Often used for the actor himself, whether or not the trope applies.: Adam Westing

There was an old thread for this, and there was some rename support, just not that many name suggestions.

Anyway, I've seen Adam Westing used to refer to Adam West, even when he wasn't doing this trope. Heck, some seem to think that was the trope about him, as his name would get potholed by the trope name.

Personally I would go with Actor Self Parody, but there are likely better names.

Bump.

When is he not Adam Westing? The only time he wasn't that I can think of was the Batman TV Series.

That's not the point. Adam West himself is not the very trope. Potholes that use the trope for his name are misuses, and I see them all over the place.

I support "Actor Self Parody". I can never, ever, ever remember what "Adam Westing" is supposed to mean when I see the pothole.

I think what Dragon Quest Z is saying is that people are potholing Adam Westing for all things related to Adam West. Similar to how The Umbridge was renamed because people were simply potholing the link just to refer to the character and her name, regardless of the situation in which her name was being applied.

You think correctly.

Bump.

Support if it's being misused. Actor Self Parody sounds alright.

Valid alt-title at minium.

Well let's look at a few to show misuse (skipping punctuated pages, and pages that would merely list the trope as indexing or comparisons):

• Quotes.Abnormal Ammo: Quote is from Mayor West, which technically is this trope, but the context doesn't really fit the trope.
• Action: Correct
• Alter-Ego Acting: Correct
• Aluminum Christmas Trees: Correct, but man, that's awkward wording.
• An Aesop: Context doesn't fit the trope (and I've seen the movie).
• And The Band Played On: Um, I don't think that applies here. Not in such a serious film, and the subject it's based on.
• And The Fandom Rejoiced.Anime: They weren't doing self parodies of themselves.
• An Inconvenient Truth: That was a cute joke, not putting on a deliberate persona spoofing himself.
• Ann Coulter: That's just Wild Mass Guessing.
• Characters.Arrested Development: Haven't seen the show.
• Arrested Development: Well that gives the context that answers the above example as correct.
• Asperchu: Total misuse. Adaptations are not this trope.
• A Very Star Wars Parody: Confuses this for I Am Not Spock (this trope is "I Am Spock, But Up To Eleven").
• Quotes.Batman: Is it calling this trope a work?
• Batman The Animated Series: He wasn't making fun of himself. This is more of an in-joke than this trope.
• Bill Murray: Correct.
• Billy Mays: Correct.
• Blast Lab: I don't think basing a character on yourself alone should count. That's a different trope.
• Bottle Episode: Same as above.
• Boy Meets World: That's just As Himself.
• …But I Play One on TV: Batman TAS example, which as noted, is not a self parody, but an in-joke.

Bump.

Looking at more wicks, just to be sure about this. Doing H-J, and O-R:

