Line #5 Main/SourGrapesTropes


1	[[quoteright:225:[[VisualPun https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sour_grapes.jpg]]]]
2	->''"When they realized they were in the desert, they built a religion to worship thirstiness."''
3	-->-- ''Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal''
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5	Sour Grapes Tropes are tropes that exist to convince the viewer that not only is it unlikely that their dreams and fantasies will come true, but it's probably better if they ''don't''. This is done by showing how a character is made miserable [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor when getting their wishes fulfilled.]]
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7	Stories that don't do this are WishFulfillment fantasies, [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools not that there's anything wrong with that]]. Fiction has been providing wish fulfillment for centuries. Contemporary fiction, though, often comes off as somehow ''obliged'' to show the downside of a desire. Not doing so might [[SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids be seen as "juvenile."]] Ironically, Sour Grapes Tropes tend to indulge in their own backhanded brand of WishFulfillment; these tropes are often used to assuage [[TallPoppySyndrome an audience's discomfort]] and [[GreenEyedMonster envy]] seeing a more ambitious or intelligent or lucky character at succeeding in a way that the viewers can't by showing the 'bad' side of their success, or to convince the audience that their mundane and boring life actually ''is'' preferable compared to an exciting one led by a fictional character.
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9	The {{Trope Namer\|s}} is the classic BeastFable "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fox_and_the_Grapes?wprov=sfti1 The Fox and the Grapes]]." In the story, a hungry fox tries and fails to reach some grapes that grow high above him from the grapevine, growing increasingly frustrated until he gives up. As he leaves, the fox convinces himself that the grapes were sour (meaning unripe) all along and thus not worth his time, even though he had no way of knowing if the grapes were truly sour, in an attempt to relieve his own frustration and make himself feel better. This is where the term "sour grapes" comes from, which is used to refer to the attitude of disparaging something purely because one cannot have it themselves. Said attitude is what underlies many of the tropes listed below, as they all involve fantastic, desirable situations or traits that both the creator and audience have no way of experiencing for themselves. The modern term "copium" (a portemaneau of 'cope' and 'opium') shares roughly the same meaning as sour grapes does, and is more often used online.
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11	Contrast SweetAndSourGrapes.
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13	----
14	[[index]]
15	!!Indexes:
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17	* AntiIntellectualism: For when knowledge and education are undesirable.
18
19	!!Tropes:
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21	* AgeWithoutYouth: You gain immortality but you still grow older until you're too decrepit to function anymore, then you'll be praying for death.
22	* AmbitionIsEvil: Trying to make your wishes come true will turn you to the dark side.
23	* AttractivenessDiscrimination: Your looks will get you discriminated against regardless if you're gorgeous or butt ugly.
24	* BeautyBreedsLaziness: Being beautiful result in a poor work ethic.
25	* BeautyIsBad: Being beautiful will make you a bad person.
26	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Your wish coming true could spell disaster.
27	* BestOfAllPossibleWorlds: Attempts to improve your reality creates more problems.
28	* BewareTheSuperman: Superpowers bring about disaster rather than justice and order.
29	* BlessedWithSuck: This awesome gift will only worsen your life.
30	* BrainlessBeauty: If beauty doesn't make you [[BeautyIsBad bad]], it'll only make you stupid.
31	* ButterflyOfDoom: Changing anything in the past, no matter how small, will create a BadFuture.
32	* CameBackWrong: You brought your beloved back from the dead... except they're no longer the same person you knew.
33	* CelebrityIsOverrated: Fame isn't all it's cracked up to be.
34	* CompensatingForSomething: When the use of BiggerIsBetter reveals insecurity about a certain "aspect" of your body.
35	* DeathTakesAHoliday: Turns out death is a necessary evil.
36	* {{Deconstruction}}: The whole purpose of this story is to show how your desires coming true would play out in real life.
37	* DreadedKidsTable: It's better to savor your youth instead of trying to grow up too quickly.
38	* DumbIsGood: It's better to remain a simpleton since intelligence makes you a {{Jerkass}}.
