History Main / Applicability

* While Creator/FrankHerbert's politics were stridently libertarian and flowed through his stories, ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'' nevertheless picked up a fanbase that spanned the political spectrum. Libertarians, of course, embraced his cynical view of government and of political saviors, in which the GalacticConqueror Paul Atreides is portrayed as a DarkMessiah. Feminists embraced the sexually egalitarian culture of the Fremen, filled as it is with {{Action Girl}}s who are treated as the equals of men, as well as the all-female Bene Gesserit order of scholars. Environmentalists embraced its depiction of the titular planet's unique biosphere as almost a living thing in its own right, a theme Creator/DenisVilleneuve, writer and director of the [[Film/Dune2021 2021]] and [[Film/DunePartTwo 2024]] film adaptations, [[https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/why-dune-is-still-timely-in-2020/ focused on]] with regards to [[GlobalWarming climate change]] specifically. It's also been read as a parable of the decline of UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire, of the rise of UsefulNotes/{{Islam}}, and a {{deconstruct|edCharacterArchetype}}ion of TheChosenOne. It even attracted a MisaimedFandom of fascists who saw Paul as a legitimate {{Ubermensch}} and a model fascist leader, as well as Muslims who embraced the book's Middle Eastern and Islamic influences and aesthetics, despite criticism of "great" leaders and organized religion being part of the book's central theme.

** Mirabel can be seen as an allegory for somebody born with a disability, as she doesn't have any magical powers unlike the rest of her family [[note]]Except for her abuela, father, and Uncle Felix, the latter two whom married into the family[[/note]] and as a result feels unaccepted by and excluded from her family, even though this is unintentional on the Madrigals' part. Indeed, many disabled viewers found that Mirabel's struggle with self-worth and acceptance resonated strongly with their own experiences.

* While Creator/FrankHerbert's politics were stridently libertarian and flowed through his stories, ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'' nevertheless picked up a fanbase that spanned the political spectrum. Libertarians, of course, embraced his cynical view of government and of political saviors, in which the GalacticConqueror Paul Atreides is portrayed as a DarkMessiah. Feminists embraced the sexually egalitarian culture of the Fremen, filled as it is with {{Action Girl}}s who are treated as the equals of men, as well as the all-female Bene Gesserit order of scholars. Environmentalists embraced its depiction of the titular planet's unique biosphere as almost a living thing in its own right, a theme Creator/DenisVilleneuve, writer and director of the [[Film/Dune2021 2021]] and [[Film/DunePartTwo 2024]] film adaptations]], [[https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/why-dune-is-still-timely-in-2020/ focused on]] with regards to [[GlobalWarming climate change]] specifically. It's also been read as a parable of the decline of UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire, of the rise of UsefulNotes/{{Islam}}, and a {{deconstruct|edCharacterArchetype}}ion of TheChosenOne. It even attracted a MisaimedFandom of fascists who saw Paul as a legitimate {{Ubermensch}} and a model fascist leader, as well as Muslims who embraced the book's Middle Eastern and Islamic influences and aesthetics, despite criticism of "great" leaders and organized religion being part of the book's central theme.

* While Creator/FrankHerbert's politics were stridently libertarian and flowed through his stories, ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'' nevertheless picked up a fanbase that spanned the political spectrum. Libertarians, of course, embraced his cynical view of government and of political saviors, in which the GalacticConqueror Paul Atreides is portrayed as a DarkMessiah. Feminists embraced the sexually egalitarian culture of the Fremen, filled as it is with {{Action Girl}}s who are treated as the equals of men, as well as the all-female Bene Gesserit order of scholars. Environmentalists embraced its depiction of the titular planet's unique biosphere as almost a living thing in its own right, a theme Creator/DenisVilleneuve, writer and director of the [[Film/Dune2021 2021 film adaptation]], [[https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/why-dune-is-still-timely-in-2020/ focused on]] with regards to [[GlobalWarming climate change]] specifically. It's also been read as a parable of the decline of UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire, of the rise of UsefulNotes/{{Islam}}, and a {{deconstruct|edCharacterArchetype}}ion of TheChosenOne. It even attracted a MisaimedFandom of fascists who saw Paul as a legitimate {{Ubermensch}} and a model fascist leader, as well as Muslims who embraced the book's Middle Eastern and Islamic influences and aesthetics, despite criticism of "great" leaders and organized religion being part of the book's central theme.

