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8[-[[caption-width-right:350:The BeerGoggles do nothing to hide how insensitive this ad is.]]-]
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13->''"When you're an asshole, it doesn't matter how right you are. Nobody wants to give you the satisfaction."''
14-->-- '''Morty Smith''', ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty''
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19You partake in a piece of media. Frankly, you find it to be just terrible. The [[DullSurprise acting is wooden]], the plot is boring and unrealistic, [[SpecialEffectFailure the effects are cheap]], the soundtrack is annoying, the writing is poor (if not offensive) and the costumes are ugly.
20
21Worse yet is the [[AnAesop Aesop]] the show attempts to give: The logic of its arguments is [[BrokenAesop hypocritical]], if not [[InsaneTrollLogic nonsensical]], its world-view is unnuanced, the characters frequently [[CharacterFilibuster burst into boring monologues]] concerning [[WriterOnBoard what are almost certainly the author's opinions on the subject]], those who disagree with the opinion are [[TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong dismissed unsatisfactorily]], and the general preachiness makes it a chore to get through.
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23And the worst part of all of this? ''You actually '''agree''' with what the work is trying to say''.
24
25Related to the concept of the CluelessAesop, [[TitleDrop Don't Shoot the Message]] is the phenomenon that results when viewers feel the need to explain that, while they are in agreement with the message attempted by a work, they hate the delivery enough that they still find the work intolerable. Quite often, this is because they consider the message's delivery to be [[{{Anvilicious}} about as subtle as an anvil to the face]] in a way that drags the whole work down. They might consider the messenger to be RightForTheWrongReasons, or the message to be too [[BlackAndWhiteMorality oversimplified]] or laden with [[TheWarOnStraw straw]]. The work is seen as preachy, even to [[ConfirmationBias the proverbial choir that is being preached to]]. The above description gives an extreme hypothetical, but you do not need to think a work is outright terrible to qualify; you merely have to dislike it for any of a hundred reasons unrelated to its Aesop.
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27Such a position should not be seen as particularly incongruous, but it is often assumed that those who dislike a work ''necessarily'' disagree with its point of view. Many times, it is indeed the case: If an unpalatable bias is detected in a work, people will steer clear of it. However, the ''a priori'' assumption that this is the case is most certainly an invocation of LogicalFallacies -- for instance, hating a corny [[DrugsAreBad anti-drug PSA]] does not mean that one supports full legalization.
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29One possible form this could take is a SpaceWhaleAesop. Contrast this with StrawmanHasAPoint, when one can't help but agree with the ''opposite'' of the work's position, not so much because of one's prior beliefs as because the work did such a bad job of portraying the opposition. This could also lead to a LogicBomb if your reason for shooting the message is because of the messenger's hypocrisy. Also contrast HardTruthAesop, when AnAesop is viewed as valid despite its unpleasantness due to its handling in the work. Compare StealthParody, which can differ from this trope only in creator intent, and due to PoesLaw may be confused for each other. If this occurs InUniverse, it's JerkassHasAPoint. See also NotHelpingYourCase.
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31Also related to HitlerAteSugar, when a viewpoint is criticized on the (fallacious) grounds that someone who held it was a bad apple. Those too eager to avoid this characterization may resort to the NoTrueScotsman fallacy ("that person isn't a ''real'' example of X").
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33Not to be confused with ShootTheMessenger.
34----
35!!Examples:
36
37[[foldercontrol]]
38
39[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
40* ''Anime/OjamajoDoremi'': The main theme is that magic is never as important as interpersonal relationships, which is good, but the questionable evaluations of the actual consequences, the possible alternatives never raised, and the additional justifications made additional weird issues appear.
41* ''Anime/PokemonTheOriginalSeries'':
42** "[[Recap/PokemonS1E4ChallengeOfTheSamurai Challenge of the Samurai]]": Taking responsibility for one's own actions is a very important lesson for kids to learn early on when growing up. Too bad it's muddled by the fact that it genuinely ''wasn't'' Ash's fault that the cast got hunted all over Viridian Forest by a Beedrill swarm, [[InformedWrongness despite what the episode tries to tell you]].
43** "[[Recap/PokemonS1E8ThePathToThePokemonLeague The Path to the Pokémon League]]": It ''seems'' the episode wants the viewer to know that there are multiple ways to lovingly raise a Pokémon, with intense training just being one of many methods. Since it clearly works both in the anime and in the games and is a good metaphor for how grueling training for sports can be, it's certainly not a bad lesson in theory. But the execution was... lacking, to say the least.
44** Ash's ultimate loss in the Indigo League was meant to show that [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome being a scrappy underdog/the protagonist alone doesn't mean you will win, as a contrast to the 'underdog victories' that were running rampant at that time]]. However, [[InformedWrongness the unfair circumstances that led up to it]],[[note]]He was kidnapped by Team Rocket and the escape attempt meant his Pokémon were exhausted by the time he reached the arena, forcing him to fall back on his supremely unreliable Charizard who pulled ScrewThisImOuttaHere rather than fight.[[/note]] combined with Ash going on to lose ''every'' official league tournament he entered in subsequent seasons [[spoiler:until Alola]] diminished the message.
45* ''Anime/SonicX'': During the campfire scene in Episode 51, Sonic says “friendship is freedom”. Which is in itself a great message, except that he spent the entire episode allowing Chris to kidnap him and drag him far away while delaying his return back to his world.
46* ''Anime/{{Vandread}}'': The anime's message, that societies segregated by gender are ultimately undesirable, is an ultimately good one that most people would be able to get behind. However, its portrayal of the societies of Tarak and Mejere are rather stereotypical of said genders, leading critics to argue that the series is reinforcing stereotypes around [[MenDontCry said]] [[VanityIsFeminine genders]] and on the subject of Dita, Meia and Jura: three women who grew up in a society where [[LadyLand lesbians were the only known]] [[LesYay form of sexual and romantic attraction]] have their affections for Hibiki referred to as "forgotten biological instincts", accidentally coming across to some as a CureYourGays message.
47[[/folder]]
48
49[[folder:Comic Books]]
50* ''ComicBook/AmazingCowHeroes'': Even Vegans are going to find the simplistic way the story touches upon not eating beef all that persuasive for giving up beef eating.
51* ''ComicBook/DarkCrisis: Young Justice'' makes a big point about how fans shouldn't let nostalgia blind them to negative aspects about older works, and that they should embrace more diverse characters when they're introduced. Nobody would disagree with that, however what undermines this point is using ''ComicBook/YoungJustice'' as an example, as the book is generally considered to have been very ahead of its time and still holds up today when it comes to progressive issues, and that the Young Justice fandom as a whole tends to lean left and be in favour of progressive comics. Combined with the miniseries itself being met with criticism for how it writes Cassie and Cissie coming off as deeply sexist, and the handling of Tim's bisexuality being seen as problematic by bisexual readers, it greatly undermines the message it's claiming to push. It's not helped either by using a toxic StrawFan as the BigBad, which is seen as mean-spirited at best and is generally not a popular way to preach messages like this even when they ''do'' have a point.
52* ''ComicBook/GreenArrow'': "What Goes Up..." from volume five carries a genuinely sweet message regarding the struggles of transgender people, showing that it's important to let other people live in the way that they believe they should live and the importance of not forcing societal norms on other people. All of this is undone by the fact that out of all the metaphors they could have possibly used, they chose to use people who [[SpaceWhaleAesop believe themselves to actually be robots]], which circles everything the comic has to say straight back around into offensive territory.
53* ''ComicBook/HeroesInCrisis'': Fans have agreed Tom King wanting to do a serious story about superheroes and [=PTSD=] was admirable. The problem is, the story he's given them is just another CrisisCrossover involving multiple beloved characters getting killed for shock value or having their backstories and characterizations ruined for plot convenience, while the living characters take turns holding the IdiotBall.
54* ''ComicBook/HolyTerror'': Even people who agree with or at the very least aren’t against Miller’s beliefs have a very hard time liking this comic due to the terrible art, dialogue, and pacing.
55* ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueCryForJustice'': Working to actively prevent crime and super villains isn't a bad idea in itself. It's the way the heroes go about it that undermines their point. For example, in the part of the story where Ray Palmer is interrogating Killer Moth on the death of his friend Mike Dante, he threatens to make Moth talk by shrinking, entering Moth's brain and beginning to grow inside his head. Palmer actually begins following through on that threat, and nearly succeeds before Killer Moth tells him about Prometheus. This is a tactic more associated with villainy than anything else; case in point, during ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis2004'', Palmer's ex murders a friend of theirs, leaving him so emotionally scarred that he went into exile. How does said ex murder Palmer's friend? By ''shrinking, entering her skull and growing from inside!'' You read that right, Ray Palmer is torturing Killer Moth [[HeWhoFightsMonsters using the same method that killed his friend!]]
56* ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes2020'': Bendis's attempt to make the Legion look more racially inclusive was one of the few things people pointed to when telling others to give his Legion a try as previous versions were historically mostly white humanoids. But that defense quickly worked against Bendis when it became obvious none of the examples of Race Lift were thought out in advance, to the point of making this comic look even more racist by accident and Bendis's efforts clearly being seen as nothing but performative.
57* ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW'':
58** The 2014 Equestria Girls Holiday Special is anything but subtle about the seriousness and dangers of cyber-bullying, which should be for the best. But those picking it up expecting a fluffy ChristmasEpisode weren't in the mood for something so grave, to say nothing of [[CluelessAesop the resulting execution]].
59** [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDWIssue34To37 Issues 34-37]]: The author [[https://derpibooru.org/1046785 posted a tweet]] comparing Radiant Hope and Twilight Sparkle implying the former was a stronger character for dealing with their friend turning evil and [[ItsAllMyFault the guilt of blaming themselves for that and the ensuing tragedy]], something Twilight never faced. Many fans, even those who wanted to agree liking Radiant Hope for being such a {{Deconstruction}} of [[ThePowerOfFriendship the series themes]] and [[ShadowArchetype Twilight's character]], were not happy seeing it as propping up Radiant Hope after failing to depict those aspect in the comic by ignoring/devaluing Twilight's accomplishments.
60* ''ComicBook/RatQueens'' was originally acclaimed for its mostly-female, ass-kicking cast, but its reputation never recovered from the scandal over the original artist, and co-creator, Roc Upchurch abusing his wife, and conflicting reports regarding writer/co-creator Kurtis Wiebe's level of knowledge of this, and willingness to continue working with him afterwards.
61* ''ComicBook/SpiderManBlackCatTheEvilThatMenDo'': A Spider-Man story tackling rape is not inherently a bad idea. The comics have dealt with heavy topics like prejudice, poverty, addiction and abuse in the past. Unfortunately, the execution of this concept did it no favors; between the comic exploiting [[MaleGaze Felicia's figure for titillation]] and the retcon of her being a rape survivor feeling rather tacked on, audiences and critics came felt the story undermined its own message.
62* ''Franchise/XMen'': The X-Men and mutants have long been used to represent real-world persecuted minority groups, and their conflicts with the public are plain allegories for racism, homophobia, and other forms of bigotry. Although the franchise has been praised for tackling this sort of subject matter, it has also commonly been pointed out they make a somewhat poor comparison because mutants really ''are'' extremely different from regular humans and their powers often manifest in very dangerous ways that make them a tremendous threat to others or even themselves at times; not just villains, but even heroic characters who struggle to control their powers, often making it seem like the mutant haters [[StrawmanHasAPoint are justified in being afraid of mutants]]. Especially because there ''are'' a large number of genuinely evil mutants who have used their powers to cause massive destruction and kill countless innocent people.[[/folder]]
63
64[[folder:Comic Strips]]
65* ''ComicStrip/MallardFillmore'': To some politically-moderate readers, Tinsley's viewpoints are on occasion quite reasonable, but his method of delivery distorts them so horribly that they despise the strip anyway.
66[[/folder]]
67
68[[folder:Fan Works]]
69* ''Fanfic/AlvanAnTheChipmunks3TheSecondSqueakuel'': The author wants to show us that [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil rape is bad]] and it shouldn't be glorified in fanfic. He isn't wrong, it's just that the story itself does not really help his cause.
70* ''[[https://theloudhousefanon.fandom.com/wiki/A_Disgraced_Athlete A Disgraced Athlete]]'' (based on ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'') was meant to be a negative criticism on the episode "No Such Luck". However, most of its readers, even those who hated "No Such Luck", ended up hating the fanfic even more, due to [[AdaptationalVillainy Lynn's portrayal as a monster]] who [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals kills cats]] and tries to kill her own brother.
71* ''Fanfic/TheDragonsPizzeria'': Having originally been penned as lore for the old script of fangame ''VideoGame/HoloFunk'' (itself also a victim of this trope), it is intended to be a tribute to departed WebAnimation/{{hololive}} talent Mano Aloe. However, its noble intentions and condemnations of the harassment that led to her retirement are undermined by expressing this through a MassiveMultiplayerCrossover playing out [[MuseAbuse blatant allegories for Aloe's real-life traumas]][[note]]including at least one plot point suspected to have been ''ripped from semi-confidential information''[[/note]] and using said crossovers (plus wanton violence) to resolve them.
