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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

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!
#5751: Aug 25th 2022 at 11:13:02 PM

The Floyd/BLM and Mignogna incidents are now a few years old. It's possible they should be removed from the "recent events" section, as both situations have settled down to the point we don't see much knee-jerk hindsight for them anymore.

2025: the year it all ends?
RandomTroper123 She / Her from I'll let you guess... (Not-So-Newbie) Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
She / Her
#5752: Aug 26th 2022 at 6:37:10 AM

[up]Seconded as I feel enough time has passed from them to no longer being considered "recent".

namra Since: Sep, 2021
#5753: Aug 26th 2022 at 8:51:59 AM

[up] I was about to say the same thing

mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#5754: Aug 26th 2022 at 2:57:16 PM

I believe Mignogna did recently lose his last appeal so that is a recent issue, but that means it's also more of a legal issue now and can probably be discussed more objectively.

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
maxwellsilver Since: Sep, 2011
#5755: Aug 26th 2022 at 4:11:50 PM

From The Simpsons S9E5 "The Cartridge Family"

maxwellsilver Since: Sep, 2011
#5756: Aug 26th 2022 at 4:39:29 PM

Escape from L.A.

  • Harsher in Hindsight:
    • The "tsunami surfing" scene's humor falls a bit flat in the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake or the 2011 tsunami that hit Japan. Tsunamis have been a thing for a long time
    • Snake shutting down the world is both this and hilarious on account of the Ontario Ice Storm in 2013. It's a double whammy since Canada was the original Escape Plan in Escape from New York, and this movie taking place in a fictional 2013. No similarity to the events of the film (it was an ice storm, not an EMP attack). And if you have to say "it's both harsher and hilarious", it's neither
    • One of the minor characters is a woman who was deported to the island simply for being Muslim. In 1996, when there really wasn't much anti-Muslim sentiment, this was intended more to show the destruction of freedom (in this case, of religion) under the President Evil's rule. Come 2001... And? Last I checked, there were no deportations simply for being Muslim after 9/11
    • Utopia, sheltered and troubled woman, is seduced to join a violent terrorist organization via cyberspace. Eerily, similar girls and women would do the same, joining the Islamic State mostly through online outreach programs between 2014 and 2015 Sounds more like a specific reference to Patty Hearst with a technology update
  • Hilarious in Hindsight:
    • Cliff Robertson, who played the President, would be better known to modern audiences as Uncle Ben, a role as far removed from this one as it gets. Not an example. Maybe Retroactive Recognition, or WTH, Casting Agency?
    • In Christopher Columbus: The Discovery, George Corraface played the title character, whose voyages led to the first lasting European contact with America, inaugurating a period of European conquest and colonization that lasted for several centuries. In Escape from L.A., Corraface played Cuervo Jones, who wants to take over America. Um, okay? Sounds more like Casting Gag if anything
    • This wouldn't be the last time Rob Zombie would be involved with a John Carpenter movie. Sounds more like Production Posse
    • Bangkok has apparently been renamed New Vegas. Sounds specific enough to be valid
    • The President's delivery of the line "You didn't finish the mission, Snake" makes him sound a lot like Colonel Campbell. He even has a similar face. Sounds specific enough
    • The remotes ("Everyone's got one") are highly reminiscent of Smartphones (though in a Zeerusty way). Not sure
    • It wouldn't be too far to compare Utopia with a fairy-tale princess, though one with a very twisted "king" for a father (one who only wants her rescued so he can have her executed, for example). Her actress, A. J. Langer, went on to become Countess of Devon after she married the son of Hugh Courtenay, 18th Earl of Devon, following his death and her husband's assumption of the title of 19th Earl of Devon. The character isn't a princess, and AJ Langer is a Countess
    • In the intro, LA is cut off from the United States by a massive earthquake turning it into an island. The TV movie 10.5, a Disaster Movie based around a giant earthquake, ends with California broken off from the mainland by the quake. Cue waves of jokes that 10.5 is a stealth prequel to Escape from LA. Maybe, if it's set or made in 2000 (when the film says the earthquake happened)

MatthewLMayfield from wherever he damn well pleases (Captain) Relationship Status: I wanna know what love is
#5757: Aug 26th 2022 at 5:17:31 PM

[up] The Cliff Robertson one could fit more under Playing Against Type maybe and Christopher Columbus: The Discovery one is one of those "Hindsight" examples of connecting works that existed before that work examples. For context, the Columbus one is from 1992 and Escape from LA is from 1996. Besides, is there really any intentional connection? I doubt that, since the former movie is pretty obscure and it was a bomb in theaters

NitroIndigo ♀ | Small ripples lead to big waves from West Midlands region, England Since: Jun, 2021 Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
♀ | Small ripples lead to big waves
#5758: Aug 27th 2022 at 2:35:01 AM

YMMV.Super Mario Sunshine has this commented-out bullet in the middle of its Hilarious in Hindsight entry, which causes the lower bullets to be misaligned:

  • The original plan for the game involved spraying goo in addition to cleaning it up, but this proved to be impossible to implement with the technology of the time. A decade later, members of the Animal Crossing team at Nintendo just happened to come up with a similar idea a decade later. It was a pure coincidence though, as they forgot this game even existed.
    Nogami: We only remembered it later on. Like, "Oh yeah, there was a water gun in Super Mario Sunshine." As Nintendo employees, that’s pretty embarrassing.

I'm not sure why this is commented-out? It's got enough context, and the connection isn't tenuous. It certainly feels more valid than the Love Live! Sunshine!! reference directly underneath it.

