History Main / TheFutureIsShocking

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* In the RPG ''Future Shock'', you imagine cultural and technological changes and roleplay their implications out till you're comfortable with them.

* ''ThePhiladelphiaExperiment'' and its sequel.
* ''TimeAfterTime'' has HGWells and JackTheRipper taken to modern times. Jack changes the channels on a TV to show constant scenes of violence to claim that he belongs here and Wells doesn't.
* This happened in ''BlastFromThePast'', with the use of a nuclear bomb shelter. The character was so shocked by the difference that he assumed humanity had been heavily mutated by radiation.
* A variation occurs (no actual time travel, but EastGermany was in a sort of stasis) in ''GoodbyeLenin'' -- after the Berlin Wall falls, the protagonist goes to see WestGermany and instantly encounters a TV with porn on.

* The entire purpose of the Christian film ''TimeChanger'' is to have its protagonist, a 19th century theology professor, be shocked at how immoral the present day is.

* In HarryTurtledove's ''[[WorldWar Homeward Bound]]'', the Yeagers return to Earth 30 years after leaving it (they left on a SleeperStarship and came back on a new FTL-capable ship) and spending a few decades as {{Human Popsicle}}s before that. They are shown the most popular game show on TV and are shocked (Karen Yeager especially) that Rita, the hot assistant, wears a Minoan-style dress that completely exposes her breasts. Moreover, most of the women in the audience as likewise topless, some with bodypaint covering their bodies, and some without. While going topless was a growing trend among the younger generation in their time, they didn't think it'd go ''that'' far (or be acceptable TV content). Jonathan and Karen go see a movie and are further shocked by an extremely graphic sex scene of the main heroes (and MattDamon being merely a secondary character). Slightly subverted in that this is now our future (as far as we know) but that of an AlternateUniverse where human culture is influenced by that of the [[TheReptilians Race]].

* In ''{{Rentaghost}}'', delicate Victorian gentleman Hubert Davenport was forever being shocked by the morals and the clothing of late 20th century.

* In ''SamuraiJack'', Jack is transported into a big city in the future and the first place he goes in is a nightclub with a rave going on inside. However, Jack is more disturbed by the fact there are aliens there than anything else, so it might not count.

* Both played straight and inverted in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''. Fry adapted surprisingly well to the weirdness that the future has to offer. His old girlfriend froze herself so she could be with Fry, but she's scared and nervous over just about everything. She points out that Fry fits in so well in the future ''because'' of how he didn't fit in back in the past.

John Smith is a goodhearted farm boy from sometime in the past - bt not earlier than the 13th century (as modern English would be near-totally incomprehensible to a speaker of that time or earlier). But then he foolishly plays with the mystic Nazi time portal or there's a temporal equivalent of the TeleporterAccident, and ZAP!, he falls, screaming, into the PresentDay (whenever that happens to be).

* ''Series/TheFortyFourHundred''.

John Smith is a goodhearted farm boy serving his state during some war or other - let's say WorldWarTwo. But then he foolishly plays with the mystic Nazi time portal or there's a temporal equivalent of the TeleporterAccident, and ZAP!, he falls, screaming, into the PresentDay (whenever that happens to be).

It doesn't matter if it's 10:00 in the morning or 10:00 at night. It doesn't matter if he's in a coffee shop in a small Nevada town, on a busy sidewalk in San Francisco at the height of rush hour or at a church social in North Dakota, somehow, somewhere there will be a TV playing porn. Usually hardcore, but maybe softcore at the church social.

Joe Smith is a goodhearted farm boy serving his country during The Civil War/World War I/World War II/Korea. Then he foolishly plays with the mystic Nazi time portal or there's a temporal equivalent of the TeleporterAccident, and ZAP!, he falls, screaming, into the PresentDay (whenever that happens to be).

* In ''Series/AdamAdamantLives'', one of the first things that happens to Edwardian adventurer Adam when he awakes in the SwingingSixties is that he stumbles into the London Underground where he is confronted by billboards advertising lingerie.

