Does Not Illustrate: Tomato In The Mirror

This trope is "protagonist turns out to be the monster"; however the image is "something is written on a mirror".

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It's a very hard trope to picture, but the current one does have some vague implications that it may be true. I don't think it suggests something else, though.

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and : Then perhaps we could have a better caption? Because I have no idea what the picture represents, who that girl is, or why it's an example. It's not quite JAFAAC but it's close.

I'm guessing she's a Cylon. Cylons are bad, or at least discriminated against. The downside of the pic is that it's not all that clear whether she realises it. Someone who's actually familiar with the series could probably come up with a better caption than I.

Yeah, there's all kinds of bad blood between Cylons and humans. The only thing that comes to mind right now is "Someone knows."

What is a Cylon?

To be fair, though, if you've never even heard of Battlestar Galactica, you'll have no idea what a Cylon is or why this could be construed as a bad thing.

The whole bit about writing it on the mirror is a typical sign of "people don't like them."

Would be nice to know it's a "them". "Cylon" is just a word I don't recognize.

Really? I've never heard of that. Is that a trope?

I find that people write clues about a murderer on a mirror, or possibly answers to a TV quiz, or maybe their name or phone number if they like you. It is far from clear in the image that "cylon" is meant as a threat of some sort.

It doesn't need to be a mirror. The most common specific example is probably writing "fag" on a locker, but on cars or doors also happens, or any flat surface you expect the person to look at.

At any rate, I'm not familiar with the example, but what I've said is how I'd interpret it.

Again: really? I've never heard of that. Is that a trope?

I'm not trying to be obtuse here, I've seriously never heard of people writing "fag" on a locker (or mirror) in an attempt to insult anyone, nor do I recall any work whatsoever in which this occurs.

edited 2nd Mar '12 4:45:14 PM by Spark9

It should be a trope. I don't know if it's currently a trope, but it shows up in media constantly.

A character's property is defaced by a slur or an insult written in bold letters with the intent of terrorizing the recipient. It's not always fag and a locker, but it's writing in bold letters an insult to someone defacing their property. Cars, desks, lockers, and doors tend to be the common locations. Insults can range from fag to freak, witch, slut, whore, nerd, cheater, terrorist, traitor, or even phrases like 'Go home towelhead.'

It tends to show up mostly in media about teenagers, scorned women, or media that deals with civil rights and/or racial tensions.

Generally it's anonymous and it's done to illustrate the views of the community against this one person rather than point to a single source of bullying.

edited 2nd Mar '12 4:57:22 PM by shimaspawn

Okay, but then I must conclude that the image here is not an example of "tomato in a mirror". She must already know that she is a tomato, because otherwise she'd not understand why people write such words on her mirror. Rather, the image illustrates a trope like I Know Your Secret or I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Nope, the current picture is an example of the trope. Seeing the word there was what triggered her realization. Something like "They're right. I am a cylon." Might make a clearer caption.

edited 2nd Mar '12 5:13:41 PM by shimaspawn

Would be nice if the caption said (or implied) something about what a "cylon" is. AFAIK it's just a word.

edited 2nd Mar '12 5:14:18 PM by rodneyAnonymous

Clock is set.

Well, there are no suggestions for a better image, but we still need a better caption (especially for the people who have no idea what "cylon" means).

"Finding out you're a toaster can't be a good way to start the day." (that's actually used in the show IIRC)

"Boomer finally meets the enemy face-to-face."

Beyond those, I got nuthin'.

edited 16th Apr '12 6:09:23 AM by Willbyr

I'm afraid I don't know what a "toaster" or "boomer" is, either.

"Toaster" is the generic slur humans use to refer to Cylons in the new Battlestar Galatica because they're organic machines. Boomer is the pilot code name for the character in the picture.

"They Look Like Us Now, and it's her." ?

As Shima suggested earlier, "They're right. I am a cylon." ?

It works, but it's completely blah to me.