The "It Gets Better" Project was created by openly-gay relationship advice columnist Dan Savage in response to a string of tragic suicides by bullied LGBT teenagers, to reassure them that in fact, it gets better. Anyone can add a video, and hundreds of average users, celebrities, politicians, web personalities, and organizations (including some offbeat videos from Facebook
, Google, and Pixar) have jumped on the bandwagon.
The official website can be found here. Bring a hankie!
Tropes
- Affectionate Parody: Courtesy of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, entitled "It Gets Worse." Before you panic, it's actually telling homophobes (specifically Sen. John McCain, R-AZ) it gets worse.But it gets worse. Sooner or later, gays will end up serving. And then twenty years later they'll make a documentary about it. You know how every documentary about a big social change has a bad guy? The guy who fought it tooth and nail until it was obvious to everyone else what needed to be done - you know, the George Wallace role . . . It gets worse . . . It gets worser. You have no idea how much worse it gets.
- Another one titled "It Gets Worse", although this one is talking about customer services and doesn't mention any form of homosexuality or homophobia whatsoever.
- There was another affectionate parody done for the A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones fandom regarding the infamous event known as the Red Wedding. Veteran fans appear in the video trying to reassure newer fans that things will get better, only to be crushed by depression and disillusionment and wind up concluding that things will just keep getting worse and worse forever.
- Another one titled "It Gets Worse"
- Catchphrase: It gets better!
- Driven to Suicide: The project was created in response to this.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: In a nutshell: "It doesn't get better. You get stronger. If you kill yourselves, they win. Don't let them win.".
- You Are Not Alone: The series has a strong push towards telling young, frightened viewers that not only will it get better, but that they aren't alone, and their support network is bigger than they realize.