72* ''[[https://www.wattpad.com/story/112467278-%F0%9F%92%94easliy-broken%F0%9F%92%94 Easily Broken]]'', based on ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'', had messages about family and friendship being beautiful and important. Most of the readers fully agreed with these messages, but ended up hating the fanfic for its bad spelling and grammar, use of the done-to-death FandomSpecificPlot of Lincoln [[TheRunaway running away]], the plot holes (such as it being uncertain whether it took place before or after Ronnie Anne moved away) and the family being portrayed in an inconsistent, and often uncharacteristically mean, way.
73* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomverse'':
74** Most stories in this verse will have a sub commentary talking about how Chloe being normal is nothing to be ashamed of, with a BeYourself Aesop on top of that. The problem comes from the fact that, in most of these stories, the Chloe in question will eventually ''forgo'' being a normal girl in order to become "Chloe of the Vermillion", which is almost always as far away from being normal as you can imagine.
75** Female focus is a common idea in the series, and one that is not unwarranted due to Chloe's lack of major character status, ''especially'' when Blossoming Trail was originally written. However, the fact that much of this focus comes at the expense of Goh, who is often written in [[AdaptationalVillainy unflattering ways that are not canonical]] and to a lesser extent Ash (who only escapes this due to a combination of co-writer intervention and his tendency to not be rendered mentally fragile like Goh) taints the goal with a bad aftertaste. In fact, the majority of male characters in the series are nearly always [[AdaptationalJerkass portrayed]] as far worse than their canon counterparts for the sake of making Chloe look like the innocent victim when she herself is anything but.
76** ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'':
77*** Later in the story, it begins deconstructing the AccusationFic tropes by pointing out how things aren't so black and white, DisproportionateRetribution is not acceptable, and those who subscribe to the idea are going to be called out on it. This is a decent message...unless Parker is involved. He acts much the same way as the protagonist of an AccusationFic: blames everybody, sees things as black and white, and believes only in justice with extreme prejudice. However, instead of being called out, people keep praising him over how he knew Chloe better than anyone else while doing little to nothing to curb his violent tendencies. Even when he gets his just desserts after the Unown incident, the narrative ''still'' coddles him by giving him many moments where he acts like he did nothing wrong, culminating in a courtroom scene where he devolves into ShamingTheMob, all while acting like ''he's'' the better man in the situation.
78*** There is a gem of truth in the idea that focusing too much on one part of the Pokemon world, the Pokemon themselves, can neglect the idea of human interactions and the wider world itself. It is a world of both humans and Pokemon after all. Chloe and the story of Blossoming Trail is interested in raising this point, the problem is that it fails to truly demonstrate the idea. Not only are many of the human characters involved genuinely growing thanks to their interactions with Pokemon, but many of the human interactions they are said to be missing out on due to obsession are genuinely negative (such as Goh's school) or accidentally written as such (as would be the case with [[StrangledByTheRedString Trip]] and [[TheScrappy Parker]]), making the message come off as tone deaf at best and bending over backwards to support Chloe's views at worst. Goh himself, who is arguably the most set up to explore this, is also less effective than he might have been by the story starting twenty-eight episodes into the series, by which point Goh has started to work away from a possible obsession to the point of missing out on other things already, meaning the story's best candidate for this concept had already started to improve on his own. The possible counter-message, that being too obsessed with the human half of the Pokemon world is just as bad and that people need balance between the two, which could be easily fulfilled by Chloe or Parker, is also poorly, if at all, explored.
79** ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainSeekerOfCrocus'': Later down in Act 2 and by the end of Act 1, the story tries to make a message about how human relationships are important, and that in order to make them work, communication and empathy are required from both sides. This is a pretty good message...that ends up falling flat when considering the context: Vermillion City, the location that gets the most focus in the story, is filled with ''horrible'' people, ranging from bullies who'd destroy someone in order to get a Pokemon, to adults that could care less about what happens as long as it isn't their problem. This is all without specifically noting when the story explores Chloe's own developments in this regard, as while certainly meant to show how Chloe has improved over time, focusing on her pre-development parts, tend to pain a picture of someone who is just as horrible as the bullies and adults mentioned above, and at times it is only the narrative, and not Chloe's actions and behaviors themselves, that communicate any progress in communication and empathy. These expansions also focus a lot on a Chloe who tends to display her worst traits in the Blossomverse, which further muddle the message as these developments are framed with large amounts of the very same traits that make Chloe divisive in the first place.
80* ''Fanfic/PrehistoricEarth'': While there are a few points that Luczynski brings up in his retrospective posts that several readers (including Nathanoraptor and [=A-LionGleek=]) admittedly consider valid points (to the point that the two aforementioned writers hope to try to avoid repeat instances of some of them in ''Fanfic/PrehistoricParkReimagined''), [[CausticCritic the somewhat unnecessarily harsh and borderline childish way in which he voices his grievances]] (among other things) has rubbed many people the wrong way and made it very difficult to immediately accept as much at face value.
81[[/folder]]
82
83[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
84* ''WesternAnimation/TheAntBully'': Working together regardless of differences is quite a valid Aesop, but more than a few reviewers pointed out how Lucas was taught to conform to the point of not being an individual. Negative reviews went as far as to compare the movie to communist propaganda or a Hezbollah training video. Others have also taken issue at how Lucas is the only character who is fleshed out, informed and goes through a redemption arc about understanding the other, whereas Beals and the bully don't get it and are instead bullied back or crippled for life.
85* ''WesternAnimation/BackToTheOutback'': The film delivers a message of "do not judge a book by its cover" and "inner beauty". However, one criticism from some viewers says this does not work with animals who are legitimately dangerous, humans have every right to be afraid of predators and venomous animals that could harm them anytime, and the moral unfortunately comes off as "it is okay to get close to crocodiles, they just want to help". To add on, all the dangerous animals, especially the main cast, are made to be as cute as possible, which is rather unfitting for a movie with a message about not judging animals by how they look.
86* ''WesternAnimation/ChildrenVSWizards'': The film is massively pro-Orthodox Christianity, but not even Orthodox Russians like this movie. As [=BadComedian=] puts it, the movie unites everyone of every nationality in hatred of it, Russian or otherwise.
87* ''WesternAnimation/{{Coonskin}}'': The film's use of blackface stereotypes and racist dialogue are very clearly part of the satire on racism it's going for. Plus, not only did Bakshi really do his homework on the subject matter (pulling from both his own experiences with black peers ''and'' doing extensive interviews with pedestrians about being black in post-Civil Rights America circa 1975) to ensure that the satire would be accurate, but he also had a mostly-black staff animating the film. Nevertheless, most audiences simply can't look past the racist imagery and the fact that it's a blaxploitation film made by a white filmmaker to see anything of value in it.
88* ''Anime/DigimonAdventureLastEvolutionKizuna'': The message of the film seems to be learning to cope with loss and the inevitability of having to adjust to adulthood, and that it's alright to let go of certain things from your childhood if it's actively being destructive or causing problems for you as an adult[[note]]The film portrays Tai and Matt as aimlessly wandering through their last year of the semester without having a clue what they're going to do in life and having some money issues because of it, and using their Digimon as a crutch to keep ignoring that problem, while the BigBad [[spoiler: is the result of a character who tried to grow up too fast and diving deep into a self-destructive obsession with Digimon in order to try and deal with their inability to cope with losing their childhood friend instead of sorting out their own issues]][[/note]]. Taken by itself, it isn't ''necessarily'' bad. However, the way it ends up being delivered, with needing to {{Retcon}} a sudden plot point in order to do it, combined with some [[ValuesDissonance unintentional inflammatory comments from the director in interviews thanks to cultural dissonance]], ending at the separation with [[LeftHanging no indication about how the partners will come back]] outside of WordOfGod which retroactively makes the BigBad ''that was meant to be proven wrong in the right'', simultaneously trying to appeal to the very same people the message of this film seems to be trying to shoo away from the franchise while said franchise has largely been relying on ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'' nostalgia for much of the latter half of UsefulNotes/TheNewTens, on top of releasing another [[Anime/DigimonAdventure2020 Digimon Adventure adaptation]] ''two months later'' which made many fans think that it is a continuation of ''Kizuna'' at first glance and is seemingly geared for nostalgic fans of the series, ending up leaving a very bitter taste in the mouths of those who watch it. This isn't considering the fact that the ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'' ending is still canon to the series, which clearly shows the adult Digidestined having their Digimon with them, thus making the whole thing a ForegoneConclusion with a dash of {{Melodrama}} as we know that the consequences ultimately don't stick in the long run.
89* ''WesternAnimation/FrostyReturns'': While the importance of protecting the environment is a good message, the problem with this special was [[{{Anvilicious}} how heavy-handed]] and [[StrawmanHasAPoint one-sided]] it made the message.
90* ''Anime/KimbaTheWhiteLion'': Kimba, much like any other Tezuka production, was very progressive for its time and tried to convey a strong anti-discrimination message, which in modern times is heavily undermined by the fact Tezuka has chosen to depict African natives as racist caricatures in the original manga. The original anime adaptation thankfully avoids this, but its 1966 sequel wasn't so lucky.
91* ''WesternAnimation/MakeMineFreedom'': Considering some details about John Q. Public’s story and the time in which the cartoon was made, it most likely is defending the mixed economy exemplified by the New Deal, not pure laissez-faire capitalism. This would explain why the cartoon assumes that capitalism and democracy require each other, but it never distinguishes this from the abuses of the Gilded Age. This makes John seem overly naive, and can cause social democrats today to [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic not fully agree with him]] while still acknowledging that totalitarianism is bad.
92* ''WesternAnimation/ThePagemaster'': The movie contains both a DareToBeBadass and a ReadingIsCoolAesop, which would be fine and dandy if not because it mixes them both up in the process, with the result being a rather puzzling Aesop that "reading (somehow) makes you braver". While this oddity is not without precedent in pop culture (it is actually kind of a trope of Creator/JRRTolkien's works, where unambitious bookworms like Bilbo and Frodo turn out to be the best hero material), it can still be jarring to see it applied to a more realistic setting like this film's live action sequences.
93* ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'': Disney's attempt at making a tolerance/anti-war {{Aesop}} fell flat with certain audiences who noted the [[ArtisticLicenseHistory historical inaccuracies]] or the fact that said {{Aesop}} was built on a blatant false equivalency, with the most notable one being that they attempted to create a MirroringFactions narrative between the Powhatan Nation and the British by downplaying the core of the issue as just simply being different from one another, and that they pushed John Smith as a TokenGoodTeammate to lighten the image of the invaders.
94* ''WesternAnimation/QuestForCamelot'': Having Garrett remain blind in the finale does send a good message about living with disability...but the fact that this is a fantasy setting where Excalibur's WorldHealingWave can literally separate conjoined dragons... It would be one thing if, perhaps, Garrett was blind from birth. But he tells Kayley he was blinded in an accident. Making the above with splitting apart conjoined from birth dragons but not curing his blindness even stranger.
95* ''WesternAnimation/RalphBreaksTheInternet'': The scene where Ralph reads mean comments about him was likely meant to be a commentary on cyberbullying. This is not necessarily a bad thing to tackle, but it [[{{Narm}} falls hilariously flat]] since the commenters do not know he is a sentient being, making their behavior not so much bullying as [[SeriousBusiness getting ridiculously worked up over a video game meme]]... [[TruthInTelevision not that this doesn't actually happen on the Internet, though.]]
96* ''WesternAnimation/RayaAndTheLastDragon'': While the moral about the PowerOfTrust, and how only cooperation between people can lead to harmony, is all good and well, a number of viewers thought the execution left something to be desired, given that it requires the main character to put unerring faith in a person who already betrayed, antagonized, and hurt her for selfish reasons for years, and even set off [[CrapsackWorld the near-apocalypse]] that wiped out all of Raya's people. Raya is given no reason to forgive Namaari, aside from the fact the narrative actively forced them to reconcile, and following this sort of blind, unconditional forgiveness can be ''very'' dangerous in reality. Indeed, Sisu's naivety in trusting everyone she meets at face value very nearly gets her killed more than once.
97* ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryWillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory'': The film admittedly has a good message on not being greedy, which applies to both Tom and Jerry, as well as the Willy Wonka characters. However, with how everything is set up, it's rather clunky and muddled.
98* ''WesternAnimation/YogisArkLark'': Let's face it, the GreenAesop is a very good way to live. But due to its preachy status and general divisive Hanna-Barbera issues, sometimes this trope crops up.
99[[/folder]]
100
101[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
102* ''Film/AnAmericanCarol'': The film is intended as a parody of documentarian Creator/MichaelMoore, but even Moore's fiercest critics were put off by this portrayal, noting that while many hate his methods and character, they have some level of respect for his views. In fact, much of Moore's criticism comes from [[DontShootTheMessage people who agree with his core positions yet dislike the inaccuracies in his documentaries]], [[https://www.avclub.com/america-hating-flag-burning-commie-pinko-case-file-14-1798231020 including]] Creator/NathanRabin.[[note]]As such, Rabin thought TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot.[[/note]]
103* ''Film/BeautyAndTheBeast2017'': The general consensus on [=LeFou's=] AdaptationalSexuality is that, yes, the time is right for Disney to represent the LGBTQ community -- but using the villain's bumbling sidekick probably wasn't the best idea, especially since the payoff is a short blink-and-you'll-miss-it scene.
104* ''Film/BenAndArthur'': The film argues in favor of same-sex marriage, but don't expect any pro-LGBT organizations to recommend this film on account of its poor quality and sloppy handling of its messages.
