History Main / SubcultureOfTheWeek

** There was a RippedFromTheHeadlines episode inspired by Gamergate called "Intimidation Game". It depicted "gamers" as insane freaks unable to tell the difference between video games and real life, and Gamergate as an ISIS-esque group who routinely kidnap, torture and rape women. The episode wasn't liked by ''anyone'' involved, members, targets or allies... and considering how it's one of the most infamous movements of all time ([[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment it's best to leave it at that]]).

The subculture in question is most often presented as one cheap stereotype after another. They aren't just [[AcceptableTargets average people with non-mainstream interests]]. Rather, they are [[StrawLoser total creeps with no social skills unrelated to their subculture]], which dominates every aspect of their lives. For example, if it's sexual, they'll wear fetish gear to the supermarket and make inappropriate come-ons to the main character. If it's gamers, they'll play to the point of addiction, [[BasementDweller live with their parents]] well into their 30s, possibly [[MurderSimulators imitate the violence they commit in the game]], and are probably [[NerdsAreVirgins virgins]]. If it's [[UsefulNotes/{{NeoPaganism}} Paganism]], they'll wear ridiculous Goth or New Age clothing and talk about casting spells and "cursing" people they don't like. If it's [[UsefulNotes/FurryFandom furries]], they'll be creepy overweight men who commit indecent acts both in and out of their fursuits. In works made in the first half of TheNewTens, expect [[MyLittlePhony some stand-ins]] for the [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic brony]] fandom, also. To ''real'' people within these subcultures, the misconceptions and poor research on these shows can be either a source of mockery or a FandomEnragingMisconception.

The subculture in question is most often presented as one cheap stereotype after another. They aren't just [[AcceptableTargets average people with non-mainstream interests]]. Rather, they are [[StrawLoser total creeps with no social skills unrelated to their subculture]], which dominates every aspect of their lives. For example, if it's sexual, they'll wear fetish gear to the supermarket and make inappropriate come-ons to the main character. If it's gamers, they'll play to the point of addiction, [[BasementDweller live with their parents]] well into their 30s, possibly [[MurderSimulators imitate the violence they commit in the game]], and are probably [[NerdsAreVirgins virgins]]. If it's [[UsefulNotes/{{NeoPaganism}} Paganism]], they'll wear ridiculous Goth or New Age clothing and talk about casting spells and "cursing" people they don't like. If it's [[UsefulNotes/FurryFandom furries]], they'll be creepy overweight men who commit indecent acts both in and out of their fursuits. In works made in the first half of TheNewTens, expect some stand-ins for the [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic brony]] fandom, also. To ''real'' people within these subcultures, the misconceptions and poor research on these shows can be either a source of mockery or a FandomEnragingMisconception.

The subculture in question is most often presented as one cheap stereotype after another. They aren't just [[AcceptableTargets average people with non-mainstream interests]]. Rather, they are [[StrawLoser total creeps with no social skills unrelated to their subculture]], which dominates every aspect of their lives. For example, if it's sexual, they'll wear fetish gear to the supermarket and make inappropriate come-ons to the main character. If it's gamers, they'll play to the point of addiction, [[BasementDweller live with their parents]] well into their 30s, possibly [[MurderSimulators imitate the violence they commit in the game]], and are probably [[NerdsAreVirgins virgins]]. If it's [[UsefulNotes/{{NeoPaganism}} Paganism]], they'll wear ridiculous Goth or New Age clothing and talk about casting spells and "cursing" people they don't like. If it's [[UsefulNotes/FurryFandom furries]], they'll be creepy overweight men who commit indecent acts both in and out of their fursuits. To ''real'' people within these subcultures, the misconceptions and poor research on these shows can be either a source of mockery or a FandomEnragingMisconception.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'' revolves around Tina and the rest of the family attending a FanConvention for a CaptainErsatz of the ''Franchise/MyLittlePonyGeneration4'' franchise, only to be unsettled by its adult, male fanbase.

