History Main / TakeThatCritics

* {{WWE}} had a infamously [[SoBadItsHorrible horrible]] feud between Triple H and Kane centering around a dead ex-girlfriend of Kane's. However, Vince [=McMahon=] expected the angle to take WWE into its second boom period and duplicate the success of Steve Austin vs The Rock, and was quite displeased when the fans hated it. The Raw after the infamous mannequin rape promo, Triple H cut a promo about how he didn't care that people were offended and anyone who was offended was so lame they shouldn't be permitted to watch WWE. It's very easy to watch that promo and hear Vince's voice coming out of Triple H's mouth.

** WCW had a much less well known stable of a similar nature called "Standards and Practices", consisting of Lenny Lane, Lodi, and Ms. Hancock. This one was created by Vince Russo after he got pissed off at Turner Broadcasting for limiting violence and edgy material on WCW Nitro broadcasts. WCW and Russo being, well, WCW and Russo, S&P was never really used for much of anything, and they disappeared fairly quickly. However, it was Stacy Keibler's start in wrestling. And really, it's hard to complain about Stacy Keibler dressing as a secretary and doing table dances. (Incidentally, if you're wondering why a team called Standards and Practices would have a valet doing erotic dances, ask Russo, because no one else has a clue)
* Hulk Hogan had always been a target of criticism by the Wrestling Observer, a wrestling dirt sheet written by Dave Meltzer. Hulk Hogan had won "Most Overrated Wrestler" 3 times from the Wrestling Observer Awards. So at World War 3 1995, during Hogan's "return from the Darkside" (it was a storyline that Hogan was no longer a good guy because of the Legion of Doom. Except for he was. It's WCW, it's always been very confusing), burning the clothes of his previous identity. Hogan would produce an Issue of Wrestling Observer, calling it a rag sheet, and was a dinosaur compared to the internet. Hogan would then throw it to a fire burning his clothes. Dave Meltzer would take note; not only did Hogan win "Most Overrated Wrestler" that year, but he also won "Most Embarrassing Wrestler" as well.

Depending on the producer, this can come in many forms; gentle ribbing or parody of the critics and their position, pointed rejoinders, triumphant gloating, and -- in extreme cases -- over-the-top bile that leads to at least the strong assumption that the critics may have struck a delicate nerve.

* In TheyLive, [[spoiler: After Nada destroys the signal and the aliens' true forms are revealed]], a pair of critics on TV (clearly [[{{Expy}} Expies]] for Siskel and [[RogerEbert Ebert]], are shown as aliens, complaining that directors like GeorgeRomero and JohnCarpenter "need to show some restraint". This is a bit odd, considering that at least Ebert greatly championed NightOfTheLivingDead and {{Halloween}} when many critics reviled them as trash, although Ebert hadn't been as kind to some of their later films.

* In TheyLive, [[spoiler: After Nada destroys the signal and the aliens' true forms are revealed]], a pair of critics on TV (clearly [[Expy Expies]] for Siskel and [[RogerEbert Ebert]], are shown as aliens, complaining that directors like GeorgeRomero and JohnCarpenter "need to show some restraint". This is a bit odd, considering that at least Ebert greatly championed NightOfTheLivingDead and {{Halloween}} when many critics reviled them as trash, although Ebert hadn't been as kind to some of their later films.

* From ''TheSandman'' story "Calliope," one of the many story ideas Ric Madoc devises [[spoiler:after he is cursed with "ideas in abundance" by the Sandman, in a case of BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor]] involves "the fraternity of critics": "In reality a dark brethren, linked by profane rites and blood vows. To destroy an author they sacrifice a child and perform a critical mass..."

* Dean Koontz's novel ''Relentless'' was about a cabal of sinister critics trying to drive down cultural standards.

* [[TopGear Jeremy Clarkson]] lives and breathes this trope. A particularly notable example comes from Season 9 episode 1, when Richard Hammond returned from a rocket-car crash at 288 mph that left him temporarily brain damaged and could have killed him. Clarkson thanked the (very much alive) Hammond for reminding everyone of an important lesson: Speed kills.

* "99 Problems" by Jay-Z featured a pretty vicious one: ''Rap critics say it's money cash hoes/I'm from the hood, stupid/what type of facts are those?...I'm like, fuck critics/You can kiss my whole asshole/If you don't like my lyrics you can press fast-forward''.

* ''VGCats'' ran a strip with a controversial [[http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=271 abortion joke]]. “Now some people weren't happy about the content of that last strip, and [[http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=272 we can't have someone not happy]]. Not on the '''internet'''.”

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jr9s8WO2t4M This]] ridiculous response to Stephen Colbert's criticism of a "hip" [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n1vtZR16RY non-mayonnaise ad]].

** Then there's the scene from ''JayAndSilentBobStrikeBack'' where Jay and Bob blast some internet critics. [[spoiler: The film's penultimate sequence involves the two of them beating the shit out of the internet posters (most of who are revealed to be annoying twelve year olds]].

** He infamously did it twice in the wake of his most recent film ''CopOut''; [[http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/2010/03/24/cop_outs_kevin_smith_calls_out_critics_and_gets_slammed_in_return/ once at critics in general]] and [[http://www.film.com/features/story/is-kevin-smith-relevant-anyone/39462450 once again at one critic in particular whne the movie came out on DVD]].

* ''TheWestWing'' featured an episode called "The U.S. Poet Laureate", where a character posts a message on an internet forum and gets attacked by the forum's users (including a forum administrator "sitting in a muu-muu and smoking Parliament Lights") for violation of his posting rights. Creator Aaron Sorkin wrote this episode as a response using the website TelevisionWithoutPity.com (a snarky TV show review site), where he was a member for quite some time. Sorkin posted a topic about a dispute he had with a staff writer, which led to the site's users attacking him.

* In ArsMagica, one of the backstory's major bad guys was the Scottish wizard Davnalleous, named for Dave Nalle, a game designer and reviewer who was critical of the game early on. Later editions of the game explained the name as an attempted latinization of a more plausibly Gaelic-sounding name.

* ''VGCats'' ran a strip with a controversial [[http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=271 abortion joke]]. “Now some people weren't happy about the content of that last strip, and [[http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=272 we can't have someone not happy]]. Not on the '''internet'''.”

* ''VGCats'' ran a strip with a controversial [[http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=271 abortion joke]]. “Now some people weren't happy about the content of that last strip, and [[http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=272 we can't have someone not happy]]. Not on the '''internet'''.”

* Even Voltaire gets into this in his novel ''{{Candide}}''. In the later chapters there's Count Pococurante who owns an extensive library of great literature. But he's incapable of enjoying anything and ruthlessly critiques all of it.

* {{Futurama}} has Bender say, "have you ever tried turning off the TV, sitting down with your children, and hitting them?" as response to parents who blame television shows (like Futurama) for making their kids misbehave.

* Dean Koontz's novel ''Relentless'' was [[OrSoIHeard apparently]] about a cabal of sinister critics trying to drive down cultural standards.

** He said that about Dogma too. Or maybe he only said that about Dogma and it was still in response to critics not liking Jersey Girl. Either way I'm positive he said that about Dogma.

Also in Willow, the two-headed dragon is named "Ebersisk" after Siskel and Ebert - although the name is never mentioned in the film.