History Main / SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'': Almost every character, even the people he saves, are often completely baffled that [[TheHero Touma Kamijou]] will help anyone who needs it and interfere with problems that have nothing to do with him, not expecting any reward or fame, but just because he feels it is right and he believes anyone else in his situation would do the same. Several characters think Touma really has some kind of ulterior motive or is insane.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'': when the heroes deliver their lines on what life is, and how love is so important to each of their lives, Kefka responds with "This is pathetic! You all sound like lines from a self-help booklet!" In fact, all his speeches near this scene convey the same message.
* Completely inverted in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII''. Squall starts off believing that his own cynical, antisocial viewpoints are the correct ones, but as the game progresses and Rinoa and the friends he makes help him both emotionally mature and deal with his mental trauma, he becomes more idealistic.
* Cody Travers from ''VideoGame/FinalFight'' and later the ''VideoGame/StreetFighter'' series. While it is not actually seen in the games, multiple games tell the story of his downfall, which occur after the ending of the original ''Final Fight''. Cody and his friends go out to save his girlfriend from the ''BigBad'' in ''Final Fight''. On the way, [[BeatEmUp he beats up]] a corrupt cop named Edi, who later arrests the hero for assault in battery. Next, his girlfriend dumps him, and [[PutOnABus leaves the country to study abroad]]. Afterwards, he is let out of jail and tries to get revenge by fighting criminals outside. He gets arrested again, and [[DespairEventHorizon becomes addicted to fighting within prison]]. He then eventually breaks out, and joins the Street Fighting cast in their tournament(s). He usually fights alongside his [[TheLancer best friend Guy]] (who also comes from the ''Final Fight'' series), who is always telling Cody that he is a good person. Cody, however, usually claims that he will never be the hero again, and often states that all he has left is fighting (which he often exclaims is pointless).
* In ''VideoGame/GodOfWarIII'', Kratos has such an exchange with [[WideEyedIdealist Pandora]], telling her hope is for fools. She responds with a plea that hope gives people strength. [[spoiler:Eventually, she proves to be right as Kratos is actually empowered by hope from PandorasBox.]]
* This little exchange in ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'' between [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Cloud]] and [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV Cecil]] in regards to [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyII Firion's]] dream of an ideal world.
-->'''Cecil''': Did Firion give you his answer?\\

-->'''Hector''': Oh Manny, so cynical. What happened to you, Manny, that caused to to lose your sense of hope, your love of life?\\

** This being a classic real-world example of why the gap between idealism and cynicism is actually a literal gray area in which a lot depends on the outcome. A third-party movement that ''succeeds'' can be an improvement on either party, at least in theory, from the POV of the third-party voters. But if not enough people join in the net result is often to bring about victory for precisely the party that the third-party voters would consider the worse option. Republicans see the conservatives who voted for Perot as people who effectively elected Clinton, and Democrats often say that the green in 'green party' stands for [[FunWithAcronyms Getting Republicans Elected Every November]]. Hence, third parties these days tend to be in favor of things like ranked-choice voting[[note]]Which almost surprisingly now cities throughout the United States like San Francisco or Minneapolis and then-recently Maine (even against the odds a of fight to keep it in effect for months by the Maine Supreme Court ruling this as unconstitutional at state level) adopted the system within the last two decades to get rid of the spoiler effect, but the problem is it's taking a while due to the [[StrawmanNewsMedia news media]] still [[PropagandaMachine convincing people]] to vote Democrat or Republican by outright ''fear'' instead of ideological reasons to back them.[[/note]] or approval voting to try to break this effect.

* There's a saying in American politics: "A conservative at the age of twenty has no heart; a liberal at the age of forty has no brain." This was derived from a 19th-century remark by a French politician: "A monarchist at the age of 20 has no heart; a republican [small r, as in "believes in a republic"] at the age of 40 has no brain". Of course, these paint conservatism and monarchism as the more mature choices and of course today monarchism is pretty much dead as an idea, which should tell you something about that sentiment.
In America, perhaps. In monarchies, such as Britain, it's still alive and thriving as an ideology.

