Line #30 Main/RedFlagRecreationMaterial


1	%%
2	%% Image Pickin thread did not produce an image: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16961743580.34516900v
3	%%
4	->''She said, "''[[Film/TheHumanCentipede Human Centipede]]'' is a tour de force"\
5	I think, "Holy shit, I'm gonna be the main course"''
6	-->-- '''Creator/TomCardy''', "Red Flags"
7
8	In the event that a villain's pastimes don't consist solely of things like animal abuse, sexual assault, bloodsports, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking golf]], chances are that [[VillainsOutShopping they'll be portrayed enjoying TV shows and books like anyone else on the planet]]. However, it's also very common for their choice in media to be something that gels with their nature, often to serve as a red flag to the audience before the full scope of their unpleasantness is revealed -- hence the name.
9
10	Most commonly, mundane entertainment media enjoyed by villains takes the form of extremely dark subject matter: horror movies and novels are very popular, especially with serial killers, {{Blood Knight}}s, and even outright monsters. More strategic villains may enjoy works like ''Literature/{{The Art of War\|SunTzu}}'' or ''Literature/ThePrince'', the better to emphasize their calculating natures. And of course, overtly political villains will often have a work that emphasizes their philosophy of choice -- ''Literature/MeinKampf'' being an obvious presence on any Neo-Nazi's shelf.
11
12	This may overlap with WickedCultured, but not always. Though Red Flag Recreation might include classical novels, films, music, and even artworks, it will ''always'' feature extremely morbid subject matter -- like the works of the Creator/MarquisDeSade, for example. For good measure, lighter classical works are often the mainstay of the heroic CulturedBadass.
13
14	See also PastimesProvePersonality and VillainsLoveEntertainment. Depending on the nature of the entertainment, may overlap with NewMediaAreEvil or MurderSimulators. If the character shows interest in such media as a child, it might overlap with TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour, EntertainmentAboveTheirAge, and either EnfantTerrible (if they're a villain who's a kid) or EarlyPersonalitySigns (if they later grow up evil).
15
16	Compare and contrast BadPeopleAbuseAnimals, in which animal abuse as a form of entertainment is used as an immediate ''confirmation'' rather than a red flag.
17
18	See DamnedByAFoolsPraise if the author has the morally depraved character liking a certain reading or viewing material as a TakeThat against the work.
19
20	----
21	!!Examples:
22
23	[[foldercontrol]]
24
25	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
26	* ''Manga/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories'': Larxene, member of the villainous Organization XIII, is seen reading a book by the Creator/MarquisDeSade, the infamous French libertine writer. In canon, she is quite a sadistic assassin, who delights in tormenting the hero Sora and the girl Naminé -- as much as an all-ages Disney/Square Enix game allows.
27	* In ''Manga/LiarGame'', the villainous Yokoya is shown to be reading Hitler's ''Literature/MeinKampf'' while he was being recruited into the game. He then criticizes the dictator, not because of his atrocities or his ideals, but because he committed suicide and failed to bring his plans to fruition.
28	* The first episode of ''Anime/YuGiOh'' features [[Characters/YuGiOhSetoKaiba Seto Kaiba]], still in full-villain mode, reading ''Literature/AlsoSprachZarathustra''. Interestingly, one can argue that even after the bulk of his HeelFaceTurn character development he never quite sheds his dreams of being a sort of {{Ubermensch}}.
29	[[/folder]]
30
31	[[folder:Audio Plays]]
32	* AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho: In "[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho049Master Master]]," one of the Doctor's gambits results in the Master having all memory of his past misdeeds suppressed, allowing him to [[NightmareOfNormality live a relatively normal life as Dr. John Smith]]. Unfortunately, the Master's villainous personality is only dormant, not gone, resulting in increasingly troubling symptoms for the otherwise mild-mannered physician. When the Doctor inspects John's collection of books, he finds it full of works on the human mind, collected by the ex-Master in an attempt to understand his own brain... but it's not until he finds ''Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde'' that he starts getting ''really'' concerned, though.
