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"I choose not to understand these signs."
"It's not denial. I'm just very selective about the reality I accept."
"I reject your reality and substitute my own!"
Selective Obliviousness is when a character refuses to comprehend a particular fact. They'll especially turn it up when someone attempts to tell them directly, which usually results in said would-be confessor aborting the attempt because not only was it a difficult subject to begin with, they can't bring themselves to smash this person's sense of reality.
Regarding unrequited relationships involving someone with Selective Obliviousness; even if everyone else is aware of someone's crush on that person, nobody will ever mention the possibility to the practicioner. Nobody likes to gossip about who is interested in who, especially teenagers.
Stop laughing. This is one person's cross to bear alone.
This contrasts with Weirdness Censor, in which everyone except the main characters is oblivious to the bizarre occurrences around them.
Usually this is supposed to denote a sense of innocence, however to more cynical viewers, it may appear that the person either consciously or subconsciously knows, and just doesn't want to deal with it. It also seems inexplicably popular with characters whose main trait is apparently perceptiveness of other people's character. Selective Obliviousness is also a tool that the writers use to keep things in the air, such as for Will They Or Won't They? or Belligerent Sexual Tension. Like all stalling tactics, overuse breeds contempt.
Less comically, a character may do this to avoid acknowledging his own guilt or envy in some manner. Often leads to Hanging Separately.
If this happens in real life, it is called Dis Continuity.
Plot Sensitive Snooping Skills is a sort of involuntary Selective Obliviousness imposed on a character by the limits of the plot. Contrast with Failed A Spot Check, in which the character fails to comprehend something everyone else is aware of.
Oblivious To Love and Giftedly Bad are common forms of this.
Examples:
Anime and Manga
- A staple in romantic comedies (Love Triangle and Love Dodecahedron). Remember kids, open honesty is not what's required in a relationship! *
- In Ranma 1/2, the bombastic Tatewaki "Blue Thunder" Kuno refuses to believe that the hated Ranma Saotome and his beloved "Pigtailed Girl" are one and the same, even when Ranma changes right in his arms. After a while, one wonders if he isn't fully aware and just forcing himself not to think about it. His sister has a similar ailment, but she isn't confronted with the evidence quite as often (and in the anime, never) and actually tried to figure out what happened before getting sidetracked. Kuno might also be purposely ignoring all of the blatant evidence that neither of his "love interests" actually even likes him, let alone lusts after him... although this may be less Selective Obliviousness and more a cocktail of Leisure Suit Larry grade lechery (Kuno is debateably a Handsome Lech) and whopping ego.
- Akane Tendo is often accused of this regarding the fact that her pet pig is actually the cursed form of one of Ranma's rivals for her affections.
- Hell, Akane Tendo practically lives this trope in both canons. It's got to be the biggest problem she brings to the relationship, even worse than her insecurity. That's not to say that Ranma doesn't contribute his own flaws, faults and problems, but when she's been shown to consciously ignore Ranma's attempts to explain how a situation wasn't what it looked like, to the extent that the manga version of Akane ignored Ranma's outright telling her why he was trying to grope Hinako, coupled with showing her the pressure point chart he was using, in order to support her own belief that it's because Ranma is an uncontrollable lecher... well...
- In the anime canon, this flaw is actually the explicit reason why Akane is a Lethal Chef; she refuses to follow the recipe and adds extra ingredients that she ''believes'' will make it even better (and then adds the wrong wrong ingredients, due to not looking at what she's grabbing), and refuses to admit her cooking habits are why nobody will ever eat her cooking unless forced. In one episode, she spends the entire night trying to make edible cookies and continues to repeat the same mistakes over and over even though each and every batch turns out terrible. When Ranma finally allows himself to be guilted into eating her latest batch, and promptly takes to his room with severe stomach pains, Akane idly declares that the recipe must have been faulty.
- Kasumi Tendo calls people who are actively trying to murder Ranma his "friends". Often Flanderized in Fan Fic into one of her defining traits.
