History HarsherInHindsight / Film

* In the first ''Film/UrbanLegend'' movie, the killer turns out to be [[spoiler:Brenda, played by Rebecca Gayheart. Three years later in 2001, Gayheart accidentally killed 9-year-old Jorge Cruz, Jr. when she struck him with her car. To make things harsher, the film actually does have a scene where her character commits vehicular homicide]].

** A pre-''Series/That70sShow'' Danny Masterson plays a guy who attempted to rape Jamie. Masterson was fired from ''Series/TheRanch'' after allegations that he had actually raped several women.

* ''Film/{{Fanboys}}'':
** A few years after the film was released, several high-profile harassment movements exposed a nasty streak of toxicity and gatekeeping running through much of geek culture, thus making the protagonists [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic look a lot less sympathetic]] and their antics a lot less funny. It doesn't help that the ''Franchise/StarWars'' prequel trilogy and Special Editions, while still controversial, have since been VindicatedByHistory, nor that screenwriter Creator/ErnestCline's later novel ''Literature/ReadyPlayerOne'' has often been accused of promoting the exact same toxic attitudes as this film.
** A real-life version of this movie's plot happened in January 2013 with the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' franchise. Daniel Craft's dying wish was to see the unreleased at the time ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'', the second film in Creator/JJAbrams's rebooted ''Trek'' series, with Abrams granting Craft's wish just before he died at the age of 41. Harsher because it may make the fight scenes with the "Lucashounds" and Trekkies a little harder to watch; Heartwarming because it hammers in that the ''Franchise/StarWars'' & ''Franchise/StarTrek'' fandoms [[MirroringFactions have more in common than they think]], despite the film's claims otherwise.
** Then in November 2015, [[http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Cancer-Striken-Star-Wars-Fan-Hopes-Disney-Can-Grant-His-Dying-Wish-91787.html another real-life example of the movie's plot made it to the news]]. Arguably even harsher, since it concerns [[Film/TheForceAwakens a then-upcoming (and much anticipated)]] ''Franchise/StarWars'' movie, making it a direct parallel.

* Creator/ChristopherReeve starred in a TV movie called ''Film/AboveSuspicion''. His character faked having his legs disabled so he could murder his wife while standing so he would be "above suspicion." Just six days after the film's release, Reeve suffered a horse-riding accident that left him paralyzed below the neck for the rest of his life.

* ''Film/{{Grease}}'': The ending of the movie version, in which Danny and Sandy get into a restored Greased Lightning and [[GainaxEnding seem to fly off into the sky]] was already a head-scratcher, which led some fans to [[PoisonOakEpilepticTrees theorize]] that Sandy had actually [[DeadAllAlong drowned at the beginning]], the movie was her DyingDream, and her and Danny flying away marks her "moving on". After her actress, Music/OliviaNewtonJohn, passed away from cancer in 2022, that scene (not to mention the whole "Sandy is dead" theory), becomes somewhat tragic; not helped by Sandy waving goodbye to her friends (and the audience) in the last scene.

** One of the DVD promotional posters for the 2009 horror movie ''Film/{{Deadline}}'' depicts her [[http://images.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/20091223/293.Murphy.Brittany.cm.122309.jpg laying dead in a bathtub]] with her hand over the edge. In light of Murphy's death (in which she was found lying dead in her shower), the posters were hastily recalled.

* Creator/AkiraKurosawa's 1990 film ''Film/{{Dreams|1990}}'' has one segment where a nuclear power plant near Mount Fuji explodes, causing the citizens of Japan to flee. The film then cuts to a scene with two men, a woman, and her two children alone near the sea. The older man explains to the others that everyone else drowned themselves in the ocean. This is very harsh in hindsight after a tsunami in 2011 destroyed some nuclear power plants.

* Creator/AkiraKurosawa's 1990 film ''Film/{{Dreams}}'' has one segment where a nuclear power plant near Mount Fuji explodes, causing the citizens of Japan to flee. The film then cuts to a scene with two men, a woman, and her two children alone near the sea. The older man explains to the others that everyone else drowned themselves in the ocean. This is very harsh in hindsight after a tsunami in 2011 destroyed some nuclear power plants.

** ''The Angriest Man in Brooklyn'' sees Creator/RobinWilliams play a man who is diagnosed with a fatal brain aneurysm. Believing that he has only 90 minutes to live, the film's climax sees him attempt suicide to avoid the suffering of his condition. Just three months after the film's release, Williams himself ''successfully'' committed suicide after being diagnosed with a fatal disease of his own -- Parkinson's disease (which was posthumously amended to dementia with Lewy bodies). As a further parallel, both Williams and his character were cremated after their deaths and had their ashes scattered over the water.

* In 2013, ''Film/TwelveYearsASlave'' was a film about a tragic true story that received critical acclaim and won some UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s. At the end of April 2014, many people were once again reminded of the film, but not in a good way, after the shocking audio of NBA LA Clippers owner, Donald Sterling, who talked about not wanting black people to attend his games. More shocking, was him also talking about his own Clippers' players (who are 90 percent black) like they were slaves on his plantation, with statements that sounded similar to many of the lines slaver Epps used in the film to justify his harsh actions. And Sterling said all of this to a [[ButNotTooBlack black woman]] who was his mistress he was angry with.

* The BigBad of ''Film/MissionImpossibleDeadReckoningPartOne'' is a [[AIIsACrapshoot rogue AI]] trying to TakeOverTheWorld. Almost immediately after the film's release, the [[UsefulNotes/TVStrikes SAG strikes]] happened due to actors and writers being fed up with actors replaced with AI as one of the reasons why, [[https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/deadpool-3-mission-impossible-8-162359872.html further impacting]] ''Dead Reckoning Part Two'''s already TroubledProduction.