The subculture in question is most often presented as one cheap stereotype after another. They aren't just [[AcceptableTargets average people with non-mainstream interests]]. Rather, they are [[StrawLoser total creeps with no social skills unrelated to their subculture]], which dominates every aspect of their lives. For example, if it's sexual, they'll wear fetish gear to the supermarket and make inappropriate come-ons to the main character. If it's gamers ({{video|Games}} or {{tabletop|Games}}), they'll play to the point of addiction, [[BasementDweller live with their parents]] well into their 30s, possibly [[MurderSimulators imitate the violence they commit in the game]], and are probably [[NerdsAreVirgins virgins]]. If it's [[UsefulNotes/{{NeoPaganism}} Paganism]], they'll wear ridiculous Goth or New Age clothing and talk about casting spells and "cursing" people they don't like. If it's [[UsefulNotes/FurryFandom furries]], they'll be creepy overweight men who commit indecent acts both in and out of their fursuits. To ''real'' people within these subcultures, the misconceptions and poor research on these shows can be either a source of mockery or a FandomEnragingMisconception.

** The infamous episode "Fur and Loathing," set at a furry convention began it all. The portrayal of [[UsefulNotes/FurryFandom furries]] caused considerable controversy in that fandom. The episode was even a {{Jump The Shark}} moment for some, who saw it as the start of a freak-a-week format.

** ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' also did an episode about vampire wannabes. [[spoiler: In it, Dean discovers that vampires are pushing the vampire obsession started by media such as ''Literature/{{Twilight}}' to get more willing victims for a vampire army]].

** ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' also did an episode about vampire wannabes. It starts off as a funny TakeThat against ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'', but, this being ''Supernatural'', suddenly gets a lot darker, [[spoiler: when Dean discovers the vampires themselves are pushing the recent vampire obsession, to get more willing victims for a vampire army]].

* ComicBook/JudgeDredd has this kind of format, but taken to the point of parody because of the goofy new subcultures that exist in Mega-City One, including Fatties (eating contest jocks), Uglies (go out of their way to look unattractive as possible) and Normals (basically just Young Republican types; sober, conservative, and sensibly dressed, and treated as the most bizarre of the lot).

* The Wiccans featured in ''Series/TrueBlood's'' fourth season are presented this way. First, it seemed everything the writers knew about Wicca came from browsing an occult shop for twenty minutes. Second, everyone in Marnie's coven except Holly and Jesus (both of whom we met in the previous season and were actually ''good'' examples of normal witches) were either sociopaths like Marnie and Roy or idiot teenagers who were only there to piss off their parents. And then there's the rather painful mispronunciation of "Samhain".

* ''Series/TheBill'' featured a guy playing an "Assassins"-style game using a realistic-looking paint gun in public. People who play these sort of games do not use realistic weapons. One guy from the Oxford University Assassin's Guild did that and encountered some armed police.

The subculture in question is most often presented as one cheap stereotype after another. They aren't just [[AcceptableTargets average people with non-mainstream interests]]. Rather, they are [[StrawLoser total creeps with no social skills unrelated to their subculture]], which dominates every aspect of their lives. For example, if it's sexual, they'll wear fetish gear to the supermarket and make inappropriate come-ons to the main character. If it's gamers ({{video|Games}} or {{tabletop|Games}}), they'll play to the point of addiction, [[BasementDweller live with their parents]] well into their 30s, possibly [[MurderSimulators imitate the violence they commit in the game]], and are probably [[NerdsAreVirgins virgins]]. If it's [[UsefulNotes/{{NeoPaganism}} Paganism]], they'll wear ridiculous Goth or New Age clothing and talk about casting spells and "cursing" people they don't like. If it's [[UsefulNotes/FurryFandom furries]], they'll be creepy overweight men who commit indecent acts both in and out of their fursuits. To ''real'' people within these subcultures, the misconceptions and poor research on these shows can be either a source of SnarkBait or a FandomEnragingMisconception.

* ''Series/{{Bones}}'' does this quite often. There have been episodes about competitive arcade gaming, role-playing teens, pony play fetishists, and karaoke singers (with actual former American Idol contestants).

* The ''Series/CSIMiami'' episode dealing with video games, in which the characters had to actually play the game in question to find out its plot, which was necessary for them to solve the cause. Why they don't just look up its plot online is anyone's guess. There's also a notable level of NewMediaAreEvil in the episode. In the episode, a video games company decides that a good advertising tactic for their GTA clone (which somehow [[PacmanFever still had "levels" and "points"]]) is to [[LethallyStupid give teenagers submachine guns and have them rob a bank]], with bonus points if there's a police officer inside and for rape.

