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
The Karen thing seems like a massive stretch.
Yeah, I don't think the Karen thing counts as Hindsight nor Unintentional Period Piece
In response to maxwellsilver's Volcano entry, I agree with the 'too abstract' issue, along with it being an obvious Black Lives Matter shoehorn.
- Hilarious in Hindsight: Zinnia once started a video on trans issues by saying "I'm not transgender"... and then proceeded to come out publicly as trans in another video 6 days later.
Yeah I pretty sure this doesn't count as it is the creator's personal life. The same reason my Madame Macabre example was cut.
Angry babby
The "I'm not transgender" part is apparently from a video, so I don't think it's entirely a "personal life" thing. It's definitely amusing in hindsight. What page is this on, BTW?
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Angry babby
The Amanda Show has an example that "the entire show" is Harsher in Hindsight because of Brian Peck molesting Drake Bell on set. Since it doesn't point to anything specifically evoking child sexual abuse in the show, I think this better suits Overshadowed by Controversy, though we may need to wait six months as the public knowledge surrounding the details of this case is fairly new, though the case itself is now.
It also lists Penelope Taynt's name as Harsher because the same documentary revealed it was a sexual innuendo. I don't think this is inherently Harsher because people have always theorized that, and a dirty joke in a kids' show isn't inherently harsh, but it could work in tandem with the abuse allegations.
Edited by mightymewtron on Apr 9th 2024 at 6:46:24 AM
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Brian Peck did play a character called pickle boy, which a lot of people have pointed out has a sexual connotation that comes off as uncomfortable now.
This is the Madame Macabre entry that was "Removed for troping of irl people"
- Hilarious in Hindsight: In My Most Recent Ghost Haunting Madame comments on the hot temperature, 95 degrees, and notes that viewers in the south would not find such a temperature very hot. In early 2021, Madame moved to the notoriously blazing Arizona.
Edited by randomtroper89 on Apr 10th 2024 at 2:37:29 PM
Angry babby
Hindsight isn't No Real Life across the board, so that's not a valid reason on its own to remove an entry. Frankly I think it looks fine.
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
From YMMV.Friday The13th, under the section for the NES game:
Seems like Fan Myopia.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
I can't even remember that line being in The Dark Knight, so that does sound like Fan Myopia.
It's referring to this scene by the way.
Doesn't seem to fit the bill for this trope honestly. So I also agree with the others on that part.
Removed it.
Uzume's back baby!
HarsherInHindsight.Supermarioglitchy4s Super Mario 64 Bloopers has an example with Weegeepie (if you don't know, he was exposed in February as a kid diddler. I haven't caught with the situation because I've sworn from controversies related to this, plus I've gotten numb to this crap)... and it's literally an example of "creator appears in work and becomes controversial later". Context:
- Anything featuring Weegeepie became this after Weegeepie himself got outed as a creep.
Also this from the same page:
- The entirety of the Lawsuit Arc became this in early 2024 when notorious Nintendo impersonator "Aaron Peters" started attacking hundred of Nintendo related addons of Garry's Mod with false DMCA claims, a great many of which have been used by the SMG4 team.
Judging from the date when it was published, this feels like a NREP violation, though the example itself would be fine on its own if the description for the arc had some additional context.
"The name's Uzume Tennouboshi! Yeah, it's pretty badass, I know." - Uzume, Megadimension Neptunia VII
Angry babby
The Weegeepie example can be cut, and the Lawsuit one can be commented out — I'm not sure if this conflict is ongoing but like you said, it may require more context anyway.
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
RJ Savoy
YMMV.Planescape Torment has these two:
- Hilarious in Hindsight:
- Yeah, yeah, we know that "Vrischika" is Sanskrit for "scorpion"... but is there anyone who isn't going to think of Homestuck when they read that these days?
- Morte's primary role is to taunt enemies in battle by hurling insults at them. Years later, the bard spell Vicious Mockery was created that does the same idea, if doing damage instead of primarily taunting.
The first feels like Fan Myopia. The second feels like a stretch if it's not mechanically a taunt.
Stories don't tell us monsters exist; we knew that already. They show us that monsters can be trademarked and milked for years.
Anime Guy
Yeah neither is hilarious. It isn’t a Morbius situation where the name has become a wide-reaching meme, and the second seems just to be I Shall Taunt You.
Angry babby
Vriska's name is from that Sanskrit word, so it definitely doesn't count cuz it's the same root origin.
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Does Nathan Fillion comparing Castle (2009) to Moonlighting count, given both shows suffered from the same Hostility on the Set issues between the romantic leads.
Angry babby
Head of the Class under Harsher:
- The mere presence of Dan Schneider as a main character is this, given the numerous accusations of sexual misconduct and verbal abuse against Mr. Schneider beginning in 2018. That Schneider's character is a high school student makes it even harsher given that much of his alleged misconduct and abuse was apparently directed towards minors.
This just reads like "controversial person exists." The idea it's somehow worse because he was playing a high school student is kind of silly, because A) he was in his early 20's doing scenes with characters mostly around his age, so it's not like the entry's focusing on anything reminiscent of grooming, and B) he also allegedly abused adult crew members but that constantly gets glossed over. I think there may be specific moments that are Harsher in Hindsight (like his character being a rude jerkass that everyone else just tolerates) but this entry as-is isn't descriptive at all.
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Very Spooky
Yeah, easy cut there.
back lol
"Cool. Coolcoolcool."
I found this on YMMV.Twisted The Untold Story Of A Royal Vizier under Hilarious in Hindsight:
- After Wish (2023), Disney's centennial animated feature, was released, many people familiar with this show were quoting "Dream a Little Harder" given its pretty heroine gets supernatural help in overthrowing a wicked tyrant just by her wishing really hard for "something more for us than this", and the final line is actually "Just keep wishing" - even though the intended Aesop is about achieving your desires under your own power, the execution muddles the issue (i.e., said heroine is given a magic wand to serve as a fairy godmother even though logically she won't be needed). As well, the seemingly benevolent villain claims to have lost his family to brigands (while nothing contradicts this explanation in story, some fans suspect he's lying the way this show's Aladdin was).
This seems like a stretch to me and also like it seems to oddly complain about Wish when rather the message was intended or if the wand is needed has nothing to do with it being similar. That said it could just be me. Thoughts?
Edited by Bullman on Apr 19th 2024 at 9:29:43 AM
Fan-Preferred Couple cleanup thread
Mewtron
: Agreed. The examples seem coincidental at best.
dsneybuf
: I don't know if it would count either, to be honest. While not as known as Pollyanna, there are certainly other examples of associated female names from before Walt's time (The Cassandra, The Jezebel, etc.). It seems like a shoehorn for how Karen has become such a toxic name.
Edited by CanuckMcDuck1 on Apr 5th 2024 at 6:18:03 AM
I’m sorry, but you have Stage 9 Animes.