History Main / NotSoCrazyAnymore

* How about a MontyPython sketch about [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK92NYwBMts furries]]?

** This is made HilariousinHindsight when one considers Greece's 120 billion bail-out package.

** This is made HilariousinHindsight when once considers the 120 billion bail-out package to Greece.

** There's ''another one'' (the man has a lot of these) where he notes that he's bugged by beer commercials that show off fields of wheat. One of the most integral parts of beer is hops, but he says that beer commercials would never show off hops trees/buds, because the fact that beer is made from ''flowers'' would be too ''unmanly.'' Of course, now Samuel Adams beer makes a very big deal out of the fact that they use lots of hops in their beer (and, yes, even show off the trees in bloom).

When an idea is originally presented in a work of fiction, the creators probably thought it was the most insane, off the wall suggestion possible. But due to the influence of ValuesDissonance over time, the ideas presented, whether they be from a mental patient, a StrawmanPolitical, or just a cultural trend of the future that shows how low we've sunk, seem outright reasonable. In any case, the original author certainly didn't think so.

* ''DemolitionMan'' presents the absolutely absurd idea that ArnoldSchwarzenegger became President of the USA... and when the main character asks how it happened, they say that he became Governor of California first. It's still be unconstitutional for an immigrant to be president, though. (TheEconomist magazine from proposed a change in that law, for that very reason, although they may have only been half serious.) In the movie there was a Constitutional Amendment made specifically to let him in.

* TomLehrer wrote a song called "George Murphy" in 1965, a satiric mockery of an ex-showtunes star turned (Republican) senator and his statements about importing cheap Mexican labour to displace American farmers. Twenty years later, RonaldReagan was president and illegal immigration "taking jobs from Americans" had become a hot topic with the Republican party taking the forefront of anti-immigration policies.

Can often be a Forgotten Trope, since when done subtly enough, the viewer may not notice anything strange at all. Chances are, the original author would probably either be profoundly disturbed or at the very least bothered by the extreme change in cultural mores.

* ''{{Fahrenheit 451}}'' falls into Forgotten Trope territory. The TV sets in the movie were, in context of the fifties, ridiculously gigantic, and viewers would just look at them in awe of how unnecessarily large and room centering they are. Today, [=TV=]s of such size are commonplace, and this is not something a modern viewer is likely to catch on to without knowledge of the original context.
** The small, white, hand-sized music players that everyone owned. That they used to close out the world outside. Ray Bradbury himself commented on this around the century-shift.
* Similarily, the ubiquitous cell phones in ''{{Clueless}}'' were meant to show how spoiled and wealthy the teenage characters were. Nowadays, people are more likely to be weirded out by the phones' size and outdated design rather than their presence.

* On ''DastardlyAndMuttleyInTheirFlyingMachines'', Dick Dastardly had essentially the World War I version of the cell phone. The short "Ice See You" implies that it's a ''video'' cell phone.
** DickTracy had a seemingly far-fetched wristwatch video cellphone called the 'Two-Way Wrist TV' that looked fantastical at the time, but now...
** In a similar bit of cellphone silliness, the first scene of ''GetSmart'' (the 1965 series) involves the ''absolutely crazy'' idea of a phone going off in a movie theater.
*** An even more extreme example is a 1920 British newspaper cartoon which considers the impact of mobile phones (which had just been announced as a possibility in the future) and has them going off during weddings, in theatres, etc... OlderThanTheyThink, indeed!

* ''The Mote in God's Eye'' featured a parody of wine snobs, a "coffee connoisseur". When it was published, in the 1970s, the idea of someone taking coffee that seriously was inherently comical.

* ''{{Gasaraki}}'' managed to do this ''three'' times, first with the US invading a Middle Eastern country similar to Iraq on the basis of them having weapons of mass destruction (which turned out never to have existed), the use of unmanned flying drones becoming popular for use in the army, and the idea that the US could be nearly crippled by a global economic collapse. The only thing that hasn't happened yet is the MiniMecha for use in urban combat.
* When FrankZappa released ''We're Only in It for the Money'' a lot of people thought he had JumpedTheShark due to the number of songs describing police killing hippies. Less than three years later, National Guardsmen shot and killed four students at Kent State University.
* The novel ''ATaleOfTimeCity'' features a 42nd-century treat called a "butter-pie." It is essentially a chilled cake on a stick, with a warm, buttery center. Not long after the book's writing, the "lava cake" became popular--a cake with a solid exterior and molten interior. The only true difference between the two is the stick.
* How about a MontyPython sketch about [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK92NYwBMts furries]]?
* In a 1998 installment of the web humor column [[http://www.bookofratings.com/ The Book of Ratings]], the "Mystical Creatures" rating contains a sarcastic quip about vampires going the way of the unicorn: "If it hasn't happened already, in a few months look for airbrushed posters of sad vampires in Wal-Marts everywhere, and in a decade look for female college students saying to each other "Were you into vampires when you were nine? Me too! We were such dorks!" Yeah, um, [[Literature/{{Twilight}} about that...]]
** In an even earlier Rating for "Constellations," he complains about the names of Ursa Major and Ursa Minor: "The Big Bear and the Little Bear sounds like a heartwarming Disney feature." [[BrotherBear About that too...]]
** There's ''another one'' (the man has a lot of these) where he notes that he's bugged by beer commercials that show off fields of wheat. One of the most integral parts of beer is hops, but he says that beer commercials would never show off hops trees/buds, because the fact that beer is made from ''flowers'' would be too ''unmanly.'' Of course, now Samuel Adams beer makes a very big deal out of the fact that they use lots of hops in their beer (and, yes, even show off the trees in bloom).

