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[[caption-width-right:350:The average Joe's understanding of UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}}.]]
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->''"There's not a lot of people who know that."''
-->-- '''Creator/PeterSellers''', imitating Creator/MichaelCaine (who, incidentally, [[BeamMeUpScotty never actually said]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raFycoDdIs0 that line.)]]

There's a diverse array of titles within any one medium. Not all video games are ''VideoGame/PacMan'' or ''VideoGame/WiiSports'' or ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' or ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' or ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' or ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'' or ''Franchise/{{Halo}}''. There are games like the ''Franchise/SilentHill'' series, which try to immerse you in an environment before gradually creeping the living daylights out of you over time. Or ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series, which presents to you a wide-open world and several big choices you can make in it, giving you freedom to experiment and explore. There are also the ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}'' games, which offer a fun, energetic, colorful, and (relatively) nonviolent take on the ThirdPersonShooter.

The general public doesn't (always) know that, though — people who don't play video games think that all games are like the ones they hear about on TV, which would tend to be either ''VideoGame/WiiSports'' (due to the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} showing up in retirement communities all over the place), ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' (due to Mario's recognizability as a SeriesMascot), ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' (due to the "Pokémania" fad of TheNineties and the much later success of ''VideoGame/PokemonGo''), or the latest "controversial" [[UltraSuperDeathGorefestChainsawer3000 violent]] game that the media [[NewMediaAreEvil love to shove in people's faces]]. If these people are older, [[PacManFever expect their perceptions of video games to be even worse]].

Likewise, comic books are not all about {{superhero}}es in costumes fighting {{supervillain}}s with outlandish plots, nor are they essentially printed versions of [[AdaptationDisplacement superhero movies]] where ComicBook/IronMan is exactly like Creator/RobertDowneyJr and ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} is exactly like Creator/HughJackman. There are many comics telling other kinds of stories, such as the numerous indie SliceOfLife comics like ''ComicBook/{{Seconds}}'' or ''ComicBook/AmeliaRules'', or the surreal dreamscapes of ''ComicStrip/LittleNemo''. The Japanese {{manga}} scene has many well known titles from different genres, ranging from [[{{Romance}} love stories]] such as ''Manga/KimiNiTodoke'', to family comedy like ''[[Manga/{{Yotsubato}} Yotsuba&!]]'', to Action-Adventure series such as ''Manga/OnePiece'', to even horror fare like the works of Creator/JunjiIto. Certainly the Super Hero genre itself is much better written than what is stereotypically attributed, and can also differ greatly from your typical Hollywood superhero action-fest: ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' and ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'' should be proof enough of that. If you say you like comic books, people might respond with something like, "So you like ComicBook/{{Superman}}, ComicBook/{{Batman}} and ComicBook/SpiderMan?"[[note]]If you're in UsefulNotes/NorthAmerica, that is; in UsefulNotes/{{Europe}} the response will be more along the lines of, "So you like [[WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck Donald]] [[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse Duck]] and ComicBook/{{Asterix}}?", and in Japan it may be something like "So you're into Manga/{{Doraemon}} and [[Manga/GeGeGeNoKitaro Kitaro]]?". Keep also in mind that comic books there are much more respected, even if proper literature is considered to be better.[[/note]] Some comics (usually ones dubbed "{{graphic novel}}s" to eliminate this very problem), like the autobiographical ''ComicBook/FunHome'' or the aforementioned ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', have won awards for their artistry and originality.

And of course, cartoons. We know all about the AnimationAgeGhetto and the AnimatedShockComedy. Cartoons are often still stereotyped as being all about humor and comedy. On the other hand, many companies seem convinced that kids will watch cartoons only if they are funny, and add extraneous humor that sometimes [[CasualDangerDialogue clashes with the mood]] just to fulfill their comedy quota. Often, animators have to start with an RRatedOpening in order to ''warn'' young audiences and their parents that [[AllAnimationIsDisney what they're watching isn't a]] Creator/{{Disney}} [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon animated flick]] [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids just because it had cartoon people on the cover]].

This is especially true for anime. In the public eye, anime is either associated with the AnimationAgeGhetto and series that were marketed to kids - ''Anime/SailorMoon'', ''Manga/DragonBall'' and ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', ''[[Anime/PokemonTheSeries Pokémon]]'', ''Franchise/YuGiOh'', and maybe ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', and the Creator/StudioGhibli library if you're lucky - or with [[AllAnimeIsNaughtyTentacles sordid, lecherous]] {{hentai}}.

In the public consciousness, the {{Board Game|s}} medium is overshadowed by classics and perennial favourites like TabletopGame/{{chess}}, ''TabletopGame/{{Battleship}}'' and ''TabletopGame/{{Monopoly}}'', as well as party games like ''TabletopGame/CardsAgainstHumanity''. It doesn't help that many {{Eurogame}}s, [[AmeritrashGames American-style games]] and {{Wargame}}s have an intimidating amount of complexity, so even those who are aware of these genres might reject them for this reason.

[[TabletopRPG Tabletop RPGs]] used to be nigh unknown except in general nerd circles, and only ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' had any real recognition factor, mostly due to the [[TheNewRockAndRoll moral]] [[SatanicPanic panic]] about it in TheEighties in the US. However, the release of 5th edition D&D, the popularity of ''Series/StrangerThings'', and the rising attention to projects like ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'' and ''Podcast/TheAdventureZone'' have made D&D more popular than ever, making it much more well known than it was at the end of the 2010s. [[BrandNameTakeover Though, you'd still be hard pressed to find your average person who can name a tabletop RPG that]] ''[[BrandNameTakeover isn't]]'' [[BrandNameTakeover D&D.]]

