The Hindsight tropes, Hilarious in Hindsight, Harsher in Hindsight, and Heartwarming in Hindsight, are among the most misused Audience Reaction tropes on this site. Many people don't understand that the tropes require more than just "This happened, so that happened", and end up adding examples which either lack connection or the substance that makes them funny/serious/not-so-funny/heartwarming. Some of them may be suited better for other tropes (ex: Life Imitates Art), while some may not belong on TV Tropes at all (such as ones involving politicians, due to Rule of Cautious Editing Judgment).
Please report any Hindsight example that you feel are questionable, and we'll analyze them to see if they are actually examples or not.
Remember that the Hindsight tropes are Audience Reactions. That means if an example under review discusses significant fan response pointing out the hindsight, the example can't be cut solely for being too tenuous for this thread.
- Creator's character/portrayal dies in work and then creator dies in real life, unless their fictional death is closely similar to their real one (such as Billy Bob Joe portraying a character who dies from pancreatic cancer, then Billy Bob dies from pancreatic cancer himself)
- Mundane word related to something terrible (such as "corona" or "Epstein") unless there's more to the connection (such as someone named "Corona" having the flu)
- Creator appears in work then becomes more controversial later on.
- A common event (such as a typical natural disaster) happens in work, then happens in real life (unless they are closely similar, such as the event happening to the same area in both reality and fiction around the same time) For once, not everything related to disease has to do with COVID-19, not everything related to racism and Police Brutality has to do with George Floyd and Black Lives Matter, and not everything related to sexual abuse has to do with #MeToo.
- A common/generic concept was used in this work and then later reused in that work (too loose for a connection, unless the concept is so unique it's identified with the work)
- Two actors appear together then do so in another work
- Hindsight examples involving recent events, due to them often being shoehorns. Specifically:
- COVID-19 examples, before 75% of the population has returned to normal
- George Floyd/2020 Black Lives Matter examples, before protests have declined
- Examples which fall guilty of Older Than They Think, such as "Make X Great Again" slogans. Aside from violating the ROCEJ, this slogan has been in use since the 1940s.
- Characters using slurs which are treated as annoying at worst in the work, but is now harsher due to how severe the slur is made now. Discrimination has always existed with that slur. (May qualify for Values Dissonance if work is at least 20 years old.)
Note: As of January 2022, "Funny Aneurysm" Moment is no longer separate from Harsher in Hindsight.
- The former redirects to the latter and all wicks to the former (with the exception of ones on archive pages and the YMMV Redirects index) must either be moved to the latter (if they're valid) or removed (if they're invalid).
- The subpages for the former are still accessible from this page
. After a subpage for "Funny Aneurysm" Moment has been completely cleaned up, turn it into a redirect to the Harsher in Hindsight subpage for the same medium to preserve inbounds.
Edited by Tabs on Jun 21st 2023 at 11:51:25 AM
❀ Mint, Nuts, and Waffle ❀
Really giant stretches. Cut.
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![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Thanks, I have removed the examples.
I'm helping!
Question about a pothole on AlternativeJokeInterpretation.The Simpsons:
- In "Milhouse of Sand and Fog", Maggie gets chicken pox, so they throw a party so that the kids will catch it and get it over with (since you can only catch chicken pox once).
What about this is a "Funny Aneurysm" Moment? Did something happen later with chicken pox in The Simpsons, or is this just referencing society's collective conclusion that actually chicken pox is more dangerous than people realize and parties like that are a bad idea?
Trouble Cube continues to be a general-purpose forum for those who desire such a thing.
Big Catch, Sparkle Edition
I think it's a reference to COVID parties or pandemic parties.
Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
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Reposting from the page before this on YMMV.KMFDM:
- Hilarious in Hindsight:
- Adventure Time fans may get a kick out of the use of a balloon as an instrument on "Rebels in Kontrol", especially since WTF?! was released only a few months before "Marceline's Closet."
I'm pretty sure the use of a balloon as an instrument existed before that. That Cadbury ad...
