Not the trope you think it is?: Serious Business

As currently defined, Serious Business requires an activity to be given far too much gravity by just about everybody in a show(like Duel Monsters in Yu Gi Oh, which the description sounds like it was written for). Common use and the very examples themselves, however, cover any case where something's taken far too seriously, even by a single character. I guess the question here is whether the definition should simply be changed to cover typical use or the cases where children's card games are more popular than Jesus should be split into their own trope.

edited 10th Oct '11 5:28:32 PM by 20LogRoot10

I don't think that "people take thing more seriously than they should" is a trope. Everyone has hobbies, and a lot of people take their hobbies seriously. Someone is going to think that pretty much everything is stupid and no one should take it seriously, so unless we can come up with a narrower description, I'm calling People Sit On Chairs.

That said, the misuse is rampant, so we definitely need a rename, probably an expanded description, and doing an example cleanup wouldn't hurt.

Serious Business is often pretty obvious because the other characters think it's silly. Well, in the incorrect examples, anyway.

You have committed the first error of People Sit On Chairs. It does not mean something is common. It means something has no plot significance.

Well, we have two tropes here then:

• A trivial hobby (IRL) is an important aspect of the world (Yu Gi Oh and it's private academy for learning to play card games, for example, including one teacher who apparently has a "PhD in dueling")
• A character treats a trivial hobby with utmost seriousness ("pro" gaming)

Agree with Sal.

My point is that the way it's used now ("viewer thinks character takes activity too seriously") is not tropable. If we want to redefine it to "character thinks other character takes activity too seriously", then that would be tropable. The current actual definition, "entire setting takes activity too seriously", is tropable, but it's not really being used that way.

Basically agreeing with Sal, but also pointing out that the way it's currently (mis)used isn't actually a trope.

I think the misuse comes from the title, given that it's a fairly common internet phrase that has fairly little to do with the actual trope. I'd suggest splitting both tropes mentioned by Sal into two entirely new articles, neither of which use the Serious Business title.

Well, I don't think I've seen it used for cases that aren't blatently over-the-top(like fistfights over half-priced prepackaged meals), even if the characters don't get around to calling somebody out. Somebody'll need to do a wickcheck to make sure, though.

Serious Business found in: 3077 articles, excluding discussions.

This title has brought 12,848 people to the wiki from non-search engine links since 20th FEB '09.

Oh man, do you still really wanna rename this one?

EDIT: Personal opinion is to just leave it alone, the term already exists online (image macros, memes, etc) and I honestly don't see what the misuse is, even given the distinctions that have been outlined here. Whether it's something trivial that one person or EVERYONE gives far too much weight or importance, it's still Serious Business.

edited 11th Oct '11 9:53:01 AM by Gillespie

The point is that the meme is different than the trope, and I don't think we're ever going to be able to overcome that without renaming the trope.

I just want to bring Serious Business's definition in line with its use(which means most of those wicks would probably become good). As it stands, the definition is extremely narrow.

I think we either need to expand the trope to include the misuse or split it to single person version and entire cast/whole world version.

Methinks it's time for a wick check.

