History Main / MoralMyopia

Compare ConvictedByPublicOpinion, when the general public have already given the "Guilty!" verdict because they personally dislike the accused. Contrast HypocrisyNod and AtLeastIAdmitIt.

** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS16E2AllsFairInOvenWar All's Fair In Oven War]]", Marge enters a baking contest and all the other contestants are outright bullies to her [[EvilIsPetty because they see her entry as a threat]]. The contestants [[{{Jerkass}} are rude to Marge and try to sabotage her entry at every opportunity]]. Marge then [[TheDogBitesBack gets back at them]] by [[LaserGuidedKarma sabotaging their entries]] when she gets the chance. Lisa witnesses this [[BrokenPedestal and is disappointed in Marge]], telling her to be honest and admit what she did. This wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact that Lisa was with Marge throughout the whole contest and she herself witnessed the horrible treatment her mother was receiving as the other contestants were not even bothering to hide the fact that they were trying to sabotage Marge, with one of them burning Marge's entry to a crisp ''right in front of Lisa''. Despite this, [[DoubleStandard Lisa]] ''[[DoubleStandard never]]'' [[DoubleStandard calls out the other contestants for what they were doing to Marge]].

Moral Myopia is where some in-universe group moral standard is {{hypocrit|e}}ical because the morality of an action depends entirely upon who's doing it. In other words, it's a moral DoubleStandard. What's justifiable for one group is criminal for another in the eyes of the judging character, despite the innate hypocrisy of such a thing.

* Creator/ArtSpiegelman's ''ComicBook/{{Maus}}'' tells the story of his father Vladek's survival of the Holocaust, and the horrors his endured for being a Jew. Yet as an old man, Vladek thinks nothing of acting racist toward blacks.

** At the end of "Elsewhere and Elsewhen", Philip Wittebane concludes that Witches are barbaric after Lilith punches him hard in the face, completely ignoring that he had thrown her and Luz to the Stone Sleeper as a distraction with no remorse just so he could get what he wanted, and that he was trying to rope them into doing the same thing again despite having already seen his true colors.

* From a time when the stock CannibalTribe depictions [[OnceAcceptableTargets were held to be more acceptable]] comes this joke:

** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS16E2AllsFairInOvenWar Alls Fair In Oven War]]", Marge enters a baking contest and all the other contestants are outright bullies to her [[EvilIsPetty because they see her entry as a threat]]. The contestants [[{{Jerkass}} are rude to Marge and try to sabotage her entry at every opportunity]]. Marge then [[TheDogBitesBack gets back at them]] by [[LaserGuidedKarma sabotaging their entries]] when she gets the chance. Lisa witnesses this [[BrokenPedestal and is disappointed in Marge]], telling her to be honest and admit what she did. This wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact that Lisa was with Marge throughout the whole contest and she herself witnessed the horrible treatment her mother was receiving as the other contestants were not even bothering to hide the fact that they were trying to sabotage Marge, with one of them burning Marge's entry to a crisp ''right in front of Lisa''. Despite this, [[DoubleStandard Lisa]] ''[[DoubleStandard never]]'' [[DoubleStandard calls out the other contestants for what they were doing to Marge]].

->'''UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat:''' How dare you molest the seas!\\
'''{{Pirate}}:''' How dare you molest the whole world! Because I do it with a small boat, I am called a pirate and a thief. You, with a great navy, molest the world and are called an emperor.
-->-- '''[[Literature/{{Confessions}} St. Augustine]]''', as observed in ''City of God'', Book IV, Chapter 4

Moral Myopia is where some in-universe group moral standard is [[{{Hypocrite}} hypocritical]] because the morality of an action depends entirely upon who's doing it. In other words, it's a moral double-standard. What's justifiable for one group is criminal for another in the eyes of the judging character, despite the innate hypocrisy of such a thing.

There could be any number of reasons for this, but they all basically boil down to some innate moral superiority which is taken for granted. Note that moral superiority is often assumed ''first'', and justifications come after. This makes it easy to mix and match justifications as necessary depending on the circumstances. A character or group is good because that's "who they are," and therefore anything they do must have a justifiable reason for it, and anything they want they automatically have a right to have, because surely withholding something from such morally good people is wrong.

Likewise, if they do somehow manage to commit some crime or atrocity, this is considered an aberration: something that goes against their innately moral nature -- a mistake soon left in the past, followed by an inevitable return to the right path. Meanwhile if their enemies do the same thing, it is considered a reflection of their innately ''immoral'' nature, because deep down that is who ''they'' are, and evidence of an inherent moral defect.

** Tarvek was raised in a family where serving the Other and their memory and the population being wasped into mind control were just things that ''were'' -his father was particularly dedicated. It's only when he's faced with [[spoiler:the Other possessing Agatha]] and the possibility of the Spark wasp being copied and used on her and Gil, that he starts to realize that maybe mind control over the masses might be a bad thing.

** Likewise, the Zygerrians consider any culture that [[MightMakesRight could be defeated by them as naturally weak, and any culture who would be conquered as deserving of being enslaved and quashed by their own]]. On the other hand, they consider the Jedi's conquering of their old enterprise [[{{Hypocrisy}} an insult to their culture and an intrusion on their very way of life.]] The viewer's empathy for the plight of their lost empire is... limited.