• Hamlet 2: Haven't seen the movie to tell if Shue is parodying herself.
• Hannah Montana: A self expy is not this trope unless he's also spoofing himself. But I haven't seen the show, so he might.
• Characters.Hannah Montana: See above.
• SugarWiki.He Really Can Act: Will have to watch the video to be sure.
• Heroic Wannabe: Correct.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: Technically, correct, but the context doesn't really fit the example. Not to mention I'm not sure that's a good example of the trope, period.
• Hop: Correct.
• I Am Not Leonard Nimoy: Correct, but a comparison line instead of an example.
• I Am Not Spock: See above.
• Ink-Suit Actor: I guess it's corret.
• Insane Troll Logic: Correct, although that should be an example of Bat Deduction.
• Instant Star: Isn't that just As Himself?
• I Pulled a "Weird Al": Correct, but from a list instead of an example.
• Irony as She Is Cast: Misused for I Am Not Spock or Typecasting. This trope is just the result of those.
• Jake And Amir: Correct
• James Doohan: Correct
• Jennifer Tilly: Haven't seen the movie, but it's likely correct.
• Jerry Lewis: I don't think using this for drama is either a subversion or a proper use.
• Jim Carrey: Unless he's played himself doing that, it's just Self-Deprecation, period. I would need to know if he's done that.
• JK Rowling: Haven't seen that scene, so I don't know if she spoofed herself or not.
• Johnny Bravo: Correct, although West isn't an exception to that.
• Jonas: I guess it's correct.
• Josh Groban: Correct.
• Just Shoot Me: Correct.
• Old Superhero: Misuse for West himself.
• Om Shanti Om: Haven't seen the show. Some might just be As Himself, but I don't know.
• Once per Episode: Misuse for As Himself.
• Our Presidents Are Different: Correct.
• Paparazzi: Correct.
• Parental Bonus: Potholing over West's name, when other parts of the example should have been potholed. So still is a misuse.
• Parody Episode: Is just spoofing characters you played enough for this trope?
• Parody Tropes: Index
• Passing the Torch: Correct, but that should have better context than just relying on the pothole.
• Peter Mandelson: Correct
• Phantasm: Well the spoof came out in 1989, so it might count as this.
• Phelous: No, that's mocking an actress for basically playing herself.
• Playing Against Type: Correct
• Popularity Polynomial: Correct
• Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Don't think he was doing a voice there, but I haven't seen the show.
• Put a Face on the Company: Correct
• Remake Cameo: Misuse for West himself.
• Ripper: "alsmost as if" is not this trope.
• Robot Chicken: While some cases would certainly be correct, some might not be. Would simply spoofing a role you played count if it's not your iconic one?
• Roger Rabbit Effect: Correct
• Rollo T: Okay, I don't think that counts. That looks like just plain Self-Deprecation.
• TroperTales.Rule Of Funny: That definitely is just a confusion for Self-Deprecation.
• Rule Of Sean Connery: Um, I guess he fits this trope. Just the example is phrase poorly, so I can't tell.

I can help with the Hannah Montana one: He, like Miley, has two different identities. His normal self, Robby Stuart, is just a normal comedic dad, but his pop-star character Bobby Ray is definitely a parody of Billy Ray Cyrus. In one episode, he even puts on a mullet.

On the Robot Chicken thing, I would say it only works if you are not parrodying the show you were in, and the character isn't supposed to be that person. One of the key parts of this trope is the Expy part.

For example, if Sarah Michelle Gellar appears and plays herself as a bitch, she's not doing this. If she appears as Buffy, she isn't doing this. If she plays herself in Muffy the Zombie Slayer, that's a parody of the show, not this trope. If she appears as a girl named Muffy who happens to be into killing zombies in a sketch that is not about that, then it is this trope.

Unless, of course, we want to not count it on parody shows at all, or want more than one example like the Trope Namer has.

edited 25th Apr '11 6:07:55 AM by BigT

Still, the description makes it look as though someone decides to make a career spoofing him/herself after some years doing acting normally, which means just spoofing one of your roles wouldn't count.

That is if I have the definition right.

Should I make a crowner?

What the hell. Made one.

Bumping for more votes.

Still too close to call, but again, not that many votes.

The Batman the animated series example? The one where he plays up to the image of himself as a poor washed up actor obsessed with his old role? The one that is the first example on Adam Westing? The example that inspired the trope? I think that counts.

Just using it for Adam West appeared about 3 or 4 times out of 68,that's not much of a "Pro" argument. Then there's the other varied misuses which are not of a consistent form and I would expect at least another 5% of noise from anything moderately complex to be honest. Is "on the whole, used correctly" much of an argument for a rename?

He's not making fun of himself there. It's an example of Actor Allusion.

I'd say the trope name would still work, considering not only Adam West is the Most Triumphant Example of the trope, but also, the phenomenon is mostly associated to him.

I mean, by now we can't about Adam West without mentioning the times he made fun of himself (bonus point for most of these instances taking potshots at the 1960s Batman show, too).

However, on a side note, Actor Self Parody would work fine either as an alternate name or as a new name.

First of all, MTE is a subjective trope, and thus not a valid argument for what is the best name. Second of all, just because West does it a lot doesn't mean the trope should be potholed whenever his name is mentioned, since he has his own page that would be more appropriate to link to in most cases.

edited 22nd May '11 12:00:15 PM by DragonQuestZ

It's been a month since this was posted on. It looks like there's no consensus to rename this one. Locking.

edited 23rd Jul '11 10:34:15 AM by shimaspawn