33	[[/folder]]
34
35	[[folder:Comic Books]]
36	* {{Discussed}} and ultimately inverted in ''ComicBook/DetectiveComics'' #638 "The Bomb", where Batman grows a hunch that the titular [[HavingABlast bomb-mutant]] ''isn't'' the psycho-killer TheMenInBlack make her out to be when he sees books like ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'' in her cell. He then immediately lampshades it:
37	-->'''Batman:''' That's wrong, of course. You could be the biggest monster in the world and still read what you read.
38	* ''ComicBook/NowhereMen'': The four members of the eponymous Beatles-esque science team are given profiles in a magazine article at the start of the series, all of which include favourite songs, movies, and books. In Simon Grimshaw's profile, his favourite book is ''Literature/AtlasShrugged'', firmly establishing him as the group's cold-hearted business-minded TokenEvilTeammate long before he's revealed to be up to anything overtly villainous.
39	[[/folder]]
40
41	[[folder:Fan Works]]
42	* ''Fanfic/DanganronpaParadiseLost'': InsufferableGenius Akihiro Garaki mentions that one of his personal favorite books is ''Literature/TheIslandOfDoctorMoreau''. [[spoiler:In Chapter 3, he's revealed to be, like Moreau, an EvilutionaryBiologist who'll go so far as to [[BodyHorror gruesomely fuse his own sister with a rat]]]].
43	[[/folder]]
44
45	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
46	* ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians'': Horace and Jasper are criminals who want to kill and skin puppies. One sign that they're no good is that their favourite ShowWithinAShow is a game show about guessing the crimes of criminals.
47	[[/folder]]
48
49	[[folder:Film -- Live Action]]
50	* ''Film/AmericanPsycho:'' Though SerialKiller Patrick Bateman claims to enjoy musicals like ''Theatre/LesMiserables'' and can ramble on about Music/PhilCollins and Music/{{Huey Lewis\|AndTheNews}} for hours on end, it's clear that these are just [[WickedPretentious superficial methods]] of disguising his true nature. In private, he can be seen watching porn films and horror movies like ''Film/{{The Texas Chain Saw Massacre\|1974}}'', early indications of his real interests -- just in case audiences might mistake the first two murders as one-offs.
51	* ''Film/{{Beetlejuice}}'': Betelgeuse mentions that he's seen ''Film/TheExorcist'' a hundred and sixty-seven times "and it keeps getting funnier every single time I see it!", firmly establishing him as an extremely morbid character even ''before'' he starts launching ghostly attacks on the Maitlands.
52	* ''Film/TheBookOfEli'': The first thing we see of [[BigBad Carnegie]] is him sitting in his office ([[WastelandWarlord in the town he took over]]) reading a biography of UsefulNotes/BenitoMussolini.
53	* ''Film/CentralIntelligence'': Played with concerning Robbie Weirdicht/Bob Stone's interests. His interests in the present day when he reunites with Calvin Joyner initially seem harmless and occasionally even [[RealMenWearPink girly]], such as a {{unicorn}} shirt, ''Film/{{Twilight}}'', and ''Film/SixteenCandles''. It's when he explains ''why'' he likes that stuff that it veers into this trope: he likes unicorns because they can [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impale]] people with their horns, and he gushes about the [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolves]] in ''Twilight'' the way one would about the werewolves in a straightforward, non-romantic horror film. While he's not a villain, he does turn out to be a CIA agent who is willing to quickly and gruesomely kill his opponents when necessary, and is also a CloudCuckoolander who is often oblivious about people viewing him that way despite otherwise being so skilled and confident in his current job.
54	* In ''Film/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'', Mike Teavee is changed from being obsessed with television to being a gamer whose interview after he pulls the Golden Ticket takes place while he's playing a very violent shooter game. And apart from being an InsufferableGenius, he's just as much of a disruptive, selfish BrattyHalfPint as he was in the original story.
55	* ''Film/{{Hellboy\|2004}}'': In the DVD special features, the characters are all given their own profiles, including likes and dislikes. The apocalyptic-minded Rasputin naturally enjoys ''Literature/ParadiseLost'' and the works of Music/ModestMussorgsky.