** PlayedForLaughs in "I, Roommate" when Bender and Fry end up living together. In a normal human apartment, Bender is wholly content to live in the closet, but in a robot apartment where the living-space is tiny and Fry would rather live in the gigantic apartment-sized "closet"...
--->'''Fry:''' This is huge! Bender, why don't I just live in here?\\
'''Bender:''' In a ''closet?'' Oh, humans...
** Leela in general also frequently gets mocked for her DoubleStandard where men are concerned. She ''constantly'' complains about being an outcast because of her single eye and takes extreme offense to anyone who disparages or discriminates against her for it or is even put off by it, yet she herself has ludicrously high standards for men and will chase off anyone for even the slightest imperfections. One episode even has her chase off a man who is otherwise perfect, looks and personality-wise and who loved her in spite of her eye, because he had a lizard-like tongue.

** The self-promclaimed "Victim Syndicate" are all formerly InnocentBystanders who seek revenge on Batman for becoming CollateralDamage in his numerous battles with his [[RoguesGallery adversaries]] - [[{{Hypocrite}} they have absolutely no problems causing]] CollateralDamage [[{{Hypocrite}} themselves to achieve this.]] Nobody calls them out on it.

* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': Calvin will constantly procrastinate, cause trouble for others, and gush about how amazing he is. However, he will will loudly scream and complain when other people are late ''for'' him, cause trouble for him, or say how great ''they'' are. For example, any time he throws a water balloon or snowball at Susie, he'll laugh and insult her for it, but is absolutely furious any time she does the same to him. This isn't a blind spot in Calvin's morality; he genuinely believes that [[SmallNameBigEgo he's the most important human being to ever exist]] and deserves special treatment because of this.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', when Iroh's son Lu Ten died during the war against Ba Sing Se, Azulon is shown to sympathize with Iroh's grief, however when Ozai tried to make an inappropriate bid to the throne, Azulon immediately became furious before his son to kill his youngest grandson Zuko just so he would feel the same pain that Iroh did. Note that this also disregards the fact that Azulon himself has staged multiple raids and undoubtedly led to the deaths of many people, including other families. Averted for Iroh where after his son died, realizes that he is inflicting the same pain of grief towards the people of the Earth Kingdom, which served as the catalyst for his HeelFaceTurn.

* This is the Sharks' main problem in ''Theatre/WestSideStory'' and it's film adaptations. While they resent the discrimination Puerto Ricans have to deal with in America, it has less to do with any moral objections to bigotry and more to do with the fact ''[[ItsAllAboutMe they're]]'' [[ItsAllAboutMe the victims of it]]. Otherwise, they have no problem with excluding and degrading anyone who is not Puerto Rican, even if they haven't done anything to mistreat them. Maria finally calls them out on it in the finale after the conflict with the Jets escalates and [[spoiler:Tony is shot to death by Chino]].

** Likewise, the Zygerrians consider any culture that could be defeated by them as naturally weak, and any culture who would be conquered as deserving of being enslaved and quashed by their own. On the other hand, they consider the Jedi's conquering of their old enterprise [[{{Hypocrisy}} an insult to their culture and an intrusion on their very way of life.]] The viewer's empathy for the plight of their lost empire is... limited.

* ComicBook/NormanOsborn runs on this; if it happens to him it's unforgivable, but if he does it to someone else, it's business as usual. Best shown in ''ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied''; he laughs off killing Gwen Stacy and openly mocks her death to Spider-Man's face, but when Spidey damages his Goblin Glider, he flies into an UnstoppableRage and swears to make Spidey pay for doing so.

* This is the Sharks' main problem in ''Theatre/WestSideStory'' and it's film adaptations. While they resent the discrimination Puerto Ricans have to deal with in America, it has less to do with any moral objections to bigotry and more to do with the fact ''they're'' the victims of it. Otherwise, they have no problem with excluding and degrading anyone who is not Puerto Rican, even if they haven't done anything to mistreat them. Maria finally calls them out on it in the finale after the conflict with the Jets escalates and [[spoiler:Tony is shot to death by Chino]].

* ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'': During the final season, [[TokenEvilTeammate Blackarachnia]] openly complained about how the Maximals didn't trust her more than once, but never seems to take into account the fact that ''she spent up to two seasons shooting at them or trying to kill them''. It didn't help matters that [[NominalHero she didn't make any real attempts to fit in and acted no differently under the Maximals than she did Megatron,]] working on her own agenda in secrecy like stealing the Transmetal 2 driver and using it to try to give herself an upgrade. Of course, she does finally lose the Moral Myopia once she [[spoiler:gets transformed into a Transmetal 2 and regains her Maximal programming.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'': The episode "Girls Gone Mild" displays this perfectly with [[PunnyName Stanley and Sandra]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcast_Standards_and_Practices Practice]], two MoralGuardians who, fearing that the Girls' style of crime fighting may be a bad influence on children, force them to stop using their powers, threatening to sue Professor Utonium if they do so. Even as the crime rate in Townsville rises with the Girls unable to intervene, the Practices refuse to rescind the contract... until the villains come after ''them''.

** The self-promclaimed "Victim Syndicate" are all formerly InnocentBystanders who seek revenge on Batman for becoming CollateralDamage in his numerous battles with his [[RoguesGallery adverseries]] - [[{{Hypocrite}} they have absolutely no problems causing]] CollateralDamage [[{{Hypocrite}} themselves to achive this.]] Nobody calls them out on it.