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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

Riolugirl Just "Rio" is fine! from Planet Sparkles (spaaaarklleeees...) (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: It's a god-awful small affair
Just "Rio" is fine!
#8001: Dec 7th 2024 at 12:24:33 AM

[up] That last one reeks of Fan Myopia. Cut.

EDIT: Pagetopper. This post is about the last in a sequence of questionable Harsher in Hindsight entries on YMMV.Metalocalypse.

Edited by Riolugirl on Dec 7th 2024 at 10:47:52 AM

"Hark! For your greatest fears manifest in yours truly!" (She/Her) (Current focus: Image Pickin')
DoktorvonEurotrash Lex et Veritas from Not a place of honour (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#8002: Dec 7th 2024 at 5:24:03 AM

[up][up]Agree with all your statements on the Metalocalypse entry.

Edited by DoktorvonEurotrash on Dec 7th 2024 at 5:24:20 AM

TantaMonty Since: Aug, 2017
#8003: Dec 7th 2024 at 5:36:27 AM

This was recently added to Courage the Cowardly Dog:

  • Harsher in Hindsight: "Angry Nasty People" can be interpreted as a disturbing prediction of the way social media has been used to facilitate targeted harassment or public humiliation as a sick form of entertainment.

For context, "Angry Nasty People" is a reality show within the show, centered around the dysfunctional life of the three main characters (mainly the protagonist being abused by the local jerkass). I feel this example is way too general. Also, while this episode originally aired in 2002, exploitative shows are as old as television itself. Cut?

mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#8004: Dec 9th 2024 at 9:57:13 AM

Cut, at best it's Values Resonance and even then, it's more likely to be a straight satire of exploitative reality shows. It's just that younger viewers probably don't know how popular they used to be.

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
DoktorvonEurotrash Lex et Veritas from Not a place of honour (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#8005: Dec 9th 2024 at 10:46:48 AM

[up]Agreed.

Any input on these entries from the Flintstones movie?

In my opinion, the first entry (the Dictabird one) may be worth discussing. The Catwoman connection ones are really weak actor garbage, and the last one is just "actor acknowledges the movie," which isn't Hindsight in any shape or form.

