Not Tropeworthy: Oh The Humanity

I have noticed that, sometime in 2011, it was decided to avoid tropes named after stock phrases. The page list a number of reasons for that, the main one that it becomes a list of characters saying it (or saying minor variants). I guess that this trope must have been overlooked during the clean-up that must have followed the 2011 discussion, because it's a clear example of that.

And note that for the underlying concept ("shout your horror to the heavens") we already have the Rage Against the Heavens trope.

edited 11th Apr '16 10:47:52 AM by GrigorII

Opening. Motion to merge and cut.

Seconding a merge/cut.

+1 to merge.

+1 to merge and cut.

edited 11th Apr '16 1:53:27 PM by Willbyr

Cut and merge it up.

Support merge.

Okay, if we're actively cutting all existing stock phrase tropes, then cut.

But... Rage Against the Heavens really has precisely nothing to do with this trope. At all.

Agreed. Rage Against the Heavens is that— defiance, anger. This is just a stock phrase expressing horror, more often parodied than not.

It's closer to Oh, Crap! if anything.

edited 11th Apr '16 8:25:25 PM by iNfiniTeSe7eNz

When I think of this it is more 'helpless to do anything but watch the carnage'.

A-yup. I... suppose there could be an overlap occasionally, but they're borderline mutually exclusive. This is almost never shown as anger for the heavens, but rather sadness for the... well, the humanity.

Like I said, if we're deciding we're going to cut all stock phrases then you can cut it, I suppose. This isn't just a trope with a Stock Phrase for a name, but a trope about a stock phrase. But No New Stock Phrases doesn't seem to indicate we're cutting older ones, just that we don't want new ones.

And I do see the page as-is having utility as it is a stock reference. One that younger crowds will have a harder time figuring out what is being referred to as time goes on and the actual event becomes less and less relevant.

edited 12th Apr '16 7:32:22 AM by Larkmarn

With 1,119 inbounds we gotta redirect it to somewhere but where?

If we have a trope for I would say redirect it to that.

Watching Troy Burn is the closest I can think of. But it's definitely not a perfect fit.

If we do find a good fit, I wouldn't be averse to turning it into a redirect and adding something along the lines of "'Oh the humanity' may be used as a reference to the Herbert Morrison's famous newcast of the Hindenburg disaster."

I think this is tropeworthy, but not as a Stock Phrase. Watching Troy Burn is close, but in my opinion not quite the same. Hindenburg Homage would seem to cover many of the examples.

That would have my full support.

Note that the links in works where someone simply said the phrase should be removed, not redirected. Same for times when it is the tropers who say it without actually giving an example (item 6 of the administrivia page).

That's a good point. Why don't we purge all the stock phrases and see if there is anything left worth redirecting?

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic, but I'm down with that plan.

I'll go copy the page code into a text file so I can see if there's anything worth salvaging. If so, expect a sandbox page.

Edit: Okay, we may have something. The description would need work, though: Sandbox.Oh The Humanity

edited 12th Apr '16 2:21:35 PM by Berrenta

It wasn't sarcasm. It was a genuine suggestion for how to fix things.

What's left seems to just be Shout-Out to the Hindenburg and should be merged with Shout-Out.

edited 12th Apr '16 3:45:26 PM by shimaspawn

Either that or give it a spot in Stock Shout-Outs. Hmmm...

I don't think it deserves to be it's own subtrope of that, but it could certainly get one of the one line mentions.

edited 12th Apr '16 5:32:45 PM by shimaspawn

It appears that Hindenburg Incendiary Principle has been launched recently. Would that be a suitable replacement for Oh, the Humanity!? It covers related aircraft being blown up.

Not really a replacement; again, this is a stock phrase for expressing horror and shock towards catastrophe in general.