* ''{{Transmetropolitan}}''.

* ''{{Moviebob}}'': The Retrothinker's arrival in the present day sees him shocked by what gaming has become, [[spoiler:leading to his FaceHeelTurn into the Necrothinker, who summons an army of undead video game characters to destroy all of modern gaming. He is healed by the Overthinker and becomes his flatmate]].

* ''{{The 4400}}''.

* ''Moviebob'': The Retrothinker's arrival in the present day sees him shocked by what gaming has become, [[spoiler:leading to his FaceHeelTurn into the Necrothinker, who summons an army of undead video game characters to destroy all of modern gaming. He is healed by the Overthinker and becomes his flatmate]].

* Someone playing a hyper-violent video game.

* ''ThePhiladelphiaExperiment''
* ''ThePhiladelphiaExperiment2''
* ''TimeAfterTime''
* ''{{The 4400}}''
* ''{{Transmetropolitan}}''

* A variation occurs (no actual time travel but Eastern Germany was in a sort of stasis) in ''GoodbyeLenin'' -- after the Berlin Wall falls, the protagonist goes to see Western Germany and instantly encounters a tv with porn on.
* ''TimeAfterTime'' has HGWells and JackTheRipper taken to modern times. Jack changes the channels on a TV to show constant scenes of violence to claim that he belongs here and Wells doesn't.
* In the RPG named FutureShock, you imagine cultural and technological changes and roleplay their imlications out till you're comfortable with them.
* In ''SamuraiJack'', Jack is transported into a big city in the future and the first place he goes in is a nightclub with a rave going on inside. However, Jack is more disturbed by the fact there are aliens there than anything else, so it might not count.
* The porn aspect was PlayedForLaughs in a TV movie called ''The Return of Sherlock Holmes'' (circa 1987), with Margaret Colin as Jane Watson, a descendant of Dr. John Watson's who inherits a steampunk cryogenic contraption protecting Sherlock Holmes until there's a cure for the disease Moriarty gave him. Once cured, Holmes is the typical FishOutOfTemporalWater; at one point he sees an "adult book store" and wants to go in (saying, "I'm an adult.") despite Jane's warning. Predictably, Holmes is shocked when he comes out again.

* ''The4400''
* ''Transmetropolitan''

* Subverted in a DeletedScene from ''Film/BackToTheFuture''. 1955 Doc goes through 1985 Doc's luggage, finds a copy of ''{{Magazine/Playboy}}'', and pulls out the centerfold. He looks impressed and declares, [[CovertPervert "Suddenly the future's looking a whole lot better!"]] (Possibly an example of DidNotDoTheResearch. As of 1955, ''Playboy'' had been publishing pictures of naked women for two years.)

EXAMPLES:

- A working strip-bar, complete with pole dancers;

- A pimp beating one of his hookers while a crowd looks on indifferently;

- Someone playing a hyper-violent video game;

- Someone texting (or looking at porn) on his smartphone who collides with him;

- An interracial and/or same-sex couple dramatically making out in public. One or both members of the couple will naturally get pissed at our hero for staring at them (shocking to ''him'', but not to ''us'', of course);

- A traffic accident between two screaming, foul-mouthed, ethnic cliché taxi drivers;

- ThePhiladelphiaExperiment
- ThePhiladelphiaExperiment2
- TimeAfterTime
- The4400
- Transmetropolitan?






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How about using FutureShock for a title, since this is about the oddities of the "future"/present to a time traveler.

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I'd probably go with a slightly different title, as this one can be interpreted as "Porn for Time Travellers". Maybe BadTemporalFirstImpression?

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FutureShock would make a good title, it's less specific and this trope seems to be broader than just smut.

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Not bad, but my point was that it's usually overdone by the movie makers to make our present seem more sick and depraved than it really is. How about TimeTravelFutureShock? Or FutureShockOverkill? Something like that?

