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Main Sliding Scale Of Idealism Versus Cynicism Discussion
Is it time to put the different media examples into their own page on this one, since all of them are getting really long?
Some of the examples strike me as odd. Seriously, many of them seem to be pulling straws trying to get a series to fit. For example, in the Anime section it makes sense for Eva or Trigun to be examples, but Dragon Ball? Seriously, not all shows really make a statement on the issue. Even if we could somehow force a DBZ example, what it currently says makes no sense. Dragon Ball is easily as idealistic as Fist of the North Star, the good guys always win, bad guys become good guys every day (more than half the Z Fighters were antagonists originally), nobody dies because of the Dragon Balls, and the show is unapologetically fun.
I get the feeling that we might be conflating two different sliding scales into this trope. The opposite of Idealism isn't Cynicism, but Pragmatism. Likewise, the opposite of Cynicism is Optimism. You can have examples of works or characters who are both Optimistic and Pragmatic (the Reasonable Authority Figure and Knight In Sour Armor come to mind, as well as stories where you have to Earn Your Happy Ending), as well as Cynical and Idealistic (Knight Templar, Utopia Justifies The Means, etc.). I know it would cause a lot of linking chaos, but maybe at some point we could break this trope up into two to reflect this.
Could a deconstruction of a work that was cynical to start with end up being idealistic, even though the main page says that deconstructions are usually cynical, and likewise would reconstructions of cynical works also be cynical?
In other words, would deconstructions necessarily be "cynical," or would they simply be on the opposite end of the sliding scale of the work or theme they were originally based on?
Because cynicism was a rich ethical system and ideology that got its claim to fame in the years after Socrates' death, referring to living like dogs, and because the modern usage really just goes hand and hand with skepticism and pessimism, I really think that this article and trope should be renamed. I would open the trope repair shop to find a new title that people can agree on, but it is currently 300+ past its 1000 limit, so please stand by. Thank you and good night Berlin
I'm not sure which 'cynical' character was meant by that editor who said the seiyuus of Bang and Tao voiced in extremeley cynical anime/game. As of Tao, I'm really sure that Puella Magi Madoka Magica came after BB CS, and I'm not sure which cynical series Bang's seiyuu starred at... Armored Core? Or was it Kamen Rider Ryuki (often said to have similarities with Madoka)?