- Mousse could be called Selectively Oblivious in regards to Shampoo. He refuses to admit that the girl he's been chasing since they were three has never shown any sign of reciprocated interest, at best ignoring him and more commonly hitting him whenever he made one of his "romantic" gestures/speeches. By the late manga, she's perfectly willing to let him die just to be rid of him. Instead, Mousse blames her lack of interest on her (willingly given and clearly backed by genuine emotion, at least in the anime) engagement to Ranma and frequently assaults the Japanese boy, accusing him of seducing Shampoo or otherwise keeping her away from Mousse.
- Revolutionary Girl Utena was interesting in that it didn't portray the girl (Shiori) practicing Selective Obliviousness in a positive light.
- In Cromartie High School, no one (except Kamiyama and Hayashida) seems to notice that Mechazawa is, in fact, a robot.
- Kyon of Suzumiya Haruhi very deliberately ignores any hinting that the Chessgame of Life may have a King (who decides the game) as well as a Queen (who has the power in the game); he refuses to acknowledge Tachibana flat out telling him that he has the power to transfer Haruhi's power as well as Tsuruya's telling him that he and his friends really need to work on their Masquerade better.
- And then there's just his ignoring Haruhi's feelings for him; over which she's willing to rewrite the whole of reality over. Even Itsuki is starting to get annoyed.
- And then there's the fans, but that's a different story.
- Souichi of the Boys Love manga The Tyrant Falls In Love doesn't seem to realize that he's making an awful lot of exceptions to his homophobia in regards to his gay companion Morinaga, not even after he says outright that he doesn't want Morinaga to leave him and that he can have sex with Morinaga only. That must be one hell of a balancing act between "I hate hate homos!" and "I can't let Morinaga leave my side, even if he likes me that way!" in Souichi's mind.
- Nearly the entire cast of Hayate No Gotoku has this about one subject or another (Sakuya, for example, believes her destiny is to become Japan's greatest comedienne, with Nagi as her partner) — except for Hayate, who's just blunderingly ignorant to romantic advances.
- Ouran High School Host Club: Tamaki persistently interprets his attraction to Haruhi as paternal affection; hilarity, naturally, frequently ensues out of the dissonance. Aside from Haruhi herself, no one else is fooled, and in recent volumes the other members of the Host Club speculate that Tamaki subconsciously refuses to acknowledge his feelings for Haruhi because he doesn't want anything to break up the surrogate family he's created in the Host Club the way his parents' love caused his own family to be broken up.
- Penguin Revolution: It takes Ayaori six manga volumes of rooming together and, finally, actually seeing Yukari naked (with his contacts in, for a change) before he realizes that Yukari is a girl pretending to be a boy instead of a boy pretending to be a girl. Sure, he's Blind Without Em, but Yukari pretty much stops trying to keep the act up around him before the first volume is over.
- In Detective Conan Ran has had suspicions about "Conan"'s identity, but not nearly as often as she should have, all things considered. (In one instance, Conan was terribly ill; he reverted to his normal appearance while nobody was watching him thanks to a drink he had been given by Heiji, then solved the mystery. He had a conversation with Ran, while obviously still very sick, then fell down the stairs and vanished in a puff of smoke. She heard Shinichi scream from nearby, and when she investigated, she found Conan instead. And somehow, she didn't figure it out.
- What about Heiji? He actually labelled his jealousy, when Kazuha flirted with a magician, as a 'leader's concern' for his follower....!
- There was a Fan Fic take on this which suggested that Ran is, in fact, hoping she's wrong because she's Genre Savvy enough to have realized some of the implications of what she had been able to figure out, and would like to avoid going farther.
