History Main / AngryWhiteMan

* USMC captain John Rumford in ''Literature/{{Victoria}}'' is driven out of the Corps for his [[StayInTheKitchen anti-feminist attitudes]]. As a civilian, he encounters affirmative action, urban crime and economic decay, and becomes an increasingly embittered right-winger. When an old Marine buddy asks him for help dealing with drug dealers in his neighborhood, he emerges as a VigilanteMan -- and eventually, a political revolutionary and leader of a powerful neo-reactionary [[RightWingMilitiaFanatic militia movement]].

* William Foster, the VillainProtagonist of ''Film/FallingDown''. Not a very racist example, though -- the Neo-Nazi he encounters [[EvenEvilHasStandards disgusts him]], and he only actually killed two white men as the Latino gangsters who accosted him were HoistByTheirOwnPetard. Additionally, he's shown to be empathetic to a black protester complaining about his bank denying him a loan. That said, he is not completely without racist prejudices either; most notably when he rants at a [[AsianStoreOwner Korean storeowner]]. Foster hurls some racist remarks at him saying that South Korea is freeloading off of American foreign aid [[note]]even though that was the South Korean dictatorship before the 1980s Gwangju uprising that liberally spent American aid all on themselves, and did not distribute any of that money to its starving people either unemployed or in working-class[[/note]]. And while we do not hear him express misogynist attitudes or see him hurt women, his ex-wife is terrified of his HairTriggerTemper as he emotionally abused her with loud tirades. Throughout the film he laments how America's changed for the worse as he believed that the [[WorkingClassHero system he worked for]] screwed him over and [[PatrioticFervor had grievances with anyone who doesn't have basic respect for American culture, economy, language,]] or even just simple human decency. According to WordOfGod, Foster was intended to represent "[[StandardFiftiesFather the old power structure of the U.S. that has now become archaic]], and hopelessly lost" as well as the need to adapt or die.

Compare BlamingTheMan, ConspiracyTheorist, PoliticallyIncorrectVillain, and SubParSupremacist. Get extreme and militant enough, and you end up in the domain of the RightWingMilitiaFanatic, TheKlan, and ANaziByAnyOtherName. Compare and contrast AngryBlackManStereotype and MalcolmXerox, which portray black men claiming EverythingIsRacist, though usually not as baseless or unjustified as the Angry White Man. The TropeCodifier was probably Archie Bunker of ''Series/AllInTheFamily'', though he's arguably an {{Unbuilt|Trope}} example, being a lot less angry than many of his successors.

A StereotypeFlip of the AngryBlackMan, in which a white person ([[AlwaysMale generally a man]]) feels that modern society has done a PersecutionFlip and is now discriminatory against white people, with the culprits usually being minorities or [[CategoryTraitor other self-hating whites]].

* Rorschach from ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}'' seems to hate everyone who isn't either himself, the Comedian or an idealised version of what he imagines his father is like. After discovering that his mother was a streetwalker, he developed a MadonnaWhoreComplex towards all women, seeing young girls and wholesome women as victims while women who embrace their sexuality are sluts who have it coming (though his disdain from his mother is more due to her abusive nature.) He makes a note of investigating Ozymandias' sexuality, not making it clear why that's necessary. He also subscribes to a newspaper that peddles racist, nationalist viewpoints. [[spoiler: Considers the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to be unquestionably good, but the bombing of New York to be evil.]] The [[Film/{{Watchmen}} movie adaptation]] plays around with this characterization, as while some of Rorschach's prejudices are downplayed, his {{Jerkass}} personality is more blatant with Creator/JackieEarleHaley playing Rorschach like an angry terrier with an exaggerated NapoleonComplex.

* One episode of ''Series/{{Louie}}'' has a comedian do a series of anti-Obama jokes. Naturally, [[DudeNotFunny he gets a pretty awkward reaction from the audience]]. Afterwards, he complains about how Obama only got elected because of white guilt and that white men have now become one of the AcceptableTargets who aren't allowed to complain about anything.

* This combined with PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy was Hotstreak's characterization in the ''ComicBook/{{Static}}'' comics. The [[WesternAnimation/StaticShock animated series]] reimagined him as just a delinquent bully. In the possible future of Milestone Forever, he even rants about how the entire world is against white men while launching flaming swastikas.

