History Main / FlippantForgiveness

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' has Donkey calling out Shrek for his behavior towards him, so Shrek (who, due to OutOfContextEavesdropping, thought that Fiona was confiding to Donkey that she finds Shrek repulsive[[note]][[spoiler:she was actually talking about herself]][[/note]]) cuts him off by saying, "You're right, Donkey, I forgive you...FOR STABBING ME IN THE BACK!"

--> '''Catholic Schoolboy:''' Holy Father, I bring dreadful news. [[PaedophilePriest A monk at my school has repeatedly attempted to molest me]].

* Luo Hao in ''LightNovel/{{Campione}}'' frequently forgives her opponents and allies for what she deems to be insults, weakness, or challenges to her dominance. She is so overwhelmingly arrogant that she views her forgiveness as a true gift. As an example, she has graciously allowed Godou's harem the privilege of looking at her without needing to then gouge out their own eyes for their impertinence.

--> '''Catholic Schoolboy:''' Holy Father, I bring dreadful news. [[PaedophilePriest A monk at my school has attempted to abuse me sexually]].

-->-- '''[[UsefulNotes/GermanHumour A German joke]]'''

* ''Literature/AnneOfGreenGables'': Hazel to Anne in ''Anne Of Windy Poplars'' in her parting letter.

* In one episode of ''Series/GirlMeetsWorld,'' Cory has his class write forgiveness letters. Cory probably expected they'd start out as this trope, but once the grudges are out in the open, they do start to find closure on them.
** Riley "forgives" Auggie for biting the face off her cherished childhood bear, then admits her hypocrisy when he ''doesn't'' respond with a sincere apology and acknowledgement that she was being the bigger person for forgiving him. Eventually, she admits she's being silly for holding the grudge, and Auggie admits that he ''isn't'' sorry because he was jealous of the attention she gave the bear. Riley then genuinely apologizes to him over the whole thing.
** The other boys "forgive" Farkle for spoiling movies. He takes offense, but he does promise to stop doing it. It takes him less than five minutes into the next movie to start doing it again. When they call him out on it in class, he admits that he feels his smarts are the only thing he has to contribute to a relationship, and quickly figuring out how a movie is going to end is one way to demonstrate that. The boys accept it, but refuse to go to movies with him anymore. The girls accept it with open arms and agree to continue going to the movies with him.
* In one episode of ''Series/GameShakers'', Kenzie accused Babe of getting the editor to do an article about her instead of them as a team and felt unwanted. Although she refused to apologizes as she believed she didn't do anything wrong, Kenzie does take Trip advice about going to talk with Bade and work out their disagreement. However, seeing that Bade temporally replaced her, Kenzie felt she wasn't welcomed anymore. Through Double G, Babe decided to make things right with Kenzie. After being fired at her temporally job, Kenzie took Babe standing up to her as an apology, instead of apologizing to her for wrongfully accusing her for something she didn't do.

* In the ''[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Simpsons]]'' episode, "The Nedliest Catch", Homer convinces Ned that Edna's previous sexual encounters should not break Ned and Edna up when they were such a perfect couple. Ned invites Edna over to his place to apologize for freaking out, and then announces his forgiveness. They come down to a MakeUpOrBreakUp and...that's the end of the season. The viewers vote for which happens. [[spoiler: The viewers voted that they should stay together]].

->''"Okay. Look. We both said a lot of things that you're going to regret. But I think we can put our differences behind us. For science. You monster."''
-->-- '''SelfDemonstrating/{{GLaDOS}}''', ''Videogame/{{Portal 2}}''

-->'''Jules:''' Oh' I'm sorry. Did I break your concentration?

-->'''Jules:''' Oh' I'm sorry. Did I break your concentration?\\

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' has Donkey calling out Shrek for his behavior towards him, so Shrek cuts him off by saying, "You're right, Donkey, I forgive you...FOR STABBING ME IN THE BACK!"

->''"Okay. Look. We both said a lot of things that you're going to regret. But I think we can put our differences behind us. [[ForScience For science]]. [[YouMonster You monster]]."''

* In Book Two (''Literature/FoolMoon'') of ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', Lt. Karrin Murphy shoots in Harry's direction to save him from some crazy who was about to kill him. Harry, who was facing the opposite way at the time, hadn't seen his attacker and thought she shot at ''him'' instead, because she doubted his loyalties. However, he ''had'' previously betrayed her trust, so he decides he can't blame her for thinking him a bad guy and he forgives her for shooting him. Murphy thinks he's a big idiot for thinking that way, and lets him know it.
** It should say something that the moment was [[CrowningMomentOfheartwarming enough to restore their friendship]]. Yup, they're VitriolicBestBuds to the finest.
* Hazel to Anne in ''[[Literature/AnneOfGreenGables Anne Of Windy Poplars]]'' in her parting letter.

--> '''John:''' ''(after Sherlock [[TheWatson explains clues]])'' Why didn't I think of that?
--> '''Sherlock:''' Because you're an idiot. ''*John opens mouth to retaliate*'' No no no, don't be like that, [[InsufferableGenius practically everybody is]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' has Donkey calling out Shrek for his behavior towards him, so Shrek cuts him off by saying, "Okay, Donkey, I forgive you...FOR STABBING ME IN THE BACK!"

