->''"As a rule, people in movies haven’t ever seen a movie. They’re not equipped to deal with anything strange."''
-->-- '''Seanbaby''', ''[[http://www.cracked.com/blog/7-great-occupations-for-horribly-stupid-people/ 7 Great Occupations...]]''

->''"This is something that nobody has ever heard about or seen before."''
-->-- '''Ben''', ''Night of the Living Dead'' (1990 movie)

A condition afflicting many television characters, seen when one demonstrates by their behavior that they have never in their life ever seen the kind of show they're in, and thus have none of the reactions a typical audience member would have in the same situation. Worse, they are unable to learn from any experiences related to their genre.

GenreBlindness is what keeps the cast of ''ThreesCompany'' leaping to outrageous conclusions even after the hundredth stupid misunderstanding, instead of sitting down and talking things out. It makes young girls go for walks in the woods after midnight without a flashlight when there's an axe murderer or a vampire around. It makes the supergenius {{supervillain}}s in JamesBond movies stuff the hero into an elaborate melodramatic DeathTrap from which he inevitably escapes instead of [[WhyDontYaJustShootHim just shooting him]]. It's why a ProfessionalWrestling referee always holds {{face}}s to the strictest letter of the rules, even as the {{heel}}s break every rule in the book behind his back. It is one of the engines that drive the classic 1960s-70s sitcom.

Although genre blindness is a legitimate flaw, it should be noted that it can be difficult for writers to create characters who are not genre blind without [[LampshadeHanging hanging a lampshade on it]] by saying something like "This is just like in the movies!", especially in the horror genre which requires suspense that can easily be undone by such comedic relief.

'''Related:'''
* One of the more common forms of GenreBlindness is ignorance of [[HanlonsRazor Hanlon's Razor]].
* RealityIsUnrealistic is what happens when real people come down with this.
* Contrast with GenreSavvy, and its extreme form, ContractualGenreBlindness.
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!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime ]]

* Everyone watching ''CodeGeass'' knew as soon as the nuke was shown at the end of Season 1 that it was going to be used. Why would any sane human being put it on his giant robot and not intend to use it? Lelouch is even worse, after 30+ episodes, he still never formed a {{Nakama}}. He needed to start hanging out with Todoh, and Ougi while invading the Women's side of a Hot Spring so why the hell did he never do it? It was also no surprised to veteran mecha and anime watchers when [[spoiler:the revelation that he was Lelouch Vi Brittania caused the entire Order of The Black Knights to betray him.]]
**Could be interpreted by some as fridge brilliance. After all, a world filled with actual mecha wouldn't need mecha anime to set up these tropes in the first place. Lelouch might even be the TropeMaker in that world.
* In an episode of ''{{Pokemon}},'' the gang falls into the battle pyramid. Ash then finds an ''ominous stone Pikachu idol sitting on a pedestal.'' He takes it off. No prizes for guessing what happens next. Ash, maybe you need to watch this movie called ''[[IndianaJones Raiders of the Lost Ark]].'' Later, he finds a ancient Pokéball, and thinking Ho-oh is inside, tries to use it... And gets possesed by [[strike: Yami Bakura]] The King of Pokélantis.
* If Miki from ''HellTeacherNube'' ever approaches you with an occult magazine, ''RUN''. Despite having nearly killed herself (or her classmates) fifty times over while testing an [[UrbanLegends local rumor]] or deliberately TemptingFate just to see [[ForScience what would happen]] (which resulted, very early in the manga, in her turning into a half-[[{{Obake}} youkai]] permanently,) she will try [[SchmuckBait again]]. And [[EvilIsNotAToy again]]. And [[TooDumbToLive again]].