56	* The sequels to ''Film/TheHumanCentipede'' have a MetaTwist on this, with each subsequent film portraying the previous films as works of fiction InUniverse... and becoming inspirations for the {{Villain Protagonist}}s' own uniquely horrific acts of kidnapping, torture, and worse.
57	* Downplayed in ''Film/MermaidDown'', since the BigBad [[spoiler: [[PsychoPsychologist Dr. Beyer]] ]] is introduced as evil in his EstablishingCharacterMoment, but when he gets back to his private asylum he is shown to be a weapons collector, and has a book about serial killer H.H. Holmes [[spoiler: as the secret door to a hidden torture chamber on his yacht]].
58	* In ''Film/SeedOfChucky'' when Chucky is trying to fill a cup with his seed, he looks through a bunch of porn mags and none of them interest him, but then he finds an issue of ''Fangoria'' (a horror magazine) and is able to... get the job done.
59	* ''Film/Se7en'': Invoked. After a EurekaMoment, Detective Somerset is able to home in on the Seven Deadly Sins killer's identity with the help of a friend at the FBI, who have been secretly monitoring library borrowing habits to isolate potential terrorists. From the Bureau's data, the killer turns out to have been borrowing ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'', ''Literature/ParadiseLost'', ''Helter Skelter,'' ''Literature/InColdBlood'', and ''Literature/OfHumanBondage''.
60	* ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'': The meagre library on Ceti Alpha V includes some very dark works, including ''Literature/ParadiseLost'', Dante's ''[[Literature/TheDivineComedy Inferno]],'' and ''Literature/MobyDick.'' As such, Khan's thematic connections to Lucifer and self-destructive obsession with revenge are hinted at well before he formally reintroduces himself with the ambush on Chekhov's team.
61	* ''Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory'': As with his counterpart in the original novel, Mike Teavee is obsessed with television, especially Westerns... and he's also a mean-spirited brat who proves to be just as cavalier and blunt as the cowboys he idolizes -- to the point of even dressing like one. However, this incarnation of Mike proves to be even worse: like the other kids, he's been offered a bribe from Mr Slugworth to spy on Wonka's inventions, but he's the only one definitely confirmed to have accepted it, as he can be heard asking his mother if Mr Slugworth might pay extra for certain information.
62	* ''Film/{{Zodiac\|2007}}'': The Zodiac Killer's first letter remarks on the joys of hunting his victims as "[[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame man is the most dangerous animal of all]]", which Robert Graysmith identifies as a reference to ''Literature/TheMostDangerousGame''. As such, police get very interested when the prime suspect [[spoiler:Arthur Allen Leigh]] admits that it's his favourite book.
63	[[/folder]]
64
65	[[folder:Literature]]
66	* Played with in ''Literature/TheABCMurders'' as the material in question is outwardly innocuous. [[spoiler:Franklin Clarke]] proudly admits to rereading [[spoiler:his]] favorite children's book by Edith Nesbit. However, it's one of the clues that make Poirot suspect [[spoiler:him]] since it has long been figured out that the killer has a playful, boyish disposition. [[spoiler:Not to mention that the book turns out to be ''Literature/TheRailwayChildren'', and the murder spree is railway-guide-themed]].
67	* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'': In "Recap/AnimorphsTheDiscovery", it's foreshadowed quite early on that the group's SixthRanger David can't be trusted, not only by his cowardice and lack of maturity but by the fact that he likes horror comics like ''ComicBook/{{Spawn}}'' and heavy metal bands like Music/{{Megadeth}}.
68	* Creator/GregRucka's {{Novelization}} of ''ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand'' has one of the Penguin's mooks observe that he's constantly reading ''Literature/ThePrince''. [[BookDumb Poor guy thinks it's a fairy tale]].