* Creator/MiguelDeCervantes originally wrote ''Literature/DonQuixote'' as a spoof of KnightErrant tales, but its hero was interpreted as idealism personified for many readers. Annoyed, Cervantes wrote a sequel to hammer home the point [[MisaimedFandom the readers apparently missed]]. Much to his shock, the second half was considered more brilliant and was better-received. Different ages have tended to read different things into the novel. When first published, it was usually interpreted as a comic novel. After UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution it was popular in part due to its central ethic that individuals can be right while society is quite wrong and seen as disenchanting -- not comic at all. In the 19th century it was seen as a social commentary, and the Russians' interpretation of Literature/DonQuixote has shadows of MessiahCreep, but no one could easily tell "whose side Cervantes was on". There's even the interpretation that the most important character in the novel is secretly the "wise and learned" Cide Hamete Benengeli, an Arab scholar who is credited as the one who originally wrote down Don Quixote's adventures. This would make the novel an ''incredibly'' stealthy social commentary promoting toleration of the Muslims and Jews that were about to be/just were kicked out of Spain (it was published in 2 parts), subtly reminding the contemporary audience of the diverse and intellectual culture that made Al-Andalus so special.

* Creator/MiguelDeCervantes originally wrote ''Literature/DonQuixote'' as a spoof of KnightErrant tales, but its hero was interpreted as idealism personified for many readers. Annoyed, Cervantes wrote a sequel to hammer home the point [[MisaimedFandom the readers apparently missed]]. Much to his shock, the second half was considered more brilliant and was better-received. Different ages have tended to read different things into the novel. When first published, it was usually interpreted as a comic novel. After UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution it was popular in part due to its central ethic that individuals can be right while society is quite wrong and seen as disenchanting -- not comic at all. In the 19th century it was seen as a social commentary, and the Russians' interpretation of Literature/DonQuixote has shadows of MessiahCreep, but no one could easily tell "whose side Cervantes was on".

* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerAgeOfSigmar''
** The [[SuperSoldier Stormcast Eternals]] are powerful heroes who fight against the [[TheLegionsOfHell Ruinous Powers]], but are [[BlessedWithSuck "cursed" with a flawed form of]] ResurrectiveImmortality; each time a Stormcast dies, their soul is [[ReroutedFromHeaven prevented from passing on into the afterlife]] and is instead "Reforged," brought back into the Mortal Realms in a new physical body. Unfortunately, [[CameBackWrong each time they come back, part of their soul is "chipped away,"]] resulting in them slowly transforming into [[TheStoic stoic]] {{Knight Templar}}s when they Reforged too many times. Multiple critics and players have noted that this can be seen as an allusion to [[WarIsHell the dehumanizing effects of war and violence waged upon its participants]]. Others, however, instead seem to interpret it as akin to living with a chronic disease/disability, particularly in how desperate many Stormcast are in searching for any possible way to stave off the flaws of Reforging and/or look for ways to help them learn to live with their flaws and better manage them so they're less harmful to both themselves and those around them (i.e., some Stormcast have taken up writing autobiographies so as to remind themselves of certain treasured memories [[TheFogOfAges as the Reforging process "eats away" at their long-term memory]]).
** The Tithe of Bones inflicted upon mortals by the [[DemBones Ossiarch Bonereapers]] has been interpreted by many fans as a pretty blatant pun on apocryphal phrase "The only inevitabilities in life are death and taxes," and have been semi-jokingly likened to being akin to the protection rackets practiced on certain businesses by TheMafia. Others, however, have noted that the Ossiarchs' callous disregard for the mortals within their territory and ruthless harvesting of the bones of the living if not enough dead bones are provided as a barbed critique of factory farming.