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* Let's say that you're confronting a CorruptCorporateExecutive who's ruined your life by putting kiddie porn on your computer. You put a gun, given to you by a mysterious benefactor, to her head [[JustBetweenYouAndMe and explain why you're about to kill her]], and she offers to give you and your kids enough money to start over on the condition that you give her the gun so she can use it to find out who your benefactor is. Do you accept this offer? If you say no, you are a smarter man than [[OneHundredBullets Lee Dolan]].
* The characters of ''The Walking Dead'' have never seen zombie movies. Fine. But they still don't learn. Multiple characters die/are injured in the exact same zombie-attacking way. Heck, zombies or no, the cop character never quite grasps the concept of 'clear one room before going to next'.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* In ''GalaxyQuest'', the main characters initially suffer GenreBlindness despite being actors ''in'' the genre; this is [[LampshadeHanging underscored]] by Guy's outraged query, "Did you guys ever ''watch'' the show?".
* Pretty much every [[ZombieApocalypse zombie film]] ever made relies on Genre Blindness.
** [[ShaunOfTheDead With]] [[{{Zombieland}} exceptions]].
* In ''Pirate of the Carribbean'', Captain Barbossa retorts Elizabeth Swann's denial of ghost stories by showing her the true, undead forms of himself & his crew. "Best start believing in ghost stories, Miss Turner -- you're in one!"
*The original ''NightOfTheLivingDead'' is a notable exception. It was the first film to feature zombies as mindless flesheating corpses. Most [[OurZombiesAreDifferent zombie rules]] are based on this film.
* A particularly infuriating example is Lucio Fulci's ''TheBeyond'', in which the protagonist shoots zombies in the torso ineffectually and finally downs one with a [[BoomHeadshot head shot]]... and then continues to fire uselessly into their torsos for the remainder of the film. To put it into context, Fulci's horror movies are generally populated with characters who are juggling the IdiotBall.
* When this contributor saw ''{{Premonition}}'', literally every person in the theater was screaming, [[spoiler:"Get out of the car, you moron!" as Jim sat continuing to turn the key in his stalled car right in the path of a semi!]]
* The first ''ScaryMovie'' parodies this when a character being chased by a killer is confronted with two signs pointing towards "Safety" and "Death" respectively. In classic horror movie fashion she chooses the wrong one and, unsurprisingly, is the first casualty of the film.
* Subverted in ''{{Scream}}'', which the above film parodies. The young characters are all slasher film fans and the {{final girl}} at one point discusses the stupidity of tropes such as running upstairs instead of out the door with a creepy anonymous caller. When the caller bursts into her house from behind her, she promptly runs up the stairs, which incidentally are opposite the front door. In this instance, despite understanding genre blindness, she unwittingly makes mistakes that are symptomatic of this trope, yet for arguably not the same reasons.
* Averted in pretty much every vampire film, which are guaranteed to include some form of the phrase "[[OurVampiresAreDifferent Forget everything you've seen in the movies.]]"
* Any "victim" character in ''TheStrangers'' is so genre blind it's astounding they're not forced to wear dark sunglasses and follow a seeing-eye dog. The first death involves [[spoiler: the husband's friend, Mike, walking into the house after the three killers have already pinned the protagonists down in a corner. The husband, James, has a shotgun pointed at the door to the room they're hiding in. Instead of turning off the deafeningly loud record player and calling out to the couple, Mike slowly....creeps....down....the hall....*BLAM!*.]] It gets really horrid when Kristen, the wife, attempts to [[spoiler: run across the backyard for a radio in the barn. Instead of carefully selecting her steps, she tumbles into a two foot deep trench and [[TwistedAnkle snaps her leg like a twig]].]]
* Batman's GenreBlindness is {{lampshaded}} in ''TheDarkKnight'' when he demands that the Joker let Rachel go while standing near the edge of a broken window high up in a skyscraper. Joker stares at him for a second and responds "Very poor choice of words" before [[UnhandThemVillain tossing Rachel over the edge]]. Which brings about a bit of FridgeLogic when you consider that, by jumping out the window to save her, Batman left the Joker and his minions alone with the Gotham upper class.
* In ''TimeBandits'', the dwarves don't recognize RobinHood when they see him. [[GenreSavvy Kevin]] attempts to explain after they have lost all their treasure to the poor.