Edited by DoktorvonEurotrash on Dec 10th 2024 at 4:48:26 AM

deerhornsaresopretty Since: Jun, 2023
#8006: Dec 9th 2024 at 1:02:39 PM

YMMV.Sabrina The Teenage Witch 1996

  • Hilarious in Hindsight:
    • In "Troll Bride", the Spellmans' lawyer gets too hot and takes off his pants. According to Zelda he has "great legs". Guess who played the lawyer? <———keep (it's Bryan Cranston)
    • The idea of a pumpkin flavored coffee is Played for Laughs in "The Phantom Menace"...a mere four years before Starbucks introduced the pumpkin spice latte. <———keep
    • In "Sabrina and the Beanstalk", Salem laments that he needs to stop "melting cheese and drinking it as a beverage." In Dreamfall Chapters, an early quest requires you to bring Cheese Soup to your boyfriend. <———this video game is completely unrelated
    • When Zelda uses magic, the magic produced is pink. While whenever Hilda uses magic it produces smoke, one episode where their magic is stolen shows that it's green. Zelda is the responsible one. Hilda is the more easy-going and "fun" one. A few years later, a responsible magic user's represented by pink, and the easy-going one with green. <———an extreme reach
    • In season three, to stop Valerie from becoming a cheerleader, Sabrina tells her that no cheerleader ever went on to become president. Two years later, George W. Bush was elected - and he had been a cheerleader. <———keep
    • Also Valerie's desire to join the cheerleading squad becomes absolutely hilarious - bordering on Casting Gag - if one watches Bring It On where Valerie's actress Lindsay Sloane plays head cheerleader and Alpha Bitch Big Red. "The Pom Pom Incident" has Sabrina hypnotising Valerie into thinking she'll become an Alpha Bitch if she joins the squad. <———actor trivia
    • Hallie Todd's episode as Cousin Marigold ends with her attempting to bond with her new boyfriend's kids. Hallie Todd guest starred in an episode of Two of a Kind where she tried to do the same thing - and failed miserably. <———actor trivia
    • In Season 2's "Quiz Show", Sabrina says to the Head Quizmaster "you must have been confusing me with my evil twin". One season later it's revealed Sabrina does have an Evil Twin. <———this was foresight by the writers
    • "Oh, don't you remember two years ago when you "loved" orange? It was the new black or something. <———extreme reach
    • In Season 4 Zelda finds a genie's bottle and conjures up an outfit clearly inspired by I Dream of Jeannie. Two seasons later Barbara Eden herself guest stars as Zelda's Aunt Irma. <———actor trivia
    • According to Melissa Joan Hart, ABC didn't have any faith in the show early on and were constantly pushing Clueless to be the popular program on the network. Clueless actress Elisa Donovan later joined Sabrina as Morgan, but only after it had moved networks to UPN. <———actor trivia
    • In Season 3, Sabrina panics when Harvey decides he won't go to college and instead go for a steady job as a mechanic. Melissa Joan Hart dropped out of college specifically to work on Sabrina. <———keep
    • Tara Strong's voice role as Molly Dolly is very amusing when compared with her other role as Gwen in the TV movies. As Molly Dolly, she's powerful enough to seal the Spellman house and match Sabrina's magic. As Gwen, she's so incompetent she showers people with water when she tries to freeze time. <———actor trivia
    • Speaking of Molly Dolly, in the episode Sabrina sarcastically calls her "the next Teddy Ruxpin." A decade later Doug Walker starts portraying a Teddy Ruxpin doll very much like Molly Dolly here. <———actor trivia
    • Jenna Leigh Green playing the rival to a witch is quite amusing when one discovers that after she left Sabrina, she played the role of Nessarose in Wicked. For those unfamiliar with Wicked, that is The Wicked Witch of the East. <———actor trivia
    • The early rivalry between Sabrina and Roxie is lampshaded by Melissa Joan Hart in her autobiography - where she claims she and Soleil Moon Frye met when they auditioned for Punky Brewster and Melissa bragged in the elevator that she probably got it. <———actor trivia
    • Melissa also lampshaded the similarities between herself and Sarah Michelle Gellar - since Buffy the Vampire Slayer started airing only six months after Sabrina. Both featured teenage girls as the protagonists with magic powers, both lasted for seven seasons and both moved networks in their fifth (both to the UPN too). Robin Ricker played Cousin Marigold on Sabrina and then Amy's mother on Buffy in the same year. <———actor trivia
    • "Sabrina and the Beast" has a gag where Zelda snaps at Hilda and says "if you break another promise, I'll kill you". Fast forward to Chilling Adventures of Sabrina where Zelda apparently regularly kills Hilda and buries her in the garden. <———actor trivia
    • Sabrina's fake ID in "Sabrina and the Pirates" doesn't get her into the nightclub because it's of "a cross-eyed redhead". Sabrina becomes a redhead in Season 5. <———unsure
    • "The Band Episode" has a small gag where an egotistical Valerie writes a song called "My Valerie". In 2006 The Zutons released a song called "Valerie" (although it was about a girl recovering from a DUI as opposed to worshipping her beauty). There was also a song called "Valerie" by Steve Winwood, which would be more along the lines of what Valerie would like to sing. <———completely unrelated
    • Sabrina's aunts are called Hilda and Zelda; years later, in The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, we meet a version of Zelda from a Mirror Universe called Hilda. <———an extreme reach and the game is completely unrelated
    • Hilda as the ditzy slacker is amusing to fans of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody - where Caroline Rhea plays the tyrannical hotel inspector Ilsa. And her debut episode involves getting in trouble with cats! <———actor trivia
    • "Salem the Boy" has Salem being put into Gordie's essence, while the cat is left as a normal house pet. Oddly prophetic of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina where Salem becomes a Decomposite Character. His status as the snarky helper of the Spellman household goes to a human called Ambrose, while he remains as Sabrina's familiar but as a speechless cat. <———reach
    • "Sabrina's Real World" contains quite a lot of incidents that become amusing when thinking about Chilling Adventures of Sabrina:
      • When pitching his reality show, the network executive axes Salem as a cast member, foreshadowing Salem's reduced role in Chilling. <———reach
      • Zelda has to wear a grim reaper outfit as part of a service she's ordered to do. She tries to cover up to Hilda's mortal date by saying it's "religious garb". In Chilling, the Spellmans are members of the Church of Night, with Zelda being the most devout to her faith. <———reach
      • The network has to force Sabrina's show to be more exciting. Chilling is a Darker and Edgier horror-themed series featuring Sabrina battling demons. <———reach
      • Sabrina has to be pushed outside to fight a dinosaur threatening the school. Chillings Sabrina would need very little persuasion to start that fight. <———reach'
    • One episode has the aunts conjuring up Frankie Avalon to trap Sabrina and friends in a recreation of the 60s Beach Party movies. Beth Broderick would also star in Psycho Beach Party, which is another parody of the genre. <———actor trivia
    • Archie Comics' reaction to Hart's sexy spread in Maxim (they tried to sue her) becomes this after Riverdale and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. At the time, they were very protective of their brand and didn't want the sitcom, or Hart, to do anything to taint the wholesomeness of their IPs. Their views changed after the death of Richard Goldwater, son of Archie creator John Goldwater, thus paving the way for the more mature, and often crude, shows. <———reach

