History Main / UnderminedByReality

* One of the main reasons for the mixed reception of ''ComicBook/TheFlashRebirth'' is its attempts at CharacterShilling for Barry Allen, declaring that, for instance, Wally idolized Barry even before he knew he was the Flash and Jay Garrick came out of retirement because he was inspired by Barry. The thing is, in the actual Silver Age Flash comics, neither of these things were true; Wally thought Barry was a buttoned-down dork and wanted Iris to date the Flash instead, and Jay openly claims he was about to come out of retirement (going so far as to keep his costume in good condition) and Barry just fasttracked his plans. While it's far from abnormal for a book to retcon character backstories, the problem is that DC was trying to bring back Barry specifically because of his historical importance--if Barry were as important as DC claimed, then surely such retcons would have been unnecessary.

* In a rare version of this where a musician with a villainous image was undermined by turning out to be a pretty good person, much backlash to Music/{{Eminem}} is based on the concept that his well-known CreatorRecovery meant his Slim Shady persona now [[TheSeriesHasLeftReality ceased to represent anything about his real life]]. Slim had once represented Eminem's own self-destructive substance abuse, suicidality, poverty and his resentment of the people around him; after Eminem patched things up with his family, got sober, got his temper under control and became well known as an elder statesman of hip-hop, critics began to find Shady defanged -- or just a tasteless mechanism for [[VulgarHumor unfashionable shock comedy]].

* In a rare version of this where a musician with a villainous image was undermined by turning out to be a pretty good person, much of the critical and fan backlash to Music/{{Eminem}} is based on the fact that his well-known CreatorRecovery meant his Slim Shady persona now [[TheSeriesHasLeftReality ceased to represent anything about his real life]]. Slim had once represented Eminem's own self-destructive substance abuse, suicidality, poverty and his resentment of the people around him; after Eminem patched things up with his family, got sober, got his temper under control and became well known as an elder statesman of hip-hop, critics began to find Shady defanged.

* The various [[AnAesop aesops]] in the work of Creator/AynRand rather suffered from Rand herself cheerfully making proclamations about what was and was not morally right that tended to contradict them. Collective action is wrong and you should never force decisions on others... unless Rand is telling you to vote for a specific Presidential candidate, in which case, everybody vote for that person. It's wrong to enrich one group at the expense of others... but the colonization of the Americas was totally okay in every respect because they weren't capitalists. When a tycoon leverages a situation to maximize their earnings, it's the free market at work. When laborers do the same, it's parasitism. And so on.

* Late in its run, ''Series/HomeImprovement'' was going to do AVerySpecialEpisode centered around drunk driving. During the writing stage Creator/TimAllen was arrested for DUI and the creative team realized it would be hypocritical of them to do the episode so it was scrapped.

* ''Series/TheBoys2019'' is, per WordOfGod, supposed to be about blue-collar stiffs banding together and using grit and gumption to take on the PowersThatBe and a scathing countercultural critique of corporate underhandedness like [[ComicBook/TheBoys the original comic]], but the show is produced by [[Creator/{{Amazon}} one of America's most infamous megacorps]], making it [[RuleAbidingRebel the very thing the source material once parodied]].

While the film got the reactions it aimed for, Spurlock later explained that prior to producing the film, he was a vegan and had been dealing with alcoholism. It was pointed out that the movie shows Spurlock eating more food than recommended[[note]]At some points, Spurlock throws up and ''forces himself'' to keep eating anyway[[/note]], and that he refused to list all the food he ate during his experiment. The film became heavily criticized for undermining its own point, since Spurlock not only entered the experiment from an extreme diet choice not done by the average person, but he also didn't eat an amount of food that would be considered "normal" for one man. The movie's flawed premise and manipulative nature were subsequently addressed by a separate film called ''Film/FatHead''.

* Like ''X-Men'' above, the original lineup of ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'' (Robotman, Elasti-Girl, Negative Man, and the Chief) are treated as the key members of the team, except that Elasti-Girl had no role in the franchise's most famous iteration (Creator/GrantMorrison's run) and was left dead for most of the eighties and nineties, while Negative Man became Rebis during Morrison's run and was killed off, only to get retconned back into existence (with his time as Rebis retconned away) in 2004 during a reboot.

* ''WesternAnimation/RainbowRangers'' is a show about protecting the environment. However, Creator/GeniusBrandsInternational, who made the series, has invested in [=NFTs=], which are very harmful for the environment because of the greenhouse gases they emit. This makes the show's {{Green Aesop}}s seem less meaningful.

