History Main / SkewedPriorities

Despite what logic dictates, people can on occasion have priorities that are a little...off. Usually, this is to underscore how obsessed they are with a particular object or subject, though its also often used for comedy. The most common formula is exemplified by the quote at the top.

-->'''Izzy:''' "Hello, Mom and Dad, the fate of the world, remember? My grades can wait!

* The computer society president in the HaruhiSuzumiya anime shows this breifly when challenging Haruhi to a game to get his computer back:

* Early on in ''AttackOfTheClones'', Obi-Wan chews Anakin out for losing his lightsaber. Later on, when Anakin is trapped inside a wild droid factory with NoOSHACompliance, his lightsaber is destroyed and his response is "Not again. Obi-Wan's gonna kill me."

** In "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson" Homer has this little exchange with a street vendor:
--->'''Homer:''' Now, what do you have to wash that awful taste out of my mouth?
--->'''Vendor:''' Mountain Dew or Crab Juice.
--->'''Homer:''' ''Blech! Eew! Jeez!'' I'll take a Crab Juice.

* In ''{{Pokemon}}'', Team Rocket has taken on the trait of thinking of ways that Giovanni could use a Pokemon, rather than the rarity of it. For instance, they try to make plans to steal a Bronzong, a rare Pokemon. They decide to just steal Buizel because they can't find a way that Giovanni could use the Bronzong and that not being able to do anything with it would make him mad.
** To be fair, this is because the one time they did steal a rare but useless Pokemon (Misty's Togepi) and presented it to him, he became angry with them for giving him a useless Pokemon.

* In one ''[[TheSimpsons Simpsons]]'' episode, Dr. Nick was called in to advise when an old man froze himself alive inside the Kwik-E-Mart's freezer.

-->'''Bender''': This could mean the end of the banana daiquiri as we know it. ''(Everybody looks at him.)'' Also, life.

* On ''{{Futurama}}'' when a member of [[BizarreAlienBiology Zoidberg's species]] has sex they die immediately afterward. When Fry learns that Zoidberg has to choose between a life without sex or a gruesome death, he says, "Tough call."

Can result in DisproportionateRetribution. Compare with ArsonMurderAndJaywalking. See also HonorBeforeReason and AlwaysSaveTheGirl.

* RowenAtkinson's "Fatal Beatings" sketch, wherein he (as headmaster of a school) is describing the way he beat a parent's son to death.

** It could seem a skewed priority due to WhatMeasuresAsANonHuman, but it really isn't.

*** Which in [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080519 the song Mama Gikka's girls perform for Jägers]], if you look carefully.

* Tends to happen to teen aged drivers borrowing their parent's car. The usual tendency when getting involved in an accident which is not immediately incapacitating is to first make sure the car is fine, and only then check the occupants for physical injuries.

*** Which in [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080519 the song Mama Gkika's girls perform for Jägers]], if you look carefully.

** As Ron [[LampshadeHanging comments]] to Harry in this troper's favorite line of the first film, "She ''needs'' to sort out her priorities."

* In ''CodeGeass'':
--> '''Lelouch:''' Look, I have a school festival and a coup détat to organize!

* Early on in ''AttackOfTheClones'', Obi-Wan chews Anakin out for losing his lightsaber. Later on, when Anakin is trapped inside a wild droid factory with NoOSH Compliance, his lightsaber is destroyed and his response is "Not again. Obi-Wan's gonna kill me."

'''Examples:'''

** What are you talking about? Killing someones dog? That just isn't done.
** The book makes it clear when someone interviews his neighbors and they tend to say things like, "Them boys made a real mistake when they killed Swagger's dog. Killin' a man's dog, that's just wrong". You can burn down his house and steal his truck but don't never kill a country boy's dog.
*** Believe it or not, TruthInTelevision. Houses and trucks can be insured, but a good CanineCompanion is irreplaceable.

* One TopGear challenge involved driving trucks at their top (limited) speeds through some obstacles and then braking. The prize for the shortest braking distance would win a year's supply of pies.

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* In ''{{Pokemon}}'', Team Rocket has taken on the trait of thinking of ways that Giovanni could use a Pokemon, rather than the rarity of it. For instance, they try to make plans to steal a Bronzong, a rare Pokemon. They decide to just steal Buizel because they can't find a way that Giovanni could use it and that not being able to do anything with it would make him mad.

* In LadyGaga and {{Beyonce}}'s video for "Telephone", Gaga is killing her boyfriend while Beyonce watches him die. After that, Beyonce's acting all upset about using the word "motherfucker", which was [[SoundEffectBleep beeped out]] while she's [[FingerOnLips putting her finger on her lips]].
** Yeah, [[SarcasmMode calling him like that is far worse than killing him.]]

*Tends to happen to teen aged drivers borrowing their parent's car. The usual tenancy when getting involved in an accident which is not immediately incapacitating is to first make sure the car is fine, and only then check the occupants for physical injuries.