105* ''Film/BlackChristmas2019'': Even the biggest critics of the movie have pointed out that the themes of the movie (rape culture, toxic masculinity, male privilege, etc.) are worth talking about and that even the original 1974 film had serious political and social commentary. And it counts for something that the feminism the movie portrays isn't wholly sex negative. The problem they had was its execution, the unsympathetic, stereotypical main leads, and how it felt like it was a social message with a movie attached to it.
106* ''Film/{{Blonde}}'': Several critics and general viewers have noted that the film wants to criticize and deconstruct the abuse, excessive sexualization and exploitation [[Creator/MarilynMonroe Norma Jeane Mortensen]] (and numerous women like her) went through in Hollywood, which is certainly not a bad thing, but that the execution is flawed; it's been argued that beyond graphically depicting Norma Jeane suffering one occurrence of trauma and degradation after another, the film doesn't have much else to say on the subject (which also tends to reduce Norma Jeane herself to being a helpless victim), and at times even feels like it indulges in the same exploitation of Norma Jeane [[BrokenAesop it tries to condemn]].
107* ''Film/{{Bright}}'': The general message of the film is that racism is bad. However, ''numerous'' viewers and critics found its handling of that message to be sloppy at best and offensive at worst. Commonly criticisms include the fact that both FantasticRacism and ''historical'' racism exist in ''Bright's'' world, which makes little sense. Another point of contention for some critics is that the racism toward orcs (culturally equated to African-Americans, Jews, and Mexicans) are both based on SinsOfTheFather that the race committed and [[NeverLiveItDown can't live it down]], with an unwillingness by other races to forgive them. This is seen as insulting towards real-life races who were historically oppressed through little fault of their own, especially since the Elves (used as an allegory for the powerful elite) seemingly did nothing wrong aside from being {{Upper Class Twit}}s.
108* ''Film/{{Brimstone}}'': While the film received recognition as feminist, some women accused it of being overcrowded with {{Straw Misogynist}}s and too primitive in its criticism of Christianity.
109* ''Film/ChildBride'': While there’s no excuse for this lurid exploitation film about it, [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_marriage_in_the_United_States child marriage laws]] are in fact a serious issue in the United States to this day, with several states allowing children to be legally married with no minimum age. Many activists are working to get this fixed, [[AndThatsTerrible for obvious reasons]].
110* ''Film/TheCondemned2007'': Production company hypocrisy and character's sneering aside, Ian's answer against the reporter's ThinkOfTheChildren--that people, not broadcasters, should be more vigilant of what kids watch, ''especially'' if it's something more controllable by the parents like pay-per-view events--is somewhat accurate.
111* ''Film/CoolCatFightsCoronavirus'': Most of its detractors agree with the fact that [[DiseasePreventionAesop stopping COVID is necessary]], but dislike the film due to its BrokenAesop (among other things, Cool Cat doesn't wear a mask despite saying to wear one), its use of ArtisticLicenseMedicine, and the VillainSong being hard to take seriously.
112* ''Film/CoolCatSavesTheKids'': While anti-bullying [=PSAs=] are important considering school bullying is a problem in and of itself, the film has so many flaws that make it completely fall flat. Those flaws being that it's too absolutely corny to take seriously, the BrokenAesop (especially taking Derek Savage's real-life antics into consideration), and its overall quality. For example, it actually makes the typical excuses for bullying, portraying them as the victims of society. It's not like bullies will become your friends if you just say the right things. The movie also makes broad generalizations about why kids bully each other and portray bullies as {{Card Carrying Villain}}s who you can spot just by looking at them.
113--> '''Erik Estrada''': ''(judging Butch the Bully, who at this point hasn't even done anything yet)'' All Cool Cat's friends are cool. That kid looks like he's up to something.\
114'''Vivica A. Fox:''' Hmmm. He better not be a bully, because I don't like bullies!
115* ''Film/{{Cuties}}'': While most agree with the film's intended message against sexualizing minors, they can't help but feel the film grossly muddled the message by filming the dance scenes with the child actresses in an overly sexual light.
116* ''Film/CyberSeductionHisSecretLife'': Minors being exposed to porn (usually without additional education around sex and relationships) and porn addiction actually can be very detrimental to a person's well-being and intimate relationships. Even moreso in an age where a lot of parents give even their prepubescent children smartphones with unlimited internet access. Unfortunately, this film's hamfisted, overly-preachy, and narm-filled approach means the subject isn't even remotely dealt with in a nuanced, realistic, or mature way.
117* ''Film/TheDaVinciCode'': Whatever one's opinion on the subject matter is, highlighting how the church has historically persecuted and punished women and covered up much of its dirty laundry are topics worthy of mainstream discussion.
118* ''Film/DontLookUp'': While they agree with the message of the film, more than a few critics and audiences were not amused by the movie's incredibly blunt and over-the-top take on human avarice and willful ignorance.
119* ''Film/DontWorryDarling'': There are a few semi-explicit sex scenes between Alice and Jack, with particular focus on Alice's pleasure. Creator/OliviaWilde stated in promotional interviews she felt these were important to include, as many sex scenes in films tend to ignore or gloss over depictions of female pleasure, focusing more on the men and objectifying the women. However, lots of viewers felt that these scenes were unnecessary and undermined the themes the movie was trying to discuss; given that the central theme is about men dominating women and focusing on themselves at the expense of women's well-being, sex scenes of this nature can seem ill-fitting, not to mention TheReveal [[spoiler:that Jack forced Alice into a simulation and had her brainwashed into being his adoring housewife]] sends them straight into unpleasant QuestionableConsent territory. Wilde's intention with the sex scenes isn't bad in theory, but several reviews pointed out that ''this'' movie wasn't the right place for it. Notably, Creator/FlorencePugh expressed her opinion that the discussion around the film put too much emphasis on the sex scenes over the actual plot.
120* ''Film/{{Enough}}'': Most would agree that a woman would have a moral right to claim self-defense to premeditated murder to protect herself and her child from her abusive husband, especially if the husband has enough connections to track down her every move, and can therefore set her up to be defenseless, and unable to get any help from the law. However, the movie undermines this message by totally overdoing the female empowerment/good wife vs. evil husband aspect, such as justifying her breaking into his house and setting him up to be completely defenseless, then giving him a taste of his own medicine before finishing the deed, and happily living ever after (when she had cut the phone line) with no inquiries from the police. There's also the fact that the entire movie takes place from her perspective and we don't get any insight in their marriage or her husband's abusive nature. As such, the film seems more like about the fantasy of an abused woman getting revenge against her male partner, as opposed to a story of self-defense.
121* ''Film/EscapeFromTomorrow'': While there are many reasons to criticize Disney in real life, many reviewers including WebVideo/JennyNicholson and WebVideo/SomeJerkWithACamera find the film's take on the subject far too abstract and tactless to hold any weight.
122* ''Film/FatHead'': As pointed out by several reviews, most notably [[https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/36515/fat-head/ this one]], whatever good points the film may have had become lost in its [[HolierThanThou condescending tone]], Tom Naughton's [[BiasSteamroller open hatred of Morgan Spurlock]], and several moments of hypocrisy: for example, Naughton accuses Spurlock of engaging in ManipulativeEditing, only to do it himself by omitting key bits of information, such as the fact that he increased his exercise level to several times that of the average American, dined at a wide variety of fast food franchises, and selected uncommon food options.
123* ''Film/Ghostbusters2016'': Suffice it to say, one of the main reasons why detractors hate the movie is because of this trope. Many felt that the feminist message of the movie was over-exaggerated, aggressive, and possibly even misandristic due to the way the male characters are portrayed. Even some feminists didn't like the way the message was handled.
124* ''Film/GodsNotDead'':
125** Christians criticized the film for being alienating to non-Christians, feeling it would only turn them off to its intended message of accepting Christianity.
126** ''Film/GodsNotDead2'': Like the first film, a lot of Christians feel this way about the film. Possibly even more so, as the premise of the first had some potential, but the premise of the sequel is unbelievably stupid. When some Catholic news sites discovered that the writers of the film are Catholic like themselves and not Evangelicals, they gave a scathing review called out the filmmakers' victimhood complex.
127---> [[https://www.archbalt.org/movie-review-gods-not-dead-2/ John Mulderig]]: "...Taken as a whole, this reaffirmation of belief, though appropriate for most moviegoers, suffers from an off-key tone, a pervasive sense of victimhood and sometimes painful sentimentality."\
128[[https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/gods-not-dead-2-altar-call-militia Sr. Rose Pacette]]: "As Catholic Christians we are a church called to live faith, hope and charity in the world -- not create a fraternity of victims and prepare to take defensive action. It is most regrettable that the film reinforces this idea."
129* ''Film/TheGreatestShowman'': While "This is Me" has caught on as a huge anthem for any and all marginalized groups, this hasn't saved it from criticism that it's still from a movie where P.T. Barnum's exploitation of otherness is whitewashed into a BeYourself story.
130* ''Film/IAccuseMyParents'': A parable about how parents shouldn't get drunk and fight in front of their kids lest they get driven off and seek parental figures elsewhere is not a bad message per se, it's just undercut by Jimmy's idiocy and the general melodrama of the rest of the movie.
131* ''Film/INowPronounceYouChuckAndLarry'': A film where two straight guys get married [[LoopholeAbuse for insurance reasons]], leading to them being subjected to homophobia they were once guilty of. Let's just say that the anti-homophobia message is the ''kindest'' thing many gay viewers had to say about this movie. GLAAD actually was criticized for its positive review.
132* ''Film/ISpitOnYourGrave'': The film's detractors argue that while the message is certainly an important one, the execution is flawed; it's been argued that apart from Jennifer's gang-rape being presented in an excessively graphic and downright voyeuristic manner, the film doesn't actually have much else to say on the subject apart from "AndThatsTerrible," and at times even seems to villainize her for fighting back (most notably via the tagline on the poster) while also reveling in the same cruelty [[BrokenAesop it tries to condemn]].
133* ''Film/JesusBro'': Creator/BradJones has made it clear that the object of parody here is Christian ''propaganda'' films, not the religion itself. [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Didn't stop the Dove Foundation from rating it zero doves regardless]].
134* ''Film/JesusCamp'': Many conservative Christian viewers took pains to point out that they considered Fischer's rhetoric and methods way over the top.
135* ''Film/{{Karen}}'': While many people do agree with the movie’s message, the movie’s poor quality and lack of subtlety bungle it to the point where some critics said they would’ve mistaken it for a StealthParody in favor of the Karen if it weren’t made by a black director for a black network.
136* ''Film/TheLifeOfDavidGale'': Regarded as one of the most egregious examples of this trope in the history of film. The message that the death penalty is wrong isn't necessarily a bad one, but the execution is botched by [[spoiler: David Gale and his co-conspirators blatantly cheating the system to "prove" that an innocent person could be executed.]] Creator/RogerEbert noted in his [[https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-life-of-david-gale-2003 review]] of the film that the movie's central characters go ''so ridiculously far'' to show that their position is right that [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic you can't help but be disgusted with them]].
137-->'''Ebert:''' I am sure the filmmakers believe their film is against the death penalty. I believe it supports it and hopes to discredit the opponents of the penalty as unprincipled fraudsters.
138* ''Film/{{Maleficent}}'': Even detractors of the movie would argue that themes of female empowerment, rape culture, the importance of finding one's own family, and the difference between fantasy and reality are worth exploring. But the film's heavy use of the WomanScorned trope, TallPoppySyndrome for every character except Maleficent and the misaimed deconstructions undermine some of those messages.
139* ''Film/Mother2017'': Many reviewers, especially female critics, take pains to note that they understand the feminist message Aronofsky is pushing but find the {{Gorn}}, {{Wangst}} and [[EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory pretentious biblical symbolism]] to all undermine the effectiveness of the message and make the film an unpleasant slog, especially for actual survivors of abuse. As with most movies like this, the question is raised of whether it's worth using such trauma-inducing or otherwise disturbing material without any meaningful catharsis at the end.
140* ''Film/Music2021'': Viewers agree that portraying both non-verbal autism and having the autistic character be female (as most representations are male) are worthy concepts for a movie - but [[HollywoodAutism such a patronizing and stereotypical story]] was not the best place to do it.
141* ''Film/OnDeadlyGround'': The film's environmental message and criticism of the damage done by major companies and how they undermine any efforts to make cleaner energy a reasonable alternative is not a bad one. It just suffers due to Forrest's actions being totally over the top and the film coming across as a monument to Seagal's ego.
142* ''Film/OperationChromite'': Even for right-wing Korean publications and those who view UsefulNotes/DouglasMacArthur positively, they didn't like the movie for its two-dimensional characters and reducing [[UsefulNotes/DouglasMacArthur MacArthur]] as a flat white savior character.
143* ''Film/PatchAdams'': Some of the film's fiercest critics are those who believe in new forms of medical treatment and agree with Patch that patients should be treated as more than sicknesses to be cured and there should be services for those without insurance, but detest the immature way these messages are conveyed.
144* ''Film/PhatGirlz'': The moral that you shouldn't be ashamed of your body is a good one, but this film's presentation of said moral is undermined by a number of factors. Firstly, the film does not address the fact that unhealthy eating and poor dieting is still bad for you, regardless of your size. Secondly, almost every skinny girl in the film is portrayed as a jerk, which makes it come off as hypocritical as it suggests that body positivity only applies to larger women and that simply being thin makes you a bad person. Thirdly, it 's been noted that only plus-sized ''women'' get portrayed as BeautifulAllAlong; the male love interests are depicted as more conventionally-attractive with toned bodies and six-packs.