* ''Film/JAccuse'': A WorldWar1 silent film released just a few years after that war ended.So the film is the epitome of the trope. In particular the infamous zombie soldier march dream sequence where the zombie troops feel unappreciated about their sacrifices and march into town accusing relatives and friends of unsavory behavior and telling them that they cannot rest. So long as they know their deaths are respected by the surviving French populace, they would be glad about having died for France. The civilians ultimately repent and give their condolonces and the soldiers march back in peace to their graves, ending the dream........ Considering over 20 years later, another followup War would take place and France wouldn't last more than a month against the same enemies these soldiers died fighting against, the whole movie and especially this dream sequence reinforces the emptiness that WorldWar1's outcome is seen as today.

** The original ''[[Film/RoboCop1987 RoboCop]]'' was described by Creator/StephenColbert in 2013 as [[http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/07/26/colbert-turns-out-robocop-was-optimistic-view-of-detroits-future/ turning out to be more optimistic than the real Detroit]], which at that point had become the largest city in America to file for bankruptcy. A ''New York Post'' [[http://nypost.com/2014/02/09/robocop-predictions-that-came-true-and-those-that-did-not/ article]] also points out that UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}} has become a bankrupt, crime-ridden place like the one shown in the franchise. It further points out that a NoodleIncident in one of the news reports in [[Film/RoboCop2 the second film]] mentions a nuclear meltdown that destroyed an entire landscape and compares it to the Fukushima Daiichi plant meltdown.

** ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'' had a smaller but more horrifying case. In one scene, Donkey (as a horse) is subdued by guards while the gang try to rescue Fiona from Prince Charming. One guard has his knee at the base of Donkey's neck, and Donkey begins to cry out "police brutality!". 16 years after the movie's release, George Floyd was killed by police officer Derek Chauvin when he kneeled on Floyd's neck, sparking international outrage and protests against police brutality within the United States for months following his death. Because of this, in the UK, after Creator/{{ITV}} got the UK-TV airing rights to ''Shrek 2'', the ''COPS'' parody is edited with that scene [[{{Bowdlerize}} removed for]] [[{{DistancedFromCurrentEvents}} obvious reasons]].

** ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'' had a smaller but more horrifying case. In one scene, Donkey (as a horse) is subdued by guards while the gang try to rescue Fiona from Prince Charming. One guard has his knee at the base of Donkey's neck, and Donkey begins to cry out "police brutality!". 16 years after the movie's release, George Floyd was killed by police officer Derek Chauvin when he kneeled on Floyd's neck, sparking international outrage and protests against police brutality within the United States for months following his death. Because of this, in the UK, after Creator/{{ITV}} got the UK-TV airing rights to ''Shrek 2'', the ''COPS'' parody is edited with that scene [[{{Bowdlerize}} removed for obvious reasons]].

* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'': The brief scene where Miles throws a bagel at an Alchemax scientist as he and Peter B. escape from the facilities becomes this as of the film's sequel: ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManAcrossTheSpiderVerse'', as [[spoiler:said scientist would later go on to become the Spot following an explosion caused by the destruction of the super-collider at the end of ''Into the Spider-Verse'', after which he uses his powers to travel to other dimensions and absorb the powers from the colliders at their respective incarnations of Alchemax in order to become more powerful while also vowing revenge on Miles for his role in indirectly causing him to become the Spot in the first place]].

** One of the biggest in both Star Wars and pop culture history occurs in ''Film/RogueOne''. For nearly four decades, ''Star Wars'' fans have mocked the Empire for [[SelfDestructButton the infamous exhaust vent]] that allowed Luke to blow up the Death Star with a single torpedo strike. After this film revealed [[spoiler:that the flaw was purposely created by the main designer (who was enslaved by the empire to create the weapon in the first place), and that the schematics to exploit that flaw were obtained by the Rebel Alliance at the cost of dozens, if not hundreds of lives[[note]]This point is mentioned in ''Film/ANewHope'' during the briefing.[[/note]], with the fatalities including [[EverybodysDeadDave every member of the titular crew]]]], it doesn't seem so funny anymore.

** It's tragically ironic that in the Sequel Trilogy, [[spoiler:Han Solo dies]] in ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' and [[spoiler:Luke Skywalker dies]] in ''Film/TheLastJedi'', making Leia the sole survivor, whereas in real life, Creator/CarrieFisher passed away in 2016 and [[spoiler:Creator/HarrisonFord and Creator/MarkHamill outlived her]]. And with the release of ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'', [[spoiler:Leia also dies. Making Chewbacca the ''only'' survivor of the main heroes of the Original Trilogy, the exact opposite of the old Expanded Universe where he was the only one killed.]]

* ''Film/SpiderMan3'': The film, released in 2007, had a major plot point was Peter planning to propose to Mary Jane. Later the same year, ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay'' happened, which ended the Peter/MJ marriage.

** The Joker's line towards the end of ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' when he says "You know, I think you and I will be doing this forever". Creator/HeathLedger died shortly before the movie was released.

* In ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'', Hiccup just barely manages to stop Toothless from murdering his father Stoick the Vast. [[spoiler:Come [[WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2 the sequel]], and Stoick [[HeroicSacrifice saves his son from a mind-controlled Toothless at the cost of his own life]].]] Of course, this is an example of the trope being deliberately invoked since the story was planned.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' Donkey mentioned that he was sold for some magic beans because he was so annoying. In ''WesternAnimation/PussInBoots'', a prequel to ''Shrek'', we see Puss stealing those same magic beans from Jack and Jill... [[OutlawCouple and they were]] ''[[OutlawCouple not]]'' [[OutlawCouple nice people]].