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Condemned by History cleanup thread

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Condemned by History is a problem trope for many reasons. It leads to edit warring and confusion over what qualifies. In this thread we'll look for bad examples, and look for feedback. Here are the guidelines for this trope:

  1. The franchise has to be truly popular and loved at first. Things that are So Bad, It's Horrible don't count.
  2. Simply losing popularity isn't enough. We need to see an actual backlash, with liking it being considered bizarre. Otherwise, every not-so-famous film or concluded television series would be here.

Let's go!

Edited by GastonRabbit on Mar 16th 2024 at 4:23:01 AM

ImperialMajestyXO Since: Nov, 2015
#2251: Feb 6th 2022 at 11:24:10 AM

Should I do a writeup for To Boldly Flee, or does someone else want to?

RustBeard Since: Sep, 2016
#2252: Feb 6th 2022 at 12:00:24 PM

[up][up] I actually remember reading an article saying that at first Scrappy was originally well-liked and it was only after he became overexposed that he became despised.

Edited by RustBeard on Feb 6th 2022 at 12:01:12 PM

Tonwen HoMM Fan from Axeoth Since: Dec, 2021 Relationship Status: I <3 love!
HoMM Fan
#2253: Feb 6th 2022 at 1:53:15 PM

[up]The general story I hear is that he was successful in the short term and was genuinely well liked by kids (although fans who had watched the original when they were kids hated him even then). It was only after he started getting shoved into every Scooby related anything they could find that everyone started get fed up with him, and even if kids still liked him at that point, he was not enough to stave off the decline of the Scooby Doo property (at least until Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island gave it a revival).

Edited by Tonwen on Feb 6th 2022 at 3:56:16 AM

"Grandmaster Combat, son!"
RustBeard Since: Sep, 2016
#2254: Feb 6th 2022 at 6:19:48 PM

I don't really know if Scrappy is still as widely hated as he used to be. I have seen a few people defend the character, but I don't know if it's a significant amount.

despoa Since: Aug, 2012
#2255: Feb 7th 2022 at 7:28:29 AM

Just remember that The Scrappy is still a trope and that Scrappy-Doo is still the page image, even if he's more of a Base-Breaking Character these days. Also note no recent Scooby-Doo media has yet to refer to him positively.

ImperialMajestyXO Since: Nov, 2015
#2256: Feb 10th 2022 at 7:27:01 PM

Here's a potential write-up for To Boldly Flee:

  • Released in 2012 when the standing and popularity of Channel Awesome was arguably at its zenith, the website's fourth anniversary special To Boldly Flee was initially well-received, with it being seen as funny, emotional, and overall a genuinely impressive feat for a scrappy team of Internet personalities. The only real point of contention was the decision to kill off The Nostalgia Critic so Doug Walker could focus on his dream project Demo Reel, and even those who disagreed with the choice to do so generally liked the special overall, saying that at least it acted as a good swan song for the character. However, after Demo Reel flopped and the Critic was hastily revived, opinions on the special shifted. Not only was killing off the Critic now universally seen as a mistake, changing tastes led to a reappraisal of the special for the worse. Its humor was seen as clumsy and immature, its attempts at drama now rang hollow for many, its frequent use of pop culture references became seen as a crutch, and its heavy-handed commentary on controversial intellectual property legislation being discussed in Congress at the time was seen as badly dated. Even many of those who had participated in the special's making began to express open disdain for it. The final nail in the coffin came in 2018, when the Not So Awesome document revealed (among other things) serious behind the scenes troubles that permanently tainted the reputation of the special as a whole. With Channel Awesome's best days well behind it and the site reduced to a shadow of its former self, there are still those who look back at the earlier specials with at least some degree of fondness. To Boldly Flee, however, is universally seen as a troubled, self-indulgent mistake that played a major role in setting the stage for the website's fall from grace.

despoa Since: Aug, 2012
#2257: Feb 11th 2022 at 12:51:55 AM

Looks good to me. I'll rearrange some words here and there.

prettycoolguy Since: Nov, 2010
#2258: Feb 11th 2022 at 5:52:49 AM

Hey, I was thinking of adding this entry to the Theatre folder and would appreciate some feedback if it's a valid example or not.

