History Main / SavingTheWorldWithArt

* In ''Literature/TheOneAndOnlyIvan'', the gorilla Ivan, kept in a small enclosure in a [[CrappyCarnival circus-themed mall]], wants to prevent an orphaned baby elephant from having to grow up in these circumstances. Being unable to leave his enclosure, Ivan's only outlet is art - he's given paper and fingerpaints so that the mall's owner can sell them. Ivan agonizes over this for a while, sees a commercial for a zoo, and [[AmplifiedAnimalAptitude pushes his capacities to the limit]] - he NeverLearnedToRead, being a gorilla, but he can see the billboard for the mall and has heard that it says "Home To The One And Only Ivan", so he tries to paint an image of the green, pleasant zoo with the baby elephant in it and the word HOME. An artistic child who sympathizes with him is after some prompting able to tell that it's representational and advocates for people to see it. Whether or not others can tell what he's trying to portray, this gets a lot more attention paid to the mall, and Ivan and the young elephant are indeed taken to a zoo as a result.

Given that MostWritersAreWriters, it's likely that this trope is a influenced by the the fact that they work in an artistic field, which they no doubt see as being important and influential.

* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', John plays the song showtime using a planet for an organ, he takes the land of wind and shade[[spoiler:out of continuity, with Roxy on it]], allowing him time to alter the [[spoiler:alpha]] timeline enough to gain a fighting chance at victory.The song is quite moving and is found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTpm_sDz62M.

* This was the theme of Music/HarryConnickJr's ''Star Turtle'' -- along with "Follow the Music", a poem about music succeeding where other methods fail, there's also an overarching story of the titular Star Turtle gathering Earth's music to save his dying planet.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': Inverted with the art collective known as ''are we cool yet?'', who are responsible for several art installations that are now in SCP custody, some of which having the potential to destroy the world, while others are more mundanely dangerous, like [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1057 the invisible, shark-shaped mass of water that is still solid enough to eat people.]]

* ''VideoGame/JetGrindRadio'' is about rollerskating around and tagging over the graffiti of other roller gangs. Halfway through the game, there's a shift and you start tagging the art of the [[EvilInc Rokkaku Group]], becoming TheLastDJ and resisting the evil group. In the end, you manage to defeat the final boss [[spoiler: who is a demon summoned by the CorruptCorporateExecutive]] using nothing but your graffiti.

** The second book of ''Literature/TheLockedTomb'' series, ''Literature/HarrowTheNinth,'' throws this in at the end of the main subplot. Since the final battle against [[GeneralRipper the Sleeper]] takes place in [[spoiler:the River, an afterlife dimension that can be shaped by certain spirits,]] Ortus Nigenad manages to defeat the Sleeper by reading his [[TheEpic epic poetry]] about ancient heroic swordsman Matthias Nonius, which summons Matthias' spirit to fight for him. Notably, as the descriptions of his heroism become stronger and more detailed in the poetry, his spirit becomes stronger in the fight.

* ''Film/{{Hero}}'', the {{wuxia}} film, has the heroes and AntiVillain realize the error of their ways by appreciating the calligraphy of Broken Sword.

* ''Film/LadyInTheWater'': The protagonist must save a writer [[MartyStu whose work will cause world peace and harmony]]. Said writer is played by, of course, Creator/MNightShyamalan.
* ''Film/{{Hero}}'', the {{wuxia}} film, has the heroes and AntiVillain realize the error of their ways by appreciating the calligraphy of Broken Sword.

!!Examples

* In issue 6 of ''Comicbook/{{Marville}}'', Al is on a MissionFromGod to prevent World War III, and apparently the best way to do this is to get a comic book publisher to publish the previous 5 issues. So Al pitches the series, which is [[UnreliableNarrator presented in an inaccurate recap]], but ultimately gets turned down.

