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Misused: Black Best Friend

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Pichu-kun ... Since: Jan, 2001
...
#1: Jul 17th 2019 at 8:02:31 AM

Black Best Friend is rampant with misuse dating back several years. It's supposed to be "A black Satellite Character to the protagonist" but it's instead used as "Any character who is black and the protagonist's best friend, nevermind how much characterization they're given.

On the main page itself I've found over three dozen ZCE's.

    Incomplete list of ZCE's 

Edited by Pichu-kun on Jul 17th 2019 at 8:39:44 AM

Pichu-kun ... Since: Jan, 2001
...
#2: Sep 9th 2019 at 4:31:09 AM

I didn't notice that this thread had opened.

Brainulator9 Short-Term Projects herald from US Since: Aug, 2018 Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
Short-Term Projects herald
#3: Sep 9th 2019 at 7:08:22 AM

Another problem with Tropes in Aggregate. Yay. Here's a rant I wrote on this subject.

Contains 20% less fat than the leading value brand!
Zuxtron Berserk Button: misusing Nightmare Fuel from Node 03 (On A Trope Odyssey)
#4: Sep 9th 2019 at 10:30:07 AM

It doesn't help that literally nothing in the trope name indicates that there's more to the trope than just a black person who's someone's friend. My suggestion for a rename would be Token Black Friend or Black Satellite Friend.

GastonRabbit C'est la vie. (he/him) from Robinson, Illinois, USA (General of TV Troops) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
C'est la vie. (he/him)
#5: Sep 9th 2019 at 12:29:49 PM

[up]I prefer the latter, since it indicates its status as a subtrope of Satellite Character, though the former is still an improvement over the current. The problem I have with the current name is that it makes the trope sound like People Sit on Chairs, even though it isn't (that has more to do with the recurring problem of people reading the name, but not the definition).

Edited by GastonRabbit on Sep 9th 2019 at 12:59:51 PM

I got a rock for Halloween.
GastonRabbit C'est la vie. (he/him) from Robinson, Illinois, USA (General of TV Troops) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
nombretomado (Season 1) Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Berrenta MOD Bejeweled (she/her) (Ten years in the joint) Relationship Status: I made a point to burn all of the photographs
Bejeweled (she/her)
#8: Nov 8th 2019 at 6:53:33 AM

Long overdue call favoring rename. Let's begin deciding on names.

Tabs Since: Jan, 2001
naturalironist from The Information Superhighway Since: Jul, 2016 Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
#10: Nov 8th 2019 at 4:09:42 PM

Note that Gay Best Friend and Fat Best Friend are almost the same trope and have the same type of name. Are we going to rename them too?

"It's just a show; I should really just relax"
WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000)
#11: Nov 8th 2019 at 6:31:19 PM

[up] We should, if they suffer the same misuse.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
GastonRabbit C'est la vie. (he/him) from Robinson, Illinois, USA (General of TV Troops) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
C'est la vie. (he/him)
#12: Nov 9th 2019 at 11:15:39 PM

Made a crowner with the names suggested so far.

I got a rock for Halloween.
Berrenta MOD Bejeweled (she/her) (Ten years in the joint) Relationship Status: I made a point to burn all of the photographs
Bejeweled (she/her)
#13: Nov 10th 2019 at 8:59:48 AM

Swapped in the new crowner.

Berrenta MOD Bejeweled (she/her) (Ten years in the joint) Relationship Status: I made a point to burn all of the photographs
Bejeweled (she/her)
#14: Nov 18th 2019 at 9:34:31 PM

Calling in favor of Token Black Friend.

I'll perform the move tomorrow morning.

Edited by Berrenta on Nov 18th 2019 at 11:35:23 AM

Berrenta Bejeweled (she/her) (Ten years in the joint) Relationship Status: I made a point to burn all of the photographs
Bejeweled (she/her)
#15: Jan 25th 2020 at 11:49:47 AM

"Tomorrow morning" should not mean "in a couple months". What the heck, me?

Sorry for the long overdue move, but it's finally done. A backlog and a busy work schedule at the time doesn't help.

1756 wicks. Sadly I have other projects that I'm working on.

Zuxtron Berserk Button: misusing Nightmare Fuel from Node 03 (On A Trope Odyssey)
#16: Jan 25th 2020 at 6:28:27 PM

I did a small amount of cleanup, but I find that the context given in potholes is often insufficient to tell whether the character is actually a Token Black Friend. In these cases, I just remove the link entirely instead of changing it to the new name.

Brainulator9 Short-Term Projects herald from US Since: Aug, 2018 Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
Short-Term Projects herald
#17: Jan 26th 2020 at 9:46:27 AM

[up] Yeah, that's what I do, too, especially when it's a character-name-to-trope pothole.

Contains 20% less fat than the leading value brand!
WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000)
#18: Jan 26th 2020 at 9:47:53 AM

Yeah, those potholes are also popping up in Heroic Albino cleanup.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
Zuxtron Berserk Button: misusing Nightmare Fuel from Node 03 (On A Trope Odyssey)
#19: Mar 12th 2020 at 2:49:57 PM

Slowly chipping away at these, but it'll take a while on my own.

1725 remaining.

WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000)
#20: Mar 13th 2020 at 7:32:55 PM

1669 now.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
TheWhistleTropes janet likes her new icon. Since: Aug, 2015 Relationship Status: In Lesbians with you
WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000)
#22: Mar 26th 2020 at 9:03:13 PM

[up] Partially, it's because they all serve different niches beyond just their token minority status, and each version is pervasive enough to be their own separate thing.

Also, do you want to be the one to move all those wicks? Because I sure don't.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000)
#23: May 25th 2020 at 6:22:03 PM

I'll try and get some wicks done tonight, but this project is a beast and we need more manpower working on it.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
jandn2014 SMILE! from somewhere in Connecticut Since: Aug, 2017 Relationship Status: Hiding
SMILE!
#24: May 25th 2020 at 6:30:50 PM

I'll try to help with dewicking Black Best Friend eventually, but I'm working through some other tropes that need dewicking so their threads can be closed right now.

WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000)
#25: May 25th 2020 at 6:40:39 PM

That's fair, it's just such a big project that the longer we sit on it the longer it'll take to finish, so I want to get as much done as possible sooner rather than later.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall

SingleProposition: BlackBestFriend
14th Sep '19 7:13:06 AM

Crown Description:

Black Best Friend is frequently misused. Should it be renamed?

Total posts: 53
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