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
Big Catch, Sparkle Edition
I know the "event" is technically "over" but it still feels too early to say anything yet. Of course the events of the movie may be on one's mind if they watched it recently and are now comparing it to normal scenes in the show, but it's important to make sure these associations continue to persist even when people stop actively thinking of the movie.
Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
Any pronouns
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
I see. Thanks for the info.
These events are older. Out of four entries, I'm pretty sure the only one that counts are the anti-You Tube jokes. From LoadingReadyRun:
- Hilarious in Hindsight: Crapshots were something originally made by Alex independently of LRR, with Graham's help, and rarely involving other crew members. It died out and went on hiatus. Then it was brought back as an official LRR creation, and nowadays it's basically their primary focus in content creation besides their streams. This seems like a change in priorities.
- Back in an early episode of CommodoreHUSTLE, they made many Take Thats to YouTube, refusing to upload their videos there and everyone being various levels of displeased or disgusted by it, sans Matt. Cut to today, where all their content is put on YouTube, and in fact one of the crew's biggest regrets when starting up was they didn't start going on YouTube earlier. Needs a rewrite for clarity, but it's sound.
- The season 4 finale showed a flash forward to the future, where the crew is now elderly and gathered for the 30th anniversary. Those gathered are* Graham, Paul, James, Jer, and Matt, with Morgan mentioned and showing up in the end. Jer, Matt, and Morgan have since left (with Jer and Matt still occasionally returning) and numerous new crew members have shown up, such as Beej, Ian, Cameron, Cori, and Heather, with Kathleen and Alex going from at-the-time occasional contributors to full-on crew, rendering the supposed 30th anniversary completely inaccurate. I don't think it was meant to be accurate in the first place.
- That said, part of it has gained accuracy; since the shooting of the finale, Paul shaved his goatee, went clean-shaven for years, then finally grew it back as a full lower-face beard that more accurately matches what "older Paul" had in the season 4 finale.
- In one CH sketch, Kathleen said she'd rather have cats instead of children. Now she has both! That's the character of Kathleen, but even if it was the real life Kathleen, would it count?
Edited by VerySunshine on Aug 13th 2023 at 7:15:06 AM
He/Him
Reposting my TwoSet Violin question.
Does anyone else think this entry on YMMV.Scooby Doo And The Ghoul School looks like a giant stretch?
- Heartwarming in Hindsight: Given his ultimate fate, Scrappy's first line in the movie being to pop onscreen with a cheery, "Hey, don't forget about me!" comes off as sad. But the writer of this movie didn't forget about him! He is Glenn Leopold, the writer of Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, the last third of Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost, and Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders. All of which have real monsters, which Scrappy gave the franchise the courage to show in the first place! And Fred and Velma now have characters, a zeal for solving mysteries...Scrappy wasn't forgotten.
Big Catch, Sparkle Edition
Yeah IDK what that's saying at all. Also, is that bit sad? I never found it sad as a kid.
Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
Calendar enthusiast
She / Her
(x3) That sounds like its saying "X is Y until you realize Z", which is misuse, so I'd cut it.
I don't know Devil May Cry 5. Is this an example?
Hilarious in Hindsight (YMMV.RWBY; Volume 4 aired from late-2016 to early-2017)
- As of Volume 4, Yang Xiao Long is a hot-blodded, Demon Slaying Cyborg who lost her arm to a katana-wielding maniac, who's descendant of other highly-respected Huntsmen including her irresponsible, yet well-meaning Cool Uncle with his own laundry-list of personal issues, and an Aloof twin sibling with a Dimensional Cutter katana, who uses a twisted sense of strength as a façade to hide how truly broken she is and remained at odds with her brother because of it. Either through coincidence or maybe because Hideaki Itsuno is a simple fan, this can also be used to describe the family dynamics of Nero, Dante, and Vergil in Devil May Cry 5.
Edited by Wyldchyld on Aug 18th 2023 at 6:24:04 PM
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.
I guess it's related to the fact Monty Oum was a fan of the Devil May Cry series in which he did incorporated in RWBY.
I got a tricky proposal to ask (I asked this in ATT a bit ago but was referred here): Kanye West pages spent the last several months locked due to vandalism provoked by his political controversies starting last year, and I'm concerned on whether or not it's at all a good idea to add a Harsher in Hindsight entry regarding how awkwardly his music sounds in light of his latest blowups with antisemetic statements and mental health drama, namely because I think it covers a lot of his catalogue and I don't want to risk opening the floodgates for real-life troping.
Just as a few examples for particular context, his 2018 album ye entirely hinges around his anxieties following his then-recent diagnosis with bipolar disorder, expressing fears that he won't be able to control himself and alienate himself from his loved ones, but hoping he'll be able to lead a better example in the future — "Yikes" is about how scared he is about his tendency to misstep and provoke public drama, "Wouldn't Leave" about the state of his marriage with Kim Kardashian and thanking her for still being loyal to him amidst his drama (which is especially HIH because they did end up divorcing and Kanye hasn't handled it well at all).
That's just broad mentions of one particular album; it's well-known that he's been struggling with a perpetual mental/emotional breakdown since 808's and Heartbreak that influences a staggering amount of his work, which has become very autobiographical in nature, often reflective of audience reactions towards his reputation, and that's still the case in 2022-23 as he's going down his increasingly hateful, conspiratorial directions. There's also just some individual lines like in 2007's "Flashing Lights" with the line "I hate these [n-word] more than a [naz-word]" that are wince-inducing now in their own right.
