Fridge Horror but no Fridge Relief?

This is more general than just proposing a trope of "Fridge Relief," where something seems more pleasant or not so bad when you think about it, although that might make a good YKTTW (although the main example I can think of is an in-story example from Hitchhiker's Guide).

It's more of a question as to why it seems to be easier to see unfortunate implications and Fridge Horror rather than seeing how something could actually be good or positive or at least not so scary/grimdark/depressing. Why are depressing WMG entires more common than happy ones?

I can probably think of some reasons, such as that some people are disillusioned by idealistic works or think "it wouldn't be that good in real life" so they assume it's just as bad for the characters. Or that some people just plain distrust happiness and think that happy = must actually be a depressed Stepford Smiler with an angsty past.

I'm actually rather ambiguous on this in my own mind. I can understand that it can be easy to see Unfortunate Implications sometimes, especially in works with Values Dissonance or at least question things instead of just assuming everything is alright when there might be hidden problems (this is more referring to real life than with fiction for me, though). Yet at the same time, why doesn't anyone question the doomsayers as much? Why doesn't anyone think "that work is unrealistically dark" as often? Is it because there actually ARE more unrealistically happy works than unrealistically dark ones? Or is this just a TV Tropes thing and not something that's as common in the world at large?

Or does some of this have to do with the fact that it's often easier to make a complaint rather than to suggest how that problem can be fixed?

Methinks this isn't the place for this kind of thread...

Isn't the addendum in 1984 about Newspeak regarded like this by some?

I have no idea what the addendum in 1984 is because I haven't read that book and am not likely too (it sounds WAY too depressing for me). I put it here because it was kind of a general topic about "why are pessimistic interpretations more popular than optimistic interpretations" but if it should go in the Trope Talk section then I don't mind it being moved there.

I thought you were pitching a new trope.

~shrug~

As for pessimism versus optimism, well...

It's better to be a pessimist and be wrong than to be an optimist and be wrong.

But as a pessimist you spend the entire time whining how bad the world is while optimists are happy.

That assumes the optimist is right.

If you're a pessimist, you always win. If you're wrong, the world is better for it. If you're right, you get to say "I told you so."

If the optimist is right, people are happy. If the optimist is wrong, the world is worse for it.

Ergo, pessimism makes more sense.

edited 30th Oct '11 11:28:54 AM by USAF713

The optimists have less stress and live longer.

You know how I think of the world. You're the one who christened me the "aggressive pessimist," remember?

You'll cause yourself to die of a stress induced coronary, buddy.

But anyway, everyone can use a healthy dose of optimism, otherwise no one would bother to have cool ideas for things like space shuttles or submarines. *shrug* Taking either to an extreme can have negative consequences on a person.

Just my luck, right?

Optimism seems to come so rarely tempered with realism.

Yeah, but people used to think we'd never be able to fly, remember? It wasn't a realistic dream before some dudes decided "fuck that, I'ma fly anyway." In proper doses, optimism can help us do some really cool stuff.

Such is why pessimists shouldn't be engineers.

I did remember that the Hidden Heart of Gold trope in some cases could be a counterpart to the "happy people are just faking it" thing, like someone who has affectionate or happy feelings but doesn't want to show it.

And we do have tropes like Tastes Like Dirt as the counterpart to Tastes Like Diabetes.

As far as optimism vs. pessimism being behind Fridge Horror, you're right, but in my view, not quite how you think. I don't think that it's because people are so pessimistic that the only parts of the story they decide to go over afterwards are the grim/dark/depressing ones, it's that they, by default, naturally focus on any positivity they felt while going through the story (in most cases; even if a movie is 100 percent High Octane Nightmare Fuel and doesn't give them any feeling they liked, there are still likely to be bad things about it they missed, while they might try to hang on to whatever positivity they could find in the story, and so, notice more of it right away), and they subconsciously block out, or ignore any of the possible negatives. It's only when they're away from the influence of the story that some of that negativity begins to register with them, so I'd say it's their tendency to look on the bright side here that dulls them to some of the hidden downers in the work.

I read somewhere that pessimists being proven right actually has not that much bearing one stress relief or what have you. So, pessmists still lose.

Pfft.

Fridge Horror comes from when one realises that the "good" thing is actualy horrible.

Fridge Relief, by comparison, would require one to realise that "bad" thing was acutaly not so bad.

Unfortunatly, Fridge Horror is more easy to create, where as to create Fridge Relief one need speficly aim for it. You need to think every possible way how situation could acutaly be better than presented.

Fridge Horror is just realisation of what is wrong with the situation.

edited 30th Oct '11 4:27:00 PM by Mandemo

In any case, the realists are the actual winners.

@ tropetown and Mandemo:

That makes a lot of sense, especially the reminder that Fridge Horror is what comes to mind after watching/reading something. And also how it's easier to see what's wrong with something rather than actively think of ways to improve it or to try to think of good things about something upsetting. Although some of that might depend on the person, some people might it easier to see positive aspects of things and find thinking about the negative implications to be more difficult.

edited 30th Oct '11 7:05:51 PM by Rainbow

One interesting example of Fridge Relief: In A Song Of Ice And Fire, people are better off than they were in the Middle Ages in at least one respect: medical technology.

“Given the same amount of intelligence, timidity will do a thousand times more damage than audacity.” ~ Karl von Clausewitz

He was speaking in matter of war, but life is war after all. Also, saying its better to try and fail then not try at all reaks of defeatism and trying to justify being ok not trying in life.

But that sparks Fridge Horror about the Middle Ages.

Again.