69	* ''Literature/TheBoneClocks'': Hugo Lamb, having already established himself as a charming con artist and thief, reads ''Literature/TheArtOfWarSunTzu'' while on holiday in Switzerland. Not long afterwards, he screws over his friends, abandons his family, eschews a chance for redemption with Holly Sykes, and plunges to new lows by [[spoiler: accepting an offer of recruitment from the [[ImmortalityImmorality the Anchorites]].]]
70	* ''Literature/BoyParts'': Irina is obsessed with "extreme" cinema. She's mentioned as watching ''Film/{{Nekromantik}}'' and ''Film/{{Irreversible}}'' among others, and she's an S&M photographer with a special interest in ''very'' young-looking men, some of them actually underage teenage boys. [[spoiler:It's also suggested, but not made clear, that she tortured, murdered, and dismembered a runaway.]]
71	* ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'': Discussed in one book where Rodrick Heffley and his friends had to watch horror movies and then draw the first thing that comes to mind, as part of a study on whether watching horror movies gave people "violent thoughts". Rodrick's brother Greg notes that they did do some nightmarish drawings, though none of them ever became violent (just [[TeensAreMonsters a bit jerkish]]).
72	* ''Franchise/HannibalLecter'':
73	** In the backstory to ''Literature/RedDragon'', FBI agent Will Graham first realized that Hannibal Lecter was the very SerialKiller the two of them had been working together to catch when he glanced at Lecter's bookshelf and saw a copy of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wound_Man The Wound Man]], a medieval surgical diagram that resembled the killer's latest work.
74	** In the sequel, ''Literature/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'', Clarice Starling suspects she is in the home of the SerialKiller dubbed "Buffalo Bill" - a man who, among other things, inserts moth cocoons down the throats of his victims - when she notices the MacabreMothMotif in the decor.
75	* {{Deconstructed}} in ''Literature/HowARealistHeroRebuiltTheKingdom''. Main character Souma Kazuya was a humanities undergrad in Japan and is a big fan of ''Literature/ThePrince'' in particular. However, whenever he refers to it (which is often, especially in the first four volumes), his InternalMonologue goes into great detail on [[BeamMeUpScotty how the work is frequently misquoted and misunderstood]], and how his current course of action is TruerToTheText. For example, he explains that the famous comment that a ruler should prefer to be feared is a QuoteMine: Machiavelli actually wrote that a ruler should strive to be both loved ''and'' feared and only prefer fear if they're forced to choose between them, and furthermore that they should above all avoid being ''hated''. At most, his admiration of Machiavelli is a signal that he's a GuileHero who's willing and able to ShootTheDog on [[NecessarilyEvil the rare occasion the situation requires it]]; aside from this, he's very much TheGoodKing.
76	* In the novelization of ''Film/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'', Captain Nemo is initially saddened at the damage inflicted on Dorian Gray's library during the initial fight with the Fantom... up until he takes a closer look and realizes that the books are works by the Creator/MarquisDeSade, annotated with illustrations and even photographs, a good indication that Dorian is a) DeathlessAndDebauched, and b) almost as anti-heroic as the rest of the League. [[spoiler: He's actually the Fantom's mole on the team.]]
77	* In the Literature/ModestyBlaise novel ''I, Lucifer'', the villains Mr. and Mrs. Seff like putting on puppet shows with extremely dark and sexual subject matter (supposedly their profession before they turned DiabolicalMastermind). One of their senior minions muses that the shows are even more creepy because of their tendency to manipulate other people psychologically as they physically manipulate the puppets.
78	* ''Literature/TheNameOfTheRose'': Though Jorge of Burgos cannot read for himself (being blind), he expresses a great admiration for texts concerning the apocalypse, rhapsodizing about one to Adso in their first conversation -- firmly identifying him as easily the most extreme of all the monks at the abbey. [[spoiler:He's actually responsible for the deaths around the abbey, having driven Adelmo to suicide out of homophobia and poisoned the book of ''Poetics'' in order to prevent mankind from accepting laughter as permissible.]]