145* ''Film/TheRedPill'': While the Men's Rights Movement is more controversial than feminism, and the film's production values have been criticised, there ''are'' also grievances and {{Double Standard}}s experienced by men.
146* ''Film/RichardJewell'': As some have pointed out, the film's valid statements about the dangers of spreading false information about someone are a bit undercut by how the movie falsely portrays Kathy Scruggs as sleeping with an FBI agent and getting information from him for her stories.
147* ''Film/RingOfTerror'': College hazing can be a real problem, and in the decades since the movie was made some people have died as a result of hazing in ways far more disturbing than dying of fright in a mausoleum.
148* ''Film/RockItsYourDecision'': Many Christians who feel that more people should be with the religion see this movie and feel this is ''not'' the way to do it.
149* ''Film/SongOfTheSouth'': For as much as people may find the movie's depictions of post-war race relations distasteful, and as much as Disney would like everyone to forget this movie ever existed, the folk tales shown in the movie are based on real African-American folk stories which would likely otherwise be completely forgotten in history. No matter what anyone thinks of the movie, those stories at least deserve to be remembered.
150* ''Film/SuperSizeMe'': The general message about how major fast food companies do not have the best interest of customers at heart and target young kids as customers is not a bad one but it gets lost amid Spurlock's questionable tactics for proving his point, Spurlock omitting key information [[note]]Such as Spurlock being a vegan prior to the experiment or his history of alcoholism.[[/note]] that would impact the results of the experiment, and the fact that many of the interesting elements are ignored to focus more on the shock value of the experiment.
151* ''Film/TallGirl'':
152** Yes, people have been bullied for their height before (including lead actress Ava Michelle), so the intended message isn't a bad one. However, the movie undermines it through a combination of {{wangst}} and HollywoodHomely (specifically, a few students making the age-old "How's the weather up there?" joke and Jodie saying her life is harder than that of anyone watching the movie because she wears big shoes).
153** The sequel attempts to correct for this by having a teacher parrot the same criticisms echoed by a lot of reviews, allowing Jodie to defend herself by stating that she's not minimizing other problems, but that her feelings are no less valid just because others have it worse. This is a good message however it may fall rather flat considering the line in question does explicitly portray being a tall girl as the worst thing imaginable.
154* ''Film/TheyThem2022'': While the anti-conversion therapy and pro-inclusivity message isn't bad on its own, a number of critics have lambasted that the message is pushed so hard that the film forgets it's supposed to be a horror movie at times.
155* ''Film/{{Threads}}'': Although the film was generally well-received by critics, it also had its share of detractors who took great pains to note that they understood the anti-war message Hines was pushing but found the extremely bleak tone to undermine the effectiveness of the message and make the film an unpleasant slog. As with most movies like this, the question has been raised of whether it's worth using such trauma-inducing or otherwise disturbing material without any meaningful catharsis at the end.
156* ''Film/ThrillerACruelPicture'': There's a potentially good female empowerment message, but it's buried under a mountain of gratuitous and exploitative nudity, to say nothing of the horribly homophobic portrayal of the sole lesbian character as a [[PsychoLesbian predatory monster]]. Though to be fair, the director made the film with purely mercenary motives and thus never intended it to carry such a message in the first place.
157* ''Film/{{Tomorrowland}}'': A lot of viewers agree with the movie's message of aspiring to an optimistic future, but dislike the actual story, and its implications regarding humanity's ability to improve itself as a whole. It's discussed pretty thoroughly [[https://rozzychan.wordpress.com/2015/05/27/why-i-didnt-like-tomorrowland-by-an-optimistic-futurist/ here]].
158* ''Film/TrickyPeople'': [[http://safelyeverafter.com/tips.html Child safety experts]] do in fact say that cautioning children about “Tricky People” is a much more helpful lesson than TooSmartForStrangers, as children should be aware of suspicious ''behavior,'' which can come from people they know, as opposed to telling them that every single person they don't know can't be trusted. As for how that message is presented in this show, now...
159* ''Film/{{Unplanned}}'': The film's commentary on the US healthcare system being driven by profits at the expense of people's well-being is actually worth discussing given it's a serious problem; trouble is, this movie's method of depicting this issue falls flat because it uses Planned Parenthood, which in reality is a ''non-profit'' organisation.
160* ''Film/ValleyOfTheDolls'': No one's about to disagree with the rampant abuse of performers in Hollywood, especially in the Golden Age. But maybe a ClicheStorm of HorribleHollywood tropes with ridiculous overacting and writing akin to the trashiest SoapOpera isn't the best way to get that message across.
161* ''Film/{{Volcano}}'': Well, sure, racial tension in a crisis is going to make things worse and working together ''is'' a good moral. But using a popcorn action movie with those themes feeling very tacked on probably wasn't the best way to go about it.
162* ''Film/WhatWomenWant'': A common sentiment about the film is that the ''idea'' is great and so is the sentiment behind it -- a sexist, toxically masculine man who thinks he's a suave womanizer gets the power to hear the thoughts of women, realizes that the women in his life actually kind of hate him, and he learns to see things from a woman's perspective and becomes a better person who treats them nicer. It's the ''execution'' that is lacking.
163* ''Film/AWrinkleInTime2018'': Diversity and female empowerment certainly are good themes to tackle, and neither of them is ''totally'' alien to the source material, even if the execution and fidelity to the text might be up for debate.
164* ''Film/YouPeople'': Many viewers felt that while the film's ultimate messages about finding common ground with different groups and accepting your children's life choices were good {{Aesop}}s, the execution left much to be desired.
165[[/folder]]
166
167[[folder:Literature]]
168* ''Literature/AlfiesHome'': Many readers do agree with its message on child molestation being a serious issue, but the execution comes off as homophobic, with the idea that being molested makes you gay and/or being gay means you were molested.
169* ''Literature/BreakingDawn'': Many, ''many'' anti-abortion activists do not like the book seemingly insisting on GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion and see it as UnwantedAssistance: the pregnancy in question was literally killing Bella, which is a circumstance many (but not all) anti-abortion advocates are willing to make an exception for.
170* ''Literature/CaptivePrince'' ultimately has an anti-slavery message, with both Damen and Laurent coming to realize how immoral and damaging slavery is by the end. This is despite Damen growing up in a society where it's considered normal, and despite Laurent having originally justified it as part of his [[spoiler:revenge mission]]. However, certain readers feel this is undermined by the fact that around two-thirds of the first book are dedicated to graphically depicting sexual slavery and other abuses, to the point where it can feel exploitative. Not to mention, of course, the positive depiction of a romance between a slave and his abusive master. Some find that the sequels are better in this regard.
171* ''Literature/TheCuriousIncidentOfTheDogInTheNightTime'': According to the author, he wrote this book to get people to understand people who think differently. The problem is, in this book, besides the fact that Christopher's autism was portrayed in a [[HollywoodAutism very stereotypical fashion]], he was also portrayed as someone who insults everyone around him (including his disabled classmates) while praising his own intelligence, and at worst threatened people with a Swiss Army Knife on two separate occasions. It also didn't help that Christopher is oblivious to any verbal abuse thrown by almost every other character unchallenged, even by his own parents.
172* ''Literature/EveTheAwakening'': Even some people who rant endlessly about the book will admit that it has some very important lessons for young people, that are much needed in a post-''[[Literature/TheTwilightSaga Twilight]]'' and ''Literature/FiftyShadesOfGrey'' world (that is, sans its black-and-white portrayal of people in general).
173* ''Literature/Feed2002'': Even if some readers agreed with the messages Anderson sends that NewMediaAreEvil, some people may feel that Anderson made his point roughly half way through the novel and that part 3 and 4 just [[EndingFatigue drags on and on]].
174* ''Franchise/HarryPotter'': Since around the late 2010s or so, the series has gotten quite a bit of criticism for the ways in which its [[PrejudiceAesop anti-racist messages]] (and general egalitarian sentiment) are often badly undermined by its story and world-building--with most of those criticisms coming from fans who agree with the messages, and genuinely wish that they were implemented more effectively. Some of the most common points of criticism include the S.P.E.W. subplot in [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire the fourth book]] (which was ostensibly intended to teach a lesson about well-meaning but misinformed political activism, but came across more like a defense of slavery to many readers), and the characters' unquestioning support for keeping the Wizarding World separate from the Muggle world at all costs (which reads to many fans like a sympathetic depiction of racial segregation) and the second-class citizen status of many intelligent nonhuman races in the series. To say nothing of the classist implications of setting the entire series in an invitation-only private boarding school, which largely go unexamined.
175* ''Literature/TheIrregularAtMagicHighSchool'': Well, let's just say that it's not a good idea to have both "talent is not the most important thing in life" and the message that very talented characters were just mistakenly equated with "real" losers. And after that, we have a BrotherSisterIncest portrayed as OneTrueLove with a literal message that "your sister is for you the perfect LoveInterest, which your parents have created for you", or "devotion in love means a willingness to be a servant to your beloved". This obviously was not implied by the author, but the series still suffers from this.
176* ''Literature/{{It}}'': Stephen King has defended the scene of the [[ItMakesSenseInContext prepubescent sex train in a sewer]] by questioning critics why they were fine with the gruesome and brutal child murders but children having consensual sex with each other (in technical, not legal terms) is not okay. While there are those who would agree that the censorship and social attitudes of extreme violence versus basic human sexuality ''are'' grossly uneven, you'd have some trouble trying to defend your view with a ''[[{{Squick}} prepubescent sex train in a sewer]]''.
177* ''Literature/MagnusChaseAndTheGodsOfAsgard'': On one hand, his sudden tangent on how common homelessness on transgender people (like Alex) followed by his distaste for Valhalla's luau for being "cultural-appropration"-ey seems to come out of nowhere. Some feel this is a bit of an AuthorTract and that, while Magnus is totally right about how often transgender teenagers are often homeless, his tone makes him seem almost condescending. On the other hand, some feel that the message about homeless transgender teenagers absolutely needs to be said, or that his sudden mention of Cultural Appropriation was a secret TakeThat.
178* ''Literature/TheMistsOfAvalon'':
179** Some of the book's central themes and messages, such as the harm caused by religious intolerance and misogyny, are worth discussing, but some readers find that the story can get excessively preachy and heavy-handed about it, and even hypocritical in some instances (e.g. pretty much every Christian in the book is portrayed unsympathetically but the Avalonians also do some things the average reader would find pretty shady or extreme and the narrative never judges them in the same way).
180** The messages around sexual freedom being preferable to sexual repression are also not bad ''in theory'', but some readers find the execution of this theme questionable at best, considering that some of the Avalonians seem to think that being sexually liberated means harmful and non-consensual sexual practices are acceptable in some circumstances too, and that those who refuse to accept them are being bigoted (which gets especially disturbing considering what we now know about the author's personal life).
181* ''Literature/NemesisSeries'': Some of the books' critics accused the writing of being too exaggerated with its "transphobia is bad" message, saying that the transphobic characters are so over the top that it comes across more as a WarOnStraw. Author April Daniels responded that a lot of what the transphobic characters say is [[RealityIsUnrealistic pretty much lifted wholesale from things said by real-life transphobes.]]
182* ''Literature/SaveThePearls'': Victoria Foyt claimed the books were intended to have an anti-racism message, conveyed via a PersecutionFlip. This isn't an inherently bad idea, but many agree that this series ''really'' drops the ball with this, with its messages coming across as ham-fisted at best and offensive at worst.
183* ''Literature/{{Snuff}}'': This line theoretically supports gay and lesbian rights, but it manages to be very unkind, and the fact that the gel being described is one of the book's villains only worsens the effect.[[note]]This is actually a pretty good verbal description of literary lesbian couples in the early 20th century, and may well be a direct reference to Creator/VirginiaWoolf and her great love Vita Sackville-West.[[/note]]
184--> ... Frankly, if a gel wanted to go around with another gel who wore a shirt and tie, trained horses, and had a face like a bulldog licking vinegar off a thistle, then it was entirely ''her'' business.
185* ''Literature/{{Worm}}'': Those readers who believe AIIsACrapshoot in RealLife are in the unfortunate situation of having to argue that [[spoiler:Dragon -- a {{Ridiculously Human|Robots}}like ArtificialIntelligence and [[TheCape one of the greatest and purest superheroes in the world]]]] -- is simply and innocently mistaken about the risks of AI, while [[spoiler:Saint -- a known thief, mercenary, and killer,]] who uses his knowledge of [[spoiler:Dragon's AI-nature to first steal several of her {{Mini Mecha}}s and then attempts to kill her outright]] -- has a realistic and accurate appreciation of the dangers. Especially given that [[spoiler:Saint doesn't even consider Dragon]] [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman a person.]]
186[[/folder]]
187
188[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
189* ''Series/ThirteenReasonsWhy'': A lot of people acknowledge that the show's creators are well-intentioned in trying to bring awareness to serious issues affecting teenagers like suicide, mental illness, sexual assault and many others, but that the execution can at times come across as melodramatic, exploitative and/or nonsensical. While the tackling of some subjects, such as rape culture, has been praised, other subjects are presented in an overly-simplistic or problematic manner.
