Rename due to obscurity: Gattaca Babies

Could we just rename it "Test Tube Babies"? The trope is about artificially conceived children and the like, so wouldn't that be clearer?

But this movie is amazing! Obscure my ass!

I would be fine with Test Tube Babies, though, while keeping the current name as a redirect. Is there any actual misuse, however?

Tes Tube Babies could work as a redirect. I have to laugh at what works we're calling 'obscure', though.

edited 24th Aug '11 4:24:29 PM by FastEddie

It is to the young people.

How is this not obscure? I mean, I know what it is, and have even seen it, but Gattaca's hardly a earthshaking classic or anything

It wasn't obscure in The '90s, but those days ended long ago. I know what it is and what it's about, but most of the hip, young swingers these days don't. Think of the Children!!

I know, right? I'm a teenager and I've still seen this movie. My biology teacher put it on in class, actually.

Test Tube Babies is a good redirect, and perhaps a good rename, if there is misuse. If people are using it correctly I see no reason to do anything but add the redirect, because Redirects Are Free...

You want obscure? Who in the world is 'Xanatos'? Who is this 'Bridget' that is supposed to be such a famous example of a trap?

edited 24th Aug '11 4:45:30 PM by FastEddie

Obscurity is subjective... I had no idea what Gattaca Babies was till I read the page (never seen the movie.) same for Xanatos Roulette or Gambit. (and I did watch that series.) Dropped A Bridget On Him oh yeah picked that up in an instant (for the wrong damn thing.... See that thread.)

Finding out the the percentages of troper ages would be the only way to tell if they are obscure or not.

Misuse or Disuse, low inbounds etc would be the only way to objectify this I think.

230 and 275 inbounds... Not really that good for a pretty common Sci-Fi thing... 1K inbounds would be doing good for such an old trope.

edited 24th Aug '11 4:58:07 PM by Raso

It's not an uber-popular trope to begin with though, remember. It's not like Action Girl or Berserk Button where it shows up in every other work.

And, yeah, who the fuck is Xanatos? Isn't it from Gargoyles?

I hated that cartoon...

edited 24th Aug '11 4:56:50 PM by USAF713

Yeah, it's a bit obscure these days. Heck, I'm not sure it ever was all that well-known to begin with, and I'm plenty old enough to remember it. I saw Barbarella when it first came out!* If we're going to name the trope after a work, I think Brave New World Babies would have been a better choice. That's been around long enough that it's much more clear that it is an enduring classic.

That said, unless there's misuse or the trope is underperforming, I don't see a strong argument for renaming.

* technically, I was much too young to see it, but my parents were hardcore SF fans, so they took me anyway.

edited 24th Aug '11 5:03:31 PM by Xtifr

It's a popular Sci-Fi thing. However this trope is really old and only 275 inbounds and 230 wicks? I YKTT Wed Black and White Beauty and was launched in early January and it's got almost 2k inbounds now and ya know what?people are demanding a rename.... The crowner is going to pass with no misuse and crap presented ...

edited 24th Aug '11 5:06:21 PM by Raso

And I don't see how that TRS rename situation and crowner are relevant here, that's what.

I say, if there's no misuse, leave it alone. It needs Wiki Magic, not a rename.

I was just saying that it has weak stats and we have renamed more well used things recently with weaker reasons than "obscure".

It's pretty much impossible to establish whether something is obscure or not, because it's gonna vary in different circles. I'm a teenager, and I never saw it in biology class, whereas other teens, obviously, have.

Test Tube Babies seems like a good redirect. A rename probably isn't required unless there's misuse, but it also seems like it'd be easier to find if you're looking for this trope specifically.

EDIT: Oh, yeah, that Xanatos. Huh.

edited 24th Aug '11 5:18:25 PM by Webby

Test Tube Babies isn't the same thing. This is Test Tube Babies+Genetic Engineering.

edit: and I'm not actually sure it's underperforming all that much. It's not that common a trope even in SF. But I absolutely support adding some redirects if we can find some that actually mean the trope.

that's true, but I'm a third generation science fiction fan who attended his first science fiction convention at age 3; I vaguely remember when the movie first came out, and I'm pretty sure I saw it, and even I think it's rather obscure.

edited 24th Aug '11 5:23:30 PM by Xtifr

Everything is obscure to someone, I for example have never heard of this "Urkel" person that people keep mentioning, someone started a TRS thread because they hadn't heard of Jor El, and I once had a soul destroying discussion with someone who had never heard of either Robert Burns or William Shakespeare (yes, really ).

You're right. I confess that I only skimmed the page after reading the title Test Tube Babies. There's gotta be a catchy redirect that fits better than that.

I feel like I'm showing my ignorance, but I have no idea who Robert Burns is.

Sign me up for never heard of that Robert guy...

Well in Sci-Fi generally if your a Test Tube Baby there is a good chance of being both. (Mass Effect and Gundam Seed used Gattica Babies and genetic engineering with a mom in the same series. It's a plot point that the latter isn't as reliable and the former made an The Ace among aces in Gundam Seed.)

So what's the trope for Test Tube Babies? Is this getting mistaken for the Test Tube Babies trope? if it even exists.

edited 24th Aug '11 5:37:25 PM by Raso

and He's a Scottish poet. I suppose it is fair enough non-Scots not knowing him, but when the person you are actually having the conversation with lives in a place whose town square is called "Burns Statue Square" and has a giant bronze statue of the guy on a granite plinth, then you've got to weep for humanity.

Incidentally go read his poetry, if you can get past the 18thC Scots dialect then you'll get some great stuff. Also if you are a fan then you are entitled to have a massive drunken party every january 25th to celebrate his birthday, it's cultural so it's allowed.

edited 24th Aug '11 5:39:56 PM by CrypticMirror

I looked him up between posts. Being largely Scottish (not full-blooded, but enough so that I consider myself Scottish) I'm quite embarrassed.

Closer to the subject at hand, I'm looking for it. Do we have it?

edited 24th Aug '11 5:39:00 PM by Webby

I cant find it.... I am not very familar with a lot of the examples on the page... Are there any examples of +Test Tube Babies - Genetic Engineering on the page? (hell inverted too.$

I am inclined to go the Tropes Are Flexible route if so. And just adapt it for General Purpose Test Tube Babies and add a thing saying maybe combined with Genetic Engineering

I think you guys are reading too far into it. No matter how much or how little genetic engineering is involved, Test Tube Babies is still accurate (in a slang sort of way), because, well, they are coming from a metaphorical test tube either way, no?

I say add the Test Tube Babies as a definite redirect, but I contest any rename unless definitive and significant misuse is presented to me. The trope isn't really pervasive at all except in the sci-fi genre, and I think it's disuse says less about the trope and more about troper fiction consumption habits...

Designer Babies would probably be better— if it's about genetically engineering babies, the name should reflect that.

Ooh. Designer Babies is a lot better.