Edited by deerhornsaresopretty on Dec 9th 2024 at 1:02:53 AM

dcutter2 Since: Sep, 2013
#8007: Dec 9th 2024 at 1:15:28 PM

If you want to keep the first one it needs context that is not just an image link. No idea about the rest.

mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#8008: Dec 9th 2024 at 9:26:31 PM

I don't see how some of these are "reaches," like the ones about the reality show cutting Salem out when he was indeed reduced severely in the adaptation sounds like a connection I can definitely see fans making. Same with the "I'll kill you" one with Zelda — it's not "actor trivia" so much as it's connecting to a later adaptation. Also sometimes same-series connections aren't planned in advance, especially for sitcoms, so maybe the "evil twin" one could still be valid.

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
deerhornsaresopretty Since: Jun, 2023
#8009: Dec 10th 2024 at 8:09:23 AM

^ Fair point. I should keep those, then. What about the others?

randomtroper89 from The Fire Nation Since: Nov, 2010
#8010: Dec 10th 2024 at 1:53:25 PM

Some of these examples from Batman: The Animated Series E46 "Almost Got 'Im" seem like they were made by the crowd who laughs at the phone book

  • Hilarious in Hindsight:
    • At the conclusion of Poison Ivy's story, Joker mockingly dismisses her attempt to defeat Batman using exploding pumpkins. Mark Hamill would later go on to voice the Hobgoblin in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, whose supervillain gimmick involves throwing exploding pumpkin bombs.
    • Croc's "almost got 'im" story sounds absurd here, but in the later episode "Sideshow" Croc really did "almost get" Batman this way. Had he not been injured and delirious, he likely would have killed the hero with nothing more than a rock. Then there's his comment in "Trial", where he suggests killing Batman by throwing a rock at him.
    • In Ivy's story, she was barefoot. Nowadays, it's normal to see Poison Ivy going around barefoot in the comics and many adaptations since.
    • Two-Face's theory is that Gordon has a team of Batmen. In The Dark Knight, there's a team of Batman wannabes, and some are policemen, and Two-Face is the villain in the climax.
    • This was the first episode which had both Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn in it, though they didn't share any scenes together. Nobody but nobody could've foreseen the significance of teaming them together later on would become.
      • Also, this was the only episode that included Catwoman along with Ivy and Quinn. The three would be featured teaming up in a web-animation series and later have their own comic together.

Edited by randomtroper89 on Dec 10th 2024 at 3:55:32 AM

deerhornsaresopretty Since: Jun, 2023
#8011: Dec 10th 2024 at 9:34:00 PM

Am I missing something? How is Ivy being barefoot funny?

Edited by deerhornsaresopretty on Dec 10th 2024 at 9:35:26 AM

costanton11 Since: Mar, 2016
#8012: Dec 10th 2024 at 9:41:06 PM

This was added to YMMV.Saw VI following the recent shooting of the health insurance CEO:

  • It's either this or Hilarious in Hindsight, depending on your political leanings: the shooting of Brian Thompson, a health insurance CEO known for having the highest rate of denied claims in the country, was widely seen as echoing the plot to this film.

This may seem like a ROCEJ issue.

Edited by costanton11 on Dec 10th 2024 at 11:44:24 AM

number9robotic (Experienced Trainee)
#8013: Dec 10th 2024 at 10:15:52 PM

[up]Yeah, zap that. The CEO character in Saw VI dies in a completely different circumstance from what happened IRL (unless Brian Thompson was involved in some bizarre Jigsaw trap brouhaha).

Thanks for playing King's Quest V!
costanton11 Since: Mar, 2016
#8015: Dec 11th 2024 at 5:51:32 AM

Someone else already cut it.

deerhornsaresopretty Since: Jun, 2023
#8016: Dec 11th 2024 at 10:14:14 AM

Can I remove the Sabrina actor trivia entries except for the ones people above said should stay?