RandomTroper123 She / Her from I'll let you guess... (Not-So-Newbie) Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
She / Her
#5759: Aug 27th 2022 at 3:43:36 AM

[up]I agree it's funny lol. Also, I would re-organize the bullet points and uncomment-out that entry.

NitroIndigo ♀ | Small ripples lead to big waves from West Midlands region, England Since: Jun, 2021 Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
♀ | Small ripples lead to big waves
#5760: Aug 27th 2022 at 3:46:24 AM

Also, I'm wondering if the last bullet would be a better fit for Values Resonance or something:

Several of the Piantas complain about how offensive Il Piantissimo's costume is to them. While it was probably intended at the time to be a reference to blackface, it ended up prefiguring many arguments over the concept of cultural appropriation in the following decade.

Context: The Piantas are these weird triangular plant people, and Il Piantissimo is a human who dresses up as one.

Wyldchyld (Old as dirt)
#5761: Aug 27th 2022 at 4:00:28 AM

[up][up][up] I think because it's not clear exactly why they're linked and why that's funny. I don't know the work, so I don't really understand the entry and the link it's trying to make. Entries are supposed to understandable to people who don't know the work. It probably only needs tweaking.

Edited by Wyldchyld on Aug 27th 2022 at 4:00:59 AM

If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
NitroIndigo ♀ | Small ripples lead to big waves from West Midlands region, England Since: Jun, 2021 Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
♀ | Small ripples lead to big waves
#5762: Aug 27th 2022 at 4:35:35 AM

[up]Thanks. I've reworded it so Splatoon is no longer in a sinkhole.

Wyldchyld (Old as dirt)
#5763: Aug 27th 2022 at 6:34:05 AM

I just took a look. The rewrite really improves my understanding of the entry, so thanks for that. [tup]

If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
themayorofsimpleton Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him from the Island of Koridai (Captain) Relationship Status: I won't say I'm in love
Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him
#5764: Aug 27th 2022 at 6:59:29 AM

Question for the thread: are the Hindsight threads too YMMV to be taken to TRS? I was thinking of wick checking them and bringing them as a batch thread sometime (when I have more/a lot of energy and I feel like I could, collaboratively of course) but I want to gauge here first if this is even a good idea.

Is it, or no?

Works That Require Cleanup of Complaining | Troper Wall
dsneybuf (Not-So-Newbie)
#5765: Aug 27th 2022 at 12:20:25 PM

Proposed addition to the Harsher in Hindsight section of YMMV.The Mandalorian (and the YMMV page of Chapter 16)

  • Luke promises to protect Grogu with his life. After Grogu's training ends in The Book of Boba Fett, Luke doesn't return him to Din in person; instead R2-D2 transports the Child alone, in an X-Wing, to a planet where Din just happens to be. It's a miracle that the baby didn't get killed, kidnapped yet again, or lost without Luke.

Edited by dsneybuf on Aug 27th 2022 at 2:21:22 PM

ChloeJessica Since: Jun, 2020 Relationship Status: Awaiting my mail-order bride
#5766: Aug 27th 2022 at 12:31:09 PM

[up] i don't think that's Hindsight.

dsneybuf (Not-So-Newbie)
#5767: Aug 27th 2022 at 5:08:13 PM

Would it help if I removed the third sentence? I didn't know if the harshness would've come through without it.

ChloeJessica Since: Jun, 2020 Relationship Status: Awaiting my mail-order bride
#5768: Aug 27th 2022 at 5:28:41 PM

no, i just think the whole scenario is another, probably narrative trope, not any kind of Hindsight. Luke just doesn't do a great job of following through on what he says he's going to do, and Grogu made it out fine anyway.

MisterToodleoo Since: Jul, 2018 Relationship Status: Waiting for you *wink*
#5769: Aug 28th 2022 at 4:02:23 AM

I just deleted the following paragraph from the VeggieTales subpage:

This is referring to the Futurama episode "The Problem with Popplers", which originally aired on May 7, 2000. The movie in question was released on January 11, 2008.

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
#5770: Aug 28th 2022 at 9:55:48 AM

[up]It should have been the other way around.

The earlier work should have the hindsight entry, not the later work.

Kirby is awesome.
MrMediaGuy2 Since: Jun, 2015
#5771: Aug 28th 2022 at 4:10:28 PM

This was just added to The Emperor's New Groove.

  • One of Eartha Kitt's most well-known songs is "I Want To Be Evil", where she discusses wanting to throw away her purities and become a full-blown Card-Carrying Villain. Here, she plays the role of the Big Bad, Yzma, who is as over-the-top as evil can get. It also wouldn't be the last time that Kitt would fulfill this old desire of hers.

ArthurEld Since: May, 2014
#5772: Aug 28th 2022 at 4:32:27 PM

Couple things. One, she didn't write that song. Two, that song came out in the 50s.

The idea that audiences of Emperor's New Groove and My Life as a Teenage Robot might associate Kitt's characters with that song is...tenuous, at best.

mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#5773: Aug 28th 2022 at 4:34:10 PM

The Veggie Tales one feels like Fan Myopia unless eating a food that turns out to be sentient is really that uncommon.

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Psyga315 Since: Jan, 2001
#5774: Aug 28th 2022 at 4:53:38 PM

I feel like I'd ask here instead of adding it in the Space Jam: A New Legacy page.

Would this work for an entry for Harsher in Hindsight?

  • A common critique of the movie was how it comes off as an advertisement for Warner Brothers' catalogue of intellectual properties. Close to one year later, however, and the WB Discovery merger comes with it a mass of cancellations and delays that bring the good faith in those intellectual properties into question.

ArthurEld Since: May, 2014

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