* More sentiments of this trope that have been found inside and outside of this wiki have been found in how people used to perceive DarkerAndEdgier as more "mature" while LighterAndSofter was less mature. On this wiki, people used to cite CerebusSyndrome and the progression towards DarkerAndEdgier as part of GrowingTheBeard while ReverseCerebusSyndrome and LighterAndSofter were often filed under SeasonalRot. [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment And then there was the talk about how darker works were seen as more mature and more "adult" like]] and the flame wars ''they'' caused.

* ''Film/TrainingDay'': The entire movie is about this trope.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUsPart2'' Abby gives Owen the standard "I Grew Up" line when he brought up looking for regrouping [[TheResistance Fireflies]].

* In the ''ComicBook/DetectiveComicsRebirth'' storyline "The Victim Syndicate", [[spoiler:Stephanie Brown performs a (downplayef) FaceHeelTurn and attempts to blackmail Batman into getting every vigilante to retire, get help and live normal lives to prevent a group like them from existing and to stop another Tim Drake from dying]]. Batwing and Clayface call [[spoiler:her]] out by pointing out that doing something like that isn't as simple as just hanging up their costumes and being normal as they have problems beyond just wearing the costume and punching people.

* In the ''ComicBook/DetectiveComicsRebirth'' storyline "The Victim Syndicate", [[spoiler:Stephanie Brown performs a FaceHeelTurn and attempts to blackmail Batman into getting every vigilante to retire, get help and live normal lives to prevent a group like them from existing and to stop another Tim Drake from dying]]. Batwing and Clayface call [[spoiler:her]] out by pointing out that doing something like that isn't as simple as just hanging up their costumes and being normal as they have problems beyond just wearing the costume and punching people.

* In ''Disney/{{Zootopia}}'', Nick Wilde tells Judy (who is a literal rabbit) that he considers her worldview naïve and childish, and her dreams are going to be crushed by reality.

* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', Diane initially has [[http://egscomics.com/comic/2013-03-28 this philosophy]] toward romance.
-->'''Rhoda:''' What if you just fall in love with someone someday and they fall in love with you?\\
'''Diane:''' That's ''adorable''.

* ''Film/MadMax1''. Max wants to [[TenMinuteRetirement leave the Main Force Patrol]] as he's worried [[HeWhoFightsMonsters what it will turn him into]]. DaChief tries to rally him with a RousingSpeech.
-->'''Fifi:''' They say people don't believe in heroes anymore. Well damn them! You and me, Max, we're gonna give them back their heroes!\\
'''Max:''' Ah, Fif. Do you really expect me to go for that crap?\\
'''Fifi:''' You gotta admit I sounded good there for a minute, huh?

* In the ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'' franchise, not only does ComicBook/{{Superman}} and the rest of his Regime believe this thanks to ComicBook/TheJoker succeeding in creating a perfect "one bad day" for him, but people who try to convince them otherwise [[BerserkButton tend to get brutalized]] [[MurderIsTheBestSolution at best]] in response.

It should be noted that a secondary reason is the association in working class culture between adulthood and the abandonment of lofty goals. The general idea is that you get a job and stop daydreaming, and eventually come to peace with the idea that you probably won't be famous or single-handedly reshape the world, and is as much a survival mechanism as it is crab-bucket reflex.

* Resident EmoTeen Zuko from ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' believes that Aang's ideas about peace, pacifism and forgiveness are childish. While [[RousseauWasRight he's proven wrong]] in the case of [[spoiler: Katara's need to avenge her mother]], and admits as much, the question of killing BigBad Ozai is more complicated; [[spoiler: Aang's ultimate non-lethal victory is only made possible by a discovery that some viewers consider a DeusExMachina, before which even Aang's idealistic friends and his previous incarnations argued that killing Ozai would be a NecessaryEvil]].

[[folder: Anime & Manga]]

[[folder:FanFiction]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

-->'''Roxanne''': Please don't do this! I know there's still good in you, Hal.
-->'''Hal''': You're so naive, Roxie. You see the good in everybody, even when it's not there. You're living in a fantasy. There is no Easter Bunny, there is no Tooth Fairy, and [[EskimosArentReal there is no Queen of England]]. This is the real world, and you need to ''wake up''!