190* ''Series/Accused2023'': Ava's impassioned speech in "[[Recap/Accused2023S1E2AvasStory Ava's Story]]" is a very touching and poignant testimony to the value of not denying deaf people their identities, and of hearing par11ents needing to accept their deaf children rather than force their ideals on them. The problem, however, is that not only does this message [[spoiler:ring {{hypocrit|e}}ical since ''Ava'' was trying to force her ideals on Lucie,]] but it has nothing to do with the actual case, which is about the fact Ava ''kidnapped'' an infant just because she disagreed with their parents' intentions about treating her. From a legal standpoint, the question of giving a cochlear implant to an infant is irrelevant to the kidnapping and child endangerment charges Ava was facing, and Ava ultimately [[KarmaHoudini receiving no punishment for either]] due to her speech convincing the parents to withdraw the charges should ''in itself'' not have mattered to the trial outcome, since it was a ''state'' case being tried; the case only got thrown out because the judge was sympathetic to Ava.
191* ''Series/BeyondScaredStraight'': The intended message is spot on -- [[JacobMarleyWarning it's a warning to troubled kids about what things will be like if they keep breaking the law, delivered by real prisoners and prison guards]]. But the way it's being delivered by both the inmates and/or guards can fall flat in reality from how [[{{Narm}} unintentionally silly it might be]] or because [[LargeHam the over-the-top screaming at the kids]] can distract from the message.
192* ''Series/BillNyeSavesTheWorld'': One of the biggest issues many take with the show is how much it botches the messages it tries to push.
193** Most infamous is when it tries to preach pro-LGBTQ+ morals, where any good statements it has it ends up getting lost in a plethora of nonsense with no scientific bearing and confusing muddled messages.
194** The speech about how people need to stop pushing Eastern holistic medicine over actual scientific medicine, which is a perfectly good message, but it falls apart when it's couched in "Just because white people are stupid enough to fall for it doesn't mean you should take advantage of their stupidity" sentiments.
195* ''Series/TheBlacklist'': Season 5 had an episode that tried to address the wage gap—Samar found out by accident that she was being paid much less than Aram after the people in payroll mixed up their checks, implicitly because "all brown faces look the same" to them. Sexism and racism are both important issues, but the way the episode tries to address them comes across as incredibly clunky and awkward—the subplot comes out of nowhere, is [[{{Anvilicious}} not at all subtle]], necessitates use of the ConflictBall to work, and is ultimately [[BrokenAesop broken]] by the fact that Samar and Aram don't even do the same job or work for the same organization[[note]]Aram is a tech specialist, Samar is a field agent; Aram is thoroughly FBI, Samar is "on loan" from Mossad[[/note]], which makes comparing their paychecks meaningless. And ''then'' there's the fact that the entire plotline turns out to be an excuse for a Samar/Aram ShipTease moment, and Samar only gets a raise because Aram had feelings for her, not because the FBI wanted to pay its agents fairly. The TL;DR is that workplace racism and sexism ''do'' deserve attention, but an awkwardly-placed, nonsensical wage gap storyline that winds up getting played for romance is ''probably'' not a great way to do it.
196* ''Series/ChillingAdventuresOfSabrina'': The 'Theo wants to join the basketball team but the principal won't let him' subplot does touch on the discrimination faced by trans athletes whenever they want to play on the team for their true gender. But not only does it ignore the nuance and fail to examine the reasons behind this debate, the opposition is presented as a strawman and the Aesop is arguably [[BrokenAesop broken]] by having Sabrina use her powers to get Theo onto the team.
197* ''Series/CobraKai'': While most fans agree that the FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse message about Tory's behavior is a good one, it's debatable of whether Sam is the right character to deliver it. Her privileged upbringing makes the line come off as InnocentlyInsensitive at best and classism at worse. It doesn't help that Sam doesn't appear to know about Tory's financial issues, seeing she met Tory as Aisha's guest at the beach club. Notably, when Miguel, who is also from a poor working-class background and knows about Tory's struggles, delivers the message to Tory in Season 3, it is a bit more effective.
198* ''Series/DoctorWho'': "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E3Orphan55 Orphan 55]]": Even some who agreed with the environmental message found the episode's delivery of it very off-putting, or ham-fisted at best. This episode is commonly reviled for being so preachy that it's outright {{Narm}}.
199* ''Series/FatalAttractions2010'': While the show does have some pretty flagrant DoubleStandard for [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent reptiles]] and [[MediaScaremongering a questionable tone]], many exotic animal experts think the message of responsible pet ownership is an admirable one.
200* ''Series/TheFlash2014'': Even feminists thought the way "#feminism" was portrayed in "[[Recap/TheFlash2014S4E5GirlsNightOut Girls Night Out]]" was forced due to its [[{{Anvilicious}} overuse]] and [[{{Narm}} cheesy tone]]. They have been also critical on it especially on claims of the series mishandling female friendships.
201* ''Series/GameOfThrones'':
202** Many would agree with the final message of Daenerys' character arc, which amounts to, "people who [[PayEvilUntoEvil do bad things to people who you both think deserve it]] will eventually disagree with you on who deserves it and start [[KnightTemplar doing bad things to people who you consider innocents]], so think carefully before you praise a WellIntentionedExtremist." It's therefore especially annoying for them that that message, instead of emerging organically and over time, seemed in many viewers' opinions to have been crammed into ''two and a half episode'' at the very tail end of the show by script writers who seemed to just want to get the whole thing over with. That said, other commentators argue that the message was, in fact, there all along, but Dany's fanbase were either engaging in DracoInLeatherPants or simply didn't catch some subtler implications in earlier seasons that she wasn't ''really'' supposed to be the heroine: her earlier malign actions were largely directed against {{Asshole Victim}}s.
203** For that matter, apparently there was also supposed to be a CentralTheme of "most people are neither wholly good nor wholly bad, but they get cast as [[HistoricalHeroUpgrade heroes]] or [[HistoricalVillainUpgrade villains]] by history based mostly on what makes for the most satisfying narrative." That would been a very timely message for our [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity polarised, self-righteous age!]] So it's too bad that ''that'' one [[BrokenAesop got lost]] sometime after the first couple of seasons, after which we got a whole bunch of seasons where good guys and bad guys were usually easy to tell apart, only for the message to get dutifully spelled out at the last minute.
204** Sandor's last words to Arya about VengeanceFeelsEmpty and how it will lead to her destruction is a good message overall. Too bad neither of them apply this message to ''Sandor'', who pointlessly dies in a revenge mission against his brother. Arya doesn't even ''think'' to point out to Sandor that he doesn't have to die either, or that he has people who actually care about him.
205* ''Series/{{House}}'': "Better Half" was meant to raise awareness on asexuality, but most of its detractors were asexual themselves, hating how it portrayed one character as only being asexual because of a brain tumour and another as only pretending to be asexual.
206* ''Series/ICarly'': "[[Recap/ICarlyS02Ep13IMeetFred iMeet Fred]]": It's very possible this episode was meant to be a satire of fandom culture, taking the idea of [[HePannedItNowHeSucks somebody being flamed for not liking something popular]] and greatly exaggerating it. However, many felt, even if this ''was'' the intended message, that the treatment Freddie gets for simply stating he didn't find Fred amusing was far more mean-spirited than it was funny, not helped by Fred's divisive status in real life (compared to the [[CharacterShilling nearly godlike portrayal]] he gets in the episode) making many [[UnintentionallySympathetic sympathize with Freddie all the more]].
207* ''Series/KamenRiderBlackSun'':
208** Beyond the fact that ''BLACK SUN'' conveys its anti-racism message using [[{{Dehumanization}} literal animal men]], it also takes place in a setting where the practical solution to the issue is to stop new kaijins from being made, effectively putting an end to kaijins as a species. While this makes sense in universe since kaijins are for the most part humans who've been unwillingly turned into kaijins, it's unable to coexist with the heavy-handed analogies ''BLACK SUN'' makes between kaijins and real life civil rights struggles.
209** ''BLACK SUN'' aims to deliver a take on surface-level appropriation by the political establishment of the rhetoric and struggles of minority and civil rights groups in a manner without actually doing anything to improve their material conditions, by using Gorgom as an analogy for political movements co-opted by self-serving politicians. However, because the circumstances in the show come about due to a series of contrived character decisions and lore inconsistencies, the show unintentionally frames the Kaijin as responsible for their own oppression.
210* ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'': The point of this series was to show the many ways victims of sex crimes can be mistreated by the criminal justice system and the world in general. The show brought attention to the way institutions and problematic people (including police) intimidate, slut-shame, and victim-blame rape victims into silence, as well as the DNA backlogs that keep easily prosecutible rapists from being brought to justice. Unfortunately, the stories are told from the point of view of protagonists who are {{Hypocrite}}s and {{Straw Feminist}}s that habitually abuse their power, enforce laws that don't exist, harass people whose sex lives they disapprove of, defend, and even cover up for guilty criminals if they are young, cute, and female (or at least two out of three), send innocent people to prison, get innocent people killed, have a horrifyingly permissive attitude towards PoliceBrutality, and are ultimately emblematic of societal problems that are as bad as the ones they rage against.
211* ''Series/{{Letterkenny}}'': Wayne's speech in "[[Recap/LetterkennyS09E02KidsWithProblems Kids With Problems]]" may or may not be an AuthorFilibuster, but it ain't wrong: basically it boils down to Wayne telling the kids that kids are spending too much time feeling pressured to live up to astronomical expectations to change the world set by social media instead of actually aspiring to truly live their lives.
212* ''Series/LizzieMcGuire'': "Inner Beauty": Sure, eating disorders among teenagers are indeed worthy topics to examine, and the show actually goes against convention by showing Miranda's being caused by severe anxiety rather than poor body image. But it's still a CompressedVice that's gone after the credits roll, not really examining how eating disorders can affect people for years.
213* ''Series/NedsDeclassifiedSchoolSurvivalGuide'': The "Class Clown" episode delivers the message that trying to be amusing and entertain others can work to lighten tension in certain situations, including school. Not an untrue message, but the episode botches things by seemingly encouraging the viewer to continue this even if it gets them sent to detention. That said, the message itself does hold some merit, even if the episode jumbles it a bit.
214* ''Series/TheNightlyShow'': Some viewers don't like the fact that Larry wears his opinion on his sleeve much more than either Creator/JonStewart or Creator/StephenColbert generally did, making the show often come off as operating on a very aggressive case of BlackAndWhiteMorality (no pun intended), even if they agree with a lot of what he's saying.
215* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'': The Try Guys sketch from the [[Recap/SaturdayNightLiveS48E02 episode 48x02]] was supposed to mock [[WorstNewsJudgementEver the amount of attention the Ned Fulmer cheating scandal received from mainstream news given the other world events that were happening during the time (the approaching midterm elections in the US, the Russia-Ukraine war, etc.)]] as well as ''WebVideo/TheTryGuys'' video series having a relatively niche audience compared to most popular media. However, because the show inaccurately depicted the scandal as a simple extramarital affair rather than the serious case of workplace misconduct that it was, this led to the show generating criticism for seemingly downplaying the ongoing issue of sexual misconduct in the workplace and the sketch's intended message being lost in the controversy.
216* ''Series/SavedByTheBell'':
217** Caffeine addictions can be very real problems for high school students, especially those who are under pressure to overachieve - so "[[Recap/SavedByTheBellS2E25JessiesSong Jessie's Song]]" does touch on an issue that's worth talking about. Of course, the fountain of {{Narm}} and the sloppy writing prevent it from actually landing.
218** Discovering that your favorite celebrity has a drug problem, while the obvious pressure some {{Teen Idol}}s can be under to maintain a [[ContractualPurity squeaky-clean image]], are issues that continue to be relevant. But since the BrokenPedestal is caused by marijuana of all things, that tends to eclipse any point the episode was trying to make.
219* ''Series/SheHulkAttorneyAtLaw'': Several viewers find themselves agreeing that the workplace can be discriminatory towards women, but feel the show either bungles its messaging either because they find the MediumAwareness undermines any drama, or find it difficult to get invested in Jen's struggles.
220* ''Series/TheTwilightZone2019'': "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone2019S1E7NotAllMen Not All Men]]" was supposed to show hypermasculinity from a woman's perspective but it's shown in such a black-and-white, overexaggerated way that people felt more insulted than enlightened. The episode portrays sexism and misogyny as just part of male nature that only needs an excuse to come out.
221* ''Series/TheUmbrellaAcademy2019'': The scene between Allison and Luther in Season 3 [[spoiler: in which she rumors him into wanting to have sex with her, leading to the two of them kissing until she breaks it off because he becomes too rough.]] People tend to agree that this casts her in a dark, villainous light, but viewers are unimpressed with how the show handled the aftermath of the incident. [[spoiler: Allison committing sexual assault and attempting rape could have been a reprehensible example of her darkening personality, but the incident is barely mentioned afterwards. Luther only confronts her about it once, she gives a half-assed apology later, Luther doesn't tell anyone else about it—not even Sloane, despite the two of them pulling away from their respective families—and no one else ever finds out about it. Meanwhile, her other actions such as provoking the Sparrows, fighting racists in bars, and murdering Harlan are discussed far more often and with far more weight. Likewise, the assault could have been explored through Luther's trauma and growing isolation from the Umbrellas, but he just brushes it off and even later tells Viktor to make nice with Allison because he's angry at her for killing Harlan. And on top of the way the show handled it, some people think that sexual assault is far too heavy of a topic for a show as (relatively) light-hearted and silly as The Umbrella Academy to cover at all.]]