* Creator/BertoltBrecht: every single play, explicitly so. Especially the songs. To illustrate: the song "Music/PirateJenny" from ''Theatre/TheThreepennyOpera'' has been used as a sociopolitical allegory by Nina Simone, Music/BobDylan, Creator/AlanMoore, [[Film/{{Dogville}} Lars von Trier]], [[Webcomic/CatAndGirl Dorothy Gambell]], and Anarchy Comics. Brecht would have probably approved of ''all'' of the above, maybe not for their individual message but for the fact that he inspired later authors to think for themselves and appropriate his texts in their own social contexts, which is exactly what he wrote them for. He also applied this to all literature ''before'' him, though, stealing poems and plays left and right because he considered ''everything'' applicable and "common commodity". After being found out, he casually said he couldn't be bothered to spend time thinking about intellectual property when he had art to do, and besides, he expected (and wanted) people to do the same with ''his'' work.

** The game world could easily represent the corruptive effects [[ReligionIsWrong Organized Religions]] [=and/or=] [[ScienceIsBad Science]] have on their surrounding societies. On the other hand, it could also represent the ailing body of someone struggling with a disease and their desperate prayers for salvation and search for a medical treatment that can cure them of their condition.

* ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'' can be read as a Lovercraftian horror where the inspiration and source of the world's horrors is slowly revealed to be [[spoiler:how much of a piece of garbage HPLovecraft turned out to be.]] Not [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters all of humanity]] or [[CosmicPlaything the universe itself]]. There were [[WorldHalfEmpty problems and horrors in the world all along]], without question, [[spoiler:but the CosmicHorrors encountered throughout the game are all a direct result of him [[MoralEventHorizon proving his complete disregard for anyone who isn't him]].]]
* ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsI'': One common interpretation of the work is that it is about living and dealing with depression.

* ''TabletopGame/PrometheanTheCreated'' has an [[AudienceAlienatingPremise infamously niche appeal]], but has been known to resonate with [[UsefulNote/AspergersSyndrome autistic people]] and others with social disorders, [[http://theonyxpath.com/learning-how-to-be-a-person/ who find the Prometheans' struggle]] to BecomeARealBoy and learn how to fit in amongst the "normal" humans to be an apt - if unintentional - metaphor for their own experiences.

* This trope is why Japanese [[{{Jidaigeki}} samurai movies]] and American [[TheWestern Westerns]] experienced so much crossover in the '50s and '60s. Both were genres about romanticized, old-fashioned ways of life that had gone away by the end of the 19th century with the spread of industry and modern technology, nostalgia for which figured heavily into both countries' respective national mythologies. Also, they were each characterized by iconic weapons ({{katanas|AreJustBetter}} for samurai films, [[RevolversAreJustBetter six-shooters]] for Westerns) that are portrayed as extremely cool, and very similar tropes in the characterization of their heroes and villains. It didn't take long for filmmakers on both sides of the Pacific to realize that what worked in one could work in the other. Creator/AkiraKurosawa was notably influenced by the films of Creator/JohnFord when he made ''Film/SevenSamurai'' and ''Film/{{Yojimbo}}'', which in turn received [[ForeignRemake Western remakes]] of their own as ''Film/TheMagnificentSeven1960'' and ''Film/AFistfulOfDollars''.

-->'''Luisa (during [[MelancholyMusicalNumber Surface Pressure]]):''' I'm pretty sure I'm ''worthless'' if I can't be of service!
-->'''Isabela (during [[IAmBecomingSong What Else Can I Do?]]):''' I'm so sick of pretty, I want something true, don't you?