* In ''Disney/{{Zootopia}}'', Nick Wilde tells Judy (who is a literal rabbit) that he considers her world view naive and childish, and her dreams are going to be crushed by reality.
--> '''Nick Wilde''': Tell me if this story sounds familiar. Naive little hick with good grades and big ideas decides "Hey look at me, I'm gonna move to Zootopia, where predators and prey live in harmony and sing Kumbaya!" Only to find, whoopsie: we don't all get along. And that dream of becoming a big city cop? Double whoopsie; she's a meter maid. And whoopsie number three-sy: no one cares about her or her dreams. And soon enough those dreams die, and our bunny sinks into an emotional and literal squalor, living in a box under a bridge, until finally she has no choice but to go back home, with that cute fuzzy-wuzzy little tail between her legs to become... You're from Bunnyburrow, is that what you said? So how about a carrot farmer? That sound about right?

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

* In ''Literature/TheWitchlands'', after Aeduen tells Iseult that she can't possibly be one of the Cahr Awen, she mentally scolds herself for regressing back to her childhood years and believing that she could be anything more than a failed Threadwitch. Of course, Aeduen is lying to make himself feel better about his own choices, so the story doesn't really side with Iseult on this.
* Lux in ''LightNovel/UndefeatedBahamutChronicle'' is repeatedly told this by others. An excellent example is by his older and less-scrupulous half-brother Fugil. Lux and Fugil both took part in a rebellion to depose their tyrannical family, with the former defeating his opponents non-lethally and intending to spare them afterwards. Fugil killed the rest of the royal family (save for himself, Lux and their younger sister Airi), the nobles and the army, then lectured Lux on how his approach would have gotten him stabbed in the back later on.

[[folder: Live Action TV]]

* Amy Pond in the new series of ''Series/DoctorWho'' met the Doctor when she was a kid and wanted to travel with him but circumstances delayed him until she'd grown up, where she justifies her (not entirely unjustified) skepticism of him and his claims with this trope. Being the Doctor, however, he has the perfect comeback:
-->'''Amy''': I grew up.\\
'''The Doctor''': Don't worry. I'll soon fix that.

--> ''"A cynic is a what an idealist calls a realist."''

[[folder:WebOriginal]]

* In ''Austen's Pride'', TheMusical of ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'', the Act I finale "Why" has Jane Austen discuss the futility of romance and the unrealism of happy endings, as learned from her own heartbreak experience.

** In return, the idealists would fire back that it is simply because the system is so broken for while and concerned with keeping the status quo that it stops anyone who is an honest person, an idealist or simply not a SleazyPolitician from taking office.
** This being a classic real-world example of why the gap between idealism and cynicism is actually a literal gray area in which a lot depends on the outcome. A third-party movement that ''succeeds'' can be an improvement on either party, at least in theory, from the POV of the third-party voters. But if not enough people join in the net result is often to bring about victory for precisely the party that the third-party voters would consider the worse option. Republicans see the conservatives who voted for Perot as people who effectively elected Clinton, and Democrats often say that the green in 'green party' stands for [[FunWithAcronyms Getting Republicans Elected Every November]]. Hence, third parties these days tend to be in favor of things like ranked-choice voting[[note]]Which almost surprisingly now cities throughout the United States like San Francisco or Minneapolis and then-recently Maine (even against the odds a of fight to keep it in effect for months by the Maine Supreme Court ruling this as unconstitutional at state level) adopted the system within the last two decades to get rid of spoiler effect, but problem is it's taking a while due to the [[StrawmanNewsMedia news media]] still [[PropagandaMachine convincing people]] to vote Democrat or Republican by outright ''fear'' instead ideological purposes to back them.[[/note]] or approval voting to try getting break this effect.
** The mathematics work out this way because American elections work on the basis of a simple ''pure'' plurality.[[note]]Which is the 'First Past The Post' voting system, and becoming a notorious hot topic in countries that have had this system a ''very'' long time like the aforementioned United States and the United Kingdom where many are worried this has become too beneficial for center-right parties in recent decades.[[/note]] So if 3% of the voters vote for whom they perceive to be the best party while 48% vote for the second-best and 49% vote for the worst (again, labels are as perceived by the 3% and maybe part of the 48%), well, NiceJobBreakingItHero. The trick here is that altering the election system would require the cooperation of the party or parties in charge, and it's always in their best interest to keep third-parties as shutout means as possible.