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Hindsight Cleanup

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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.

    Common NOT in Hindsight examples 
  • 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

badtothebaritone (Life not ruined yet) Relationship Status: Snooping as usual
#5676: Aug 6th 2022 at 2:28:51 PM

[up] With prejudice.

Edited by badtothebaritone on Aug 6th 2022 at 4:29:07 AM

ChillyBeanBAM Whaam! Whacka wow! (Apprentice)
Whaam! Whacka wow!
#5677: Aug 6th 2022 at 7:12:20 PM

This was recently added to YMMV.Mario Kart 8:

bwburke94 I am mad scientist! It's so cool! from 1.048596% (Y2: Electric Boogaloo) Relationship Status: She does the things you do, but she is an IBM
I am mad scientist! It's so cool!
#5678: Aug 7th 2022 at 12:22:23 AM

Burn it to the ground.

2025: the year it all ends?
Crossover-Enthusiast from an abaondoned mall (Lucky 7) Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#5679: Aug 7th 2022 at 2:35:46 PM

~mightymewtron: yeah, that's what I was thinking. Maybe if it was written like this?

  • Harsher in Hindsight: The copious amount of jokes and gags relating to the main four (later three) dying in humorous ways in the earlier episodes became harder to watch after series creator Edd Gould passed away in 2012; tellingly, these jokes became near nonexistent in episodes made after his passing.

I'm all for just cutting it, though.

Jawbreakers on sale for 99¢
supernintendo128 Semi-retired editor from My desk Since: Feb, 2013 Relationship Status: Is that a kind of food?
Semi-retired editor
#5680: Aug 7th 2022 at 5:43:36 PM

From Ross's Game Dungeon:

  • Harsher in Hindsight: During his review of The Crew, Ross makes a joke about burning down a video game studio in retaliation for an unwanted change. One year later on July 18, 2019, an angry man set fire to an anime studio in Kyoto resulting in 33 deaths and many injuries.

That's really reaching. Cut?

pee pee poo poo
ElBuenCuate Since: Oct, 2010
#5681: Aug 7th 2022 at 5:55:34 PM

[up] Maybe if the man burned it over some change on something, maybe. But as of now, it's arson being mentioned, and someone committing arson. I say it should be cut.


I found an example in The Last Airbender still as "Funny Aneurysm" Moment. But I'm not sure if the example would still count for just renaming it, or outright cut.

"Funny Aneurysm" Moment: In the movie, Gran Gran Kanna said "Once, a long time ago, the Spirit World kept balance over us." In The Legend of Korra, that pretty much meant the Spirits invaded the human world, spiritformed everything, and forced the remnants of humanity onto the backs of Lion Turtles. Or put another way, "Then, everything changed when the Spirit World attacked."

WhirlRX Since: Jan, 2015
#5682: Aug 7th 2022 at 5:59:05 PM

[up]Change it to Harsher in Hindsight. Gran Gran comment made it sound the Spirit World was benevolent when the actual series shows a more chaotic and Blue-and-Orange Morality.

TantaMonty Since: Aug, 2017
#5683: Aug 7th 2022 at 6:03:05 PM

[up] x 3: That's definitely a stretch.

[up]x 4: I still think that's misuse. "Show has a Running Gag where multiple characters die in hilarious ways" isn't exactly comparable to "actor suffers a tragic death". Maybe Died During Production would be a more appropriate trope?

Edited by TantaMonty on Aug 7th 2022 at 6:03:42 AM

MatthewLMayfield from wherever he damn well pleases (Captain) Relationship Status: I wanna know what love is
#5684: Aug 7th 2022 at 6:11:06 PM

