History Main / CommendedForPushback

Compare to DefeatMeansRespect. See also InsurrectionistInheritor, where the authority figure wants a successor who's prepared to stand up to them.

* ''Film/{{Contact}}''. Ellie, the protagonist. The potential funder S.R. Hadden, instead of taking offense when she flips her lid at a meeting with his short-sighted employees, is so impressed with her passion he writes her a check.

* ''Film//{{Contact}}''. Ellie, the protagonist. The potential funder S.R. Hadden, instead of taking offense when she flips her lid at a meeting with his short-sighted employees, is so impressed with her passion he writes her a check.

** In the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS7E11ThePegasus The Pegasus]]", Captain Picard reveals that the reason that he chose Riker to be his first officer is an incident that happened when Riker was serving on another ship. During a crisis, Riker's previous captain wanted to beam down, but Riker refused to let him leave the ship. He disobeyed a direct order and risked a court martial to protect the ship. Picard was impressed by that, he didn't want a YesMan, he wanted someone who would put the mission above his own career.
** In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E26S5E1Redemption Redemption]]", several ships, with Enterprise crew members temporarily in command, are doing a blockade on the Klingon-Romulan border to prove that the Romulans are supplying the Klingon rebels. When Captain Picard commands the ship to move forwards, Data instead lays a trap to expose them. He subsequently goes before Picard, on his own accord, for a disciplinary hearing for disobeying him. Instead, Picard commends him.

Sub-trope of GrewASpine. Often comes in conjunction with TheDogBitesBack, TeachHimAnger, and CallingTheOldManOut. Can sometimes be an example of SecretTestOfCharacter if the authority is testing the hero out.

* ''WesternAnimation/PussInBootsTheLastWish'': When Puss makes it clear to Death that he is not afraid of him anymore, and that he will never stop fighting for his last life, Death spares Puss out of respect, admitting Puss is not as arrogant as he was before.

!!Examples:

-->'''The Wolf:''' What would you have done, had I told you there was to be yet more waiting?
-->Gorion seemed to think his words over. When he spoke again, he put his hand on his boarding axe.
-->'''Gorion:''' Then we'd have looked for a new captain to lead the fleet. Emissary of the true gods or not.
-->'''The Wolf:''' Excellent! The pack that follows a toothless wolf soon starves.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

-->'''Madame Zolta:''' You will wither away and die!
-->'''Cathy:''' You're a fool if you think that! I can live my life without dancing, and happily too--''so go to hell, Madame Zolta!''
-->'''Madame Zolta:''' ''[suddenly smiles]'' Ah? you have spirit. I was wondering if you did. Tell me to go to hell, it is nice to hear. [?] I only needed to know what you are made of. A dancer without fire is no dancer at all.

-->'''Steinbrenner:''' Nice to meet you.
-->'''Costanza:''' Well, I wish I could say the same, but with all due respect, I find it very hard to see the logic behind some of the moves you've made with this fine organization. For the past several years you have caused myself and the city of New York a good deal of distress as we watched you take our beloved Yankees and reduced them to a laughingstock. All for the glorification of your massive ego.
-->'''Steinbrenner:''' Hire this man!

* In ''Videogame/ForHonor'', Apollyon runs the Blackstone Legion in this manner. Those willing to fight and struggle even when defeated or captured are "wolves" who are commended and allowed to live, while those who surrender and accept their fate are "sheep" to be slaughtered. When a group of deserters is captured, she waits until several of them attack her and has them physically restrained, executes the remainder for meekly surrendering, then allows the ones who tried to kill her to rejoin the Legion. Later on, when a group of Vikings is captured, she has the prisoners executed except for one who continues struggling and fighting and who slew a number of her knights. Apollyon declares that it would be a waste to simply kill him, praises his ferocity and tenacity, and orders the Viking warrior to be set free.

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': In "Mr. Universe", Greg tells Steven of his decision to take off and leave his old life, including his conservative parents, behind and never look back. Steven is incensed by his attitude, calling him out for not giving his family a chance or [[IJustWantToBeNormal giving him at least a semblance of a normal life]], until he accidentally crashes the van. Afterward, Greg tries to lighten the mood by commending him for speaking his mind, saying that he wished he had the guts to tell his dad off like that, but by now, [[BrokenPedestal Steven won't have any of it]].