[[quoteright:236:[[ComicBook/{{Static}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1784265_firewheel_angry.jpg]]]]

* William Foster, the VillainProtagonist of ''Film/FallingDown''. Not a very racist example, though -- the Neo-Nazi he encounters [[EvenEvilHasStandards disgusts him]], and he only actually killed two white men as the Latino gangsters who accosted him were HoistByTheirOwnPetard. That said, he is not completely without racist prejudices either; most notably when he rants at a [[AsianStoreOwner Korean storeowner]]. Foster hurls some racist remarks at him saying that South Korea is freeloading off of American foreign aid (even though that was the South Korean dictatorship before the 1980s Gwangju uprising that liberally spent American aid all on themselves, and did not distribute any of that money to its starving people either unemployed or in working-class). And while we do not hear him express misogynist attitudes or see him hurt women, his ex-wife is terrified of his HairTriggerTemper as he emotionally abused her with loud tirades. Throughout the film he laments how America's changed for the worse as he believed that the [[WorkingClassHero system he worked for]] screwed him over and [[PatrioticFervor had grievances with anyone who doesn't have basic respect for American culture, economy, language,]] or even just simple human decency. According to WordOfGod, Foster was intended to represent "[[StandardFiftiesFather the old power structure of the U.S. that has now become archaic]], and hopelessly lost" as well as the need to adapt or die.

* William Foster, the VillainProtagonist of ''Film/FallingDown''. Not a very racist example, though -- the Neo-Nazi he encounters [[EvenEvilHasStandards disgusts him]], and he only actually killed two white men as the Latino gangsters who accosted him were HoistByTheirOwnPetard. That said, he is not completely without racist prejudices either; most notably when he rants at a [[AsianStoreOwner Korean storeowner]]. Foster hurls some racist remarks at him saying that South Korea is freeloading off of American foreign aid (even though that was the South Korean dictatorship before the 1980s Gwangju uprising that liberally spent American aid all on themselves, and did not distribute any of that money to its starving people either unemployed or in working-class). And while we do not hear him express misogynist attitudes or see him hurt women, his ex-wife is terrified of his HairTriggerTemper as he emotionally abused her with loud tirades. Throughout the film he laments how America's changed for the worse as he believed that the system he worked for screwed him over and [[PatrioticFervor had grievances with anyone who doesn't have basic respect for American culture, economy, language,]] or even just simple human decency. According to WordOfGod, Foster was intended to represent "[[StandardFiftiesFather the old power structure of the U.S. that has now become archaic]], and hopelessly lost" as well as the need to adapt or die.

* William Foster, the villain protagonist of ''Film/FallingDown''. Not a very racist example, though -- the Neo-Nazi he encounters [[EvenEvilHasStandards disgusts him]], and one gets the impression that his non-white victims were killed more for their attitude than ethnicity; he would likely also have murdered them if they'd been white and acted as they did. That said, he is not completely without racist prejudices either; most notably when he rants at a [[AsianStoreOwner Korean-Store Owner]]. Foster hurls some racist slurs at him saying that South Korea is freeloading off of American foreign aid (even though that was the South Korean dictatorship before the 1980s Gwangju uprising that liberally spent American aid all on themselves, and did not distribute any of that money to its starving people either unemployed or in working-class). And while we do not hear him express misogynist attitudes or see him hurt women, his ex-wife is terrified of him and unsurprised that he has finally snapped, implying past abuse.

* Music/WeirdAlYankovic called the polka from his album ''Music/PoodleHat'' the "Angry White Boy Polka". Most of the songs featured were Nu Metal and related genres.

* Music/{{Eminem}}:
** Eminem's persona is that of a ridiculously talented white rapper who was [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer bullied and excluded]] in part because of the colour of his skin. A lot of the discrimination he faced was legitimately severe, such as being barred from signing record deals (with even Music/DrDre having to fight with execs to sign him) and being violently assaulted for walking around in majority Black areas. But Eminem's experiences with discrimination led to him becoming a committed anti-racist -- while he's matter of fact about what he went through, he also acknowledges that he's part of a majority group who has an easier ride in society than he would if he was Black, and is well aware of the role his whiteness played in his commercial success. Especially in his later career, he emphasises his level of respect to the Black musicians whose innovations inspired him. However, it's not clear this message [[MisaimedFandom reached all of his fans]], some of whom ''did'' see him as an icon for the "oppressed" white man. (His "The Real Slim Shady" still ended up as the closing section of Music/WeirdAlYankovic's "Angry White Boy Polka" above. The protagonist from ''ComicBook/{{Wanted}}'', a miserable office drone bullied by Black people and women until he becomes an entitled supervillain, was [[ComicBookFantasyCasting modelled after]] Eminem for a reason.)
** Eminem was also abused by women and girls throughout his life, most damagingly by his mother, and a lot of his music involves sometimes vengeful violence against female characters. Eminem has admitted he has issues with women and finds it hard to write about women in a non-misogynistic way, but has spoken out against misogyny in real life (and even in some of his songs), and promoted feminist political causes.
** Eminem's Slim Shady persona is sometimes this type of character, particularly in his early work. In songs on ''Music/TheSlimShadyLP'', Slim beats up both a racist Black and sexually dominating female bully; in numerous other songs he makes fun of {{Straw Feminist}}s for attempting to censor his lyrics.