* The ''Series/CSIMiami'' episode dealing with video games, in which the characters had to actually play the game in question to find out its plot, which was necessary for them to solve the cause. Why they don't just look up its plot online is anyone's guess. There's also a notable level of NewMediaAreEvil in the episode. In the episode, a video games company decides that a good advertising tactic for their GTA clone (which somehow [[PacmanFever still had "levels" and "points"]]) is to [[WhatAnIdiot give teenagers submachine guns and have them rob a bank]], with bonus points if there's a police officer inside and for rape.

[[folder: Web Original]]

The subculture in question is most often presented as one cheap stereotype after another. They aren't just [[AcceptableTargets average people with non-mainstream interests]]. Rather, they are [[StrawLoser total creeps with no social skills unrelated to their subculture]], which dominates every aspect of their lives. For example, if it's sexual, they'll wear fetish gear to the supermarket and make inappropriate come-ons to the main character. If it's gamers ({{video|Games}} or {{tabletop|Games}}), they'll play to the point of addiction, [[BasementDweller live with their parents]] well into their 30s, possibly [[MurderSimulators imitate the violence they commit in the game]], and are probably [[NerdsAreVirgins virgins]]. If it's [[UsefulNotes/{{NeoPaganism}} Paganism]], they'll wear ridiculous Goth or New Age clothing and talk about casting spells and "cursing" people they don't like. To ''real'' people within these subcultures, the misconceptions and poor research on these shows can be either a source of SnarkBait or a FandomEnragingMisconception.

** One episode had the detectives practically declare an adult had to be a pedophile... because he collected Transformers.

** There was also a RippedFromTheHeadlines episode inspired by Gamergate called "Intimidation Game". As with countless examples on this page, it depicted gamers as a whole as insane freaks unable to tell the difference between video games and real life, and Gamergate as an ISIS-esque group who routinely kidnap, torture and rape women. It ended up being so bad in fact that it's one of the few issues both sides universally agree upon (albeit for different reasons depending on who you'll ask)...and considering how we're talking about one of the most infamous backlashes of all time ([[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment and we'll leave it at that]]), that's a real accomplishment

* ''Series/{{CSINY}}''
** The episode dealing with Water Wars. Again, someone uses a realistic looking water pistol.
** They also dealt with LeParkour.
** There was also the "Down the Rabbit Hole" episode which dealt with ''VideoGame/SecondLife''. This spanned over two episodes rather than the usual one. (Fame and relationships within the game had almost nothing to do with the murder, however. "Venus", or rather the girl dressed as her, was killed by [[spoiler: a professional assassin who was trying to take her real and online identity and use Second Life to gather information]].)
** And one about "vampire cults" who drink each others' blood. [[spoiler: Surprisingly, no vampires committed the crimes. The episode treated vampirism like an unpopular but venerable religion.]]
** Yet another episode involved the owners of [[TheDollEpisode adult dolls]] (although it turned out that the doll ownership was irrelevant to the murder). Basically, ''CSI: NY'', like all of the shows in the Series/CSIVerse, is pretty much in love with this trope.
** On one time the team investigates a murder on a gaming convention, and while there's some disparaging about people who play video games for a living, they still consider the motive (the multi-thousand-dollar grand prize of a gaming tournament and hacked consoles that allowed cheating) pretty seriously.

** The infamous episode "Fur and Loathing", set at a furry convention began it all. The portrayal of [[UsefulNotes/FurryFandom furries]] caused considerable controversy in that fandom. The episode was even a {{Jump The Shark}} moment for some, who saw it as the start of a freak-a-week format.

** A murder-at-the-''Star''-''Trek''-convention storyline, albeit with the [[CaptainErsatz serial numbers filed off]]. Trekkies, Trekkies everywhere... and a bit of deconstruction about how even if "DarkerAndEdgier" is supposed to be the 'hot new thing' with creating remakes, not a lot of people are willing to accept it, or can write it well (and yes, this ''was'' an important part of the murderer's motive, although it was mostly [[spoiler:the fact that her work [[PlagiarismInFiction was plagiarized]], and it still was an AccidentalMurder.]])