79	* ''Literature/NorthangerAbbey'': Implied. Co-antagonist John Thorpe, who generally dismisses the novels Catherine loves as fluff, only professes to liking two: ''Literature/TomJones'' and ''Literature/TheMonk''. Both novels are much more sexual and scandalous in nature than Catherine's current read, ''Literature/TheMysteriesOfUdolpho'' [[note]] Whose author actually despised ''The Monk'' so much she wrote ''Literature/TheItalian'' in response [[/note]], and center around a virtuous character's downfall due to sex, giving away Thorpe's less-than-innocent intentions for Catherine. Since Catherine [[DramaticIrony hasn't read those novels]], however, [[ObliviousToLove the intent is lost on her]].
80	* ''Literature/RedDwarf:'' In "Last Human", a visit to the alternate Starbug reveals that Lister's alternate self has a room overflowing with cheap horror paperbacks, heavy metal records, and magazines featuring a worrying number of Nazis. Our Lister -- who prefers Frank Capra movies and reggae/rockabilly music -- considers his other self's tastes to be a bit disturbing but ultimately dismisses any concerns he might have, believing that his alternate has to be enough like him to be worth rescuing from [[MindPrison Cyberia]]. [[spoiler:He's wrong. The alternate Lister is a brutal psychopath who murdered his shipmates, kills several defenceless guards during the prison break, and [[UngratefulBastard forces his rescuer to take his place at Cyberia]].]]
81	* ''Literature/TheStarDiaries'': In "The Eleventh Voyage", one of the reasons for [[AIIsACrapshoot the Calculator]]'s [[spoiler:alleged]] rebellion and vicious hatred of humanity is that he absorbed the rather colorful arrangement of books and documents from his starship's cargo, including protocols of meetings of the cannibal section of Neanderthal writers' union, three fictional Creator/AgathaChristie murder mysteries, the biography of UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper, and the memoirs of Creator/MarquisDeSade.
82	[[/folder]]
83
84	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
85	* ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryHotel:'' Early in the series, [[OurVampiresAreDifferent the Countess and Donovan]] reportedly enjoy binge-watching ''Series/HouseOfCardsUS'' when they're not out hunting for blood, an appropriate choice given how manipulative and treacherous they are -- even towards each other.
86	* ''Series/BlackMirror:'' Played with in the episode "[[Recap/BlackMirrorUSSCallister USS Callister]]." Programmer Robert Daly plays the virtual reality game ''Infinity'' in order to escape from disappointments in the real world, with his NPC crew apparently reskinned to resemble his boss and fellow employees. As such, when he responds to a bad day at work by throttling the NPC version of Walton and [[DominanceThroughFurniture using him as a footstool]], the IntendedAudienceReaction is to assume that Daly has a dark side under his shy exterior. However, it's soon revealed that the characters aren't NPC programs at all, but fully sapient doppelgangers of real people that Daly has cloned and imprisoned for his own twisted amusement -- meaning that this isn't a character-revealing choice of entertainment, but a ''conscious act of villainy.''
87	* ''Series/BoardwalkEmpire:'' In Nucky's first meeting with [[EvilOldFolks the Commodore]] in the pilot episode, the latter remarks disgustedly on his former protege's dealings with Arnold Rothstein and hands him a book he's been reading: ''The International Jew'' by Henry Ford, a notoriously antisemitic work. It's an early sign that the Commodore is [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain a nasty piece of work]] even before his credentials as a RetiredMonster are revealed. [[spoiler: Given his ties to the Ku Klux Klan and his attacks on Chalky White in season 2, it's also foreshadowing.]]
88	* ''Series/CriminalMinds'' episode [[Recap/CriminalMindsS1E10ThePopularKids Popular Kids]] provides a two-fold example. The murder was committed by a local rich kid, who tries to set up a local group, "Lords of Destruction" as the {{Fall Guy}}s by staging signs of a Satanic ritual at the crime scene. The local police are quick to believe LOD is a [[HollywoodSatanism Satanic]] {{Cult}} based on their style of dress and taste for heavy metal. However, the true culprit is foreshadowed early on when Reid notices the rich kid, Cory, is carrying around a Creator/FriedrichNietzsche book.
