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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

mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#6751: Jun 22nd 2023 at 11:10:45 PM

Actually wait I misread the example. I forgot the framing device of the movie involved the submersible, I thought it was comparing the actual ship with the submersible.

In that case I think the example can be re-added, as watching people go underwater to investigate the Titanic will likely never be seen comfortably again, but maybe give it some time as the Titan case is still developing.

[down] While I still think we need more time, I don't think it's implausible that "submersible goes down to the Titanic wreckage" is gonna be seen in the same light until another submersible succeeds without incident.

Edited by mightymewtron on Jun 23rd 2023 at 2:59:54 PM

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
bowserbros No longer active. from Elsewhere Since: May, 2014
No longer active.
#6752: Jun 22nd 2023 at 11:29:54 PM

[up]Seeing as how the Titan submersible was a tourist venture, whereas the film had the MIR try to recover a lost necklace, I'm under the impression it might be better to follow the suggestion of giving some time for newer developments to emerge before deciding whether or not to re-add it.

Be kind.
OlfinBedwere Since: Oct, 2010
#6753: Jun 23rd 2023 at 12:48:15 AM

One of the minor characters has this line during a dive scene early on in the film (emphasis mine):

"Two and a half miles down. Three-thousand, eight hundred and twenty-one meters. The pressure outside is three-and-a-half tons per square inch. These windows are nine inches thick, and if they go, it's sayonara in two micro-seconds."

Early indications are that was precisely what happened in this incident — some kind of a failure in the submersible's hull that caused it to implode with such rapidity that the crew would have been dead before they even realised there was an issue.

I agree that the deleted example was probably a bit too vague, but I think there's enough of a case to add a new example citing that particular line, once they've established the cause of the submersible's destruction a little more firmly (albeit the depth at which the accident happened probably means there's not a whole lot more they can do on top of what they already have done).

dsneybuf (Not-So-Newbie)
#6754: Jun 23rd 2023 at 6:17:44 AM

NVM

Edited by dsneybuf on Jun 25th 2023 at 9:28:35 AM

fragglelover Since: Jun, 2012
#6755: Jun 27th 2023 at 1:06:51 PM

This is on Arthur S 3 E 8 Popular Girls Busters Growing Grudge:

Hilarious in Hindsight: The Imagine Spot of Buster carrying his petty grudge against Binky all the way through being elected president becomes this when Donald Trump also began spending most of his speaking appearances, particularly after being voted out of office, airing his grievances against his political opponents and the lie that the 2020 election was rigged against him (much like how Buster insists that if he had told the joke, Ratburn would've passed him).

UFOYeah Since: Mar, 2022
#6756: Jun 27th 2023 at 1:26:24 PM

[up]Yeah, that's a Trump shoehorn.

AnoBakaDesu Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: What is this thing you call love?
#6757: Jun 27th 2023 at 4:20:35 PM

The following has been modified in YMMV.Project Wingman:

  • Harsher in Hindsight: Mission 14 "Open Season" features a massive wildfire covering the ground, with the Federation deliberately fanning the flames to cover their retreat. 2020 (the year the game released) was a particularly nasty year for wildfires on the United States West Coast, close to where Cascadia would be in real life, with some cities like San Fransisco and Portland plagued with orange, smoky skies like the ones in the game. As a result, players on the West Coast basically watched their own recent history eerily repeat itself. Then it happens again in 2023 where Canada's been struck by a massive wildfire in nearly all of its provinces and territories while the smoke had arrived in New York City, severely impacting the air quality to the point that it's difficult to breathe in addition to covering the entire city in a thick orange haze.

Are we seriously going to list every wildfire event while we're at it because "haha, funny orange PW meme"? The cause of the wildfire in the game totally has nothing to do with the 2020 wildfires and these past days' wildfires in Canada.

Edited by AnoBakaDesu on Jun 27th 2023 at 7:35:33 AM

"They played us like a DAMN FIDDLE!" — Kazuhira Miller, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
costanton11 Since: Mar, 2016
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
#6759: Jun 27th 2023 at 6:57:57 PM

Agreed that it seems like a stretch.

Works That Require Cleanup of Complaining | Troper Wall
Synchronicity (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#6760: Jun 29th 2023 at 9:19:34 AM

This entry from Recap.Black Mirror Joan Is Awful was originally on Does This Remind You of Anything?, but was pulled for not being an example (the episode — about CG likenesses of actors being used in AI programming And That's Terrible — was written filmed way before this year's strikes). It's now on both Trivia.Black Mirror Joan Is Awful under Reality Subtext and YMMV.Black Mirror Joan Is Awful under Harsher in Hindsight. Is it actually an example of either?

The episode premiered in the middle of a long-standing strike by the Writer’s Guild, which protests unfair wages given to writers in the era of AI-generated content, and on the cusp of a potential strike by the Screen Actors Guild, who are concerned about being pressured into signing over rights to their physical likenesses and voices in perpetuity. Talk about timing.

WhirlRX Since: Jan, 2015
#6761: Jun 29th 2023 at 5:16:51 PM

Would this count as Harsher/Hilarious.

In It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia S07E03 "Frank Reynolds' Little Beauties", Frank wants to make sure he isn't seen as a child molester after buying a child beauty pageant by wanting a song about how he doesn't "diddle kids". The others criticized Frank how wanting a song about not diddling kids are going to make other's think he does do it. After being accused of grooming young fans, Colleen Ballinger deny the allegations by posting a video singing about how she didn't groom any fans. There are those who have link the similarities.