** "The Panty Sniffer". You can guess what fetish '''that''' episode was built around (and Nick was equally embarrassed to be in the same room as the man who led him into figuring it out).
* The ''Series/CSIMiami'' episode dealing with videogames, in which the characters had to actually play the game in question to find out its plot, which was necessary for them to solve the cause. Why they don't just look up its plot online is anyone's guess. There's also a notable level of NewMediaAreEvil in the episode. In the episode, a video games company decides that a good advertising tactic for their GTA clone (which somehow [[PacmanFever still had "levels" and "points"]]) is to [[WhatAnIdiot give teenagers submachine guns and have them rob a bank]], with bonus points if there's a police officer inside and for rape.
** "Rich people doing crazy things for the sake of getting entertainment" was pretty much a constant AcceptableTarget on this series. As an example: a group of professionals that performed ''simulated kidnappings'' for hire--the idea is that the people who hired the group's services would go through the standard "rescue thriller" motions and get an adrenaline rush out of it, with a lampshade that RescueSex was a pretty typical aftermath of the service. Unfortunately, the guy who hired their services on the episode ended up deciding mid-RescueSex that it would be interesting to see how ''murder sex'' would feel like...

* ''Series/{{Elementary}}'' frequently has cases where the victim has an an unusual hobby or interest (maker subculture, superhero copycat, and math hunts, to name but three). Generally, the subculture in question is portrayed fairly positively (Sherlock himself having a variety of weird interests and being disinclined to judge others if they aren't hurting anyone), and is very rarely the ''direct'' motive for the murder, with the point being made that these people do have ''other''things going on in their lives.

* ''Series/{{Elementary}}'' frequently has cases where the victim has an an unusual hobby or interest (maker subculture, superhero copycat, and math hunts, to name but three). Generally, the subculture in question is portrayed fairly positively (Sherlock himself having a variety of weird interests and being disinclined to judge others), and is very rarely the ''direct'' motive for the murder.

* ''Series/{{Elementary}} frequently has cases where the victim has an an unusual hobby or interest (maker subculture, superhero copycat, and math hunts, to name but three).

An episode of a TV show, especially a CrimeAndPunishmentSeries, focusing on a particular subculture. Accuracy is optional, since the only research that goes into the episode is [[RippedFromTheHeadlines reading the paper]]...especially when [[CowboyBebopAtHisComputer even the paper isn't right]]. This is also common on [[MedicalDrama Medical Dramas]] with the subculture having a connection to the PatientOfTheWeek, and {{Sitcom}}s when one of the main characters becomes involved with a strange new crowd.

The subculture in question is most often presented as one cheap stereotype after another. They aren't just [[AcceptableTargets average people with non-mainstream interests]]. Rather, they are [[StrawLoser total creeps with no social skills unrelated to their subculture]], which dominates every aspect of their lives. For example, if it's sexual, they'll wear fetish gear to the supermarket and make inappropriate come-ons to the main character. If it's gamers ({{video|Games}} or {{tabletop|Games}}), they'll play to the point of addiction, [[BasementDweller live with their parents]] well into their 30's, possibly [[MurderSimulators imitate the violence they commit in the game]], and are probably [[NerdsAreVirgins virgins]]. If it's [[UsefulNotes/{{NeoPaganism}} Paganism]], they'll wear ridiculous Goth or New Age clothing and talk about casting spells and "cursing" people they don't like. To ''real'' people within these subcultures, the misconceptions and poor research on these shows can be either a source of SnarkBait or a FandomEnragingMisconception.

* ''Series/TheBill'' featured a guy playing an "Assassins" style game using a realistic looking paint gun in public. People who play these sort of games do not use realistic weapons. One guy from the Oxford University Assassin's Guild did that and encountered some armed police.

** The problem's this can cause mean that most long lasting Assassins Society's, such as [[OopNorth Durham University's]], have good relationships with the local police - normally informing before any game begins. The kill methods are also restricted to obviously unreal weapons (paper knives are fine, but not a larp sword).

* ''Series/{{Bones}}'' does this quite often. There has been episodes about competitive arcade gaming, role-playing teens, pony play fetishists, and karaoke singers (with actual former American Idol contestants).
** Mostly averted in the episode dealing with black metal, though. Some of the stranger excesses of the subculture are brought to the fore, but Bones's psychiatrist is revealed to have a history in the scene and Booth compares the distaste over it to his dad's distaste for punk. The most significant error they make is that, while virtually everything regarding extreme black metal is true to a degree, the death metal subculture really isn't as violent or cult-like as the Norwegian black metal scene that clearly inspired the events of the episode. Furthermore, few death metal bands wear corpse paint, or use fake names, and only a handful are satanic. Additionally, the music the bands featured in the episode play bears scant resemblance to actual black metal and is more akin to groove metal or nu metal, making the bands in question all examples of ScaryMusicianHarmlessMusic.