89	* ''Series/FatherTed'': In "[[Recap/FatherTedS3E1AreYouRightThereFatherTed Are You Right There Father Ted]]", Ted borrows a copy of ''Literature/TheShining'' from Father Seamus Fitzpatrick... and it turns out that reading the extremely dark Stephen King novel is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Fitzpatrick's hobbies, as he's also an avid collector of World War II memorabilia -- [[SociallyUnacceptableCollection all of which are from the Nazis]], leaving Ted deeply uncomfortable when he returns the book. Soon after, it turns out Fitzpatrick is actually a Nazi sympathizer and has been harbouring [[RetiredMonster a former Wehrmacht soldier]] in his house. Fortunately, this resolves itself when he and said fugitive accidentally mix up Valium with the elderly Nazi's [[SuicidePill cyanide pills]] and [[AccidentalSuicide kill themselves]]. Unfortunately for Ted, Fitzpatrick left him all the memorabilia in his will.
90	* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'': In "[[Recap/FireflyE10WarStories War Stories]]":
91	** {{Downplayed}} with Shepherd Book, a very devout and good-natured traveling pastor who is strongly implied to have a significantly less-savory past: he's a crack shot, a martial artist, and is strangely familiar with the inner workings of both the criminal underworld and the Alliance's intelligence services. In TheTeaser he quotes from the writings of Shan Yu, a psychotic dictator who wrote a great deal on "war, torture, the limits of human endurance" while wondering aloud if the surgeries the Alliance performed on River's brain were all part of an attempt to see how much she could take, "to truly meet her" in Shan Yu's words.
92	** Played straight later on in the episode with Adelai Niska, already known from an earlier episode to be a complete psychopath, who references Shan Yu while torturing a subordinate who had skimmed from a ProtectionRacket. [[spoiler:He later repeats Book's quotation about "truly meeting someone" by torturing them, while torturing Mal.]]
93	* ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'': Vera, who is first introduced as a seemingly nice housemother with shady motivations, quickly begins to encourage Victor to be smarter about the way he handles the children. She openly references ''Literature/TheArtOfWarSunTzu'' and uses its tactics to take advantage of what the kids are doing and gain an advantage over them, one of the first signs that she's a lot more cunning and calculating than she seems. Later on, Victor himself begins to use tactics from the book, which results in an excited "Victor! You've been reading ''The Art of War''!"
94	* ''Series/HouseOfCardsUK'': Francis Urquhart is a fan of Shakespeare's darker plays, most prominently ''Macbeth'' and ''Richard III'', taking great delight in quoting from them before enacting another masterful act of treachery [[spoiler: or murdering associates who have outlived their usefulness.]]
95	* ''Series/HouseOfCardsUS'': Frank Underwood is an avid gamer who enjoys extremely violent video games like ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' -- his method of venting his inner brutality when not scheming and backstabbing his way across Washington. Amusingly enough, he finds more introspective games like ''VideoGame/TheStanleyParable'' dissatisfying and "too much like my real life."
96	* ''Series/RedDwarf'': Played for laughs in "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVDemonsAndAngels Demons And Angels]]." The Low Red Dwarf crew, as the personification of all the darkest aspects of the characters, are found to possess a collection of entertainment media "designed to sicken the soul and shrivel the spirit": {{Exploitation Film}}s, weapons magazines, [[TakeThat Hammond Organ music, and karaoke]].
97	* ''Series/{{The Sandman\|2022}}'': In "[[Recap/TheSandman2022S01E03DreamALittleDreamOfMe Dream A Little Dream]]," John Dee keeps himself entertained at the mental hospital by reading a book on the history of occultism in Britain, resulting in very tense conversation with his mother about one of the figures in the book, Roderick Burgess -- John's long-lost father. Not only is this a worrying attempt to delve into his dark family history, but it's also an early warning sign of John's psychotic hatred of lies in any form, as the book is a non-fiction work.