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XsAYrmc8Po Any mooks]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsJ5s6CKmog in any]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTTZTweoSJ0 all-against-one]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWvPxP0Lpbs&feature=related martial-arts movie]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1rF3jB0M6g fight scene]] ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kI7YoeckKg ever.]]'' Seriously, after seeing the first dozen or so of their fellows being fed to a human blender, you'd think they'd re-evaluate their strategy, but no. Unless they're relying on ConservationOfNinjitsu.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* In CSLewis's ''[[{{Narnia}} The Voyage of the Dawn Treader]]'', the narrator observes that Eustace "had read none of the right books," and as a result does not recognize a dragon when he sees one and is generally poorly equipped for his first visit to the world of Narnia.
* The Bigtime series by Jennifer Estep takes place in a world where SuperHeroes and supervillains are as common as dirt. The characters are totally unaware that if you have an AlliterativeName (95% of them seem to), odds are higher that that person is a superhero, and their superidentity is something that also starts with that letter. (Examples: Fiona Fine = Fiera, Sam Sloane = Striker.) Occasionally subverted with the [[BadassNormal Belluci family's "Johnny Angel"]] and Sean Newman = Mr. Sage. When characters are trying to figure out who a superhero's real identity is, they have to resort to other means. This leads to an interesting experience for the reader, who knows VERY early on who everyone really is long before the characters can.
* Everyone in the whole world who isn't a member of Tribulation Force, in the Left Behind series. Not one person on earth seems to have ever seen "The Omen" or any other movie featuring the AntiChrist; not one seems to recall any popular culture or 70's style paranormal documentary that would tip one off to the true nature of a strangely charismatic world leader. One would assume that even the most hardcore agnostic or atheist would take one look at Nicolae Carpathia and say, "hey, this reminds me of that special I saw on History Channel", but ... so, yeah.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* Many [[ProfessionalWrestling professional wrestlers]] (and their referees!) suffer from complete GenreBlindness. Subverted by some promotions and wrestlers such as {{WWE}} wrestler Batista, whose defining character trait around the time of his HeelFaceTurn was being GenreSavvy. More recently, John Cena has been conquering his genre blindness:
-->'''Jonathan Coachman''': "I've decided to give Umaga a very well-deserved night off."
-->'''John Cena''': "A night off? Like I haven't heard that one before. What does that mean, that he's showing up in five minutes? That he's gonna show up when I go to my car tonight? That he's gonna show up when I'm in the sho-- You know what, just don't let him show up when I'm in the shower. I don't think any of us want that."
* Once taken to a ridiculous extreme by Ring Of Honor ({{ROH}}) -- which had a referee get knocked out during a match and count the pin that he saw when he was revived... completely missing the debut of a new faction, a three-way brawl, and multiple rule-breakings that happened ''all'' in the course of the same match while he was out, yet not questioning why the action was any different than when he'd woken up.
* ''DoctorWho'' has plenty of these characters. Of notable example is the Doctor's [[TheNthDoctor tenth incarnation]], who says "That's impossible" far too many times for someone who's seen what he has.
*A bit character from Doctor Who, "The Unicorn and the Wasp," [[FamousLastWords goes out]] with the wonderfully Genre Blind line:
-->'''Professor Peach''': "I say, what are you doing with that lead piping?"
* You would think that, for as long as he's been around, [[{{Torchwood}} Captain Jack Harkness]] would know enough to avoid this. But while he's had his moments of [[GenreSavvy clear thinking]], on the whole, that's not the case. Same goes for his team. Let's see... when we split up to investigate the creepy village, we were assaulted by cannibals. When we split up to go on a wild goose chase for canisters, we ended up with one death, one near death, and a gunshot wound. So what do we do when there's a creepy building to search? We split up... and then stare at the bombs we find in surprise? Really?
* They might have gotten better in later seasons but throughout Season One, the ''{{Supernatural}}'' boys were always fighting about if the problem of the week was supernatural or not. With the exception of "The Benders," where it was just human cannibals, you would have thought with their years of training they would know better than that.
** Boys, listen very closely. Have you ever noticed than whenever you two split up, something horrible happens or one of you gets kidnapped/tied to something? Just stick together and nothing bad will happen, m'kay?
** Guest characters in Supernatural also do this ''constantly'', especially in the first season. This included the couple making out in the middle of the woods who hear strange noises. The boy gets out of the car to investigate and disappears, following which the girl ''gets out too''.
* When trying to track the movements of the mysterious [[SixthRanger Green Ranger]], the rest of the MightyMorphinPowerRangers immediately ask the new kid that dresses in green from head to toe if he has noticed anything unusual lately. He hasn't, though. False alarm, guys! The dressing in green part isn't so much the genre blindness (Less they were going to beat up everyone who wears something green) -- it's the fact that said Green-wearing kid is also a known martial artist with something of a rivalry going with the Red Ranger.