* ''Film/SuperSizeMe'' is a documentary-style film about how bad the fast food industry is for your health, with the goal of the film being to watch a relatively healthy man (Morgan Spurlock) eating UsefulNotes/McDonalds for thirty days straight and the effects it has on him physically and mentally. By the end, he's gained a massive amount of weight, developed health problems, and suffered issues like addiction because of it. While the film got the reaction from audiences it was aiming for, Spurlock would later explain that he was a vegan prior to the film's production, and has been dealing with alcoholism. Combined with him refusing to give a list of all the food eaten, and Morgan being shown eating more food than is recommended[[note]]including points where he had to ''force himself'' to keep eating because he threw up[[/note]], the film became heavily criticized for undermining the entire point it was aiming to make, since Spurlock not only went into the experiment from an extreme diet choice the average person doesn't do, but he didn't eat what would be remotely called a "normal" amount of food for one man. Various health experts would go on to criticize this, and a separate film called ''Film/FatHead'' was made that more or less pointed out the flawed premise, details, and manipulative nature of the film.

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** Similarly, a major theme of ''Webvideo/DemoReel'' was Doug learning that mocking those who create things was a miserable way to live and making a vow to become more understanding and sympathetic to creators. However, it's been regularly pointed out that Doug is now, if anything, ''worse'' than before and far more mean-spirited in his reviews.

* ''Film/SuperSizeMe'' is a documentary style film about how bad the fast food industry is for your health, with the goal of the film being to watch a relatively healthy man (Morgan Spurlock) eating UsefulNotes/McDonalds for thirty days straight and the effects it has on him physically and mentally. By the end, he's gained a massive amount of weight, developed health problems, and suffered issues like addiction because of it. While the film got the reaction from audiences it was aiming for, Spurlock would later explain that he was a vegan prior to the films production, and has been dealing with alcoholism. Combined with him refusing to give a list of all the food eaten, and Morgan being shown eating more food than is recommended[[note]]including points where he had to ''force himself'' to keep eating because he threw up[[/note]], the film became heavily criticized for undermining the entire premise the film was was aiming to make, since Spurlock not only went into the experiment from an extreme diet choice the average person doesn't do, but he didn't eat what would be remotely called a "normal" amount of food for one man. Various health experts would go on to criticize this, and a sepeate film called ''Film/FatHead'' was made that more or less pointed out the flawed premise, details, and manipulative nature of the film.
* One of the most beloved movies of all time: ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', had an incredibly troubled and sad production that completely undermines much of the movie's themes. The main cast of characters (Tin Man, Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion, and Dorothy) are good buddies who work together to help find the traits within themselves they don't know they had, and defeat the Wicked Witch of the West in order for Dorothy to go home. Unfortunately, actress Judy Garland was repeatedly mistreated by staff, production, and even the other actors. In particular, the trio of characters Dorothy went on her journey with were less than friendly behind the scenes, with Garland often being insulted or demeaned for being younger and less experienced. Ultimately, it was the Wicked Witch Actress, Margaret Hamilton, who ended up being one of the few people who treated Garland nicely. Despite the vibrant color exuded by the world they lived in and its hopeful attitude to keep moving forward, work together, and realize you often have the great traits you pine for; the filming was marred by some horrific production that left many of the cast ill and cantankerous, and most wanted nothing to do with one-another. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4q3og9NP9E 1]][[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLyXxB0bgNg 2]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTO0mreb8wk 3]]

* ''Film/SuperSizeMe'' is a documentary style film about how bad the fast food industry is for your health, with the goal of the film being to watch a relatively healthy man (Morgan Spurlock) eating UsefulNotes/McDonalds for thirty days straight and the effects it has on him physically and mentally. By the end, he's gained a massive amount of weight, developed health problems, and suffered issues like addiction because of it. While the film got the reaction from audiences it was aiming for, Spurlock would later explain that he was a vegan prior to the films production, and has been dealing with alcoholism. Combined with him refusing to give a list of all the food eaten, and Morgan being shown eating more food than is recommended[[note]]including points where he had to ''force himself'' to keep eating because he threw up[[/note]], the film became heavily criticized for undermining the entire premise the film was was aiming to make, since Spurlock not only went into the experiment from an extreme diet choice the average person doesn't do, but he didn't eat what would be remotely called a "normal" amount of food for one mean. Various health experts would go on to criticize this, and a sepeate film called ''Film/FatHead'' was made that more or less pointed out the flawed premise, details, and manipulative nature of the film.

** Similarly, a major theme of ''Webvideo/DemoReel'' was Doug learning that mocking those who create things rather was a miserable way to live and making a vow to become more understanding and sympathetic to creators. However, it's been regularly pointed out that Doug is now, if anything, ''worse'' than before and far more mean-spirited in his reviews.

* ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'':
** As part of its GenreDeconstruction, [[WhatTheHellPlayer the game repeatedly calls players out for continuing to play so they can "feel like a hero"]], even once it's clear they're only making things worse. However, the game originally included [[WhatCouldHaveBeen the option to stop]] but it was removed after too many playtesters chose it. The developers did everything in their power to [[BlamedForBeingRailroaded take choice away from their players after they demonstrated they were just fine with stopping]].
** Another case was [[ExecutiveMeddling forced on the game by its publisher]], who decided, against the developers' wishes, that it would have a multiplayer mode to fruitlessly chase the coattails of the exact modern military shooters the single player campaign rips apart.

* Two of the overarching messages in Franchise/{{Pokemon}} is that you should befriend the Pokemon you like and become strong together rather than just using Pokemon as tools or going exclusively for powerful Pokemon just because they are and not catching Pokemon [[GottaCatchEmAll just for the sake of having them without using them.]] The first message however ended up severely underminded by the removal of the [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters National]] [[OldSaveBonus Pokedex]] in recent titles like ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' meaning that [[PutOnABus if your favorite Pokemon just so happens to not be part of a region's Pokedex, you won't be able to bring it with you into your next adventure as you could before]]. The second was also harmed by the restrictive implementation of the Pokemon Home storage system to coincide with the Nintendo Switch era console games. While you can transfer your Pokemon into Home from older generations via-the Pokemon Bank, there's no return trip available once they're in meaning that Pokemon ported into Home without any compatible games are simply stuck there [[CommutingOnABus until such a time that a game comes out that decides to include them AND make transferring into that game possible]]. This coming [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon after a game]] where part of the conflict with the main villian was because [[AesopAmnesia they would capture Pokemon they liked and keep them in stasis as trophies rather than letting them live as they were intended.]]

* ''Fanfic/TheConversionBureau'' author Chatoyance openly states that her version of Equestria, the Princesses, and the ponies is "more in line with Lauren Faust's original vision" than that of the show. But the show's pilot, written by Lauren to set up their vision for the series, had Princess Luna [[FallenHero become Nightmare Moon]] and bring about TheNightThatNeverEnds, which Faust stated would have ultimately killed all life on the planet, out of [[GreenEyedMonster jealousy]]. While Chatoyance {{handwave}}s other antagonistic ponies as [[VillainousLineage descended from a ponified human]], they portray Luna as an infallible BigGood without any acknowledgment of Nightmare Moon which would invalidate the point of their work to portray ponies as morally superior if one as great as Luna could fall and commit such evildoing.

* ''Literature/{{Lucky}}'' is a harrowing autobiographical book about author Alice Sebold's recovery from a horribly traumatic rape and her pursuit of justice... except that it later turned out that Sebold had been coached by prosecutors into misidentifying her rapist, resulting in an innocent man spending 16 years in jail and having his reputation ruined because he rightfully protested his innocence.

* ''Film/{{Tess}}'', the 1979 film adaptation of ''Literature/TessOfTheDUrbervilles'' starring Creator/NastassjaKinski, retains the anti-rape [[AnAesop Aesop]] of the source material, which is undermined not only by the film being directed by convicted pedophile Creator/RomanPolanski, but also being the first film he made after his conviction and flight from the United States.
* ''Film/Music2021'' has an underlying message about accepting autistic people for who they are; which has been largely undermined by the casting of the neurotypical Maddie Ziegler in the title role and Music/{{Sia}} responding poorly to criticism from the autism community.

** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS7E26ShadowPlayPart2 Shadow Play]]" has the lesson that you should not assume the worst of others and should get both sides of the story before treating them as irredeemable. This is undermined by the next major villain, [[EnfantTerrible Cozy Glow]], who the characters and narrative would treat as [[BeyondRedemption unquestionably evil]] despite [[MysteriousPast making no attempts to explain or figure out why/how a child could turn out so evil]]. The [[WordOfGod official reason]] that she was written this way being "It seemed fun and subversive at the time" suggests that the writers have gotten tired of, and no longer endorse, the show's pro-redemption themes and messages.

* ''Creator/CartoonNetwork'' used ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' as a progressivist mouthpiece for years, airing multiple AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle shorts featuring its characters surrounding concepts like body positivity and racial equity in an attempt to make themselves look good by association. However, after the show's conclusion it was revealed that Creator/RebeccaSugar had been fighting the network for years in order to be allowed to make the gay wedding episode, and as a direct result was ScrewedByTheNetwork by being forced to wrap up the series soon after its airing.