* The FinalGirl trope was popularized by the {{Slasher Movie}}s of TheEighties, where it was often seen as a key component of the conservative sexual and anti-drug morality that many critics read into them: just as the killer was TheScourgeOfGod punishing rebellious teens for their sins, so too was the SoleSurvivor who defeated the killer an avatar of old-fashioned morality and righteousness who kept her distance from her friends' sex and drug use. In TheNineties, however, a very different take on the final girl, popularized by Carol J. Clover's 1992 book ''Men, Women, and Chain Saws'', emerged, seeing her not as somebody who prevailed thanks to her virtue while her female peers were punished for their sins, but as somebody who prevailed thanks to her wits while her ''male'' peers got themselves killed with their bravado. With this, the final girl was reinterpreted as a feminist icon, an ActionSurvivor with the odds stacked against her who nevertheless triumphs where the men fail by [[CombatPragmatist outsmarting the villain and fighting dirty]], her plight at times (such as in ''Film/Scream1996'') serving as a metaphor for women trapped in [[DomesticAbuse abusive relationships]].

* ''Film/BattleRoyale'' (2000) is about the Japanese government and school system, in an attempt to battle [[JapaneseDelinquents juvenile delinquency]], forcing classes of high school students to kill each other until only one emerges victorious. The movie attracted multiple interpretations from reviewers, who read into it a satire of the harshly competitive nature of exams and education, of the poor state of the Japanese economy at the time, of the Japanese economy shifting towards elitism and dividing people into castes based on intelligence, and of [[TheGenerationGap hostile relations between the young and old]]. And that's just how it was viewed in its home country of Japan (and by those versed in modern Japanese culture) -- for Americans in the wake of the UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} massacre just a year prior to the film's release, and especially amidst the wave of [[AxesAtSchool school shootings]] in the 2010s, it was very easy to read a metaphor for violence in schools and political apathy towards the plight of the young people who suffered from it, even though Koushun Takami wasn't thinking about life in the US when crafting the story.

** In the other direction, the books also had a [[https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20141120-the-hobbits-and-the-hippies huge following]] among [[NewAgeRetroHippie hippies]] and other left-wing activists in the '60s and '70s. Their [[WarIsHell harsh depictions of industrial warfare]] were embraced by anti-[[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam War]] and anti-nuclear-weapons activists, their depiction of the Shire as an unspoiled {{Arcadia}} was embraced by environmentalists and the back-to-the-land movement, their positive depiction of the use of pipe-weed (intended to be an analogue to tobacco, but widely interpreted as one to cannabis) was embraced by [[TheStoner the drug culture]], their depiction of the "little" hobbits as the heroes was embraced by civil rights activists, and the heroic ActionGirl Éowyn was embraced as a feminist hero. ''Lord of the Rings'' fandom informed the nascent hacker culture of the '70s and a lot of artists who were in contact with the counterculture (one of the first proposals for a film adaptation came from none other than Music/TheBeatles), and "Frodo Lives" and "Go Go Gandalf" became popular hippie slogans. Tolkien, a conservative Oxford philologist and a devout Catholic, had [[https://web.archive.org/web/20080608180327/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1003803-1,00.html mixed feelings]] about this, dismissing his books' hippie fandom as "my deplorable cultus" and remarking that "many young Americans are involved in the stories in a way that I'm not" but [[https://bookmarks.reviews/c-s-lewis-w-h-auden-and-edmund-wilson-on-the-lord-of-the-rings/ admitting]] that he was ticked by the fact that he had become a cult figure within his lifetime.

