Line #2 Film/TrickyPeople


1	[[quoteright:164:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TrickyPeople_8630.jpg]]
2	Tricky People is a 40-minute PaedoHunt / TooSmartForStrangers PublicServiceAnnouncement written/directed by [[Series/BarneyAndFriends Fred Holmes]] and produced/distributed by [[WesternAnimation/TheSwanPrincess Nest Family Entertainment]] in 1998. The PSA is based on Jan Wagner's book "Raising Safe Kids in an Unsafe World" and features an introduction by Wagner and the PSA's mascot character Yello Dyno.
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4	The story of the PSA centers on a girl named Lyric who falls prey to professional [[UnusualEuphemism "tricky person"]] Reginald Charming. The PSA prides itself on its "startling and accurate" portrayal of tricky people and was created to educate its viewers on recognizing the traits of a tricky person.
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6	----
7	!! Tricky People contains examples of:
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9	* AndImTheQueenOfSheba:
10	-->'''Reginald Charming:''' I'm an upstanding citizen.\
11	'''Yello Dyno:''' If you're an upstanding citizen, I'm Ethel Merman! ''There's no business like show business''...
12	* AwardBaitSong: "Safely Held in Your Heart". Apparently, being molested turns you into an angsty Grammy-worthy singer-songwriter.
13	* BerserkButton: Reginald doesn't like being lied to, as Lyric discovers the hard way.
14	* BigBad: Reginald Charming
15	* BigDamnHeroes: Yello Dyno arrives just in time to rescue Lyric from Reginald's dastardly photo-shoot.
16	* ChildrenAreInnocent: As is naturally expected in a PaedoHunt / TooSmartForStrangers PSA. Particularly {{anvilicious}} is Carmen's tearful confession to Yello Dyno of "not [being] a little girl anymore".
17	* CluelessAesop:
18	** The message seems to alternate between the sensationalist "Tricky people are villains who should be fled from and arrested" and the more sensible "Tricky people are human beings who have their own problems and need some counseling to help them deal with their issues".
19	** Yello Dyno scolding the kids for not knowing Charming was a tricky person comes off as pretty callous and oblivious, considering it was his job to teach them what a "tricky person" was in the first place and he's the responsible adult of the group. Putting the blame on a group of children for being manipulated by a predator is definitely sending the wrong message.
20	* CoolShades: A part of Yello Dyno's attire, with debatable effectiveness.
21	* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Charming is a record executive who uses his power to trick children into being alone with him.
22	* CryIntoChest: Carmen cries in Yello Dyno's arms after she tells him what Charming did to her.
23	* TheDragon: Wendell
24	* EpicFail: After Reginald tells Wendell not to touch anything in his office while he's away, Wendell not only immediately disobeys the order the second Reginald has left, but he makes a complete mess of Reginald's desk in his attempt to play with a Newton's cradle.
25	* FacePalm: Carmen when she learns the other kids left Lyric alone with Charming
26	* FauxAffablyEvil: Charming presents himself as a nice and charismatic man but it's actually a manipulative child molester.
27	* FlatWhat: The kids give one after Yello Dyno proclaims to them that Charming is a tricky person.
28	* GrowingUpSucks: As Carmen implies herself.
29	* HateSink: Reginald Charming is a dark and serious villain, standing in jarring contrast to the colorful and zany protagonist in Yellow Dyno. A popular record producer and "upstanding citizen", Charming is a serial pedophile and child porn artist who uses his position of trust and charisma to lure kids in for photoshoots and picking out a girl he especially likes. One of his previous victims was Carmen, who photos Charming holds against her and threatens her with. He later tries to take "private photos" of Carmen's friend, Lyric, and implicitly tries to force himself onto her before Yellow Dyno saves her. A surprisingly realistic and menacing depiction of a child predator, the emotional trauma he puts Carmen through is highlighted when she laments her lost innocence and her fear of telling anyone about Charming.
30	* IHaveYouNowMyPretty: Reginald's photo shoots with Carmen (in flashback) and Lyric (in the climax) are treated like this.
31	* InnocenceLost: As Carmen tells Yello Dyno, "I'm not a little girl anymore."
32	* InsistentTerminology: They're not sexual predators, but "[[TitleDrop tricky people]]".
33	* KarmaHoudini: In the end Reginald Charming gets arrested, but Wendell gets off scot-free despite enabling a sexual predator. Of course, given his [[MinionWithAnFInEvil bumbling stupidity]] and genuine concern when he sees Carmen is upset, it's likely Wendell was completely oblivious to Charming's schemes.
34	* TheKlutz: Wendell
35	* LargeHam: Yello Dyno
36	* MinionWithAnFInEvil: Wendell
37	* MoodWhiplash: No one would blame you if you came to the conclusion that the scenes with Yello Dyno and the scenes with Reginald Charming were directed by separate people.
38	** Hell, the scenes with Reginald by himself and the scenes with him and Wendell feel like they were directed by separate people.
39	* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Reginald Charming.
40	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Yello's voice actor does a Creator/ChrisRock impersonation for most of the character's dialogue.
41	* NumberTwoForBrains: Wendell
42	* PaedoHunt
43	* PapaWolf: Yello Dyno is clearly meant to be this toward kids in general, though his [[TotallyRadical mannerisms and speech patterns]] can make it [[{{Pun}} tricky]] to take him seriously.
44	* PluckyComicRelief: Wendell is this to Reginald Charming.
45	* ProperlyParanoid: Yello Dyno apparently has a habit of patrolling the mall and accosting anyone he even suspects of being a tricky person. The one time we see him doing this in action, he turns out to be right.
46	* PublicServiceAnnouncement
47	* ReCut: The WebVideo/RedLetterMedia team found out that two cuts of the film exist. The latter cut excises roughly 10 minutes of additional scenes mainly involving Carmen and Lyric's interactions with Charming (ones they deemed way creepier and lurid than what was left in) and included a new disclaimer from Yello Dyno that the film may disturb viewers.
48	* RevengePornBlackmail: Carmen is blackmailed by Reginald into not telling anyone what happened with the pictures he took of her.
49	* {{Rimshot}}: One of the kids in the band makes one after Edna is complimented for her performance in the "Tricky People" number, to which Yello Dyno responds "What am I? Chopped liver?"
50	* SuperStrength: Yello Dyno can rip locked safes open with little to no effort.
51	* TalentDouble: Most of "Safely Held in Your Heart" is clearly sung by an adult.
52	* TitleDrop: A grand total of 43 times over the course of the PSA.
53	* TooSmartForStrangers
54	* TotallyRadical: Yello Dyno. His radicalness is dated even by the standards of the time the show came out, seeing as he makes references to Al Jolson and Ethel Merman.
55	* VileVillainLaughableLackey: Wendell's the lackey to Reginald Charming's villain. Given the film's subject matter and Charming's portrayal, Wendell's presence seems downright bizarre.
56	* VileVillainSaccharineShow: Reginald Charming's presence and conduct is all the more jarring in a world inhabited by Yello Dyno and Wendell.
57	* WhatTheHellHero: Yello Dyno and Carmen are not pleased when they find out the kids left Lyric alone with Charming after Yellow Dyno explicitly warned them about "Tricky People".
58	* XtremeKoolLetterz: Yello Dyno

Context Film / TrickyPeople