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]
* The future in ''Film/BillAndTedsExcellentAdventure'' is apparently built on the rock and roll of Wyld Stallions. In this utopia, the air is clean, the water is clean, even the dirt is clean, bowling scores are way up, and minigolf scores are way down.
* ''Film/EmpireRecords'' ends with the teens planning a music concert to "damn the man, save The Empire", which will also raise enough funds to save the store.

* ''Film/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'' ends with Sgt. Pepper magically comes back to life and [[DeusExMachina restores Heartland back to the way it was, rewinds Billy Shears' suicide, and brings Strawberry Fields back to life]] by singing "Get Back."

* ''Film/LadyInTheWater'': The protagonist must save a writer [[MartyStu whose work will cause world peace and harmony]]. Said writer is played by, of course, Creator/MNightShyamalan.
* ''Film/{{Hero}}'', the {{wuxia}} film, has the heroes and AntiVillain realize the error of their ways by appreciating the calligraphy of Broken Sword.

** Inverted in ''Discworld/SoulMusic'', when Death plays the "empty chord" that sets the end of the universe in motion. Then played straight when the Music spares Imp so he can play the chord that ''started'' the universe again, preserving it.
** In ''Discworld/TheFifthElephant'', Lady Sybil sings the "Ransom" aria from the great dwarf opera ''Bloodax and Ironhammer'', charming every dwarf in Bonk and convincing them to let her husband deliver the Scone to the Low King in person. This not only allows Vimes to clear his own name, but averts a terrible underground war that would've torn dwarf society apart.
** In ''Discworld/{{Snuff}}'', Tears of the Mushroom's stunning harp performance convinces the elite of Ankh-Morpork and many visiting dignitaries that goblins like her are worthy of all the rights and legal protections extended to other sentient races. This saves her kind from ignominy, enslavement, and likely extinction.

* ''Literature/TheShahnameh'' is an epic Persian poem from the 10th century (making this trope OlderThanPrint) that tells the tale of Talhand and Gav, two half-brothers, who vie for the throne of Hind, but Talhand dies in battle against a mutual enemy without a wound. Their mother suspects that Gav killed him and threatens to start civil war. But then the sages of the court invent the game of Chess and use the piece movements to reenact the battle, ending with the King capturing several pieces and then ultimately being checkmated, thus representing how the half-brother died of battle fatigue. In the end, the mother was appeased and the game of Chess averted civil war.
** In a Meta example, the Shahnameh essentially saved the entire Iranian culture from being completely subsumed by Arab traditions. Ferdowsi made it cool to write in Persian again.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E2TheMindRobber "The Mind Robber"]]: The Doctor and TheMaster (not that one) are hooked up to a computer that makes fiction real. So the two of them fight... by telling a story.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E2TheShakespeareCode "The Shakespeare Code"]]: The world is saved by iambic pentameter and a ''Literature/HarryPotter'' quote.
** [[Recap/DoctorWho2010CSAChristmasCarol "A Christmas Carol"]] ends with the Doctor asking a teenage girl to sing to the fishes floating in the sky in order to calm the planet's atmosphere so that a spaceship can safely land instead of crashing into a widely populated city. ItMakesSenseInContext, at least as much as ''Doctor Who'' normally does.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E7TheRingsOfAkhaten "The Rings of Akhaten"]] centres around a system of planets where they believe that a song must always be sung in order to keep an angry god asleep, and if it ever ceases he will awake and devour them all.