-->'''[=GLaDOS=]:''' Okay. Look. We both said a lot of things that you're going to regret. But I think we can put our differences behind us. For science. You monster.

* Taken to a global scale in ''Film/{{Amadeus}}''. Salieri attempts to establish himself as TheMessiah, claiming the events of the movie as his sacrifice:

* Rare non-funny example from ''WesternAnimation/TheLastUnicorn'':
-->'''Molly:''' If you had been waiting to see a unicorn, as long as I have...\\
'''Schmendrick:''' She's the last unicorn in the world.\\
'''Molly:''' It would be the last unicorn that came to Molly Grue. It's all right, I forgive you.

->''"I trust you implicitly, thieving child."''
-->-- '''Joey''', ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries''

Sometimes there is genuine misunderstanding somewhere in there. Sometimes Bob is just [[LiteralMinded taking Alice too literally]]. Sometimes he's [[CompletelyMissingThePoint really]] ''[[CompletelyMissingThePoint that]]'' [[CompletelyMissingThePoint clueless]]. Sometimes he [[CannotTellAJoke just thinks he's being funny]]. Sometimes he's genuinely being a {{Jerkass}}. This doesn't need to be intentional-- it's only necessary that Alice interpret it this way: he has no authority to "lift blame" off her when whatever happened was not her fault in the first place, or it's something that's not even a real offense. [[PlayedForLaughs That's why it's funny]].

Other times, if the person being "forgiven" actually did apologize to the "forgiver", this could be used as a passive-aggressive way to accuse someone of BackhandedApology.

Still other times it's used when the "forgiver" is skeptical of the apologizer's sincerity. Done the right way, this form of forgiveness is one to which the recipient '''can't''' take offense without ''ipso facto'' admitting that [[FridgeBrilliance their apology was insincere]].

Compare with BackhandedApology. Compare ForgivenButNotForgotten if the forgiveness is more grudging than sarcastic. See also {{Forgiveness}}.

* ''{{Shrek}}'': "All right, Donkey. I forgive you... for stabbing me in the back!"
* ''MonstersVsAliens'': After dumping her earlier, Derek returns to Susan to forgive ''her'', because "it wasn't your fault you got hit by a meteor and ruined everything."

* From ''Film/{{Casablanca}}'':
-->'''Ugarte:''' You are a very cynical person, Rick, if you'll forgive me for saying so.\\
'''Rick:''' I forgive you.
* In ''Film/CoolAsIce'', Kathy's fiancee watches her dance with Vanilla Ice at a party, and afterward takes her aside and forgives her for it. This is meant to be seen by the audience as evidence that he's a pompous asshole and she'd be better off dumping him for Ice.

* A chilling example in Luis Buñuel's ''Viridiana''; when Viridiana tells Mother Superior that she won't be completing her vows, she begs the Mother for forgiveness. Mother Superior says "You are forgiven" in the coldest voice possible and never speaks to her again.

* Hazel to Anne in [[Literature/AnneOfGreenGables Anne Of Windy Poplars]] in her parting letter.

* From ''ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'':

* From ''TheGoonShow'':

* From the Music/{{Queen}} musical ''Theatre/WeWillRockYou'':
-->'''Scaramouche:''' Don't blame yourself, Gazza. It's not your fault.\\
'''Galileo:''' Thanks, Scaramouche.\\
'''Scaramouche:''' I mean it's not your fault you're a spineless, gutless, whinging litle crybaby!

* From ''{{Casablanca}}'':

* In ''CoolAsIce'', Kathy's fiancee watches her dance with Vanilla Ice at a party, and afterward takes her aside and forgives her for it. This is meant to be seen by the audience as evidence that he's a pompous asshole and she'd be better off dumping him for Ice.
* In ''TheLostWorldJurassicPark'', Dr. Malcolm lets Peter Ludlow know that "when you try to sound like Hammond, it comes off as a hustle. I mean, it's not your fault. They say talent skips a generation. So, I'm sure your kids will be sharp as tacks."

* From ''YouveGotMail'':

* From the {{Queen}} musical ''WeWillRockYou'':

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode, "The Nedliest Catch", Homer convinces Ned that Edna's previous sexual encounters should not break Ned and Edna up when they were such a perfect couple. Ned invites Edna over to his place to apologize for freaking out, and then announces his forgiveness. They come down to a MakeUpOrBreakUp and...that's the end of the season. The viewers vote for which happens. [[spoiler: The viewers voted that they should stay together]].

* In Book Two of ''TheDresdenFiles'', Lt. Karrin Murphy shoots in Harry's direction to save him from some crazy who was about to kill him. Harry, who was facing the opposite way at the time, hadn't seen his attacker and thought she shot at ''him'' instead, because she doubted his loyalties. However, he ''had'' previously betrayed her trust, so he decides he can't blame her for thinking him a bad guy and he forgives her for shooting him. Murphy thinks he's a big idiot for thinking that way, and lets him know it.