- Satou's very much aware of Takagi's affection for her at least relatively early on, and she definitely reciprocates it. What she isn't aware of is how much nearly every other male detective in her department is crushing on her (well, except for Shiratori, but that was only because she got stuck in an omiai with him), to the point where she never seems really aware why the Absolute Defense Line keeps making things difficult for the hapless Takagi. She doesn't even realize that any ring on her left ring finger will typically symbolize engagement! On the other hand, considering that the last officer she was attracted to died at a mad bomber's hands...er, explosives...she may just be subconsciously tuning out anything that could lead her into that sort of devastation again. Takagi's genuine love for her is the only thing capable of getting through that membrane.
- Misa in Death Note constantly professes to be talented when it comes to romance (and might well be), but constantly refuses to see that her beloved Light actually hates her. Admittedly, he acts otherwise fairly well, but not all the time, resulting in several Kick the Dog moments.
- Negi in Mahou Sensei Negima is totally and utterly oblivious to anything related to romance. He never notices that any girls might have feelings for him unless they just tell him. Since he's something of a Chick Magnet, this becomes an enormous problem, to the point that other characters note that he's going to cause a lot of girls to cry in the future. This is exacerbated by the fact that when he breaks out the magic aging pills, he turns into a Bishounen.
- The most tragic instance of this involves Negi (in his older, Bishounen form) inadvertently leading on one of his students, who is crushed when she finds out the truth.
- A more humorous example is Setsuna, who it totally oblivious to enormous amounts of Les Yay between her and Konoka, despite the fact that everybody else in the cast (including
 Negi) can see what's going on from miles away. It's even more ridiculous if you hold the view that Konoka is The Tease, and is attempting to seduce Setsuna, who's totally not picking up on it.
- As of chapter 252, it seems that is indeed the case.
- Keep in mind that, in any relationship among the main cast, a given girl is 14/15 and a given boy (Negi or Kotoro) is 10
- In Axis Powers Hetalia, England doesn't seem to comprehend what colonial America meant by "Go to hell, England". Even in the present, he thinks of how cute of a kid America was.
- Spain actually has this moreso than England, especially in the strip where he proposes to Romano. He merely asked for three meals a day without the slightest hinting to either option, but Spain automatically takes it as rejection.
- Sousuke from Full Metal Panic. In the beginning, it looked more like he sincerely never notices when characters are in love with him. However, as the series goes on, it starts becoming more and more obvious (as his suitors become more and more direct) that he's actively turning up his obliviousness. His relationship with Tessa comes to mind, in particular. Numerous times, she makes incredibly aggressive advances on him, which he actually notices enough to feel nervous and scared. However, when people are later referring to her feelings for him, he's shown to react in a very oblivious manner, many times completely dismissing it.
- Yurika in Martian Successor Nadesico tends to do this, insisting that Akito is head-over-heels in love with her, even though he's never shown any signs of it and tends to get pretty annoyed when she tries to get close to him. But it's possible that her obliviousness is all part of a master plan to make Akito fall in love with her. if so, it works.
- This is actually a pretty strong plot point in Umineko No Naku Koro Ni. Battler refuses to believe that a witch murdered everyone. Straightforward enough. However, he also refuses to believe that any of the eighteen people trapped on the island murdered everyone. Not only does he refuse to believe it, he actively rules out the possibility based on the fact that he doesn't want that to be the outcome, even when he acknowledges that the evidence points in that direction. Can you say "cognitive dissonance"?
Comic Books
- Can be seen in Western depictions of a Superhero with a secret identity, attempting to tell it to the loved one. (Example: Spider-Man's Aunt May.) One Superman story has Lois admonishing the Man of Steel for "that creepy Clark Kent impersonation." (Indeed, one might make a claim that the whole Superman mythos embodies this trope, as it would seem painfully obvious that Superman is just Clark Kent without glasses.)