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FutureShock and a definition rewrite to focus less on porn would be good.

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The example with the interracial couple could also be a same-sex couple. Alternatively, it could be an interracial same-sex couple!

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Or what about PresentShock? Too silly?

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Either TimeTravelFutureShock or PresentShock; the pre-existing meaning of FutureShock covers way more than this trope does.

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Actually, FutureShock in general is a trope we probably need--like the poor Revivals in Transmetropolitan.

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I'd rename this FutureShock, and generalize it to time travelers in general, so it covers both ThePhiladelphiaExperiment and {{Transmetropolitan}} examples. TropesAreFlexible.

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I'm listening, nitrokitty, but then how is it different from Temporal Fish Out of Water?

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Sorry, I mean, FishOutOfTemporalWater.

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Aha! I think we have it now! How do you like ''The Future is Shocking''?

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This happened in ''BlastFromThePast'', with the use of a nuclear bomb shelter. The character was so shocked by the difference that he assumed humanity had been heavily mutated by radiation.

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The difference between this and BadPresent?

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I hadn't seen BadPresent before, and it's definitely similar. But this is more about the time traveler's initial introduction to the present, and the specific form of overkill the filmmakers have used to drive the message home. Bad Present is more about a... well... a real Bad Present from the character's perspective.

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Hmm... on a second look, I'm not sure this is tropable. FishOutOfTemporalWater already mentions the problems with ValuesDissonance that may come up when time travelers from the past come to the present. The whole "immediately encounters porn" part is mostly likely because it's just written that way. Having the traveler aimlessly drift around for a while isn't as interesting as having them immediately encounter something shocking and making a scene. Making the present look more shocking than it really is is just a product of DeliberateValuesDissonance, by making the present look more shocking than it really is gives us some insight into the traveler's perspective without making them look ridiculous.

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This definitely seems like it falls into another trope already! Is the specific variation of someone from the past finding future porn and flipping their shit really common enough to trope?

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I've seen a comic in which the Disney corporation, desperate for ideas, decides to dig out 'ol [[WaltDisney Walt]] [[HumanPopsicle from the freezer, thaw him out]], and allow his visionary genius to save them all. Imbibed with contemporary culture, he comes up with an unbelievably depraved sex-themed amusement park, with naked employees, [[FreudWasRight penis-shaped roller-coaster cars]], etc.


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FutureShock and focus less on porno and broaden it a bit to include general temporal cultural shock

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A variation (no actual time travel but Eastern Germany was in a sort of stasis) in GoodbyeLenin - after the Berlin Wall falls, the protagonist goes to see Western Germany and instantly encounters a tv with porn on

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The GoodbyeLenin example was somewhat justified: the tv was inside an actual porn shop - plus there was an entire throng of ossis staring at it.

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''TimeAfterTime'' has HGWells and JackTheRipper taken to modern times. Jack changes the channels on a TV to show constant scenes of violence to claim that he belongs here and Wells doesn't.

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''TimeAfterTime'' is also a subversion in that while Wells is surprised by Amy's sexually aggressive behavior, he's not displeased by it.

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There's an RPG named FutureShock that's ''exactly'' about this topic. Well, about pre-empting it. You imagine cultural and technological changes and roleplay their imlications out till you're comfortable with them.

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The mundane time travellers who were stuck in bomb shelters or Communist Europe actually fit the trope very well. I'll adapt it to fit them in.

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The porn aspect was PlayedForLaughs in a TV movie called ''The Return of Sherlock Holmes'' (circa 1987), with Margaret Colin as Jane Watson, a descendant of Dr. John Watson's who inherits a steampunk cryogenic contraption protecting Sherlock Holmes until there's a cure for the disease Moriarty gave him. Once cured, Holmes is the typical FishOutOfTemporalWater; at one point he sees an "adult book store" and wants to go in (saying, "I'm an adult.") despite Jane's warning. Predictably, Holmes is shocked when he comes out again.

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