• A Bit Of Fry And Laurie: Misuse. Seems to be referring to literal serious business.
• Absurdly High-Stakes Game: Misuse. Used literally.
• Absurdly Powerful Student Council: Correct by "setting" definition. Refers to when student council responsibilities are taken seriously enough to give them an absurd amount of power.
• Abuse Is Okay When It Is Female on Male: Misuse. Used literally.
• Acceptable Hobby Targets: Misuse. Referring to fans, not in-universe.
• Acceptable Nationality Targets: Correct by "individual" definition. Refers to people taking soccer too seriously.
• Acceptable Professional Targets: Correct by "individual" definition. Refers to people taking geeky topics too seriously.
• Ace Attorney: Misuse. Yeah, they turn lawyering into a spectator sport, but criminal trials generally are taken pretty seriously in the real world.
• Ace Online: Misuse. Referring to fans, not in-universe.
• A Channel: Correct by "individual" definition. Refers to character taking the Ibod very seriously.
• Achewood: Correct by "setting" definition... I think. Appears to be referring to being an "ass man" vs being a "breast man".
• Achilles in His Tent: Correct by "individual" definition. Refers to someone being a neat-freak.
• A Christmas Story: Correct by "individual" definition. They take their triple-dog-dares very seriously.
• Adaptational Attractiveness: Misuse. Refers to the meme (ie, Fan Wank).
• A Day at the Bizarro: Correct by "setting" definition. Refers to a game being taken very seriously by the setting.
• A Day in the Limelight: Correct, though doesn't exactly fit either definition. Refers to a group taking hats very seriously (so, not just an individual, but not setting-wide either).
• Adored by the Network: Technically correct, if sort of crass. Refers to Canadians taking hockey seriously.
• Adventure Time: Unclear. The description only says "2 + 2. SOLVE IT OR DIE." Not sure if it's a character that always takes arithmetic seriously (which would be correct under the "individual" definition) or if it's referring to a specific incident (which would be misuse).
• A Series Of Unfortunate Events: Correct. Refers to a group of people taking birdwatching very seriously.
• Aerith and Bob: Misuse. Refers to the meme.
• Affectionate Parody: Misuse. Refers to the popularity of a (fictional) band.
• Afganisu-tan: Misuse. Refers to Minor Injury Overreaction.
• Against My Religion: Unclear. No context.
• Agarest Senki: Correct by "individual" definition. Refers to someone who thinks that trying to see girls bathing in hot springs is worth dying for.
• Aggressive Negotiations: Correct by "individual" definition, I think. Refers to characters fighting over whether coffee or tea is better.
• A Glass of Chianti: Misuse. Sinkhole, used in place of Sincerity Mode.
• A God Am I: Correct by "group" definition. Refers to people taking soccer seriously.
• Ai Kora: Unclear. No context.
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Misuse. Refers to meme.
• Air Gear: Correct by "setting" definition. Refers to the premise of the series (rollerblading competitions).
• Akagi: Correct by "setting" definition, I think. Refers to mahjong.
• Akeelah And The Bee: Correct by "setting" definition. Refers to spelling bees.
• Akumetsu: Misuse. Refers to punishing evil, should probably be using Well-Intentioned Extremist instead.
• Alan Wake: Misuse. Potholed for emphasis. Refers to the main character calling out spelling errors in a text message.
• All Creatures Great And Small: Correct, though not enough context to know which definition. Refers to a local fair.
• All Deserts Have Cacti: Misuse. Sinkhole, should be Berserk Button instead.
• Allegedly Free Game: Correct by "individual" definition. Refers to people taking the allegedly free game in question too seriously.
• Allegiance: Misuse. Refers to some game mechanic being more important than others.
• All Elections Are Serious Business: Correct by "individual" definition in the action wick (referring to an election at an elementary school for class president), but the use of it in the title may be misleading.
• All for Nothing: Unclear. Not enough context.
• All Men Are Perverts: Misuse. Refers to having a pro baseball player throw a game, which is taken very seriously in the real world.
• Allo Allo: Misuse. Refers to an overly serious character, not in reference to anything specific.
• Altered States: Misuse. Refers to a scientist taking his research seriously.
• Altermeta: Correct by "individual" definition. Refers to a character taking coffee seriously.
• Alternate: Unclear. Refers to a biology project (which may or may not be legitimately important).
• Alternate History: Correct by "setting" definition. Refers to the Thursday Next universe taking literally very seriously indeed.
• Alternate History Dot Com: Misuse. Refers to the meme (ie, Fan Dumb)
• Alternate Universe: Correct by "setting" definition. Refers to a game being taken seriously.
• Amatsuki: Misuse. Refers to the series taking itself seriously.
• Ame Nochi Hare: Seems to be misuse. Refers to the weather forecast, but seems to be legitimately important for some reason.

Whew! That's 50 wicks. 8 correct by "setting" definition, 10 correct by "individual" definition, 4 correct by referring to a group (more than just an individual, but not the whole setting). 22 clear cases of misuse, though. That's equal to the number of correct uses.

edited 11th Oct '11 7:43:01 PM by NativeJovian

That's a great check you did, and thorough. So what we have here is a) the correct ways, b) Fan Dumb and c) people taking it as literal to describe business that is indeed serious. My thoughts are leaning towards creating a new trope about dry, stuffy business that the potholers are looking for. I'm still resistant to changing the name of the Serious Business trope, but I do think an expansion/clarification is in order.

Also, I think the Alan Wake wick could be correct; isn't the point that he's taking spelling way too seriously in the context of his situation?

Note that Sal's second type ("a character treats a trivial hobby with utmost seriousness") has a strong overlap with the also-memetically-named "Stop Having Fun" Guys.

I apperciate the wick check, but its only the As. It could be misleading.

Personally, I think this is splitting cat hairs. Whether its an individual in universe, a group in universe or a fans of a show, I still say it counts. As for stuff that's treated seriously because it IS serious, like the ace attorney example, that would be missue. Its hard to make a trope out of that, aside for Rule of Drama or something similar.

I think the Ace Attorney might fit what the trope wants to be, but certainly not what it's treated as. Maybe we should split it after all.

It's the first 50 wicks from the main namespace, excluding indexes and such. Why would the fact that they're all "A"s effect the usage of the trope?

As for saying that it's all lumpable, we're talking about three very different things here. The out-of-universe one is an Audience Reaction, not a trope. The "everyone takes it seriously" one is a setting trope. The "group/individual takes it seriously" is a character trope. They're all different, with no overlap between them.

The first one doesn't matter. You have a point regarding two and three.

[edit: Wrong topic, ignore]

edited 12th Oct '11 9:18:45 PM by Stratadrake

Can't we make it a supetrope to all things being treated more seriously than it should be? That's how its being used. Then under that is the setting trope (Lives Depend On Childrens Card Games or something) and the character trope, which might be "Stop Having Fun" Guys.

Serious Business as a supertrope for "things taken more seriously than necessary" is fine with me. Subtropes would be "the entire setting takes it too seriously", "an individual/group within the work takes it too seriously" and "Stop Having Fun" Guys (which is an Audience Reaction, not an actual trope).

edited 16th Oct '11 6:57:16 PM by NativeJovian

^^ Sounds like a good idea to me.

Bump. Crowner now, or more discussion first?

We should wait a few days before a crower. We don't want to rush in to this.

Edit: Oh you already waited like ten days sorry. I still think it's a bit early for a crowner though.

How do The World Is Centered Around Something Silly or Hobbie Dominated Setting sound?

edited 26th Oct '11 11:54:46 AM by DrStarky