222* ''Series/WelcomeToPoohCorner'': "Too Smart for Strangers" is an infamous episode because, while it does teach the right messages ([[TooSmartForStrangers not to go with strangers]], that people might try to trick kids, and even that dangerous people could be acquaintances as well as strangers), it felt awkward having characters from a franchise like Franchise/WinnieThePooh talking about such a dark topic.
223* ''Series/WhaleWars'': Though eco-terrorism is arguably not the best way of stopping it, whale poaching itself is a serious problem that menaces the very survival of several species.
224[[/folder]]
225
226[[folder:Music]]
227* Music/ChristinaAguilera: "Can't Hold Us Down"'s song itself has a valid message that women shouldn't be judged for their sexuality, and highlighting the {{Double Standard}}s faced by the genders are points worth making. The video on the other hand tackles an issue that's very complex and [[TheThemeParkVersion simplifies it down greatly]], with the result that the women in the video benefit from some of the [[DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale double standards]] they're complaining about.
228* Music/CattleDecapitation: The message against homophobia and transphobia in “Forced Gender Reassignment” was much appreciated. However, the [[{{Gorn}} incredibly graphic gory violence]] in the music video undoubtedly distracted many viewers from the message.
229* Music/BradPaisley: "Accidental Racist" provoked considerable backlash at the clumsy handling of a complex topic -- namely, the lingering effects and divides from America's nasty history of slavery and racial segregation. While it is a very serious message which could work well, neither Paisley or Music/LLCoolJ did a good job addressing it.
230* ''Music/GNRLies'': "One in a Million" fell victim to this. Axl Rose wanted to include a song that criticized bigotry, [[GoneHorriblyWrong but when it came out, it was he who was accused of bigotry]] because it wasn't sufficiently clear that the song was meant as the VillainSong of a SubParSupremacist.
231* Music/KeithUrban: Most fans and critics agree that "Female" was well-intentioned and socially relevant, especially since a.) Urban and the writers admit that it was inspired by the Harvey Weinstein scandals and b.) the country music genre has had a long struggle with misogyny that has only become more rampant in TheNewTens. However, almost as many will agree that the song's execution of said intentions was sorely lacking: the chorus is just a laundry list of vaguely-inspirational terms (some of which, such as "holy water" and "fortune teller" aren't even sex-specific), while the verses include a casual dismissal of rape culture, a potshot at Music/{{Beyonce}}'s "Run the World (Girls)", and a {{narm}}tastic bending of the Adam and Eve story. Some publications, such as ''[[https://www.elle.com/culture/music/a13453211/why-did-this-happen-keith-urban-wrote-a-weinstein-inspired-song/ Elle]]'', ''[[https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2017/11/8/16624916/keith-urban-harvey-weinstein-female-song-lyrics-listen The Verge]]'', and ''[[https://www.the-pool.com/news-views/opinion/2017/45/daisy-buchanan-on-keith-urban-s-song-about-sexual-harassment The Pool]]'' dedicated articles to picking apart its lyrics, claiming it to be hypocritical "mansplaining" and a terrible handling of its timely subject matter. Even ''Series/TheLateShowWithStephenColbert'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW81K-MKy4w mocked the song]]. Small wonder that it [[BrokenWinLossStreak ended his 37-straight streak of Top 10 hits on the country charts]].
232* "Music/WeAreTheWorld": Even ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' admitted that while the 2010 remake was underwhelming, it was still well-intentioned. The tribute to Music/MichaelJackson mere months after his death was also appreciated by many.
233[[/folder]]
234
235[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
236* ''TabletopGame/CandelaObscura'': While many Critters agree that addressing and discussing the history of problematic tropes in the CosmicHorror genre is important, some take issue with how much of the core rulebook's page count is dedicated to this, at the expense of leaving the gameplay rules underdeveloped. Some feel the rulebook focuses more on how ''not'' to play the game than how ''to'' play it. Many players also noted that the Actual Plays[[labelnote:note]]granted, these were filmed before the rulebook was finalized[[/labelnote]] don't always follow this advice, for example the guide calls roleplaying insanity unethical while the cast of the show did it during their own games. The rules are also have no problem encouraging gamifying and roleplaying ''physical'' disabilities.
237[[/folder]]
238
239[[folder:Theatre]]
240* ''Theatre/TheMagicFlute'': The opera [[FairForItsDay rightfully calls out]] the Queen and Monostatos for — respectively — their manipulative and predatory behavior. However, it also unfortunately connects said behavior to — respectively, again — the characters' gender and race, pushing it squarely into the ValuesDissonance category.
241* ''Theatre/SixTheMusical'': It's not uncommon for fans to have many, ''many'' criticisms on how ''Six'' handles its characters and delivers its themes, yet love the show anyway.
242[[/folder]]
243
244[[folder:Video Games]]
245* ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'': While it is generally agreed that nobody should indulge in entertainment at the expense of people's lives like the final trial points out, the delivery of said message makes it come across as [[TakeThatAudience the developers putting every Danganronpa fan (and not just the toxic and entitled fringes of the fanbase) on blast]] for [[BlamedForBeingRailroaded supposedly enjoying watching a bunch of emotionally vulnerable teenagers kill each other over and over again]].
246* ''VideoGame/DetroitBecomeHuman'': The most common criticism of the game's social commentary. Make no mistake, the game is [[{{Anvilicious}} not at all subtle]] about denouncing hateful ideologies such as racism, bigotry, and violent extremism, which it achieves by using using androids as an {{Allegory}} for real-life oppressed minorities. Nevertheless a lot of its critics contend that while the intent is noble enough, the imagery used to make its point is so heavyhanded and haphazardly applied (with some accusing the game of lazily appropriating minority struggles as window dressing) as to undermine its own message.
247* ''VideoGame/FarCry5'': The fact that the only ending with a somewhat positive outcome is the secret ending wherein the player doesn't try to arrest Joseph Seed and instead leaves the compound to get reinforcements from the national guard. While the story was supposed to show the importance of procedure and how bad an idea it is to fight crime on your own, many players instead misinterpreted the story as "You're better off surrendering to a dictator and should leave well enough alone."
248* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'': Nintendo and Intelligent Systems tried to be more inclusive by making the Avatar the first bisexual ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' Lord. That said, there's only one GayOption per gender, and those options are a {{sadist}}, and a stalker whose obsession is so great that [[spoiler:it transcends death, space and time]]. And that's not even getting into Soleil, a bisexual character whose "bi" part seems to only exist for [[GirlOnGirlIsHot fanservice]] and [[PlayedForLaughs comedy]] ([[{{Woolseyism}} at least in Japan]]), and who is also quite the stalker herself.
249* ''VideoGame/GranblueFantasy'': Ladiva is a Transgender celebrity whom everyone respectfully refers to as female with no question, and is referred to as such by the story as well; which is set in a setting type that was historically heteronormative in real life and has been in fiction even now; ''and'' is in a game made in an infamously-heteronormative culture. However, an argument is often made about her design furthering the stereotype of transgender women being crossdressers or just overly effeminate men, due to her masculine, muscular physique and mannerisms as well as her voice, as well as her canonical disinterest to make herself "pass" for a woman. Whether she is considered good representation of transgender people with a unique story and design that deviates from common tropes of other transgender characters, or a well-intentioned but still offensive caricature of transgender people is a common topic of arguments, much in the same way [[Franchise/StreetFighter Poison]] is.
250* ''VideoGame/HoloFunkPreSixPointZero'': This old script and lore bible for WebAnimation/{{Hololive}} fangame ''VideoGame/HoloFunk'' was at least two things that players were able to appreciate: a tribute to retired talent Mano Aloe that condemns those responsible for spurring her retirement, and an attempt at building a GatewaySeries to connect the Hololive and ''VideoGame/FridayNightFunkin'' fandoms together by means of crossover. However, several factors served to greatly undermine these messages, including the lore's [[AuthorAppeal blatant favoritism of non-Hololive characters]], its desire to [[AngstAversion put Aloe and many of the other Hololive girls through the wringer again before making things better]] (not helped by credible accusations of the process being [[MuseAbuse allegorical]]), and the story itself [[KudzuPlot generally not making any sense in the long term]]. All of this was further exacerbated with the publishing of sidestory ''Fanfic/TheDragonsPizzeria'', which committed enough of its own missteps to get its own example.
251* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'': Regardless of whether Kreia was right about her creepy theological musings or not, this game effectively demonstrates how conflicts between "good" and "evil" invariably leave devastation in their wake not matter who wins. Throughout this game the player sees worlds scarred and destroyed by the battles between the Jedi and their enemies, and encounter countless people driven from their homes by the wars consuming the galaxy. The BlackAndWhiteMorality of Jedi and their enemies becomes less clear when one sees how much damage is caused by both sides, even when the "good" side triumphs, while the actions of the Jedi Council and Master Atris show that even [[HeWhoFightsMonsters those calling themselves good can easily end up doing just as much harm as the villains they fight against]]. However, the game's detractors argue the good points of the game are hurt by its at times-condescending tone. Even lead writer Creator/ChrisAvellone has said of the game in hindsight that he came on too strong.
252* ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUsPartII'': Even many people who agreed with the game’s anti-violence and anti-revenge messages were critical of the game’s handling of things like [[spoiler: Joel’s death and Ellie choosing to spare Abby at the end of the game]] due to feeling that they were contrived and poorly written.
253* ''VideoGame/{{Manhunt}}'': The game has vital social commentary about the media's morbid obsession with violence and criticizes its own audience for using video games as a sadistic power fantasy and a form of escapism. Rockstar even goes as far as to use Piggsy as an allegory for human savagery and the glorification of violence to say their audience is as inhuman as Piggsy if they enjoy violence this much and over-indulge in these kinds of media. Ironically enough, the game famously garnered controversy for being too violent and the message of the game went over their heads.
254* ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'': The general consensus about Gil's baby subplot was that while the idea of a [[GayOption male-male romance]] leading to them becoming dads is good on its own, the handling was extremely poor.
255* ''VideoGame/Persona4'': Many of Yosuke's views on gender roles and sexuality don't endear him to Western audiences. Given that he consistently suffers LaserGuidedKarma it's likely that the writers meant for Yosuke's attitude to be a character flaw [[CharacterDevelopment that he largely overcomes by the end of the game]]. Unfortunately, players don't really see him grow out of this trait.
256[[/folder]]
257
258[[folder:Web Comics]]
259* ''Webcomic/AssignedMale'': The comic is criticized by some trans people who accuse it of horribly botching a moral that they would normally agree with.
260* ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'': It's not that the Sisterhood stuff about feminism, subtle misogyny baked into the fabric of society, or the ways in which pornography and sex work often feed into them are ''completely'' meritless. It's that the presentation (and the way it [[PlotTumor completely took over the comic]]) is so unsubtle, self-righteous, meandering, and often so lacking in genuine humor that it turned away even sympathetic ears, ''before'' being an unreconstructed SWERF and TERF led the artist into a swing to the hard right that alienated even them.
261* ''Webcomic/SoYoureACartoonist'': Preston's views on homosexuality, race, and feminism come off as this. While he isn't wrong to oppose hatred of them and say that it's wrong, his methods of doing so come off as hypocritical (calling football fans "gay" for liking a sport with manly men), victimize the group in question to show him saving them (beating up a pervert who had few other characteristics), show a rather poor understanding of the group (attempting to stick up for people of different races, claiming he should be offended), or simply end up shoehorned into the comic. It doesn't help that he sometimes considers engaging in SlutShaming of skimpily dressed female characters, attacking their outfits without caring about their characterizations.
262* ''Webcomic/VeganArtbook'': Non-vegan readers who read this series would say that the series does bring up important environmental issues, but it's bogged down by propaganda that plagues it with half-truths, misinformation, and obvious biases that favor vegan solutions. It's perhaps no surprise that less radical vegans often point out how bad the whole comic makes the movement look.
263[[/folder]]
264
265[[folder:Web Original]]
266* ''WebVideo/TheCosmonautVarietyHour'': In Marcus's ''Why I Don't Like Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' video rant, a lot of people agree with Marcus that certain franchises, no matter how popular they are, aren't everyone's cup of tea and fans shouldn't try to force it on them. The problem that many of them have, however, is that his rant makes him sound abrasive and condescending, not helped by the fact that several of his criticisms are glaring misconceptions which makes his grievances come off as bad faith.
267* ''Website/{{Cracked}}'': Some readers argue that the site's increasingly large number of [[SoapboxSadie preachy, poorly researched]] articles do more harm than good to the causes they purport to help, a sentiment that became increasingly noted in the comment sections of these articles.
268* WebAnimation/DarkMatter2525's condemnation of circular reasoning, discussing the dangers of extremism, and critiques on the [[CorruptChurch flaws of organized religion]] are sound, but they tend to get lost in his infamous anti-religious sentiments. Most often is when he discusses the flaws of organized religion and believing in God, he will mention how both systems of belief are easy to corrupt and both potentially employ flawed reasoning, like letting subjective views influence objective fact. The problem is his arguments are often presented in a manner that can be easily interpreted as hostile to religion, using strawmen to support his arguments and making mean-spirited jokes at the expense of religious believers. This also tends to make him look like a hypocrite, criticizing those who let emotions influence their logic while he lets his own emotions influence his logic.