98	* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': Garak's love of Cardassian literary classics like ''The Neverending Sacrifice'' not only indicates that he's a proud Cardassian even in exile, but the fact that he praises the novel's [[PuttingOnTheReich borderline fascist]] theme of obsessive devotion to the state regardless of cost is one of many hints that he's ReformedButNotTamed: he may not be torturing or assassinating Bajorans anymore, but he's [[TheUnfettered more than willing to do the same]] to Starfleet's enemies if it means saving Cardassia and the Alpha Quadrant (in that order).
99	* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}:'' The mid-tier Demon [[TheChessmaster Crowley]] is introduced in "[[Recap/SupernaturalS05E10AbandonAllHope Abandon All Hope]]" watching a Nazi propaganda silent film on the home cinema system of his luxurious mansion.
100	* ''Series/TwistedMetal2023'': DirtyCop Agent Shepard, who's additionally the lieutenant of a fascist police state, [[CaughtWithYourPantsDown is eventually walked in on while pleasuring himself]] to a [[LoliconAndShotacon lolicon manga]].
101	* ''Series/{{Vinyl}}:'' Demented radio personality Buck Rogers is encountered drunkenly playing the drums to Music/BlackSabbath's "Iron Man," and later watches ''Film/{{Frankenstein\|1931}}'' on a portable screen in his mansion -- despite freely admitting that the film scared him when he was a kid. For good measure, he follows up by drawing a gun and shooting the monster in the head the moment Karloff gets a close-up, all firmly establishing him as dangerously unstable.
102	[[/folder]]
103
104	[[folder:Music]]
105	* Creator/TomCardy: The song "Red Flags" is about the singer hitting it off with a girl on a date, until he figures out her favorite film is ''Film/TheHumanCentipede''. Over the course of the song, she tries to relieve his itchy eye (really him trying to signal the waiter) with a knife and wishes she could sew the guests at their potential wedding together like the victims in the film, confirming his suspicions, but he's still willing to give her a chance.
106	* In "Gopniki", a song by Zoopark, the classic traits of a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopnik gopnik]] include listening to heavy metal, Arabesque, and Ottawan. ItMakesSenseInContext, since a lot of music genres and performers, even those that seem quite innocuous nowadays, were prohibited or at least severely frowned upon by the Soviet government, and listening to them at all already meant one wasn't quite a law-abiding citizen.
107	[[/folder]]
108
109	[[folder:Theatre]]
110	* ''Theatre/LittleShopOfHorrors'': A cut song, "[[https://littleshop.fandom.com/wiki/I_Found_A_Hobby I Found a Hobby]]", had Orin Scrivello sing about how he grew up using torture scenes from horror films and lithographs of torture devices to turn himself on from the time he was ten years old, until finally, he [[DepravedDentist grew up to be a dentist and enact torture as part of his job]] (as well as domestically abuse his girlfriend Audrey).
111	* Jud Fry of ''Theatre/{{Oklahoma}}'' is a quiet and lonely farmhand with an unrequited affection for his employer Laurey. When Curly, Jud's rival for Laurey's affections, visits Jud's squalid digs, he remarks upon the pictures of nude women hanging on the wall, and it isn't long before Jud shows Curly the rest of his [[PornStash vast collection of erotica]], the content of which Curly remarks could make him "go blind." [[note]]Considering the setting is 1912 in a very remote part of an unincorporated territory, it wouldn't take much to shock the average person.[[/note]] This antisocial behavior, coupled with his HeroWorship for a farmhand who [[IfICantHaveYou murdered his employer's entire family after being spurned]] (assuming he isn't [[ButHeSoundsHandsome talking about himself]]), cements him as not only a poor romantic interest for Laurey but a genuinely unstable individual who [[MurderTheHypotenuse won't take kindly]] to being rejected.