I really don't want to indulge in real-life troping, but Kanye's music is so all about him individually as a real-life person that I'm not sure to what capacity it should be mentioned on this wiki, if at all. If it comes down to it, I'm ok with simply not writing anything down addressing the elephant in the room, but at the same time I think someone should make just a base statement regarding how uncomfortable Kanye hits post-2022 just to prevent extensive complaining and documenting every individually bad lyric again. I sorta did this with the original Overshadowed by Controversy entry where I didn't overly elaborate on specifics, but still gave context that he is a polarizing figure for various reasons in ways that overshadow his work (and even then, someone still felt the need to add more of it to document more specific antics).
Sorry for the longer-than-usual post, but this is just a really sensitive and context-specific issue that tiptoes around a lot of wiki etiquette. Any thoughts on what's okay or not okay to talk about and how to handle it?
Edited by number9robotic on Aug 18th 2023 at 1:08:41 AM
Thanks for playing King's Quest V!
Angry babby
I think as long as you stick to the objective stuff he's said and the objective fallout and make sure people don't fight over it, those sound like valid HIH entries. His music may be personal but it's still public art that we trope.
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Ah, that would make sense then.
From Club Penguin.
- At one point in the We Wish You a Merry Walrus special, Sydmull is playing a video game and Rockhopper tells him to get the banana.
As someone who's never played Deltarune, this feels like Fan Myopia.
Big Catch, Sparkle Edition
Absolutely. It's incomprehensible to me.
Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
Same here. That entry is completely ZCE at best and a non-entry at worst.
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.
No longer active.
I know what part of Deltarune it's referring to (there's a couple scenes where a major character tells the main character to grab a floating banana as a non sequitr), but being told to grab fruit is not exclusive to either of the two games. I agree with cutting it.
Be kind.
Now I know, Deltarune references Donkey Kong with the banana section! It makes as much sense.
The pessimist sees a dark tunnel, the optimist sees a light, the realist sees two lights and the engineer sees three idiots.
The Hilarious in Hindsight page for Pretty Cure is pretty bad and filled with shoehorns (most of the examples are that a minor character's name was later used for a major character, even though these names are all real Japanese names so reusing them isn't surprising or hindsight)
The examples not related to Japanese name's I'm looking for feedback on though:
- Because of the many fanmade Pretty Cure teams and heroines in the fandom, this inevitably comes into play whenever information about the next season turns out to include a Cure with a common Original Character name, such as Cure Blossom, Cure Melody, Cure Heart, Cure Diamond and Cure Mermaid.
- The franchise also has a surprising tendency to attract ballet-related examples:
- Cure Rhythm's tutu in Suite Pretty Cure ♪ was once described on a LiveJournal entry reviewing all the Pretty Cure costumes up to this point as making her look "almost like a cross between a ballerina and a princess". Three seasons later, we get a Pretty Cure who's both a ballerina and a princess.
- An early mistranslation ("volley", as in volleyball, accidentally being translated into "ballet" due to similar katakana) caused some fanon about Akane from Smile Pretty Cure! practicing ballet. Then Minami, who actually practiced ballet, came on the scene...
- Nearly two full decades after Sailor Moon tried out for a role in Giselle, Go! Princess Pretty Cure lead character Cure Flora performed a selection from the ballet for a recital.
- Cure Rhythm's tutu in Suite Pretty Cure ♪ was once described on a LiveJournal entry reviewing all the Pretty Cure costumes up to this point
- Speaking of Sailor Moon, something related to character design: in the figure skating episode, look very closely in the crowd during the first shot of the hopefuls auditioning to replace Janelyn as Misha's figure skating partner. One of them, a redhead in a black and pink tunic, bears a pretty major resemblance to one of the franchise's first heroines.
These seem like Fan Myopia to me but I would like some feedback.
Insert title here
Found this on YMMV.Ant Man And The Wasp Quantumania:
- Harsher in Hindsight: Some of Kang's more villainous actions in this film (such as telekinetically torturing both Cassie and M.O.D.O.K, and viciously beating Scott bloody in their final battle) become significantly more awkward to watch on repeat viewings after Jonathan Majors was arrested for assaulting his then-girlfriend shortly after this movie's release.
Sounds like a standard "actor playing villain turns out to be a scumbag" misuse.
This might be a stretch, but here it goes:
- Dante's Night at Freddy's: Dante blames the Marionette for the misery that the souls in the animatronics experience. Come the Soul Teratology, the Marionette is not only responsible for trapping their souls and turning the vengeful animatronics, but was the one who orchestrated their deaths in the first place.
Yeah, none of the violence in question is domestic.
Edited by randomtroper89 on Aug 22nd 2023 at 3:35:20 AM
the Retromancer
- Harsher in Hindsight: Richard Rich nearly being murdered is harder to stomach with his actor, Edward Herrmann, dying of cancer in 2014.
Edited by Amonimus on Aug 22nd 2023 at 12:50:17 PM
TroperWall / WikiMagic Cleanup
Blatant misuse. Cut.
the Retromancer
- Hilarious in Hindsight: Juni at one point is controlling a giant yellow robot.
Edited by sudrictoon on Aug 13th 2023 at 6:23:07 AM
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