because of it, this may come off as an especially cringy sort of HilariousInHindsight.)

* The idea behind Creator/AlanMoore's ''ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'' is that he takes famous characters from popular culture, such as [[Literature/SherlockHolmes Professor Moriarty]] or [[Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea Captain Nemo]], and deconstructs them. Usually, it works out pretty well and you can see where he is coming from. For example, he's hardly the first person to portray Literature/JamesBond not as TheCasanova, but as a [[HandsomeLech misogynistic jerk]] plagued with venereal diseases who's overly reliant on [[ShoePhone his gadgets]]. However, his take on Literature/HarryPotter embodies practically every stereotype about millennials there is, turns him into what amounts to a school shooter, and suggests him to be TheAntichrist. Even some who don't even like Potter think that [[ShallowParody the characterization is so off]] that it can barely be considered a {{Deconstruction}}, and comes off as Moore's personal opinions leaking into his writing.