Edited by WhirlRX on Jun 29th 2023 at 8:17:25 AM

BocchiTheRock Since: Feb, 2023
#6762: Jun 29th 2023 at 5:18:26 PM

[up][up] I wouldn't say so since the debate over bringing actors back from the dead digitally was already talked about and controversial for many years prior (mando luke, tarkin, even going back to Fred Astaire and the Dirt Devil)

Edited by BocchiTheRock on Jun 29th 2023 at 8:18:47 AM

Amonimus the "Retromancer" from <<|Wiki Talk|>> (Sergeant) Relationship Status: In another castle
the "Retromancer"
#6763: Jun 30th 2023 at 3:58:05 AM

YMMV.Devil Survivor

"The game's premise is that Tokyo is in lockdown following the arrival of demons throughout the city. Following 2020 and the outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic, this has felt very real for not just citizens of Tokyo, but the entire world."

Aside having a word "lockdown/outbreak" I see nothing in common.

Edited by Amonimus on Jun 30th 2023 at 1:58:28 PM

TroperWall / WikiMagic Cleanup
WhirlRX Since: Jan, 2015
#6764: Jun 30th 2023 at 5:20:38 AM

[up]If it was more a disease that turn people into demons i can understand, otherwise its a cut.

AnoBakaDesu Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: What is this thing you call love?
#6765: Jun 30th 2023 at 5:22:28 AM

[up][up] Completely different reasons for the lockdown. Cut.

"They played us like a DAMN FIDDLE!" — Kazuhira Miller, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Amonimus the "Retromancer" from <<|Wiki Talk|>> (Sergeant) Relationship Status: In another castle
Ayumi-chan 3rd happiest man in Connecticut from Iacon City (Experienced Trainee) Relationship Status: I like big bots and I can not lie
3rd happiest man in Connecticut
#6767: Jun 30th 2023 at 7:44:37 AM

Reposting these.

Found these hindsight examples

From YMMV.The Legend Of Heroes Trails Into Reverie

From YMMV.Dramatical Murder (originally posted here)

She/Her | Currently cleaning: N/A
randomtroper89 from The Fire Nation Since: Nov, 2010
#6768: Jun 30th 2023 at 12:02:34 PM

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

  • Harsher in Hindsight: Mary Elizabeth trying to hook up with Charlie becomes this after we find out what happened to him as a kid, considering the power imbalance between the two (as Mary Elizabeth is presumably 18 and a senior, and Charlie is 15, and a freshman).
  • Hilarious in Hindsight:
    • After working with Emma Watson in this film, Ezra Miller entered the Harry Potter 'verse in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. What's more is that Emma Watson and Logan Lerman would star together again in Noah - as adopted siblings. And Emma uses a Fake American accent in this, while Logan uses a Fake Brit voice in Noah (and this time Emma gets to keep her own accent).
    • Patrick celebrates getting a C- to pass shop class. And Sam applauds him for doing this. Harry Potter fans will love the sight of Hermione Granger applauding an average grade.
    • Two of the 2000s most famous female companions to male heroes, Hermione and Katara, team up to help Charlie.

Yeah, only the first one under Hilarious sounds like actual hindsight.

Edited by randomtroper89 on Jul 2nd 2023 at 8:10:53 AM

Synchronicity (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#6769: Jun 30th 2023 at 1:04:40 PM

I don't think even that counts. Accent work is part of acting!

OmegaPC777 He do be excited, bro. (He/him) from Maplewood, MN Since: Apr, 2021 Relationship Status: They're my lobster
He do be excited, bro. (He/him)
#6770: Jun 30th 2023 at 3:55:15 PM

From YMMV.Kung Fu Wa:

This entry just seems to be dependent on Fan Myopia (especially because some people won't know what Atomic Puppet is). Is it safe for this one to get removed?

An excited Wally Walrus for everyone! (Check out my troper wall if you can!)
dsneybuf (Not-So-Newbie)
#6771: Jun 30th 2023 at 10:23:24 PM

If it begins with "This isn't the first time..." just either delete it right away or move it to Older Than They Think, because the "Hindsight" part doesn't apply.

OmegaPC777 He do be excited, bro. (He/him) from Maplewood, MN Since: Apr, 2021 Relationship Status: They're my lobster
He do be excited, bro. (He/him)
#6772: Jul 1st 2023 at 6:36:08 AM

[up] Okay, I've chosen to delete the entry for the reasons that you and I have stated.

An excited Wally Walrus for everyone! (Check out my troper wall if you can!)
Ayumi-chan 3rd happiest man in Connecticut from Iacon City (Experienced Trainee) Relationship Status: I like big bots and I can not lie
3rd happiest man in Connecticut
#6773: Jul 1st 2023 at 7:04:11 AM

Bumping [up] (x6) as well as adding this newly added entry, which is also Fan Myopia

Edited by Ayumi-chan on Jul 1st 2023 at 10:06:05 PM

She/Her | Currently cleaning: N/A
fragglelover Since: Jun, 2012
#6774: Jul 1st 2023 at 12:08:36 PM

This was recently added to Minions: The Rise of Gru:

  • Harsher in Hindsight: The movie ends with Wild Knuckles faking his own death. Almost a year after the film's release, his voice actor, Alan Arkin, would pass away.

MrMediaGuy2 Since: Jun, 2015
#6775: Jul 1st 2023 at 12:10:44 PM

[up] Typical actor mortality. Cut.


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