The public at large has these prejudices and preconceptions. But this trope can also be an example of a prejudice in itself against the general public. In some cases this trope can be true, but it is also equally possible the larger public is aware of diversity and just isn't blabbing about it with the people who really love it. In the past, we determined what was known by what people actually sat around talking about. Nowadays, when you can gather with people who do all want to talk about this or that, the line between what is a majority/minority and what the general public knows is blurred beyond repair.

CommonKnowledge is usually ignored in these situations. Works that fall into this have a high tendency to suffer from an AudienceAlienatingPremise. Exposure to a GatewaySeries can ''certainly'' be very helpful to break these prejudices. If a significant title stands out from the perceived "[[GhettoIndex ghettoed]]" group, NoTrueScotsman is often applied to try and distance a well-liked entry from it, with HitlerAteSugar being applied to reinforce the ghetto back onto that entry. Related to PopCulturalOsmosisFailure. See also MistakenForIndex. There even is a kind of meta inversion possible when TooMuchInformation collides with ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontWatch (a LowestCommonDenominator work, you wouldn't touch it at gunpoint, but all media report about it and you can't avoid it).
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!!Tropes associated with this:
[[index]]
* AllAbusersAreMale: The belief that any character who was abused in the past was abused by a man, or that women cannot or simply do not commit any kind of abuse.
* AllAnimationIsDisney: The belief that all noteworthy animated works were made by Creator/{{Disney}}.
* AllAnimeIsNaughtyTentacles: The belief that anime is nothing but women getting assaulted by tentacle creatures.
* AluminumChristmasTrees: Something obscure but real in a work of fiction is mistaken for part of the fiction.
* AnimationAgeGhetto: The belief that animated works are only for children.
* AudienceColoringAdaptation: An installment that affects opinion on the general franchise.
* BeamMeUpScotty: A catchphrase ascribed to a character even though they didn't actually say it. It could be a simplification or paraphrase of the character's original line, or it may have appeared in an adaptation, sequel, or parody.
* ClassicalMusicIsBoring: The belief that classical music isn't interesting or exciting.
* ComedyGhetto
* CommonKnowledge: Things "everyone knows" about a work or subject which are actually misconceptions or outright untrue.
* CorruptingPornography: A belief that pornography is inherently dangerous.
* CowboyBebopAtHisComputer: A piece about a work (say, a magazine article about a television series) gets their facts so wrong that even casual fans can tell the source has probably never even ''seen'' the series.
* DeadArtistsAreBetter: Made possible by a large number of people who were barely aware of the artist until their death reading the gushing obits and still not actually engaging with the artist's work.
* DeadHorseGenre: Musical genres that you're not "supposed" to like.
* EmoTeen: Any teenage character who's {{Angst}}y is really just [[{{Wangst}} moody for no good reason]], regardless of ''why'' s/he is that way.
* FranchiseOriginalSin: Fans complain about a flaw in later installments of a work which was actually present from the start.
* UsefulNotes/FurryFandom
* GirlShowGhetto: Male audiences aren't interested in works that star and focus on female characters.
* GodNeverSaidThat: People misinterpret what the creator said about the work or believe the creator said it when the creator did not.
* ItsNotSupposedToWinOscars: The argument that a work doesn't have to win awards to be considered good.
* ItsPopularNowItSucks: Fans of a lesser known work lose interest as soon as it becomes more well-known.
* MadeInCountryX: Assuming that a product or work is good or bad based solely on where the work was produced.
* MainstreamObscurity
* {{Metalhead}}
* MinorityShowGhetto
* MisBlamed: The audience or critics blame, say, the writer for the flaws in a work when ExecutiveMeddling or other factors caused the work to turn out the way it did.
* NewMediaAreEvil: The belief that modern forms of media are bad.
* TheNewRockAndRoll: The latest trend in [whatever] is corrupting youth and will lead to society's downfall!
* NostalgiaFilter: Liking or disliking a work based on how old you were when they first saw it, with preference toward material that came out in your youth. Leads to statements like "Cartoons were so much better when I was growing up; it's all dumb gags now."
* ObscurePopularity
* OldMediaAreEvil
* OlderThanTheyThink: A concept believed to be new to the franchise was actually present much earlier in the franchise's history.
* OscarBait
* PacManFever: Outdated ideas on what video games are like.
* PopCultureIsolation
* PraisingShowsYouDontWatch
* QualityByPopularVote
* RatedMForMoney: People believe only M-rated[=/=]"adult" works will sell.
* ReviewsAreTheGospel: People judge the quality of a work on someone's review of it rather than by their own viewpoints.
* RockMeAsmodeus: Rock music is the work of the Devil!
* SacredCow: A work is so popular and well-regarded that saying anything negative about it is guaranteed to make everyone hate you.
* SciFiGhetto: The belief that science fiction/fantasy works aren't "real" literature.
* SmallReferencePools
* TrueArt: Beliefs on what qualities make a work worthy of merit.
** TrueArtIsAncient: It's a good work because it is old.
** TrueArtIsAngsty: It's a good work because it is tragic.
** TrueArtIsBoring: It's a good work because it is dull.
** TrueArtIsIncomprehensible: It's a good work because it's composed of MindScrew.
* TwoDecadesBehind: A work's depiction of pop culture is glaringly out of date due to the creators working with what they remember from their youth rather than what's trendy today.
* WordOfDante can easily become this when [[GodNeverSaidThat it's confused with]] WordOfGod.
* WrongfullyAttributed: Credit for a work or achievement is wrongly given to individuals or companies that actually had nothing to do with or weren't truly the first to accomplish.
[[/index]]

All examples of this are right in those sub pages, or in the page's [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/remarks.php?trope=Main.PublicMediumIgnorance discussion thread.]]
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