#2: Mar 9th 2011 at 1:22:13 PM
Sounds like either Trope Decay or plane misuse. Then again, the title doesn't imply that it's specifically created as a moral substitute.
Fight smart, not fair.
RickGriffin
(Time Abyss)
Total posts: 3

Am I the only one that has noticed The Moral Substitute keeps getting used incorrectly in potholes?
The trope is about creators who go out of their way to create an alternative "right and correct" form of media opposed to another, and as a result tend to be far more about the message than the media itself. They tend to become less creators and more preachers, in other words.
I keep seeing potholes where it's instead used to indicate any venue that has a stricter code than another. What I've usually seen is a website that does not allow porn compared to a website that does. How is this a variant of the trope? It would be like saying that Disney cartoons are The Moral Substitute to the stuff that plays on Adult Swim. Even if some people involved don't care or are opposed to the programming for Adult Swim, this does not make it The Moral Substitute because they're trying to make their own product that appeals to their own demographic, not a product that will somehow shield people who care from Adult Swim programming.