*The characters in ''{{Stargate SG-1}}'' and ''StargateAtlantis'' are usually pretty GenreSavvy, but in Season 4 of ''Atlantis'', Samantha Carter has two instances of genre blindness combined with ArbitrarySkepticism: The first where she is skeptical about [[spoiler:Teyla's visions]]; the second where she is skeptical about [[spoiler:John's time-travel story]]. Given her wacky adventures as a member of [=SG-1=], not to mention the mission reports from Atlantis that she would have read about, she ''really'' should have known better.
** Compare to Gen. Hammond in ''[=SG-1=],'' who immediately gives some of Daniel's most outlandish claims his full attention. ''"The things I've heard while sitting in this chair...''
*In the opener of ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' season 3 Mohinder Suresh, the resident scientist, tests an experimental Super-power giving serum on himself. That's something that's never gone wrong before. What's really bad is that he announces his plan to inject himself right in front of a living example of BlessedWithSuck who [[WhatTheHellHero points this out]].
*Arthur from ''{{Merlin}}'' has got himself a bad case. ItsProbablyNothing ''and'' LetsSplitUpGang within five minutes of each other? He probably gets it from his dad, who lets wandering weirdos stay at Camelot far too often for someone who's as paranoid about magic as he is.
* Katherine Reimer in ''{{Jekyll}}''; when you're all alone with Mr. SuperpoweredEvilSide, who's explicitly warned you to make sure that the lights are ''never ever'' out when the good personality isn't firmly in control, anyone who's seen a single horror movie ''might'' want to think of some ways to disable the security system that don't involve drugging him and cutting off the power to the entire huge, soundproofed house... (She manages to talk him down, but, still.)
* The main characters of ''TheBigBangTheory'', being humongous nerds, should probably have no problem with sidestepping their Genre Blindness, maybe realizing they are at least in a situation similar to a ''ThreesCompany''-type sitcom... Sadly (and gladly...?) they never do. It works just fine, though, so no biggie.
* In the Taiwanese CopShow ''Black and White'' they meet an undercover and ask him to find some information. The guy is already leaving when he turns around and declares "Please remind the chief that he promised to [[{{Retirony}} retire me after this case.]] I have promised my [[FatalFamilyPhoto girlfriend that I'll marry her soon. My boy is already five years old and still illegitimate..."]] This ''complete'' and ''utter'' lack of genre savvyness had me cringe in my seat as if I was watching someone take a head dive into a shark basin. And for good measure another cop explains that "[[TemptingFate He's the last surviving undercover in that group]]." It was just painful.
* This is so prevalent on {{reality show}}s that it even has [[RealityShowGenreBlindness its own trope]].
* One episode of ''{{Smallville}}'' had Clark go through a {{WonderfulLife}} experience. It takes him over a quarter of the episode to realize what happened.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* For a SuperRobot anime fan, Ryusei of ''SuperRobotWars'' sure is clueless about love. Not only does he have one person who wants to have sex with him, he has ''two'' -- and he's in a LoveTriangle. The numbskull has been on ''dates'' and he's still clueless. Being completely oblivious to the fact that [[spoiler: the guy who thinks of you all as being nothing but samples is actually evil.]] That's being pretty genre blind.
* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by King Boo in LuigisMansion when he says, "Who honestly thinks mansions are won in contests? Talk about stupid. What do they feed you Mario Bros anyways? Gullible soup?"
* So far in ''[[WorldOfWarcraft Wrath of the Lich King]]'', the titular character has made nearly every Bond Villain mistake in the book. After nearly every major blow your character deals to the Scourge, The Lich King personally shows up, yells at his minions, maybe kills ''them'' for failing him, and then wanders off either because he has hope that you'll join him later or because he doesn't see you as a threat. He's going to be [[spoiler: a killable boss in the Icecrown Citadel raid dungeon]].
* In ''[[UnchartedDrakesFortune Uncharted: Drake's Fortune,]]'' Nathan Drake, Elena Fisher and Victor Sullivan witness firsthand that [[spoiler: the legend of El Dorado is largely twisting of reality over the ages, and that El Dorado is a big, golden coffin containing a mummy that turns people into [[UnexpectedGenreChange ageless zombies]]]]. In the sequel, ''Among Thieves,'' Nathan and Elena are just as incredulous as Chloe Frazier at the suggestion that [[spoiler: the Cintamani Stone could have some sort of supernatural or at least biologically enhancing property about it,]] often even saying "Do you really believe in this stuff?"