- J. Jonah Jameson generally frowns upon "costumed vigilantes", considering them usurpers of law and order. But he is willing to give the devil his due when it comes to true acts of heroism and is considerably lighter on those he feels have "paid their due" - like Captain America. Of course, there is a big Spider Man-shaped blind spot in this P.O.V. - which, Depending On The Writer, can range in severity from Running Gag (Robbie Robertson constantly having to talk Jonah down from some of his more libelous headlines and editorials) to outright Wall Banger (the newly-elected mayor of NYC Jameson gleefully watching a S.W.A.T. team open fire on Spidey without provocation.)
- It's implied that, if Commissioner Gordon wanted to, he could figure out Batman's identity, but he deliberately chooses not to, and has in fact refused to look when Batman offered to reveal who he really was.
Film
- Mars Attacks!. Art Land is so intent about selling the investors on building his casino that he ignores the all out alien attack going on outside.
Literature
- In The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (at least the novels), Zaphod is literally selectively aware of his own motives, due to having both of his brains surgically altered so that certain thoughts wouldn't be detectable by the brain scans he needed to undergo in order to become President of the Galaxy.
- This is also in the movie. It's more of a Hand Wave of Zaphod's two heads because they don't go into specifics.
- The last book in the series also has a species of bird that is oblivious to every strange thing that happens, like ignoring a fiery spaceship crash. However, they are always shocked by perfectly mundane things. For example, "...And sunrise always took them completely by surprise."
- Clifford manages to be shocked when he finally learns that his wife has been having an affair with another man in Lady Chatterley's Lover. His maid recognizes that he subconsciously knew about his wife's infidelity from the start, but just didn't have the courage to face it.
- In Discworld, Twoflower is besotted with the idea of Rincewind as a Great Wizzard (sic), and refuses to realize that he's completely incapable of doing magic. This is far more prominent in Interesting Times, though, as he does seem to exhibit something approaching realization in The Colour Of Magic.
- Also in the same series, the Duck Man refuses to realize that he has a duck on his head, regardless of how many people tell him so in no uncertain terms. This is more Rule Of Funny, though.
- In The Secret History, Julian knows every important part of the plot, except for the crucial fact that five of his students killed the sixth one. He wants to believe the best of them, but really, it's not a huge leap to make...
- Early on in Quills Window, Courtney Thane's mother writes to him that she genuinely has no idea why his father cut him out of the will right before he died, and Courtney's sentiment seems to be the same. When we find out the reason for this later in the book, it becomes quite obvious that if either of them had engaged in serious self-reflection they would know the reason behind the father's I Have No Son moment.
Live Action TV
- Sent up in (what else?) Arrested Development:
Tobias: You know, Mother Lucille, there's a psychological concept known as 'denial' that I think you're evincing. It's when a thought is so hateful that the mind literally rejects it.
Lucille: You are a worse psychiatrist than you are a son-in-law, and you will never get work as an actor because you have no talent.
Tobias: Well, if she's not going to say anything, I certainly can't help her.
- Rachel of Friends is in constant denial about her true feelings for Ross when she's not with him. On the day before Ross's wedding to Emily, she somehow finally figures it out: "Sure, I like Ross, but feelings are really complicated... maybe I am sexually attracted to him, but I do love him... oh my God." When she demands of Phoebe on why she didn't tell her about her own feelings before, Phoebe replies, "Well, it's so obvious to everybody. It's like saying, 'Gosh Monica, you sure like to clean.'"
- The Colbert Report: Stephen Colbert insists that he is completely straight. Evidence to the contrary is dismissed with convoluted excuses when possible, ignored when not (as with the diagram of his brain in which one area was labeled "Repressed Homosexual Urges").
- Gul Dukat on Star Trek Deep Space Nine. His imagined friendship with Captain Sisko escalates to ridiculous levels throughout the series, to the point where he chides Sisko for being so obtuse about his feelings while on the opposite sides of a battle line or in the middle of a no-holds-barred hand-to-hand fight. In fact, you could probably form a whole section on all the things Dukat pointedly ignores. (Although, from what little has been revealed of the Cardassians, that may be how they express friendship, or he may be doing it just to annoy Sisko.)
- "I see nothing. NOTHING!"