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Big Catch, Sparkle Edition
Not necessarily as a musical instrument, but balloons have been used for sound-effects since sound-effects were a thing.
Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
Angry babby
Balloons are a very common SFX tool, historically. At least that's what Phineas and Ferb told me.
Also yeah, cut the FAM pothole in the Simpsons example. It makes no sense with half the context anyway.
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Reposting from the previous page:
Bringing up the following examples from Wolverine and the X-Men (2009):
- Hilarious in Hindsight:
- The idea that the Phoenix Force could be controlled by splitting it among five people. It didn't work out in Avengers vs. X-Men either.
- When Wolverine finally shows up in the Sentinel ruled future he's accompanied by four X-23 clones. Years later, X-23 would take the name Wolverine and her solo book's first story arc would be focused on four clones of her, one of which would become a fan favourite X-Man in her own right.
From Melissa And Joey:
- Hilarious in Hindsight: A show premiering on a Disney-owned network with the main character's first names, who are the opposite genders, in the title separated with an "&" in the middle, in the early 2010s, who eventually become love interests? You don't say. Not only that, but the main male actor of the series sings the theme song of each. Not only that, but they rhyme when placed back-to-back, since the show titles have names that end in "y." Most everything else differs though.
This seems like a massive shoehorn (the example even admits it).
I'm not too sure about these, but I don't see anything wrong.
Kill that. Please.
Done.
Here's another example from Fitzpatricks War:
- Hilarious in Hindsight: The Yukon Confederacy, similarly to Julian Comstock's 22nd Century U.S., is what BioShock Infinite's Columbia would look like on a massive scale.
Methinks this relies a bit too much on Fan Myopia.
Found on YMMV.The Great Outdoors.
- Harsher in Hindsight: Dan Aykroyd makes a joke to John Candy in one scene about people dying of heart attacks (specifically that everyone else besides Candy will do so first out of stress while he has a nice relaxing lifestyle), while in a later scene Candy is on water skis screaming "I'm gonna die!" John Candy died of a heart attack just a few years later in 1994. Actor Mortality.
Angry babby
The specificity in the scene that Candy is unlikely to die of a heart attack makes it a valid example, IMO. "Actor mortality" is when death is the only connection, but when the means of death are related, then it's more of a standout. However, the way this entry is written makes it sound like they're not speaking as their characters which is a bit confusing.
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Looking at it again, yeah, there might be a valid example there. Could use a rewrite to make the connection more clear between A and B before being added back, though.
From YMMV.Moulin Rouge (foldered for readability):
- Hilarious in Hindsight:
- The songs "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" and "Diamond Dogs" are both featured in the film's soundtrack. Fast-forward to the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode "A Dog and Pony Show" in which both songs are referenced in close proximity to each other.
- As of 2015, we have a new series of Diamond Dogs.
- Pan would later also feature Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" being sung anachronistically by people with no business doing so (fin de siècle Parisians here, Blackbeard and his pirate crew in Pan). Especially since while its use was more accepted in this film, in Pan it generated more mixed reactions.
- As of 2020, this is no longer the only film in which Ewan McGregor takes part in a "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" scene.
- Speaking of Ewan McGregor, it seems he may have been taking notes from Richard Roxburgh on how to play a villain.
Duke: I JUST DON'T LIKE OTHER PEOPLE TOUCHING MY THINGS!
Roman Sionis: These are my things! This diamond is my things!! - Obi-Wan's love interest in Star Wars: The Clone Wars is also named Satine.
- The Argentinian's voice resembles Dr. Doofenshmirtz.
Every single one of these seems like actor garbage or shoehorning in something entirely unrelated—the only one I can see giving leeway to is the Clone Wars example, since Satine isn't a particularly common name, but do any of these seem salvageable, or should they all be cut?
they're gonna find intelligent life up there on the moon/and the canterbury tales will shoot up to the top of the best-seller list
- Harsher in Hindsight: The very same day that Rosemon's debut episode aired in Japan, Philece Sampler, Mimi's original English voice actress, sadly passed away.