  • When it debuted on Broadway in 2016, Dear Evan Hansen was a critical darling and cultural phenomenon. The story about a troubled teen who became the center of a lie after a classmate committed suicide was seen as sincere and was immediately praised for its strong characters. Many also enjoyed the inventive set design, the lyrical and bombastic songs from up-and-comers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and the way the musical dealt with grief and anxiety. Partially thanks to the runaway success of Hamilton the year earlier, the show was seen as "the next Hamilton", and many of the former show's fans started to get attached to the latter. It was a Gateway Series for many teenagers and young adults to get into Broadway shows, many of which started a shipping culture for the cast of high school characters. The songs became hugely successful on streaming and Ben Platt, who played the titular Evan Hansennote , became a star overnight, with the show helping to springboard his music career. The next year, it was nominated for nine Tonys and won six, including Best Musical and Best Actor for Platt.

    Unfortunately, much like Evan in the musical, cracks with the story started to form and a backlash soon followed. With its popularity came a slew of imitators, and musicals either about teens or specifically aimed at teens started to flood the Broadway market. The reception for each of these musicals varies, but it signaled a trend towards simplified themes and less complex musical structure, and Evan Hansen was seen as an originator for these changesnote . This wouldn't be an issue had the musical still seen praise, but the same elements that made people fall in love with the show have now soured fans' feelings about it. Evan Hansen was viewed less as a misunderstood loner who made genuine mistakes and more like a manipulator who seemed content to lying to a family whose son just committed suicide. How Evan's mental illness and anxiety were portrayed were also seen as sanitized and inaccurate, and many former fans started to say the songs were generic, artificial, and vague about the subjects it dealt with. As musicals with similar tone and themes garnered far more praise from fans, such as Heathers and Be More Chill, Evan Hansen fell to the wayside and was regarded as a show that got the acclaim it did simply for being at the right place at the right time.

    What seemed to confirm its shift in reputation was the release of a film adaptation in September 2021. In a stark contrast to the original production, the film received overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics and became a Box-Office Bomb. Though some of the criticism was directed at questionable decisions that were specific to the film note , just as much criticism went to the problematic story and its artificially saccharine emotional pleas as well. While some of Pasek and Paul's musical projects from the same time are still looked back at fondly, such as La La Land and The Greatest Showman, the fanbase for Dear Evan Hansen has completely disappeared, with many theatre fans who got into the medium with the show disowning it.

Edited by prettycoolguy on Feb 11th 2022 at 12:49:27 PM

AlternativeCola Since: Apr, 2013
#2259: Feb 11th 2022 at 9:39:52 AM

It's definitely not a valid example, considering that the musical is currently having a run at the West End in London.

magnumtropus Since: Aug, 2020
#2260: Feb 11th 2022 at 10:37:22 PM

Ready Player One (the 2011 book) was just added. Does it count?

nrjxll Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Not war
#2261: Feb 11th 2022 at 11:35:11 PM

That entry clearly reads like one of those awful "I saw someone online saying something about a piece of media so I decided to regurgitate it whole" things, specifically in reference to the Vox piece it quotes. I'd never even heard of the book before the movie adaptation began getting previewed, by which point there was already a lot of criticism about it being a fantasy for the more toxic kind of nerds. The example itself claims that criticism existed even back in 2011, too.

I'd like more feedback before cutting it, but personally I find the example's premise extremely questionable.

Edited by nrjxll on Feb 11th 2022 at 1:36:04 PM

WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (10,238/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (10,238/50,000)
#2262: Feb 11th 2022 at 11:38:48 PM

I've heard way more criticism for the sequel, personally.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
AlternativeCola Since: Apr, 2013
#2263: Feb 13th 2022 at 8:24:32 AM

No, Ready Player One doesn't count.

ImperialMajestyXO Since: Nov, 2015
#2264: Feb 13th 2022 at 9:55:27 AM

A backlash simply existing doesn't qualify something for this. It has to be so severe that the thing in question becomes universally disliked.

Reymma RJ Savoy from Edinburgh Since: Feb, 2015 Relationship Status: Wanna dance with somebody
RJ Savoy
#2265: Feb 13th 2022 at 10:56:52 AM

I think the entry is valid; it was successful, but all the more thoughtful appraisals I have seen consider it thematically hollow, and now that view has taken over. However I don't see how "the once-positive view of geek culture" figures into it, the novel never comes close to the sort of campaigns that have created that image. (Indeed one criticism is that it gives token representation to every possible underprivileged group in a clumsy fashion, and you can tell what time period it was written in by the lack of any trans or non-binary players in the cast.)