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* In a 1998 installment of the web humor column [[http://www.bookofratings.com/ The Book of Ratings]], the "Mystical Creatures" rating contains a sarcastic quip about vampires going the way of the unicorn: "If it hasn't happened already, in a few months look for airbrushed posters of sad vampires in Wal-Marts everywhere, and in a decade look for female college students saying to each other "Were you into vampires when you were nine? Me too! We were such dorks!" Yeah, um, [[{{Twilight}} about that...]]

* In a similar vein, ''{{Heathers}}'' got made in the first place only because the idea of outcast high schoolers killing each other was considered patently absurd. Post-{{Columbine}}, the movie turns into one giant FunnyAneurysmMoment, and nearly veers into DudeNotFunny.

* In the ''{{Coneheads}}'' film, overzealous INS agent Gorman Seedling suggests building an electrical fence along the border of Mexico to keep out illegal immigrants. His superiors gently rebuke them while putting on their best "Is this guy INSANE?" look. [[http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/20060713_electric_fence_border/ Well...]]

* The novel ''ATaleOfTimeCity'' feartures a fourty-second century treat called a "Butter-pie." It is essentially a chilled cake on a stick, with a warm, buttery center. Not long after the book's writing, the "lava cake" became popular--a cake with a solid exterior and molten interior. The only true difference between the two is the stick.

** Given there are now patents out for crustless sealed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (Smuckers owns it), as well as several other things, and Donald Trump applied to trademark "You're Fired", I think it's a bit further than genetic engineering at this point. The US patent system is basically just [[GameBreaker ''broken'']].
** That may be, but patents and trademarks are two distinct legal concepts, and have little to do with each other. Trademark law is, for the most part, not especially broken, abuses like the Edge and Stealth trademarks aside.

*** One thing this modern reader picked up on, in the book anyway, was that the room didn't contain three [=TVs=], one along each wall. The room WAS three [=TVs=], one ''comprising'' each wall. Ludicrous even by modern standards (for now).

* A scene from the first ''AustinPowers'' movie plays on this deliberately: Dr. Evil holds the world for ransom for one million dollars -- then, seeing everyone's reaction, changes it to one ''billion'' dollars. His threats are to blow a hole in the ozone layer, increasing the level of skin cancer; and making it look like members of the {{British royal family}} are involved in sex scandals.

** Not quite forgotten, as in the book there are also three [=TVs=], one on each wall. That is still something the modern reader won't have.
*** Hey now, don't be giving people any ideas.
** Hey, don't forget the small, white, hand-sized music players that everyone owned. That they used to close out the world outside. Ray Bradbury himself commented on this around the century-shift.

* Like the quote at the top of this page, a scene from the first ''AustinPowers'' movie plays on this deliberately: Dr. Evil holds the world for ransom for one million dollars -- then, seeing everyone's reaction, changes it to one ''billion'' dollars. His threats are to blow a hole in the ozone layer, increasing the level of skin cancer; and making it look like members of the {{British royal family}} are involved in sex scandals.
* ''DemolitionMan'' presents the absolutely absurd idea that ArnoldSchwarzenegger became President of the USA... and when the main character asks how it happened, they say that he became Governor of California first.
** It's still be unconstitutional for an immigrant to be president.
*** Which didn't stop TheEconomist magazine from proposing a change in that law, for that very reason, although they may have only been half serious.
*** In the movie there was a Constitutional Amendment made specifically to let him in.

** DickTracy had a seemingly far-fetched wristwatch video cellphone called the ?Two-Way Wrist TV? that looked fantastical at the time, but now it's of course? Oh, wait, we [[IWantMyJetPack still don't have those]].
*** We only don't have those because it's so inconveniently shaped, not because we can't fit all the electronics inside a watch.
*** [[ScienceMarchesOn Yes we do]]. I have a Two-way video phone that also picks up television signals and surfs the internet. Of course, I live in Japan (and no, it isn't an iPhone or iAnything).
*** And the original invention was a two way wrist-RADIO, with what was essentially was a GPS! Far-fetched for wrist-sized item at the time but now...
** In a similar bit of cellphone silliness, the first scene of ''GetSmart'' (the 1965 series) involves the ''absolutely crazy'' idea of a phone going off in a movie theater. (This editor was tempted to go see the remake just so he could set off his cellphone at the beginning)

** Given there are now patents out for crustless sealed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (Smuckers owns it), as well as several other things, and Donald Trump applied to trademark "You're Fired", I think it's a bit further than genetic engineering at this point. The US patent system is basically just ''broken''.