** An episode of ''Series/{{CSI}}'' had a werewolf {{LARP}}er as the VictimOfTheWeek... and then it turns out that his "clan" was on a pretty heated rivalry with a vampire {{LARP}}er group (so we have ''simulated'' FurAgainstFang) and then it turned out that the kid used to be a vampire but because he was dating a "werewolf" girl he switched groups (and the both of them were starting to see the whole thing as too dumb and were planning to ditch the groups), and this alone made members of ''both groups'' decide to drag him into the desert and nail him to a barbed wire fence to die from exposure and blood loss as befitted a "traitor". The investigators had to occasionally remind the members of both groups that they weren't supernatural beings and to cut it out and give them a straight answer.

* The Wiccans featured in ''Series/TrueBlood's'' fourth season are presented this way. First, it seemed everything the writers knew about Wicca came from browsing an occult shop for twenty minutes. Second, everyone in Marnie's coven except Holly and Jesus (both of whom we met in the previous season and were actually ''good'' examples of normal witches) were either sociopaths like Marnie and Roy, or idiot teenagers who were only there to piss off their parents. And then there's the rather painful mispronunciation of "Samhain".

* In two ''Series/HawaiiFiveO'' episodes, the subculture was astrology. Stereotyping was largely avoided, as the astrology was portrayed accurately (a prominent local astrologer is said to have been advisor), and they were noncomittal on the "validity" of astrology. (In the first episode, the killer turns out to be trying to make facts fit the theory.)

* A background detail regarding ''Website/{{Fenspace}}'' involved an InUniverse [[LenoDevice episode]] of ''Series/{{CSI}}'' that had the Las Vegas Police investigating a crime involving the titular group of "Handwavium"-using Otakus, with all of the poorly-researched ham-fistedness that they (and many other crime shows, as you can see on the Live Action TV folder above) have shown to other subcultures. [[StylisticSuck The results were predictable.]]

** One of many examples is the episode where Bobby falls in with a group of CollectibleCardGame players who are also seemly [=Neopagans=] (especially model after Wiccans and Hellenists (Neo-Greek Pagans)) due of their group name "The Coven of Artemis", style of group are so happens they were purple robes and have seemly worshiped Greek deities (Pan and Artemis) with Occult rituals. It casts both subcultures in a negative light and portrays them as one and the same.
** Not even Bobby finding an honest and well-paying job that he actually enjoyed doing (and could do even if he was underage) was safe; because this job happened to be for-hire picking up of dog feces for rich guys who didn't cared to do it themselves. Hank saw it as denigrating work, he said so to Bobby's boss Peter Sterling, and he eventually managed to guilt-talk the man into showcasing said denigration and convince Bobby to quit... by way of hiring some thugs to pretend to be bullies that mocked and then brutalized him by tossing him into a port-a-potty and send it rolling down a hill (Sterling only wanted them to mock him, but he had the bad luck of asking [[PsychoForHire Jimmy Pritchard]] to do it).

** There was also a RippedFromTheHeadlines episode inspired by Gamergate called "Intimidation Game". As with countless examples on this page, it depicted gamers as a whole as insane freaks unable to tell the difference between video games and real life, and Gamergate as an ISIS-esque group who routinely kidnap, torture and rape women.
*** It ended up being so bad in fact that it's one of the few issues both sides universally agree upon (albeit for different reasons depending on who you'll ask)...and considering how we're talking about one of the most infamous cases of InternetBackdraft of all time ([[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment and we'll leave it at that]]), that's a real accomplishment

The subculture in question is most often presented as one cheap stereotype after another. They aren't just [[AcceptableTargets average people with non-mainstream interests]]. Rather, they are [[StrawLoser total creeps with no social skills unrelated to their subculture]], which dominates every aspect of their lives. For example, if it's sexual, they'll wear fetish gear to the supermarket and make inappropriate come-ons to the main character. If it's gamers ({{video|Games}} or {{tabletop|Games}}), they'll play to the point of addiction, [[BasementDweller live with their parents]] well into their 30's, possibly [[MurderSimulators imitate the violence they commit in the game]], and are probably [[NerdsAreVirgins virgins]]. If it's [[UsefulNotes/{{NeoPaganism}} Paganism]], they'll wear ridiculous Goth or New Age clothing and talk about casting spells and "cursing" people they don't like. To ''real'' people within these subcultures, the misconceptions and poor research on these shows can be either a source of SnarkBait or a FandomBerserkButton.