An Aesop - Television Tropes & Idioms

alt title(s): Aesop; Moral Of The Story

What a wonderful day we've had! You have learned something, and I have learned something. Too bad we didn't learn it sooner, we could have gone to the movies instead.

—Balki, Perfect Strangers

"I can't tell you just now what the moral of that is, but I shall remember it in a bit."
"Perhaps it hasn't one," Alice ventured to remark.
"Tut, tut, child!" said the Duchess. "Everything's got a moral, if only you can find it."

—Lewis Carroll Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

The episode ends with a moral a la Aesop's Fables. Either the last line of the episode summarizes the whole point of the episode, or it leaves the viewer with the issue that the writers want them to ponder. Fifties sitcoms often end on the "Gee, I learned my lesson," type of moral, while Law And Order leaves you pondering.

Since some shows seem to contractually require one moral per episode, you often end up with a Broken Aesop.

A lot of kids' shows go out of their way for this, especially Disney animated shows. Writers often call it the "Object Lesson", and write the episode around it.

In an American Dom Com, the point where the Aesop is delivered is often referred to by writers as the Golden Moment.

For the lesson told or repeated in a separate segment during The Tag, see And Knowing Is Half The Battle.

For the lesson wedged rather arbitrarily within the story, see We Haven't Learned Anything Yet.

For times when the story's lesson is delivered via Phlebotinum, see Aesoptinum.

For times when the show hits you over the head with the lesson, see Anvilicious or Script Wank, but keep in mind that Some Anvils Need To Be Dropped.

In some quarters an Aesop delivered to another character, often a child, directly is referred to as a "You See, Timmy" from the frequent use of that line to deliver the Aesop in the television show Lassie. This definition was put forth originally in the movie Speechless.

Variations:

Accidental Aesop - when people read an Aesop which wasn't intended (or is different from the one intended)
Aesop Amnesia - when characters have chronic trouble sticking with the Aesops.
Broken Aesop - when the moral does not match the events of the story.
Clueless Aesop - when serious issues are tackled by a show that just can't deal.
- Truffaut Was Right - when an attempted Aesop backfires.
Double Aesop - when two characters learn their lesson in one story.
Family Unfriendly Aesop - a moral that you would never expect to see.
Fantastic Aesop - morals and metaphors that are poorly adapted to Speculative Fiction.
Green Aesop - Because pollution is baaaad.
Lost Aesop - Wait, were we supposed to learn something?
Space Whale Aesop - unlikely, often fantastic consequences of the unwanted behavior are presented
Spoof Aesop - a moral that's either very funny or not meant to be taken seriously. Or, if the writer is skilled enough, both.
We Haven't Learned Anything Yet - an Aesop crammed in at the last minute.
Stock Aesops - the old chestnuts.

By the way, in literary circles, An Aesop is properly known as a moral. The original Aesop was a Greek slave of the 6th century BC. A collection of allegorical tales (including "The Tortoise and the Hare", "The Boy Who Cried Wolf", and others) attributed to him have survived to the present day and are known as Aesop's Fables.

Ironically, Aesop probably doesn't deserve the dubious honour of having this trope named after him. In their original forms these stories likely did not end with heavy-hitting moral anvils. The listeners (for Aesop would have been an oral storyteller) may have been left to sort out the meaning for themselves; the one-liner morals (such as "slow and steady wins the race") were likely tacked on by modern compilers.

Also see: Central Theme

An Aesop is among the Tropes Of Legend.