Line #44 Main/StrawmanEmotional


1	How to reconcile logic and emotions? Ever since humanity has become able to think and reason, we've wondered about that, hence [[LogicTropes tropes]] [[EmotionTropes like]] TheSpock, TheMcCoy, StrawVulcan, and EmotionsVsStoicism. This trope is the exact opposite of StrawVulcan, in that it makes a strawman of the [[TheMcCoy more emotional character]]. The tactics often used include:
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3	# Making the more emotional character TheDitz, a CloudCuckoolander, or a LeeroyJenkins.
4	# Making an [[CrapsackWorld incredibly cynical world]], in which more emotional characters are {{Wide Eyed Idealist}}s [[JadeColoredGlasses to be]] [[BreakTheCutie broken]], and playing off [[ShootTheDog very amoral behavior]] as [[IDidWhatIHadToDo only "correct" and "realistic."]]
5	# Conveniently forgetting that [[LackOfEmpathy empathy is emotional, too]].
6	# Having [[AgentMulder every single emotional character be a]] [[BeliefMakesYouStupid blind believer]] in a [[CorruptChurch corrupt]] [[PathOfInspiration system]] [[ReligionOfEvil of]] [[VillainWithGoodPublicity authority]].
7	# Having the emotional characters see absolutely no value in logic.
8	# [[HystericalWoman Emotionalism is sometimes associated with]] [[DamselInDistress weakness and femininity]], whereas the rational man is portrayed as the strong one. Extra bonus if she keeps insisting she's CloserToEarth.
9	# Painting intuition as always silly or wrong, ignoring the fact that intuition is simply the ability to pick up on subtle cues without realizing it, and that following your intuition can often be very logical.
10	# Making them a GlurgeAddict or a MisplacedKindergartenTeacher.
11	# Painting them as a WideEyedIdealist or even a NewAgeRetroHippie who's too dippy or weak-willed to ShootTheDog.
12	# Making [[PassionIsEvil evil itself, or an equivalent malevolent force, powered by emotions or passions]].
13	# Making them a PrinciplesZealot, and or ConditionedToAcceptHorror.
14	# Portraying realistic responses to trauma and mental illness as {{Wangst}}, and making the "correct" reaction to hellish experiences be to just [[AngstWhatAngst get]] [[TherapyIsForTheWeak over]] them (never mind that this is illogical in itself, as the human brain doesn't work that way).
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16	This trope is different from EmotionsVsStoicism, in that EmotionsVsStoicism portrays logic and emotions as both having strengths and weaknesses, whereas this trope strawmans emotion much the same way StrawVulcan strawmans logic. This trope is less often played straight than StrawVulcan, because, well, strawmanning emotion isn't very logical (that and, since art and fiction require emotional investment on the part of the audience, [[CluelessAesop using such media to vilify emotion makes little sense]]). In fact, an author who plays this trope straight is likely to be a StrawVulcan themselves. They are also very likely to fall on the Enlightenment side of RomanticismVersusEnlightenment.
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18	!!Examples:
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20	[[foldercontrol]]
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22	[[folder:Comic Books]]
23	* The Human Torch in the ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' comics. While none of the characters outright reject the importance of emotions, Johnny is by far the most emotional and the most likely to get [[WorfEffect smacked to the pavement]] when he charges blindly into battle. Reed Richards is by far the least emotional, and is right so often that every time he's wrong the world makes a little less sense.
24	[[/folder]]
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26	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
27	* ''Franchise/StarWars'': Anakin Skywalker in contrast to the rest of the Jedi, who believe emotions lead to TheDarkSide. [[spoiler:Palpatine banks on Anakin's emotional problems to pull off his plans to become the emperor and topple the Jedi Order.]]
28	[[/folder]]
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30	[[folder:Literature]]
31	* Just as Creator/AynRand 's heroes are (non-Straw) Vulcans, so her villains tend to be Strawman Emotional characters with a senseless hatred of the heroes. Many of them--[[Literature/AtlasShrugged James Taggart]] being probably the most articulate example--expound a philosophy that although a man like Hank Rearden is more productive, an emotional man like Taggart is superior because he bases his actions on "love"--while of course, Taggart and others like him show no sign that they are actually capable of having love for anyone.
32	* Prospero, in Creator/{{Greg Egan}}'s short story "[[http://gregegan.customer.netspace.net.au/PLANCK/Complete/Planck.html The Planck Dive]]", though he may be more of a "Strawman Artist". He travels from Earth to a far-off space colony orbiting a black hole in order to observe an experiment so he can write an EpicPoem about it, but shows absolutely no respect for the scientists or science itself, insists that science is "empty" because it doesn't involve ancient archetypes like mythology, is willing to believe in any sort of pseudoscience if it fits his archetypes, and [[GiftedlyBad is actually a terrible poet but doesn't realize it]]. Because [[SarcasmMode surely everyone who has described science in poetic terms has no respect for the discipline]]-- [[Creator/CarlSagan Oh wait...]] What's more, it's implied that ''[[PlanetOfHats all]]'' Athenans are just as close-minded and arrogant as he is, except for [[OnlySaneMan his daughter]], whom all the other characters feel sorry for.
33	[[/folder]]
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35	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
36	* Creator/StephenColbert's [[StrawCharacter character]]. His job isn't to report the news to you, but to [[Series/TheColbertReport ''feel'' it at you]].
37	* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
38	** [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries McCoy]] could occasionally slip into this, much as Spock could occasionally be a StrawVulcan.
39	** The Romulans, as well. Since breaking away from the Vulcans over a disagreement over using logic to control emotion or not, they became incredibly amoral. Since it's said that the Vulcans turned to logic because their emotions were so strong they were overwhelming, the Romulans are probably behaving like Vulcans used to, which helps explain [[IHatePastMe the enmity between them]].
40	* In ''Series/{{House}}'' Dr. Allison Cameron, who occasionally veered into [[SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids Strawman Idealist.]]
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43	[[folder:Video Games]]
44	* ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'': There's a nameless human crewman on the ''Normandy'' who is seen chatting with Garrus and Javik, after the Lesuss mission. The human makes pointlessly childish comments about how evil the process of indoctrination is, and he's only there so that Garrus and Javik can lecture him on how there is no such thing as good or evil in war.
45	[[/folder]]
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47	[[folder:Web Video]]
48	* WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic is as cynical as they come, but almost always runs on emotion instead of logic.
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51	[[folder:Western Animation]]
52	* Jake Morgendorffer in ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}''. Most of the ensemble characters carry this particular IdiotBall regularly, but Jake is probably the most consistent.
53	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
54	** Helen "Won't someone please {{think of the children}}?" Lovejoy
55	** The segregated girls' math class Lisa is stuck in, where the students learn how numbers make them feel, but not how to add or subtract them.
56	[[/folder]]
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Context Main / StrawmanEmotional