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

* ''ElGoonishShive'' Tedd is easily the most GenreBlind character in the strip. This is also a correct use of irony, because as a nerd it is expected that he should know more about the weirdness. It could also help that he's not very observant.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]

* In the [[LegendofZelda Zelda]] parody ''LegendOfNeil'', Ganon takes this to [[RuleOfFunny ludicrous levels]]. He insists on making sure "Link" progresses through each of the levels ''in order'', rather than just tricking him into the last level at the very beginning where it would be impossible to win without the items he picked up along the way. Ganon also insists on having a map in every level (in case his minions get lost). It's practically his catchphrase "Link will never beat level ___", then when Neil beats that level, "Well he'll never beat level (number one higher than the last)!" His minion, Wizzrobe, is GenreSavvy enough to catch all of Ganon's mistakes, but unfortunately Ganon doesn't listen to a word he says.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* Subverted/Justified/Played straight in ''KimPossible'' as explained by the Villain Traditions that most of the bad guys follow. These traditions include the villains "making their lame pun and leaving" the heroes in a DeathTrap. Senor Senior Senior sticks closely to this, even telling Kim how to escape. Shego, on the other hand: "I prefer the direct approach, but you know Drakken..."
* You'd think after the first dozen or so times, Timmy of ''{{The Fairly OddParents}}'' would think for more than a few seconds before saying "I wish..."
* While still GenreSavvy, Sokka from ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'' has had one or two moments of Genre Blindness. Most notable was in [[spoiler: The Boiling Rock, where he tries to talk to Suki while still wearing his guard disguise. Later, he does ''the same thing'' when he tries to talk to his father.]]
** Likewise, Katara shows a certain Genre Blindness -- or perhaps lack of common sense -- when she [[spoiler: runs into the Agni Kai arena just as Azula is charging up her lightning attack.]]
* In ''ScoobyDoo'', the heroes not only had genre blindness, they seemed to have inter-episode amnesia. How many times can you really think say "[[LetsSplitUpGang Let's split up]] to explore the haunted castle" and think it's a good plan?
* If [[TeenTitans Robin]] wasn't so good at [[IndyPloy improvising]] (and so [[BadassNormal well-trained]]), he would've been dead a ''long'' time ago. The boy simply has no concept that things may not be what they appear to be. ''He gave a frickin' communicator to a villainess who was masquerading as one of his own team'', which was how the season's BigBad and his EvilMinions almost defeated the Titans. There may be nothing wrong with giving a communicator to someone you think is a friend of yours and who you think might be in trouble soon... but there ''is'' after you just spent the whole episode fighting a ''shapeshifting'' villainness.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Other ]]

* The unwashed heathens in JackChick's tracts seem to exist in a world where no one who isn't already a Christian has heard about Christianity. (See: EasyEvangelism.)
* TruthInTelevision: On ''{{Cops}}'' or any RealityShow featuring criminals running from the cops, as well as jail, routinely features suspects who are surprised that their attempts to run from the police are unsuccessful and resisting police officers doesn't go so well for them.
* And let us not even get started on the whole "To Catch A Predator" segments on ''Series/{{Dateline}}''. People, the second Chris Hansen shows up (instead of the jailbait you met over the internet), points out the camera, and asks you to have a seat, just ask where the cops are and turn yourself in rather than embarrass yourself further.
* At least one guy simply walked out of the house and laid down on the lawn with his hands behind his head, waiting for the cops. '''Of course, that was his second time on the show.'''
* The reporters from [[http://www.theonion.com/content/video/experts_agree_giant_razor_clawed this Onion segment]].
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