269* Creator/AlexDay: His rant on a lack of Black Widow-related Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse merch has caused this reaction. While there are many that would like to see Black Widow getting merch and do feel that Alex isn't ''wrong'' per se, there has been outrage that people would reblog his videos after all he's done instead of listening to other advocates such as Creator/MarkRuffalo.
270* ''WebAnimation/ExtraCredits'': The main point of ''Stop Normalizing Nazis'', that treating Nazis as a normal faction in fun shooter and strategy video games diminishes their reputation as one of the most abhorrent political and military movements in recent human history and makes the audience more receptive to bad faith revisionism downplaying the Third Reich's history of atrocity and disgrace in favor of cooing over their cool uniforms and warmachines, is potentially sound. However the video’s incredibly poor delivery of said message made it come across as them saying that [[MurderSimulators playing as a Nazi in a video game will turn you into one in real life]]. Their [[DearNegativeReader less than genial response to criticism]] did not help.
271* ''WebVideo/{{Jimquisition}}'': Some of Jim's detractors feel this way about them. They agree with their complaints about video game companies engaging in anti-consumer practices and appreciate that they are bringing awareness to these issues... but feel that their videos, while informative, do little to actually help fix the issues faced in the gaming community, especially with Jim's condescending attitude and lack of constructive criticism. Additional criticism of their content is that Jim pads their videos out by rehashing the same core points that had already been covered in the first ninety seconds of their videos, creating an {{Anvilicious}} tone, or that the videos don't offer much new for people already invested and informed in gaming issues, causing Jim's videos to feel like cases of preaching to the choir.
272* ''Blog/JohnKStuff'':
273** Most readers of his blog do agree with his ideas about pushing for more cartoony animation, but feel the tasteless and extreme way said ideas are presented ends up making it hard to actually agree with him.
274** Most people agree completely with his hatred of HorribleHollywood and executives calling the shots in cartoons. The problem comes from his fairly obnoxious and incredibly jaded way of presenting it, as well as his complete disloyalty to the rest of the animation industry, resulting in him lumping popular and well-liked studios, cartoons, and creators in with less popular ones.
275** Even after any goodwill towards Kricfalusi was killed with the statutory rape scandal in 2018 ''and'' the nuclear disaster that was ''WesternAnimation/CansWithoutLabels'' in 2019, it's believed that the blog is legitimately a good resource for aspiring artists to find instruction and inspiration, but that John's own opinions and self-congratulating merits should be taken with a heaping pile of salt.
276* ''WebVideo/TheMysteriousMrEnter'': A lot of animation enthusiasts feel this way about his takes on animation; with the consensus among them being that while he does come off as hyperbolic and confrontational a lot of the time, he does bring up some very valid points about the stuff he reviews.
277* ''LetsPlay/NerdCubed'': After the LetsPlay/{{Yogscast}}'s Kickstarter for their game ''Yogventures'' went bust and the group announced their plans to launch "Yogdiscovery" (a series in which they would be paid to promote small games in videos), Dan made a video in which he criticised the plan at length. Many that otherwise agreed with his points (which included disclosure and thought the plan had flaws in terms of how much the Yogscast would be paid) were put off by his demeanour, which they found to be quite whiny and frustrated.
278* ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic'': Most people agree completely with his hatred of HorribleHollywood, copyright watchdogs, and executives thinking that kids are dumb. The problem comes from the overly preachy speeches regarding all this, the {{straw character}}s, and the fact that he never stops talking about it.
279* ''WebAnimation/TektonTV'': While Holding makes decent points here and there to support Christianity and God’s existence as a whole (such as explaining the problems of false dichotomy as well as association fallacy), many viewers and critics point out how the execution often gets lost in his blind contempt for atheists, and usually depicting the [[HollywoodAtheist worst possible members of atheism and secularism]] doesn’t exactly help his case in the grand scheme of things.
280* ''WebVideo/UrinatingTree'': In "Buffalo: The Duality Of Franchise", he proclaims that calling him sexist doesn't change the fact that Kim Pegula has no qualifications that would justify her appointment (by [[{{Nepotism}} her husband Terry]]) to the post of team president for the Buffalo Sabres.[[note]]she is also president of the Bills, by way of her post as president of their joint holding company, Pegula Sports & Entertainment; however, the Bills front office and coaching staff seem to have much greater autonomy dating back to around the beginning of 2018[[/note]]
281* ''LetsPlay/{{Yogscast}}'': A number of blogs have shown up on Tumblr, critiquing the Yogscast for varying reasons ranging from social justice issues ([=ProblematicYogscast=]) to supposedly anti-drama and pro-consumer ([=YogPetShame=]). The behaviour from said blogs is the reason for a large BrokenBase, since many that agree with the general point of some of these blogs (don't be homophobic/transphobic/racist, disclose properly and keep drama to a minimum, etcetera.) are otherwise put off by their demeanour and/or behaviour, whereas others are behind them fully.
282[[/folder]]
283
284[[folder:Western Animation]]
285* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'': The {{Aesop}} against bullying in "[[Recap/ArthurS16E10SoFunnyIForgotToLaughTheBestDayEver So Funny I Forgot to Laugh]]", especially the message of how teasing can go too far and that a JustJokingJustification is not an appropriate apology, is a good lesson for the show to have. However, the reason why this episode is widely disliked is due to how there were several characters [[OutOfCharacterMoment going against their usual personalities]] in order to deliver this message, which makes the lesson come off as awkward.
286* ''WesternAnimation/BigMouth'': While the show might be crass to many people, it raises several valid and important points and has many solid aesops regarding themes such as body-positivity, consent, growing up, etc. To say nothing of the Planned Parenthood episode, which was instantly controversial.
287* ''WesternAnimation/{{Bluey}}'': "Tina" had a message on how parents need to explain rules to their kids, rather than saying things like "Because I said so" or "I'm going to count to three". A lot of viewers in the PeripheryDemographic, particularly those who were parents, or who had parents who said things like that, thought this was a good moral and one that needed to be taught more often. However, they often also disliked the episode for being more violent than other episodes and for Bluey and Bingo being [[JerkassBall uncharacteristically bossy and demanding]] to their parents Bandit and Chilli, and Bandit and Chilli going along with it.
288* ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman'':
289** The series is no stranger to staunchly leftist politics and Hollywood controversies. However, the more overly political episodes "Brrap Brrap Pew Pew", "Thoughts and Prayers", and "Bojack the Feminist" have all earned their share of criticisms from abortion rights activists, gun control advocates and feminists, respectively, for leniency towards facts, [[BlackAndWhiteMorality trivialization of their causes]], [[{{Anvilicious}} unapologetic proselytizing]] and tendency to [[CompressedVice drop the matters once they've said their piece about it]], all of which are hugely at odds with the rest of the show's nuanced characterization and are considered the most poorly written episodes as a result.
290** "[[Recap/BojackHorsemanS1E02BojackHatesTheTroops BoJack Hates the Troops]]": While members of the Armed Forces feeling entitled to special treatment from everyone else is a valid concern, it doesn't quite work as the main takeaway of this episode. The actual conflict is related to the newsmedia exploiting Bojack and Neal [=McBeal=]'s pettiness and egos for the sake of an extremely time-wasting news story, and the "don't support all troops" secondary message is more a means of establishing the show's perspsctive early on- politically incorrect by conservative standards, progressive and "necessary" by more leftist ones- than a message relevant to Bojack and Hollywoo themselves. If the setting was more general than a showbiz satire, or if it easier allowed for the setting to shift to the Middle East, then it could thoughtfully analyze the role of the military in the world and assess who in the military truly is deserving and undeserving of respect.
291** "[[Recap/BojackHorsemanS4E05ThoughtsAndPrayers Thoughts and Prayers]]": The episode ''does'' bring up plenty of real-life controversies worthy for discussion (movie executives worrying more about their violent movies failing than whether or not they glorify violence, women feeling unsafe because of constant unwanted advances, people being more concerned with their second amendment rights than with people getting killed by guns), and tragically, domestic terrorism and gun control have only gotten worse in the years since the episode's release. However, many felt it was lacking due to the CompressedVice and [[TheWarOnStraw excessive strawmanning]], and left them feeling less well-informed about gun control and more like they... well, [[{{Pun}} got shot in the face]] with the message.
292* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'': Most actual environmentalists do not hold the show in particularly high regard, whether due to its frequently poor research, [[BrokenAesop unintentionally bungling its messages]] about otherwise very important real problems, or its simplistic and cartoonish portrayal of the villains obfuscating the actual systemic forces doing harm to the environment in real life. Even considering all of that, a show attempting to teach kids that protecting the environment is a ''good'' thing and trying to at least broach serious and complex topics in a simple manner for six-year-olds to grasp, then teach them basic things to do to feel like they have some control at a young age is at least well-intentioned.
293* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'':
294** "[[Recap/TheFairlyOddParentsS1E13ChristmasEveryDay Christmas Every Day]]": The ending, where all children from different backgrounds, as well as different countries, all working together to help Timmy, could be seen as some sort of diversity message, which is needed today. It still falters, though, because they're all stated as celebrating Christmas, which many cultures in the world don't.
295** "[[Recap/TheFairlyOddParentsS5E10ItsAWishfulLife It's a Wishful Life]]": While the aesop about how you should do good deeds for the sake of them and not for appreciation isn't necessarily a bad message, the fact that the lack of appreciation Timmy receives stems from pure pettiness and blowing stuff out of proportion sort of makes the aesop feel hollow. In addition, it's also disliked for the BetterIfNotBornPlot.
296* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'':
297** For a time, Brian's liberal atheist viewpoints and his need to constantly preach them to characters/the audience (most notoriously in "Not All Dogs Go To Heaven") were taken to such levels that it even began to [[StopBeingStereotypical annoy the show's Democratic viewer base]], many of whom agreed with the general message but thought the ''execution'' simply made him look bad.
298** "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS16E6TheDInApartment23 The D in Apartment 23]]": A problem many had with the episode is that, during Brian's [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech rant]] while ShamingTheMob, he made a very ''valid'' call out on internet culture and Website/{{Twitter}}, it's just the episode itself fails to execute it in a meaningful way. People ''can'' be quick to freak out over a tweet and [[MistakenForRacist call someone a racist]] or "cancel" them rather than focus on more legitimate issues, while acting like a single tweet defines a person's moral character. Except whereas real cases of this have the tweet be spawned from ''[[InnocentBigot ignorance]]'', not racism, Brian ''knew'' his tweet was racist but posted it anyway. Then he figured people just can't take a joke when it was reacted to negatively. Also most of the vitriol comes from ''online'', not in reality like an actual lynch mob.
299** "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS17E11TrumpGuy The Trump Guy]]": This episode has been widely lambasted by many viewers and critics who share the creators’ dislike and criticisms towards Donald Trump and would have otherwise agreed with their statements about his presidency. There are several problems many of them have, like how the show relies on easy, lazy, surface-level jokes that poke fun at Trump, jokes that were already [[RunningGagged getting old]] and were done better by other comedians; or that the episode doesn’t add anything new or insightful to criticize Trump’s presidency; or how it plays Trump's sexual assault allegations for laughs when he harasses and attempts to rape Meg, which many viewers did not find funny because of its sensitive subject matter.
300** "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS18E17ComaGuy Coma Guy]]": The messages "You can do anything to atone but you won't always be forgiven" and "Forgiveness isn't always worth it because people can still hold grudges and play the victim, even when it's not in their best interests. So move on before they exploit you further or before you feed their ego even more by grovelling for forgiveness" are rare but [[HardTruthAesop true lessons]] in life. However, Peter's request was incredibly simple and disproportionate as he only asked his family to compliment Timothy Olyphant on his Netflix show, ''Santa Clarita Diet'', in order to atone for trying to kill him. A task they found grueling and impossible so they just cut him out of their lives and move away instead since Lois knew Peter would never forgive them for taking him off life support.
301** "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS7E11NotAllDogsGoToHeaven Not All Dogs Go to Heaven]]": The intended morals of this episode ("Fundamentalism and willful ignorance in religion can be dangerous" and "Sometimes religion doesn't have all the answers to mankind's unanswered questions") are fairly good ones. But sadly, due to how the episode plays out, the message comes across more as "Believing in God is a waste of time, especially if you're from a family that treats you like crap and your life sucks," and "Atheists know what they're talking about when they say that there is no God and no reason to follow religion." Ultimately, the moral falls flat as Brian comes across as a massive jerk, basically saying Meg not living up to her perception of beauty proves God doesn't exist.
302* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'':
303** "[[Recap/GravityFallsS2E15TheLastMabelcorn The Last Mabelcorn]]": Fans generally agree that Mabel's lesson--that others' opinions do not define who you are--is a good and important message. However, many fans have criticized the execution of the Aesop, arguing that the lesson Mabel learns probably would have been better suited to almost anyone else in the cast. Dipper, for example, has horrible insecurities and caring about others' opinions has been really detrimental to him over the series--in fact, it's been the motivator behind ''most'' of his poorest decisions. Mabel, on the other hand, rarely listens to others' opinions and the only times she ever learns from her mistakes is after she's faced the consequences of ''not'' valuing others' opinions and finally opened herself up to truly listening to others. To those who take this view, an aesop about not taking others' criticisms too seriously seems to reinforce Mabel's flaws rather than help fix them.