39	* EvilLuddite: Trying to remove "evil technology" makes you the evil one.
40	* FantasticAesop: A very common variant of this trope is a moral lesson warning against the use of nonexistent technology or magic, such as using time travel to fix your problems.
41	* FlowersForAlgernonSyndrome: The improvements you obtain will eventually be reverted, sometimes for the best.
42	* GodForADay: Status as a deity proves to be too much responsibility and absolute power corrupts.
43	* GoodNeedsEvil: If you remove evil then how can we know what good is?
44	* HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct: Trying to go back in time to prevent a tragedy from happening proves to make things worse.
45	* IJustWantToBeNormal: Special powers prove to be too overwhelming to deal with.
46	* ImmortalProcreationClause: Obtaining immortality strips you of your fertility.
47	* ImmortalityImmorality: Obtaining immortality requires resorting to unethical means to achieve it.
48	* IntelligenceEqualsIsolation: If you're smarter than your peers, nobody will want to be around you.
49	* InWithTheInCrowd: If you win the approval of the popular crowd, you'll lose old friends and become a {{Jerkass}}.
50	* KnightInSourArmor: You know your job isn't easy, but you keep trying anyway, despite how cruel the world can be.
51	* LonelyAtTheTop: Obtaining money and power will cost you the love of your old friends.
52	* MidasTouch: A character gains the ability to turn anything into something of superficial value just by touching it, but the drawbacks of the power soon manifest.
53	* AMindIsATerribleThingToRead: The ability to read minds is better left unused since it leads you to learn some dark secrets.
54	* MiseryBuildsCharacter: It's better for you to obtain success through suffering rather having it easy.
55	* MusclesAreMeaningless: Having big muscles won't make you strong.
56	* NecessaryFail: That embarrassing blunder you committed or that horrific tragedy that happened is needed for something good to happen.
57	* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: When trying to be a GoodSamaritan gets you into trouble.
58	* NotQuiteForever: Wanting something to last forever is just never so.
59	* ObsessivelyNormal: The desire to be normal may cause you to mistreat/hate all who don't conform to your idea of normalcy.
60	* PerfectionIsStatic: Achieving perfection means abandoning all possibility of interesting variables or development, as any change would result in imperfection.
61	* ThePerilsOfBeingTheBest: Being TheAce has many prices to pay.
62	* PopularIsDumb: Once you're popular with your peers, your IQ will decrease.
63	* PopularIsEvil: Popularity corrupts people, so it’s better to be a loser.
64	* PowerAtAPrice: Use of superpowers requires having to sacrifice something in exchange.
65	* PrescienceIsPredictable: Knowing what's gonna happen in the future makes life boring.
66	* PrestigePeril: Positions of privilege put your life in danger (or at least make it miserable).
67	* PygmalionSnapBack: It's not a good idea to change a person into something they're not.
68	* RefreshinglyNormalLifeChoice: The ActionHero prefers living like a {{Muggle}}.
69	* SoBeautifulItsACurse: Being beautiful causes you misery.
70	* VengeanceFeelsEmpty: Getting your revenge makes your life feel meaningless.
71	* VictoryIsBoring: A character succeeds, but doesn't know what to do afterwards.
72	* VolatileSecondTierPosition: Turns out that prestigious second-from-the-top job you wanted is worse than any other in the workplace.
73	* WantingIsBetterThanHaving: Once you've gotten all that you've wanted, life becomes boring and unrewarding.
74	* WeWantOurIdiotBack: The characters want an idiot among their group to be back.
75	* WeWantOurJerkBack: The {{Jerkass}} character proves to be worse off when nice than when an asshole.
76	* WhoWantsToLiveForever: Immortality has boring as well as heartbreaking consequences to it.
77	* WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility: When you have superpowers, using them for anything other than helping others [[PersonalGainHurts never works out]].
78	* YankTheDogsChain: Don't expect to permanently keep your good fortune, you won't have it for very long.
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80	[[/index]]

Context Main / SourGrapesTropes