- In Strangers With Candy, the homophobic Principal Blackman is the only one who doesn't know that Chuck and Geoffrey are lovers. At one point he catches them in the school basement and happily accepts the explanation that Chuck is showing Geoffrey the furnace system, even though Geoffrey has his trousers round his ankles.
- In Lie To Me Gillian readily accepts her husband's feeble excuses about having to work late, even though her job is based around the ability to tell instantly when someone is lying.
- On Angel Wesley managed to be totally oblivious to Fred's feelings for him. This came to a head in an episode when he lectured Angel about his failure to notice Nina's interest while he remaining totally unaware of Fred's. She eventually resorted to a Forceful Kiss to get the message across.
- Played with in Hannah Montana where Miley mentions that she's kissed, and quickly backpedals prompting Robbie Ray to say "I love our relationship, you pretend you don't kiss boys, and I pretend I believe you"
- In The Mighty boosh, whenever Vince says or does something suggestive towards Howard (which is quite often) Howard will either walk away or awkwardly change the subject, totally ignoring it
Webcomics
- In 8-Bit Theater, Thief constantly denies the existance of dragons. Despite the Light Warrior's direct interaction with several of the mythic lizards, Theif maintains that dragons are extinct.
- In El Goonish Shive, Melissa is so madly in love with Justin, she keeps asking him out even after it is revealed that he is gay. Justin, needless to say, finds this extremely irritating, especially since she is the one who (either directly or "indirectly") blew the secret.
- Earlier in the series (though chronologically after Justin was outed), Elliot pretended not to notice Sarah's feelings towards him, because he was afraid that a romantic relationship with her would destroy their friendship; he may have had Justin and Melissa's ruined friendship in mind, since he'd known Justin for some time at that point.
- In Fans, club president Rikk is utterly oblivious to fellow member Rumy's painfully obvious attraction to him. When third member Katherine gets fed up with this and tries to inform him directly, he exhausts every other member in the club, Katherine included, as potentially having a crush on him. Not once does he even consider Rumy.
- In Misfile, Doctor Upton can hardly have failed to have noticed that his "daughter" appears to have developed some rather severe identity problems, especially considering that it was shouted out at full volume at one point. Despite this, the issue is never raised.
- In Flipside, Blithe Spirit Maytag has a complete and utter lack of any sense of modesty. And an equally complete and utter lack of understanding it in other people. To the point where she's openly baffled when everyone else is upset when their carriage drive is caught using x-ray specs to peep through their clothes. Given the grasp of human nature she shows when she's in Manipulative Bastard mode, this is almost certainly self-justification for her own exhibitionist ways.
- Van Von Hunter is sworn to destroy anything evil that he encounters. However, he "doesn't notice" that Ariana Rael, the Child Mage tagging along with him is ungodly evil. The fact that she could destroy him with a thought has nothing to do with why he's not picking a fight with her...
Western Animation
- In King Of The Hill, despite his rampant paranoia and suspicion of everyone and everything, Dale Gribble is completely unaware that his wife is having an affair, although it's obvious to everyone else - with the exceptions of Joseph, "his" son, and Peggy (Who gets Clue-by-four'd later on). Nobody has the heart to tell him about it.
- That's because despite his paranoia, he trusts those closest to him—his friends, family, and neighbors—implicitly. And because of how he'd react if he ever found out two of his closest friends betrayed him. He's equally oblivious to his father's homosexuality for much the same reasons.
- Invader Zim has two cases: Zim, who refuses to acknowledge that his leaders would like nothing more than his swift and painful death, and Dib, who thinks that exposing Zim as an alien will change how his family and peers think of him, despite plenty of evidence to the contrary.
- Panini from Chowder doesn't understand the meaning of the words "I'm not your boyfriend."
- Mr. Herriman can spot the tiniest speck of dirt, but he couldn't tell a crudely made decoy of Eduardo from the real Eduardo.
Real Life
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