[[folder:Films - Animation]]

[[folder:Films - Live-Action]]

* ''Series/TheBrittasEmpire'': In "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS5E6Pregnant Pregnant!]]", when Brittas demands Tim to [[TakeOffYourClothes take off his clothes]] to prove that he was a woman, Gavin leaps to the defense of his boyfriend by punching his boss in the face. However, as it turns out, Brittas approved of that - apparently, he thought Gavin was "a bit girly", and to him, Gavin leaping to Tim's defense disproved this in his eyes. As such, he decides to officially make Gavin, who had been training for a career in Management at that point, his new Deputy Manager.
* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'': George Costanza got this from [[OneSteveLimit George Steinbrenner]] when he interviewed for a job with the New York Yankees and gave Steinbrenner a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech.
-->'''Steinbrenner''': Nice to meet you.
-->'''Costanza''': Well, I wish I could say the same, but with all due respect, I find it very hard to see the logic behind some of the moves you've made with this fine organization. For the past several years you have caused myself and the city of New York a good deal of distress as we watched you take our beloved Yankees and reduced them to a laughingstock. All for the glorification of your massive ego.
-->'''Steinbrenner''': Hire this man!

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': In the episode "T.: The Terrestrial", Lrrr's son Jrrr befriends Fry, who is stranded on Omicron Persei 8. Lrrr finds out and tells Jrrr to kill his friend. After running away, Jrrr stands up to his father and refuses to kill Fry. Lrrr says that standing up to him was pretty manly.
* ''WesternAnimation/Rugrats1991'': In "Jonathan Babysits", Jonathan wants revenge on Charlotte (his boss) for how demanding she is towards him, so he looks for something to blackmail her with. He finds an [[EmbarrassingOldPhoto unflattering videotape of Charlotte in her bathrobe and hair curlers]], but when Charlotte learns about this, she decides to give him a promotion because she feels like she's underestimated him.

** In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E26S5E1Redemption Redemption]]", several ships, with Enterprise crew members temporarily in command, are doing a blockade on the Klingon-Romulan border to prove that the Romulans are supplying the Klingon rebels. When Captain Picard commands the ship to move forwards, Data instead lays a trap to expose them. When he subsequently goes before Picard, on his own accord, for a disciplinary hearing for disobeying him. Instead, Picard commends him.

When a character has an arc of growing in confidence, they have a moment where they speak up to the authority figure in their life (a parent or their boss being the two most likely examples) and usually gives them a TheReasonYouSuck speech, or defies what the authority has been telling them to do. The authority figure acknowledges that the person has grown and changed, and is proud of them. They may give them a promotion or a statement of encouragement to show it.

Compare to DefeatMeansFriendship, which is the same concept applied to physically beating someone in battle. See also InsurrectionistInheritor, where the authority figure wants a successor who's prepared to stand up to them.

* In ''Videogame/ForHonor'', Apollyon runs the Blackstone Legion in this manner. Those willing to fight and struggle even when defeated or captured are "wolves" who are allowed to live, while those who surrender and accept their fate are "sheep" to be slaughtered. When a group of deserters is captured, she waits until several of them attack her and has them physically restrained, executes the remainder for meekly surrendering, then allows the ones who tried to kill her to rejoin the Legion. Later on, when a group of Vikings is captured, she has the prisoners executed except for one who continues struggling and fighting and who slew a number of her knights.

* ''Film/ViolentNight'': When Mr. Scrooge and his henchmen discover that the vault containing the family fortune is empty, Jason reveals that he had stolen it before the family was taken hostage. He was fed up with his mother, Gertrude, not giving him the respect he deserved and stolen the money in order to escape her influence. Gertrude, however, deems the theft an act worthy of earning her respect.

* ''Literature/DollangangerSeries'': In ''Literature/PetalsOnTheWind'', the head of a ballet company, Madame Zolta, deliberately provokes one of her dancer, Cathy, into screaming her at her that she quits. Madame Zolta wants to see if Cathy has claws.

--> '''Steinbrenner''': Nice to meet you.
--> '''Costanza''': Well I wish I could say the same, but with all due respect, I find it very hard to see the logic behind some of the moves you've made with this fine organization. For the past several years you have caused myself and the city of New York a good deal of distress as we watched you take our beloved Yankees and reduced them to a laughing stock. All for the glorification of your massive ego.
--> '''Steinbrenner''': Hire this man!

** In the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS7E11ThePegasus The Pegasus]]", Captain Picard reveals that the reason that he chose Riker to be his first officer is as incident that happened when Riker was serving on another ship. During a crisis, Riker's previous captain wanted to beam down, but Riker refused to let him leave the ship. He disobeyed a direct order and risked a court martial to protect the ship. Picard was impressed by that, he didn't want a YesMan, he wanted someone who would put the mission above his own career.
** In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E26S5E1Redemption Redemption]]", several ships, with Enterprise crew members temporarily in command, are doing a blockade on the Klingon-Romulan border to prove that the Romulans are supplying the Klingon rebels. When Captain Picard commands the ship to move forwards, Data in stead lays a trap to expose them. When he subsequently goes before Picard, on his own accord, for a disciplinary hearing for disobeying him. In stead, Picard commends him.

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