** In the other direction, the books also had a [[https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20141120-the-hobbits-and-the-hippies huge following]] among [[NewAgeRetroHippie hippies]] and other left-wing activists in the '60s and '70s. Their [[WarIsHell harsh depictions of industrial warfare]] were embraced by anti-[[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam War]] and anti-nuclear-weapons activists, their depiction of the Shire as an unspoiled {{Arcadia}} was embraced by environmentalists and the back-to-the-land movement, their positive depiction of the use of pipe-weed (intended to be an analogue to tobacco, but widely interpreted as one to cannabis) was embraced by [[TheStoner the drug culture]], their depiction of the "little" hobbits as the heroes was embraced by civil rights activists, and the heroic ActionGirl Éowyn was embraced as a feminist hero. ''Lord of the Rings'' fandom informed the nascent hacker culture of the '70s and a lot of artists who were in contact with the counterculture (one of the first proposals for a film adaptation came from none other than Music/TheBeatles), and "Frodo Lives" and "Go Go Gandalf" became popular slogans among left-wing activists. Tolkien, a conservative Oxford philologist and a devout Catholic, had [[https://web.archive.org/web/20080608180327/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1003803-1,00.html mixed feelings]] about this, dismissing his books' hippie fandom as "my deplorable cultus" and remarking that "many young Americans are involved in the stories in a way that I'm not" but [[https://bookmarks.reviews/c-s-lewis-w-h-auden-and-edmund-wilson-on-the-lord-of-the-rings/ admitting]] that he was ticked by the fact that he had become a cult figure within his lifetime.

* This is why Hong Kong {{martial arts movie}}s gained such a [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff large African-American fandom]] in TheSeventies. Not only were they some of the few stories about non-white heroes playing on the big screen, but many of these movies were about commoners learning secret techniques to become badasses and fight back against The Man. As such, a generation of young Black men watching these films in inner-city grindhouse theaters connected the protagonists' militant struggle to their own lives in the era of Black Power. American films like ''Film/TheLastDragon'' and ''Film/TheManWithTheIronFists'' that fused Hong Kong action with {{Blaxploitation}} would later emerge from this fandom and nostalgia for it, as did the name and martial arts stylings of the HipHop group the Music/WuTangClan.

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "The Outcast" involved a OneGenderRace who produce asexually and appear largely androgynous. One named Soren falls in love with Riker, who reciprocates, and desired to be considered feminine. This was heretical to the culture, telling Soren they are mistaken and assign them to [[DownerEnding a rehabilitation treatment]]. The episode was intended to be a discussion of homosexuality and the stigma in society, but at the time was considered to have missed the mark through a number of unfortunate choices[[note]]The genderless society was largely played by women with short haircuts, making their judgement of Soren come across as a council of {{Butch Lesbian}}s harassing their own. Similarly, Soren was played by an actress as it would have been a difficult sell to have Riker fall in love with a male actor, but such a move would have improved the message[[/note]]. As transgender rights became a bigger topic, Soren's desire to affirm the gender they feel closer to changed much of the tone.

** The Éowyn subplot can remind western readers of the story of UsefulNotes/JoanOfArc. To Chinese readers, Éowyn's story can easily be seen as a version of the story of [[Franchise/{{Mulan}} Hua Mulan]].

** While Tolkien staunchly opposed the Nazis and especially their racial theories, his [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolkien_and_race overall record]] on the subject of race and ethnicity is far more complicated than simple opposition to racism and [[FairForItsDay reflects many of the prevailing values of his time]]. This is especially true when it came to how he wrote [[OurOrcsAreDifferent the orcs]], who have often been interpreted as a [[SpaceJews metaphor]] for the Japanese specifically and for Asian and African peoples more broadly. On one hand, this has brought his work in for criticism by more modern writers and critics, but on the other, it's also caused far-right activists to embrace it for the same reasons, seeing his stories as metaphors for attempts to maintain racial and cultural purity, spirituality, and traditional ways of life in the face of foreign invasion by a [[EqualOpportunityEvil multiethnic]] [[TheEmpire empire]] built on materialism and industrial might. In [[https://web.archive.org/web/20220921135005/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/21/world/europe/giorgia-meloni-lord-of-the-rings.html Italy,]] for example, many disillusioned right-wingers postwar (such as Elémire Zolla, who wrote the preface for an early Italian edition of the series) latched onto Tolkien's books as metaphorical for their own experiences in a world where their values were rejected and opposed by society, and by TheSeventies they had become a major component of not just the Italian ''Lord of the Rings'' fandom but the nation's fantasy fandom in general. Giorgia Meloni, Italy's nationalist prime minister, is [[https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3p59m/italy-giorgia-meloni-lord-of-the-rings a massive fan]] of the series and frequently makes reference to it in her speeches.