[[folder:Stand-Up Comedy]]
* Creator/PattonOswalt mocks the naïve and simplistic belief in this trope among certain hippies in his special ''No Reason to Complain'':
--> ''..."Here's how we're gonna stop the war: We're gonna make the world's biggest finger painting, and that'll blow people's minds!"'' No it '''won't''', for God's sakes! ''"I know how we can stop the war: We're gonna knit the world's smallest pair of hemp pants, and put 'em on a mouse, and hide the mouse in a cupboard! But which cupboard is it in, man? People'll be so busy thinking about that, they won't have time to go to war!"'' Oh God, you're '''idiots!'''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* ''{{Webcomic/Starslip}}'': This is inverted when an interstellar warlord uses a piece of art to try and conquer the cosmos. Just looking upon the small conical statue fills people first with despair and then complete submission to him. His armada is basically a flagship covered in enormous monitors displaying it (so anybody trying to attack will have to look at it and fall under his control). One of the only people immune to its power is an obsessive museum ''curator'' with such a deep, complex understanding of the subject that he is immune to the effects. The trope is thus ultimately reversed again in a still-not-quite-straight way ("Saving the World with Curation"), when the he foils the evil plan by using that deep understanding of the power of art to "recontextualize" the meaning of the piece and thus remove its power over the psyche of other beings (by having somebody "wear it like a hat").

[[folder:Websites]]
* ''Website/SCPFoundation'': Inverted with the art collective known as ''are we cool yet?'', who are responsible for several art installations that are now in SCP custody, some of which having the potential to destroy the world, while others are more mundanely dangerous, like [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1057 the invisible, shark-shaped mass of water that is still solid enough to eat people.]]

* Deconstructed in the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode ''[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E21OverABarrel Over A Barrel]]''. Pinkie Pie tries to invoke this to stop the ponies of Appleloosa and the native buffalo fighting. After her show, the sheriff and the buffalo chief agree... that her performance was the worst thing they ever heard.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongebobSquarepantsMovie'', Plankton's MindControlDevice has taken control of the entire town, but becomes overloaded when Spongebob dons a guitar and sings "Goofy Goober Rock" complete with flashy music video effects.

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

[[folder: Film ]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* ''Series/DoctorWho''
** In "The Shakespeare Code" the world is saved by iambic pentameter and a ''Literature/HarryPotter'' quote.
** "A Christmas Carol" ended with The Doctor asking a teenage girl to sing to the fishes floating in the sky in order to calm the planet's atmosphere so that a spaceship could safely land instead of crashing into a widely populated city. ItMakesSenseInContext, at least as much as ''Doctor Who'' normally does.
** "The Rings of Akhaten" centers around a system of planets where they believe that a song must always be sung in order to keep an angry god asleep, and if it ever ceases he will awake and devour them all.
** Classic Who did this in "The Mind Robber". The Doctor and TheMaster (not that one) are hooked up to a computer that makes fiction real. So the two of them fight... by telling a story.

[[folder: Music ]]

[[folder: Stand Up Comedy ]]

* Creator/PattonOswalt mocks the naive and simplistic belief in this trope among certain hippies in his special ''No Reason to Complain'':

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

[[folder: Visual Novels]]

[[folder: Webcomics ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

* in Homestuck, when John plays the song showtime using a planet for an organ, he takes the land of wind and shade[[spoiler:out of continuity, with Roxy on it]], allowing him time to alter the [[spoiler:alpha]] timeline enough to gain a fighting chance at victory.The song is quite moving and is found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTpm_sDz62M.
* In {{Webcomic/Starslip}}, this is inverted when an interstellar warlord uses a piece of art to try and conquer the cosmos. Just looking upon the small conical statue fills people first with despair and then complete submission to him. His armada is basically a flagship covered in enormous monitors displaying it (so anybody trying to attack will have to look at it and fall under his control). One of the only people immune to its power is an obsessive museum ''curator'' with such a deep, complex understanding of the subject that he is immune to the effects. The trope is thus ultimately reversed again in a still-not-quite-straight way ("Saving the World with Curation"), when the he foils the evil plan by using that deep understanding of the power of art to "recontextualize" the meaning of the piece and thus remove its power over the psyche of other beings (by having somebody "wear it like a hat").