TroperNo9001 Dragon in Waiting from the Dollhouse (Wise, aged troper) Relationship Status: I turn to stone when you are gone
Dragon in Waiting
#8017: Dec 11th 2024 at 5:43:04 PM

Are my proposed examples for Dream Productions okay?

  • Harsher in Hindsight: In Inside Out, Fear boos Riley's dream of Rainbow Unicorn dancing with cupcakes, but in Dream Productions, it's revealed that that dream was directed by Paula, who's struggling to stay relevant as Riley becomes less interested in her "sweet dreams".
  • Hilarious in Hindsight: Intercom, written shortly before Inside Out's release, predicted almost exactly how lucid dreaming works in the franchise's universe. In the final episode of Dream Productions, Paula removes the Reality Distortion Filter while Jean is filming the nightmare, which forces Riley into a lucid state. There, Riley herself manifests inside her dream (instead of inside the studio in the fanfic) and is able to see the Dream Productions crew (but not the Emotions because they're still in Headquarters). Like in the fanfic, Riley has full control over her dream and can interact with the Mind Workers before disappearing into the light when she wakes up in the real world.

Edited by TroperNo9001 on Dec 12th 2024 at 6:57:00 PM

Still waiting for someone to break him free...
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
#8018: Dec 12th 2024 at 9:50:10 PM

Bumping this again.

She/Her | Currently cleaning: N/A
MrMediaGuy2 Since: Jun, 2015
#8019: Dec 12th 2024 at 10:29:24 PM

[up][up] I feel like those should be placed on those respective work's YMMV's instead of Dream Productions'.

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!
#8021: Dec 13th 2024 at 10:07:02 AM

Yes, it's okay to remove them.

2025: the year it all ends?
deerhornsaresopretty Since: Jun, 2023
#8022: Dec 13th 2024 at 12:09:03 PM

YMMV.Clueless


  • Hilarious in Hindsight:
    • On a somewhat lighter note, Cher says at one point that she knows her Mel Gibson. Alicia Silverstone is Jewish (and so was Brittany Murphy), and Mel Gibson is, well...<—- actor trivia
    • Josh makes a crack about getting Marky Mark to "take time from his busy pants-dropping schedule to plant trees." Two years later, Mark Wahlberg became an A-list celebrity after starring in Boogie Nights where he did, indeed, drop his pants. (At the time, the line was a reference to his modeling underwear in Calvin Klein ads.)<—- not sure
    • The movie basically has Batgirl falling in love with Ant-Man 1.<—- actor trivia
    • Brittany Murphy basically plays a Lad-ette who has to be taught how to act like a Girly Girl. She'd later get typecast in Cher-like roles in the 2000s.<—- actor trivia
    • Cher also says she's named after a famous singer who "now does infomercials". In the late 90s, Cher would have a Career Resurrection with her biggest hit "Believe", and would also achieve even more acting success (although at the point the movie was made, she'd already won an Oscar for Moonstruck, so this might have been meant to sell Cher as The Ditz).<—- keep
    • Cher has Drives Like Crazy as one of her defining characteristics. This becomes hilarious if you watch Blast from the Past — in which this time Alicia Silverstone has a sequence where she's the responsible one in a car with a reckless driver. <—- actor trivia

animuacid The girl of the window from Astyr residence in Lilysthia's grounds Since: Jan, 2024 Relationship Status: I love you for psychological reasons
The girl of the window
#8023: Dec 14th 2024 at 9:27:05 AM

[up] The bullet you mark as not sure looks like actor trivia.

This example was added to Blue Archive in relation to the South Korea coup.

  • Hilarious in Hindsight: Kaya was mocked for being an very incompetent villain who lost her position as the Acting General Student Council President as quickly as she got it. Come December 3, 2024, with an coup d'etat from the Korean Prime Minister (the origin country of Blue Archive) that only lasted six hours compared to Kaya's three days, and fans are now praising her with memes and deriding the PM for being more incompetent than Kaya.

Is it too kneejerk or correct?

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!
#8024: Dec 14th 2024 at 10:03:07 AM

Far too kneejerk.

2025: the year it all ends?
WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (10,238/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (10,238/50,000)
#8025: Dec 14th 2024 at 1:49:24 PM

Short-Lived Leadership irl is nothing new, just see the real life section. Too knee-jerk and cherrypicked

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall

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