** Eric Cartman frequently invokes this trope:

* The ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'' VerySpecialEpisode "Sons of the Fathers" introduced [[BestFriend Richie]]'s FantasyForbiddingFather Sean, a blue-collar conservative man with a temper who disliked change and used [[PrejudiceAesop black people]] as a scapegoat for his grievances with society. After Virgil's ReasonableAuthorityFigure father gives him a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech highlighting that he's letting his hangups drive his son away, he becomes a FormerBigot more accepting of people and things unfamiliar to him.

Compare BlamingTheMan, ConspiracyTheorist, PoliticallyIncorrectVillain, and SubParSupremacist. Get extreme and militant enough, and you end up in the domain of the RightWingMilitiaFanatic, TheKlan, and ANazyByAnyOtherName. Compare and contrast AngryBlackManStereotype and MalcolmXerox, which portray black men claiming EverythingIsRacist, though usually not as baseless or unjustified as the Angry White Man. The TropeCodifier was probably Archie Bunker of ''Series/AllInTheFamily'', though he's arguably an {{Unbuilt|Trope}} example, being a lot less angry than many of his successors.

Many complaints by the Angry White Man are directed at modern pop culture, fully believing that NewMediaAreEvil. He points to things like white people being AcceptableTargets for [[WhiteDudeBlackDude comedy]] and [[HalfWittedHillbilly negative stereotyping]], and depictions of [[AffirmativeActionGirl women]] and [[AffirmativeActionLegacy non-whites]] in media as {{Flawless Token}}s, as proof of the media's [[PoliticalCorrectnessIsEvil "politically correct agenda"]]. He also rails against what he claims to be [[PoliticallyCorrectHistory whitewashed (or nonwhitewashed, as it were) history]] as an attempt to indoctrinate WhiteGuilt in classrooms. But where he sees proof that EverythingIsRacist, however, the rest of society sees him just FeelingOppressedbyTheirExistence.

A StereotypeFlip in which a white person (usually a man, as the title suggests) sees himself as a victim of injustice or unkind behaviour at the hands of minorities or [[CategoryTraitor turncoat whites]]. (Note: this is not a judgement of the value of the trope, merely a statement that it has been used many times in fiction and a list of the examples thereof.)

The type first appeared in large numbers in the mid-1960s, when "affirmative action" became official government hiring policy. This meant that a white person could experience "discrimination" by being turned down for a job in favour of a member of a minority group, since the place of employment had quotas to fill and there already existed a proportionate number of whites. Now that affirmative action has been reformed so that economic status is taken into account as well as race, it isn't much of a controversy anymore -- so the ire of the Angry White Man has shifted to less tangible targets.

He's frequently exasperated by what he sees as overly generous attempts to incorporate minorities into the modern American cultural fabric (or [[PoliticallyCorrectHistory not-so-modern]], for that matter) [[AcceptableTargets at his expense]]; media stereotypes of whites [[PissTakeRap as stupid, unfashionable, and/or "un-ethnic"]]; [[EverythingIsRacist the supposed scapegoating of white people for everything that goes wrong in the world]]; or occasionally just the general feeling that he soon might be the LastOfHisKind. In more extreme cases, the very thought of homosexuals, women, and ethnic groups enjoying the same comforts as him [[FeelingOppressedbyTheirExistence is enough to make him cry oppression]].

Will as often as not be [[PlayedForLaughs played for comedy]]. If not... [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds watch out]]! Unsurprisingly, it is also extremely common for these kinds of characters to suffer from a bad case of MoralMyopia. They will decry any (real or supposed) injustice that they and other white people may face, no matter how minor; but they will ''never'' bat-an-eye when another group, particularly a historically marginalized one, faces a similar or worse situation. In fact, they might even ''support and/or take part'' in marginalizing said group, all while still [[BlamingTheVictim blaming them for their predicament]].

Taken seriously, it is usually the result of some combination of (real or perceived) FlawlessToken, WhiteGuilt, and PersecutionFlip. WhiteHairBlackHeart is the more eviler version (with "evil" being more an emphasis, though evil white people don't need to be this trope). The RightWingMilitiaFanatic is the militant version of the trope. Compare SubParSupremacist.

Figuratively, the character doesn't have to be white, or a man. The trope can apply to any type of supposedly privileged character who is constantly railing against supposed discrimination against them.

The original prototype was probably Archie Bunker of ''Series/AllInTheFamily'' -- although, in fact, he was [[UnbuiltTrope a lot less angry than many of his successors]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'': Mallory Archer. The majority of her employees are white, she's intolerant of gay people and complains about how immigrants do nothing but ''"drive around listening to rap and shooting all the jobs"''.