Found these on Family Guy S 4 E 4 Dont Make Me Over

  • Harsher in Hindsight: At one point in the episode, Stewie accepts a bet to run naked through the mall yelling, "Help! I’ve escaped from Kevin Spacey's basement!" It's a little awkward now after Spacey was accused by multiple men of unwanted sexual advances, with the first accuser, Anthony Rapp, claiming to have been only 14 years old at the time. What's worse is that the original line was going to be Stewie screaming that he escaped Roman Polański's basement, and, much like Kevin Spacey, Polanski's career was also ruined by a sex scandal involving a minor.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight:
    • That Jimmy Fallon episode that aired on Family Guy? About six years later (in 2011), it became a reality, only (a) the musical guest was Michael Bublé, not Seth MacFarlane (in fact, Seth didn't host an episode until the fall of 2012 [seven years after this episode aired], so that's a double whammy for Hilarious in Hindsight), (b) Jimmy Fallon didn't have sex with someone in the cold opening, (c) Jimmy Fallon didn't crack up in any sketch for his episode (and Fallon even recognized the error of his ways), (d) the real Jimmy Fallon episode was a Christmas Episode, and (e) the end joke with Brian doesn't make much sense now since Showtime at the Apollo doesn't air after SNL at 1:00 a.m. anymore on NBC affiliates (it's either infomercials or a magazine show about city nightlife and restaurants).
    • For some people, the Kevin Spacey sexual abuse scandal that happened in 2017 makes the scene of Stewie running naked through the mall and screaming that he escaped from Spacey's basement funnier now than it was back in 2005.

The Kevin Spacey one is fine since I do recall the scene being referenced to when all that went down (although I don't think it can be both Harsher or Hilarious; either one or the other). But the main one I wonder about is the Jimmy Fallon one, which just goes all over the place. It just rambles on and I can't really follow it

WhirlRX Since: Jan, 2015
#5685: Aug 7th 2022 at 6:20:39 PM

[up]The harsh one might not fit if they were referencing what happening at that moment with Spacey.

TantaMonty Since: Aug, 2017
#5686: Aug 7th 2022 at 6:27:01 PM

The example about Jimmy Fallon is next to impossible to understand, but I think it basically amounts to "What happened in this episode became a reality, except it really didn't". The last sentence also suggests the joke somehow became less funny as time went on. Burn it.

Edited by TantaMonty on Aug 7th 2022 at 6:27:19 AM

fanman "To watch it all burn." from Earth-Prime/Earth-1218 Since: Feb, 2022 Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
"To watch it all burn."
#5687: Aug 7th 2022 at 10:34:49 PM

I found this on the YMMV page for Avengers: Endgame:

  • Rocket's near drowning experience along with Banner and Rhodes, when his model Oreo died shortly before this movie opened.

This doesn't work right? Raccoons, like humans are going to die someday, and according to Google, Oreo died from a sickness instead of drowning.

There was also this on the YMMV page for Super Mario Odyssey:

  • Harsher in Hindsight: The Zombie Mario costume was added not long before the death of Mario Segale, Mario's real-life namesake. It's also more harsh considering Mario Segale passed away on Odyssey's 1 year anniversary (October 27th 2018).

This doesn't work for the same reason above, right?

ElBuenCuate Since: Oct, 2010
#5688: Aug 7th 2022 at 10:37:45 PM

[up] Indeed. Both of those situations are shoehorning. They only mention two people (yes, I'm counting the raccoon as people), who were kind of related to the production dying, with nothing else connecting it.

Nen_desharu Nintendo Fanatic Extraordinaire from Greater Smash Bros. Universe or Toronto Since: Aug, 2020 Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Nintendo Fanatic Extraordinaire
#5689: Aug 8th 2022 at 6:56:59 AM

In real life, everyone will die sooner or later, and that includes me, you, and everyone here.

The circumstances of death are more important than simply dying for inclusion in the Hindsight tropes.

Kirby is awesome.
MasterHero Since: Aug, 2014
#5690: Aug 8th 2022 at 2:54:15 PM

The YMMV page of Blame has Hilarious in Hindsight with the following argument:

"This film becomes very comical if you remember that The Movie of The Irregular At Magic High School, released a couple of months after Blame!, has an MC very similar to Killy in a love triangle with Sana-kan and Cibo, especially considering the contrast between the actions of Saori Hayami in both films."