Stories don't tell us monsters exist; we knew that already. They show us that monsters can be trademarked and milked for years.
NotGonnaDoALot4 Man in the Yellow Hat from God knows. Since: Feb, 2018 Relationship Status: Shipping fictional characters
Man in the Yellow Hat
#2266: Feb 19th 2022 at 6:19:22 AM

Wrote up a prospective entry in case it counts:

  • Mighty No. 9 was widely anticipated when it was revealed for an late 2014 release, being thought up by prominent Mega Man producer Keiji Inafune and billed as a Spiritual Successor to the Mega Man franchise, helped by the latter being in the midst of an Audience-Alienating Era in which prospective installments were being unceremoniously cancelled left and right. The Kickstarter for Mighty No. 9 managed to raise 4 million USD, and audiences were enthusiastic to the idea of spin-offs, sequels, and even branching out into animation.

There's so much I wish I could take back.
SpongeBat1 We stan Clippy in this house from Quittersville, Failuretown, and Loserburg (Y2: Electric Boogaloo) Relationship Status: It's a god-awful small affair
We stan Clippy in this house
#2267: Feb 19th 2022 at 6:41:41 AM

I don't think MN 9 counts. It's just another case of a promising work not living up to pre-release hype.

Came for the tropes, stayed for the cleanup.
miraculous Goku Black (Apprentice)
Goku Black
#2268: Feb 19th 2022 at 7:21:16 AM

Plus I think this requires the work to be praised when it came out. This game got mocked as Snark Bait even before release.

"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."
TheLivingDrawing Lucas the Dreamer from The Town of Clayton Since: Apr, 2019 Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free
Lucas the Dreamer
#2269: Feb 19th 2022 at 8:08:17 AM

[up][up][up] Mighty No. 9 was hated at launch and people merely liked the idea of the game rather than the product being pitched on it’s own. You can make the argument for crowdfunding as a whole qualifying since it was a popular idea when introduced but became seen as a breeding ground for scams, failed promises, and showing the holes in Doing It for the Art and that there’s a good reason Executive Meddling is so common (executives know how to manage a budget and keep things on schedule).

Edited by TheLivingDrawing on Feb 19th 2022 at 11:11:19 AM

Once Upon A Time.
despoa Since: Aug, 2012
#2270: Feb 19th 2022 at 3:35:43 PM

More like the negative results of Protection from Editors. Mighty No. 9 doesn't count anyway. It's even less liked than Sonic 4 Episode 1.

ImperialMajestyXO Since: Nov, 2015
#2271: Feb 22nd 2022 at 10:11:19 AM

To circle back to an earlier topic that kind of petered out, should we put DSP back up? He did have a sizeable fanbase once upon a time.

RainbowPumpqueen R A T (she/her) from Kalos Since: Apr, 2021 Relationship Status: Squeeeeeeeeeeeee!
R A T (she/her)
#2272: Feb 22nd 2022 at 2:13:00 PM

[up] Again, even if DSP had a fanbase back in the day, he was still polarizing. Condemned by History is for things that used to be widely popular, not just divisive.

Feel free to help with the sandbox or edit my troper wall
despoa Since: Aug, 2012
#2273: Mar 4th 2022 at 4:11:07 PM

With how much Sinfest has fallen, is it better to call it this or a case of Fallen Creator? Or has not enough time passed to give proper judgment?

magnumtropus Since: Aug, 2020
#2274: Mar 4th 2022 at 5:00:11 PM

Looking at the main page, it seems that Sinfest "merely" suffered from 2 jarring tonal shifts. Is there any sign of a majority declaring that the comic was never good in the first place?

[down] Then it is not CBH

Edited by magnumtropus on Mar 4th 2022 at 5:18:45 PM

TheLivingDrawing Lucas the Dreamer from The Town of Clayton Since: Apr, 2019 Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free
Lucas the Dreamer
#2275: Mar 4th 2022 at 9:17:41 PM

The older days of the comic seem to still be well liked.

Once Upon A Time.

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