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
This is on YMMV.Muppet Babies 2018
- Many reviews of Bread Winners complain how main characters Sway Sway and Buhdeuce look more like frogs instead of ducks. Buhdeuce's voice actor, Eric Bauza, would voice in this series, among other characters, Robin the polliwog, the nephew of Kermit the frog . He also looks like a much cuter version of Buhdeuce.
Edited by fragglelover on Jun 6th 2020 at 10:47:58 AM
Very Spooky
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Considering SwaySway and Buhdeuce aren’t actually frogs in their show, that’s just a stretch. Cut it.
This is on YMMV.The Fairly Oddparents:
- "Funny Aneurysm" Moment: In "Timmy TV", after Timmy refused to let the executives replace Cosmo and Wanda, he instead gave a show to his teacher, Denzel Crocker, who proved to be popular with the fairies. It's not as funny to watch now as it was back then, since in the recent seasons, Crocker got lots of exposure and appeared lots of times alongside the main characters, even when the plot didn't need him.
Very Spooky
That just seems like shoehorned complaining. Cut it.
From Trivia.Black Mirror Playtest
- "Funny Aneurysm" Moment: Inverted: Sporcle added an achievement in 2018 by the name "Call Your Mom", which is funny when the original moment was Nightmare Fuel.
This is in the wrong spot, uses the wrong trope, and is a stretch (there's many pieces of media that use the exact phrase "call your mom").
Edited by Playing_with_boy on Jun 6th 2020 at 2:32:14 AM
Very Spooky
Nuke it.
From Zootopia:
"Mayor Lionheart was treating the appearance of savage predators as if it were a potential virus outbreak, to the point of having those predators isolated at Cliffside Asylum to try and find a cure. In the wake of the 2020 Coronavirus outbreak, this takes on an added harshness as Idris Elba (Chief Bogo) was one of the first celebrities who contracted the virus and went into self-isolation."
To me, this seems forced for a myriad of reasons: In the film, the affected predators display no symptoms associated to the Coronavirus, they simply turn feral. They don't go into self-isolation either, but are incarcerated in a secret facility to be studied. Their disease is believed to be genetic, but is later revealed to be caused by a psychotropic drug (the film never mentions the possibility of a viral outbreak). Finally, the mentioned voice actor dubs a minor character who is not among the affected predators.
Just wanted to check in case it really is a valid example...
Friends forevermore
COVID shoehorn. Nuke it from orbit.
I found this abomination at Ace Ventura.
- "Funny Aneurysm" Moment: Ace's fear of bats in When Nature Calls became feels less like an overreaction following the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020.
No. No it does not. I was going to nuke it but it looks like GeneralGigan817 beat me to it.
Edited by sgamer82 on Jun 7th 2020 at 10:55:51 AM
she/her
Oh look, it's another coronavirus shoehorn. Sure, patient zero might have gotten it from a bat, but everyone else who got it was infected by another person. So I don't see why coronavirus would make people afraid of bats.
Now a lurker. See you at the forums.
I wrote this for Dc Challenge:
- In Dc Challenge #1 (1985), set in the pre-crisis, Bruce receives a VHS tape with The Riddler knowing his secret identity as Batman. It would take at least 15 years for this to actually occur in the Hush storyline set in the post-crisis continuity.
Valid or not valid?
To win, you need to adapt, and to adapt, you need to be able to laugh away all the restraints. Everything holding you back.
From YMMV.Prospect:
- Hilarious in Hindsight: Compare Pedro Pascal in this Space Western vs. Pedro Pascal as he is in another Space Western: The Mandalorian.
Unless I find time to watch Prospect, can anyone add a list of what his roles do/don't have in common?
Edited by dsneybuf on Jun 8th 2020 at 9:51:58 AM
I can't, so for now I've commented it out as a ZCE.
This is on Donny Cates' Venom:
- "Funny Aneurysm" Moment: The run was meant to introduce a new symbiote character during its Free comic Book Day special in 2020 named Virus. A lot of people really liked the design and noted the simple-yet-cool name that was surprisingly overlooked, given the stranger names other symbiote characters have had... then Coronavirus became a much bigger issue (and it was already an issue when the character was revealed, though obviously not nearly as much of one during the creation itself), which also resulted in the delay of said FCBD issue due to the cancellation of FCBD 2020.
Edited by fragglelover on Jun 8th 2020 at 1:31:45 PM
she/her
So... the comic was canceled because the event it was being made for was canceled, not because the character is named "Virus". I love it when the shoehorns outright admit that they're shoehorns.
I'm helping!
Hey, can I get confirmation real quick that this bit just added to Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a misuse?
- Harsher in Hindsight: The choice to remove references to "gender" in the North America localization was done to avoid upsetting the LGBTQ community, and in fact was done as a result of pressure by said community. An article was posted reporting on this and the author immediately came under attack by trans extremists, who declared the mere reporting of the "gender -> style" change to be "transphobic".
I'm 99% sure it is, but I don't want any weirdoes going "oh, you're trans, you just have your biased SJW goggles on".
Edited by wingedcatgirl on Jun 8th 2020 at 11:42:18 AM
Trouble Cube continues to be a general-purpose forum for those who desire such a thing.
Big Catch, Sparkle Edition
Yeah, no, I'm not even sure what that's saying. Something controversial was...still controversial afterward? Ignore the trans part of it and it's just nonsense.
Current Project: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
Showtime!
I'm apprehensive about any entry that uses the phrasing "attacked by trans extremists"
Absolute destiny... apeachalypse?
This is on YMMV.Osmosis Jones under Harsher in Hindsight:
- The entire movie can be considered this in light of the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. Frank definitely doesn’t practice good social distancing (high-fiving a man after sneezing in the same hand, putting his bare foot on a restaurant table). Meanwhile, Ozzy’s warnings about Thrax are either not taken seriously or outright covered up until it’s almost too late, much like what happened with Chinese doctor Li Wenliang. Finally, Thrax’s M.O. is to cause mild symptoms before “making his move”, much like how COVID-19 starts with seemingly innocuous symptoms.
- The song "I Believe" by R. Kelly makes for a pretty touching ending...until you find out he's currently serving time in prison for his accusations of sexually assaulting children.
Very Spooky
Oh c'mon, I just removed a Values Resonance entry related to COVID-19 on there... this is getting ridiculous. The second one is also just "person who was in a thing did bad thing". Cut both of those.
Edited by jandn2014 on Jun 8th 2020 at 4:39:14 AM
back lol
Big Catch, Sparkle Edition
Yay, another COVID shoehorn, everyone take a shot!
Also it's hilarious to point out that a character practices "bad social distancing" for doing things that are generally considered disgusting and rude anyway and have nothing to do with standing 6 feet apart...which is, I mean, the entire concept of social distancing...
So cut the first one for sure.
Current Project: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
Permission to make hindsight tropes No Recent Examples, Please!?
Waiting period: after the event that makes them harsher/funny/heartwarming is over.
Edited by GeneralGigan817 on Jun 8th 2020 at 8:23:51 AM
Big Catch, Sparkle Edition
I've wanted this for a while, but it's best discussed here.
Given that was a joke, that would be "Funny Aneurysm" Moment if it's an example of anything.