** While Tolkien staunchly opposed the Nazis and especially their racial theories, he was otherwise [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolkien_and_race a man of his time]] on the subject of race and ethnicity. This is especially true when it came to how he wrote [[OurOrcsAreDifferent the orcs]], who have often been interpreted as a [[SpaceJews metaphor]] for the Japanese specifically and for Asian and African peoples more broadly. On one hand, this has brought his work in for criticism by more modern writers and critics, but on the other, it's also caused far-right activists to embrace it for the same reasons, seeing his stories as metaphors for attempts to maintain racial and cultural purity, spirituality, and traditional ways of life in the face of foreign invasion by a [[EqualOpportunityEvil multiethnic]] [[TheEmpire empire]] built on materialism and industrial might. In [[https://web.archive.org/web/20220921135005/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/21/world/europe/giorgia-meloni-lord-of-the-rings.html Italy,]] for example, many disillusioned right-wingers postwar (such as Elémire Zolla, who wrote the preface for an early Italian edition of the series) latched onto Tolkien's books as metaphorical for their own experiences in a world where their values were rejected and opposed by society, and by TheSeventies they had become a major component of not just the Italian ''Lord of the Rings'' fandom but the nation's fantasy fandom in general. Giorgia Meloni, Italy's nationalist prime minister, is [[https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3p59m/italy-giorgia-meloni-lord-of-the-rings a massive fan]] of the series and frequently makes reference to it in her speeches.

* Creator/JRRTolkien always denied [[Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium his Middle-earth works]] being an allegory for anything, but said that because they were so archetypal and universal (literally a lost mythology), their stories and themes could be compared and ''applied'' to many real/historical stories and issues. It's one of the reasons why ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' is so difficult to pigeonhole and figure out what the theme is -- he didn't put any obvious one in. Once, when pressed, he responded that ''The Lord of the Rings'' was about "Death and the desire for deathlessness. Which is hardly more than to say it is a tale written by a Man!" -- meaning that fear of death is the ultimate reason humans do ''anything''. This explains why people from a wide spectrum of viewpoints tend to read the same book and yet get widely different interpretations of the theme of the book. This lack of an obvious theme also makes it hard for some readers to get into the books because they expect the books [[{{Anvilicious}} to clearly show what theme it is]].

** [[Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower The Amazon show]] struggles with the FlipFlopOfGod about Middle-earth being and not being a representation of modern-day world, or simply a fantasy world without ulterior parallelisms. Both lines of argumentation can be found regarding the casting choices, the usage of [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything political allegory in the case of Numenorians fearing that the Elves are there to steal their trades and lands]], and the debate around [[https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio/2022/09/13/rings-of-power-why-are-the-harfoots-hungry-simpletons-with-stage-irish-accents-we-ask-the-showrunners/ the perceived Irish stereotypes in the hobbits]].

* The plot of ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'' has often been read in more recent times as a satire of [[PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy cultural appropriation]]. Jack Skellington, fascinated with the customs of Christmas but not understanding the context behind them, poorly recreates those customs by treating them like his own frightening Halloween traditions, and in doing so utterly butchers the meaning of Christmas and ruins the holiday.

** Romero cast the Black actor Duane Jones as TheHero [[spoiler:and gave him a DownerEnding where, after winding up as the SoleSurvivor, he gets tragically mistaken for a zombie and killed by a White VigilanteMilitia, in a scene that reminded many viewers of both lynchings and the recent assassinations of UsefulNotes/MartinLutherKingJr and UsefulNotes/MalcolmX]]. While Romero insisted that the casting was colorblind, the interpretation that this was a commentary on the harm done by racism flowed easily from there.