112	[[/folder]]
113
114	[[folder:Video Games]]
115	* ''VideoGame/Bioshock2'': Very early in the game, players can find copies of ''Unity and Metamorphosis'', a book of radical collectivist philosophy by [[PsychoPsychologist Sofia Lamb]]. Players will naturally be suspicious of anyone reading the book, given that the author was last seen [[PsychicAssistedSuicide forcing Subject Delta to kill himself]] in the intro... and a few rooms later, it turns out that the city is now ruled by the [[PathOfInspiration Rapture Family]], who all revere Lamb as a prophet and her book as a bible. As such, copies of ''Unity And Metamorphosis'' are one of the many warning signs of Rapture Family territory, followed closely by butterfly sigils, cult graffiti, and hordes of extremist splicers.
116	* ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'': Played with. Galactic conqueror and BigBad Zinyak demonstrates his WickedCultured credentials through dark works, quoting from ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'' and playing music like ''Night On Bald Mountain'' on one of the MindPrison's radio stations. However, the dark works aren't actually his favourite: Zinyak's true passion is for the lighter classics, most prominently the works of Creator/JaneAusten. [[spoiler:It turns out that he's such a LoonyFan of her that he's actually used his time machine to kidnap Jane Austen herself from the past and is currently keeping her imprisoned aboard his mothership. Following the events of the game, Jane is freed from the MindPrison by the Boss, hence the mysterious narrator of the game.]]
117	[[/folder]]
118
119	[[folder:Web Videos]]
120	* Website/CollegeHumor: The video [[https://youtu.be/FaGuQ5CpTzA?si=SbjkPyyLPZyNC5n- "His Netflix is F*cked Up"]] features a woman on a first date who decides to investigate her prospective boyfriend's Netflix history while he fixes her a drink. The man seems to be interested in ''multiple'' red flag topics including Nazis, Anime ([[AllAnimeIsNaughtyTentacles which the woman thinks is the same as Hentai]]), the rape scene from ''Film/{{The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo\|2011}}'', animal cruelty (''Literature/OldYeller'' getting shot), suicide cults, and [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs Nazi Tentacle Hentai]]. However, he's revealed to be sharing an account with his ex, so it's not clear which of the red flags really apply to him.
121	* ''WebVideo/MisterPlinkettReviews'': Discussed in the review of ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith''. Plinkett finds it weird that Anakin doesn't question how Palpatine is reading the works of "Darth Plagueis the Wise" despite supposedly being on the light side. He compares it to someone casually mentioning that they're reading ''Literature/MeinKampf'', and how that would naturally grind the conversation to a halt while making you question the person you're talking to.
122	[[/folder]]
123
124	[[folder:Western Animation]]
125	* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': [[CharacterizationMarchesOn In the early seasons]], [[EnfantTerrible Stewie Griffin]] enjoys reading books like ''Literature/{{The Art of War\|SunTzu}}'' and ''Literature/ThePrince'' when he isn't at work on his latest doomsday device. As the series continued, Stewie evolved from a Bond Villain to a broadly amoral genius, and his tastes expanded to less obviously villainous material like children's TV shows and the History Channel.
126	* ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'': Played with in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze5R0QjqBLw this sketch]] featuring Evil-Lyn and Teela watching TV while on treadmills at the gym...
127	-->'''Evil-Lyn:''' You care if I change the channel?\
128	'''Teela:''' Really? Rachel Ray?\
129	'''Evil-Lyn:''' Yeah, so what?\
130	'''Teela:''' Your name is ''Evil-Lyn.'' I thought you'd watch something more, y'know, ''[waves arms dramatically]'' eeeeeee-vil.\
131	'''Evil-Lyn:''' What do you think I watch when I'm on the treadmill? ''Film/FacesOfDeath?''\
132	'''Teela:''' Yeah, maybe.
133	* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': "[[Recap/SouthParkS8E3ThePassionOfTheJew The Passion of the Jew]]" is about [[Characters/SouthParkEricCartman Eric Cartman]] watching ''Film/ThePassionOfTheChrist'', and how he, as an Anti-Semitic person, interpreted the film as propaganda against Jews. He even starts to dress up as UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler and convinces several oblivious people around town to spread the messages. Cartman then gets the people to march around town, spouting Anti-Semitic words in German while they are none the wiser.
134	[[/folder]]

Context Main / RedFlagRecreationMaterial