I have no idea what this entry is trying to say. Aside from making a shallow connection between two different movies that only share voice actresses, this makes no sense.

badtothebaritone (Life not ruined yet) Relationship Status: Snooping as usual
#5691: Aug 8th 2022 at 4:02:01 PM

[up][up] Exactly. For example, if someone in a movie dies, then their actor dies in a different way, then it's not HIH; if someone in a movie is killed in a drive-by, and then the actor is killed in a drive-by a couple of years later, then it counts.

supernintendo128 Semi-retired editor from My desk Since: Feb, 2013 Relationship Status: Is that a kind of food?
Semi-retired editor
#5692: Aug 8th 2022 at 4:38:20 PM

Re: ElBuenCuate It was because the arsonist thought Kyoto was plagiarizing his own writing. So yeah, will cut.

pee pee poo poo
mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#5693: Aug 9th 2022 at 9:09:31 AM

Re: the Family Guy Kevin Spacey line: from what I've heard, Spacey's behavior was an open secret within the industry, and was thus likely an insider reference, but the public didn't really know until Rapp came out with info, so I'd think it counts. Similar to Drawn Together joking about Cosby being a predator before the allegations became public knowledge.

I would discount the Mario Odyssey example, but the guy dying on the game's anniversary date is eerie, so now I'm on the fence.

Also I don't think the video game studio joke from before is a shoehorn due to the "unwanted change" bit, but because it's a different kind of studio (video games not anime) that was burnt down — though it's an uncommon enough event that I could see it going either way.

Edited by mightymewtron on Aug 9th 2022 at 12:09:52 PM

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
dsneybuf (Not-So-Newbie)
#5694: Aug 10th 2022 at 8:22:23 AM

Could someone please add something like this to the Common NOT in Hindsight Examples folder?

  • Comparisons or connections to something predating the work's existence. If anywhere, it would belong on the YMMV page for the older thing.

Edited by dsneybuf on Aug 10th 2022 at 10:22:58 AM

RallyBot2 (Elder Troper) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
#5695: Aug 10th 2022 at 8:31:53 AM

[up][tup] to that suggestion, preferably in bold. It would save us a lot of trouble.

Regarding actor mortality (as always, "actor" includes other celebrities,) the usual "old person dies from being old" deaths (heart disease, stroke, died in their sleep with no specific cause of death given) should probably be excluded unless there's some other similarity, as should those where the public already knew how the actor would probably die (e.g. "Stephen Hawking talks about ALS, then he died from ALS.")

Nen_desharu Nintendo Fanatic Extraordinaire from Greater Smash Bros. Universe or Toronto Since: Aug, 2020 Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Nintendo Fanatic Extraordinaire
#5696: Aug 10th 2022 at 9:45:49 AM

[up] and [up][up]I strongly agree.

It's not hindsight if a later work references an older work. It should belong on the YMMV page of the older work instead. But again, the later work could be referencing the older work and that would be a Shout-Out rather than Hindsight.

As I said earlier, the circumstances of death (such as the cause and timing of death) are much more important than simply dying because in real life, everyone, sooner or later, will die. Regarding causes, they have to be the same or very similar. Regarding timing, it has to be less than one year after making the reference or the reference has to be an exact (not approximate) prediction that turns out correct.

Kirby is awesome.
UFOYeah Since: Mar, 2022
#5697: Aug 10th 2022 at 2:51:53 PM

About the Family Guy Kevin Spacey example: While it counts, it's listed under both "Harsher" and "Hilarious" (the latter starts with "For some people, it's funnier"). What should we do with Hindsight examples like this (where they're listed under both Hindsight tropes, with the applicable trope depending on the individual viewer's tastes)?

mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#5698: Aug 10th 2022 at 4:33:11 PM

I think in this case, it's Harsher cuz the real-life situation is, well, harsh. It just makes the Black Comedy more black.

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
MatthewLMayfield from wherever he damn well pleases (Captain) Relationship Status: I wanna know what love is
AlleyOop Since: Oct, 2010
#5700: Aug 14th 2022 at 4:37:22 AM

Found this on SOMA:

  • Harsher in Hindsight: The player is forced to make sadistic choices to progress the story but the Amy Azzaro encounter stands out half a decade later: She's in the power room of the Upsilon B shuttle station. The WAU appears to have created artificial lungs for her to survive, and the player as Simon needs to unplug at least one of the cables keeping her alive. Unplugging both results in a Mercy Kill and a false sense of security since Simon's shuttle will still crash anyway. This scene can be uncomfortable (even for a Survival Horror game) after the COVID-19 Pandemic, making it virtually impossible not to think about the patients put on ventilators to survive.

Iron lungs have existed for decades before COVID.


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