A tragic coincidence, but if they happened at the same time I'm not sure if hindsight. Thoughts?
There’s not a direct correlation between the two other than actor mortality, so it might not apply.
The Draftsman of Doom
Is it too soon to add this to the Harsher in Hindsight film subpage?
- Zone 39: The idea of a government covering up water contamination and causing irreparable damage would hit much closer to home in the wake of incidents such as the 2000 Walkerton water crisis or 2014-2019 Flint water crisis as of 2021.
The Draftsman of Doom
~Tropers/rjd1922: What is your take on the above?
Rawr.
♀ | Small ripples lead to big waves
The connection sounds too broad.
he/him | Image Pickin' regular
Yeah, that sounds too broad. Not sure why you pinged me; this is the first I've even heard of Zone 39.
The Draftsman of Doom
rjd: I pinged you because I figured you regularly participated here.
Should I cut the example from the YMMV?
Edited by SkyCat32 on Jul 13th 2021 at 6:10:13 AM
Rawr.
Bringing up the following examples from Star Trek V: The Final Frontier:
- "Funny Aneurysm" Moment:
- It's a bit uncomfortable in retrospect watching the scene in which Scotty hits his head on the bulkhead (after saying "I know this ship like the back of me hand!") knowing that James Doohan developed Alzheimer's disease towards the end of his life.
- Also the scene where Chekov and Sulu attempt to convince Uhura they are lost in a snowstorm, considering that, many years later, Walter Koenig's son would disappear in snowcovered Vancouver - and subsequently be found dead from his apparent suicide.
- Harsher in Hindsight:
- Kirk tells McCoy and Spock "I've always known I'll die alone." It was originally harsher after Star Trek: Generations, in which Kirk died without either one around; but it's heartbreaking now that William Shatner has outlived both DeForest Kelley and Leonard Nimoy. And then, in Star Trek Beyond, it's revealed that Spock has died, with the strong implication that he was the last surviving TOS crewmember.
- When Sybok offers to take away his pain, Kirk refuses—emphatically insisting that he needs his pain. The next movie shows that Kirk holding onto his pain (specifically, his son being killed by Klingons) makes him an ample scapegoat for the conspiracy and is a major obstacle that he must overcome.
- Spock losing his half-brother (however much they didn't see eye-to-eye) becomes worse when Star Trek: Discovery reveals that Spock also had an adopted sister he was estranged from, whom he also lost when she went on a one-way trip to the distant future shortly after the two reconciled. Poor guy can't catch a break when it comes to family.
- Hilarious in Hindsight:
- The plan to fly to the center of the galaxy is even goofier after the franchise created an entire show about how long that kind of trip takes.
- Though, to be fair, TOS was wildly inconsistent about warp speed times. Notably in That With Survives, the E traveled a thousand light years in hours. And they traveled more than once to the edge of the galaxy, which is 20,000+ miles as well. 20k miles is in the same order of magnitude of Voyager returning to the alpha quadrant.
- Nearly three decades after the film's release, Alex Honnold completed the actual first free solo ascent of El Capitan, as seen in the Oscar-winning documentary Free Solo.
- And as for that line about Spock being "well-versed in the classics", in Star Trek Beyond he not only knows but apparently likes the Beastie Boys, which Bones recognizes as "classical music".
- Given Kirk's increasing annoyance to Spock revealing family members that Kirk doesn't know about, a lot of fan artists have imagined his migraine reaction to Spock's adopted sister in Star Trek: Discovery.
- The plan to fly to the center of the galaxy is even goofier after the franchise created an entire show about how long that kind of trip takes.
♀ | Small ripples lead to big waves
The last one seems more like Memetic Mutation. Also, you "bring up" examples a lot here, but never explain why you take issue with them.
Found on YMMV.The Cat In The Hat:
These seem like giant stretches to me. Any other opinions?
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