304** "[[Recap/GravityFallsS2E16RoadsideAttraction Roadside Attraction]]": An aesop against pick-up artistry focused on teaching its audience not to toy with others' emotions and to respect emotional commitments is a ''great'' aesop. So to many viewers, it probably would've been nice if they'd [[ShowDontTell actually showed anyone behaving like a pick-up artist]], instead of shaming the most socially anxious member of the cast for trying to become more comfortable socializing with girls.
305** "[[Recap/GravityFallsS2E19WeirdmageddonPart2EscapeFromReality Weirdmageddon, Part 2: Escape from Reality]]":
306*** We all will need to face challenging circumstances in life as things change, and if we hide away in our bubbles and echo chambers and refuse to accept reality, we won't grow enough to meet the moment. That said, the episode's aesop about rejecting escapism [[CluelessAesop probably would work better if]] Mabel's solution to her escapism ''wasn't'' pressuring those around her into sacrificing their own interests to change the reality she faces into one she likes more.
307*** After the airing of "Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future", many viewers agreed that Ford was wrong for calling Dipper's and Mabel's relationship "suffocating," and older viewers online also tended to agree that accepting Ford's offer to move to Gravity Falls and become his apprentice would come with some major downsides and problems that need to, at the very least, be addressed--such as whether Ford can actually be trusted to be a good guardian, considering he sees no problem with asking the child in question to take on life-threatening responsibilities at the age of twelve-going-on-thirteen. However, after ''this'' episode, many viewers also had a problem with the fact that, rather than addressing the valid potential problems with Ford's offer, the show instead put Dipper under an exceptional amount of emotional pressure until he gave up the offer while ''under duress.'' Further, the show never acknowledges the valid problems with the offer outside of how it would negatively affect Mabel (and Dipper's relationship with her); because Mabel was essentially being held hostage over it, consideration for Mabel was forcibly prioritized over Dipper himself--so many saw it as Dipper ''technically'' making the right choice, but for unhealthy, upsetting, and unfair reasons. Despite a significant portion of the audience going into the episode agreeing that Ford's offer is not the best thing for Dipper, the way the show basically emotionally blackmailed Dipper into changing his mind about it discomforted many viewers, added credence to Ford's "suffocating" comment among the fanbase, and made the episode's resolution land on an ''extremely'' [[BrokenBase divisive note.]] On the other hand, it should be noted that Dipper, in the midst of convincing Mabel that she needs to go back to reality, realizes that ''he himself'' was hiding from the reality of facing high school through the apprenticeship, suggesting that he gave up the apprenticeship for his own sake as well.
308---->'''Dipper''': Mabel, I thought ''you'' were living a fantasy, but look at me! I actually thought I was gonna stay here and be Ford's apprentice! Spend my entire teens cooped up in a basement with a labcoat? How ridiculous is that?
309* ''WesternAnimation/IAmWeasel'': "I.R. Plant Life" had a SpaceWhaleAesop but its message was pretty wholesome; even the smallest of plants should be conserved, even if they're weeds, which thistles are seen as. Not bad for an episode made in ''1997'' when climate change and conservation were not as big social issues as in UsefulNotes/TheNewTens.
310* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'':
311** While "[[Recap/TheLoudHouseS2E8NoSuchLuckFrogWild No Such Luck]]" brings up a valid moral against lying and how it isn't a healthy way to solve a conflict, it isn't saved from how everyone (including the parents) picked up the IdiotBall and Lincoln was [[DisproportionateRetribution overly punished for it]], while ignoring the implications of the family's actions. What is also baffling about the execution of the moral was how the lie was not Lincoln’s to begin with as his sister, Lynn Loud Jr was the one spreading the lies about Lincoln in a tantrum she threw over losing a baseball game that Lincoln attended, yet she was [[KarmaHoudini never punished for it]].
312** "Brawl in the Family" had a message that a lot of people agreed with -- not all conflicts need a third party to help solve, and sometimes you have to leave people who are arguing alone. However, the episode is still unpopular due to Lincoln being a ButtMonkey as a result of his sisters' quarrel, him inexplicably not knowing how the protocol they made worked despite usually being the MrExposition, and the protocol itself coming off as nonsensical (with, for instance, Lori choosing the bathroom to cool off when she can drive).
313* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'': In "[[Recap/MiraculousLadybugS03E06Weredad Weredad]]", Cat Noir comes back to the bakery to apologize after Tom gets Akumatized over his rejection of Marinette, but Sabine reassures him that he doesn't have to be ashamed of how he feels, regardless of how Tom chose to react to it. While the advice and who it's given to are fine, the scene has attracted [[http://zoe-oneesama.tumblr.com/post/181561104119/you-know-the-part-where-sabine-says-something criticism]] for creating a massive DoubleStandard considering the treatment of Marinette/Ladybug in previous seasons, especially in the episodes where she rejected Cat Noir and wasn't given any such support.
314* ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'':
315** ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTales'': "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyTalesS1E10ShopTalk Shop Talk]]" aims to teach that spreading false rumors is wrong, but motivation by revenge and blackmail is the only way it can be stopped.
316** ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
317*** One of the reasons Season 8 is [[SeasonalRot the most contentious]] is fans badly wanted to agree with its CentralTheme of teaching friendship and overcoming racial prejudice. But doing so through the School of Friendship supposedly contradicted the original premise of the series that friendship couldn't be learned in classes[[note]]while it's [[CommonKnowledge a common misconception]] that such [[https://derpicdn.net/img/view/2018/9/24/1840010.jpg was stated]], Twilight still failed to learn it in school and no explanation is given how the School of Friendship would be different[[/note]], the Mane Six's teacher role [[ConflictBall put them at their worst]] to the point the lessons learned about friendship were in spite of them, and giving the ObstructiveBureaucrat racist opposing the message [[StrawmanHasAPoint numerous, unintentionally valid, arguments against it]].
318*** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS8E18YakitySax Yakity Sax]]": Many fans like the Aesop of being supportive of friends hobbies even if you don't enjoy them. But they disparage the episode's handling of it by making Pinkie's hobby being unhealthily obsessive, and causing tangible annoyance/harm to the point they would be completely justified in making her stop, and their wrongness in stopping her being due to ignoring numerous alternatives (which would've invalidated the message) and just saying she was bad.
319* ''WesternAnimation/OKKOLetsBeHeroes'': "[[Recap/OKKOLetsBeHeroesS1E47LetsNotBeSkeletons Let's Not Be Skeletons]]" is not only criticized for its lack of subtlety on the subject of gun usage, but also because the remotes don't ''kill'' their victims, but rather turn them into [[DemBones animate skeletons]] and treating it with the simplicity of a manageable new problem rather than a long running one that is difficult to clean up. Thus, some fans who support gun control dislike the episode.
320* ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamilyLouderAndProuder'': "[[Recap/TPFLouderAndProuderS2E10Juneteenth Juneteenth]]"'s message about fighting revisionism and speaking the truth is a very good message. Despite this, however, the episode itself takes a number of liberties with people and events in American history, such as having the town founder's history as a slave owner be so completely scrubbed that [[ItsASmallNetAfterAll you can't find it even on the dark web]] (which is ludicrous in this day and age), taking a black-and-white stance that [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil no slaveowner should ever be admired]] (even though many of the Founding Fathers happened to own slaves, making them more complex figures), and giving an unjust HistoricalVillainUpgrade to, of all people, UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln.
321* ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'': "Follow That Hearse" has a GreenAesop, but many people dislike its execution, despite agreeing that helping the environment is important. The episode came across as {{Anvilicious}} with Winston's speech about how HumansAreTheRealMonsters and the fact that the antagonist was a benevolent Native American deity that had turned into a monster due to exposure to toxic waste, and it didn't really give any advice on ''how'' not to pollute, not really defining what "toxic waste" even was.
322* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E11MargeBeNotProud Marge, Be Not Proud]]": The message that shoplifting is wrong and is a slippery slope to something worse is an okay message on its own, but many find it hard to take seriously considering it was ''Bart'' who was used as an example; the Simpson who has already done things just as bad as shoplifting in the past and faced no real repercussions for it. [[{{Anvilicious}} Combined with how ham-fisted the message is]], it ends up turning what would otherwise be a conventional [[AnAesop Aesop]] episode into an overblown and needless [[SadistShow Sadist Episode]] for many.
323* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': The anti-PlayingTheVictimCard message in "[[Recap/SouthParkS21E10SplattyTomato Splatty Tomato]]" comes off as rather shoddy to say the least. Not once does anyone admit that [[NoSympathy their attitude]] is the reason Heidi and Kyle acted the way they did or do Heidi's friends show Heidi any sympathy for how Cartman abused her after going back to him (which is the reason she turned against them in the first place). While their retribution was overblown (especially Kyle's), neither Kyle or Heidi's friends receive any punishment for borderline bullying them, [[DoubleStandard with only Cartman, Kyle, and Heidi's actions being taken accountable]]. The message instead can come across as "FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse justifies not giving said people any support for what they've gone through".
324* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS7E20TheAbrasiveSideEarworm The Abrasive Side]]"'s message is that while it is okay to say no to people, that's no excuse for you to be rude to them. A good lesson in all, but both Sandy and Mr. Krabs come off as rude at the beginning of the episode through refusing to take no for an answer when [=SpongeBob=] says he can't do any favors for them when he and Patrick want to spend the day at Glove World, and through taking advantage of his ExtremeDoormat status without caring about his feelings and they are both not called out for it. It's especially bad in Sandy's case considering that she knows better and even tells [=SpongeBob=] in the end that he's fine the way he is and doesn't need to change anything about himself. Also, because this episode only shows [=SpongeBob=] saying no to his friends through being rude to them due to his Abrasive side, he is never portrayed in the right when he does say no to them.
325* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'':
326** A common focal point amongst the show's detractors. While many people would agree that the series' main message—violence is not the answer and pacifism is always an option—is a deeply meaningful one, there's a rather large BrokenBase over how the message is presented. To detractors, Steven managing to [[HeelFaceTurn redeem some of his enemies]] by having a heart-to-heart with them is plausible enough…but when he starts redeeming all of them, up to the point where he manages to redeem ''[[BigBad the Diamonds]]'', who are shown to be ANaziByAnyOtherName {{Galactic Conqueror}}s, it just feels ridiculous. This unfortunately makes the message come across less as "always try to make peace with the enemy if you can" and more as "the enemy will absolutely redeem themselves if you just talk it out". It's probably safe to say that in RealLife, this has not proven to be the case, as sometimes there will be people that are simply beyond reasoning with, no matter how hard one may try. Even a few fans will admit that the message could have been better presented as a result.
327** "[[Recap/StevenUniverseS4E17Rocknaldo Rocknaldo]]": Many review websites praised the episode for its message about problematic allyships in minority groups. However, many fans disliked the episode for its {{Anvilicious}} delivery, and not being a very fun or enjoyable episode to watch. The episode still has some important morals, like "Don't act like you have authority over a group you don't belong to" and "You shouldn't support something just to boost your own ego." Most importantly, it shows that people who are willing to overcome bigoted tendencies still can't change overnight, and while some never do, other just progress slowly.
328* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'':
329** Despite its poor execution and unintentionally insulting attitude towards fans of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'', the message of "[[Recap/TeenTitansGoS2E32LetsGetSerious Let's Get Serious]]" that "DarkerAndEdgier doesn't mean it's better" isn't bad in itself. It's the fact that it was delivered in the form of yet another shallow TakeThatCritics that makes the message fall flat, coming across instead as being "silliness is the superior form of entertainment" instead of focusing on the quality of the content.
330** "[[Recap/TeenTitansGoS2E50TheReturnOfSlade The Return of Slade]]" had a message that warns against viewing things through [[NostalgiaFilter rose-colored glasses]] and seeing them for something they never were. It is an obvious TakeThat towards the fanbase that prefers the original, especially with the BaitAndSwitch with the supposed Slade showdown [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome that was never shown]], and has Beast Boy and Cyborg make a clown DarkerAndEdgier after being disappointed that it was more childish than they remembered; this ends up warping everything around them, including the episode of ''Pretty Pretty Pegasus'' Raven is watching. Indeed, this could have worked as a TakeThat towards detractors who seemingly ignore that the original ''Teen Titans'' was on [[TargetAudience the younger and sillier side of the scale of modern era action cartoons]], but was ultimately too overly generalistic and heavy-handed. Thankfully, "Classic Titans", a Super Friends spoof, did a much better job executing the message that "not all cartoons age well".
331** "[[Recap/TeenTitansGoS5E52TeenTitansRoar Teen Titans Roar!]]" tried to defend ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCatsRoar'' after [[TaintedByThePreview fans reacted negatively to the initial trailer of the show.]] What could have been a good message about not judging something before it's released was hurt by Raven, used to represent one of the show's critics, [[StrawmanHasAPoint pointing out that shows aimed at kids don't have to be terrible and kids are smarter than people give them credit for]], a common criticism leveled at ''Teen Titans Go!''. Starfire, who is defending ''[=ThunderCats=] Roar'', doesn't actually give any kind of rebuttal. The episode ending by saying ''[=ThunderCats=] Roar'' is the true successor to ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats1985'' and openly insulting people who think otherwise, while including a TakeThat towards ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats2011'', undermines its own message about judging things and instead feels more like the show is once again giving its tiresome and obtuse message that "people who don't like silly cartoons are stupid."
332[[/folder]]

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