* In {{Webcomic/Starslip}}, this is inverted when an interstellar warlord uses a piece of art to try and conquer the cosmos. Just looking upon the small conical statue fills people first with despair and then complete submission to him. His armada is basically a flagship covered in enormous monitors displaying it (so anybody trying to attack will have to look at it and fall under his control). One of the only people immune to its power is an obsessive museum ''curator'' with such a deep, complex understanding of the subject that he is immune to the effects. The trope is thus ultimately reversed again in a still-not-quite-straight way ("Saving the World with Curation"), when the he foils the evil plan by using that deep understanding of the power of art to "recontextualize" the meaning of the piece and thus remove its power over the psyche of other beings ([[CrowningMomentOfFunny by having somebody "wear it like a hat"]]).

* In {{Webcomic/Starslip}}, this is inverted when an interstellar warlord uses a piece of art to try and conquer the cosmos. Just looking upon the small conical statue fills people first with despair and then complete submission to him. His armada is basically a flagship covered in enormous monitors displaying it (so anybody trying to attack will have to look at it and fall under his control). One of the only people immune to its power is an obsessive museum ''curator'' with such a deep, complex understanding of the subject that he is immune to the effects. The trope is thus ultimately reversed again in a still-not-quite-straight way, when the curator foils the evil plan by using that deep understanding of the power of art to "recontextualize" the meaning of the piece and thus remove its power over the psyche of other beings ([[CrowningMomentOfFunny by having somebody "wear it like a hat"]]).

* After ISIS overtook the city of Nimrud, 17 year old Nenous Thabit decided to [[http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/17/middleeast/nimrud-iraq-mosul-artifacts/ personally carve replicas of statues they destroyed]] in defiance of the terrorist group. In his words: "They waged a war on art and culture, so I decided to fight them with art."

* A ploy by the communist Romanian government backfired when they allowed ''Series/{{Dallas}}'' to air within the country, intending to show the [[{{Eagleland}} wasteful, brutal American lifestyle]]. Instead, it made the citizens wonder why they weren't living such nice lives under the current regime. During an interview, a teary-eyed Larry Hagman recounted when a citizen thanked him by saying that his character J.R. saved their country.

* In ''Film/YellowSubmarine'', Music/TheBeatles defeat the Blue Meanies and save Pepperland by ThePowerOfRock.

* One particularly triumphant example of this trope shows up in ''VideoGame/LongLiveTheQueen'' where the queen-in-training [[MeaningfulName Elodie (Melody)]] can potentially end a war and bring about true peace against an invading expansionist nation through combining her persuasion skills and her singing skills to convince King Togami [[spoiler:who used to be a bard before he married into royalty]] about the futility of Togami's endless wars and the pain that he as a father is bringing to his family due to his absence as well as the pain he would cause them if he is killed just like the pain Elodie suffered when her mother the previous queen died. [[spoiler: If successful, he calls off the war and returns home. Later it turns out that Togami's wife and children are extremely gratified by this brave gesture of peace and gives her personalized gifts, including paintings portraying Elodie as an angel. Other endings where Togami is instead slain in battle will leads to endings where the [[CycleofRevenge widowed Queen continues to wage war against Elodie]].]]

* One particularly triumphant example of this trope shows up in ''VideoGame/LongLiveTheQueen'' where the queen-in-training [[MeaningfulName Elodie (Melody)]] can potentially end a war and bring about true peace against an invading expansionist nation through combining her persuasion skills and her singing skills to convince King Togami [[spoiler:who used to be a bard before he married into royalty]] about the futility of Togami's endless wars and the pain that he as a father is bringing to his family due to his absence as well as the pain he would cause them if he is killed just like the pain Elodie suffered when her mother the previous queen died. [[spoiler: If successful, he calls off the war and returns home. Later it turns out that Togami's wife and children are extremely gratified by this brave gesture of peace and gives her personalized gifts, including paintings portraying Elodie as an angel. Other endings where Togami is instead slain in battle will leads to endings where the [[CycleofRevenge widowed Queen continues to wage war against Elodie]]. Elodie's power of song is arguably her true talent as music is the only skill category in which she can outright win in a competition.]]