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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

RoundRobin Since: Jun, 2018
#1551: Sep 26th 2020 at 2:17:21 PM

[up] Unless the Queen and the dwarves were incinerated (spoiler alert: they were not), then this is an obvious cut. Horrifying as all hell, but not hindsight stuff.

I think it deserves a mention in Trivia.Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs.

- Fly, robin, fly! - ...I'm trying!
Anddrix Since: Oct, 2014
#1552: Sep 26th 2020 at 2:37:41 PM

Found this on Utopia (US):

  • Harsher in Hindsight: The series, as well as its original source material, has a pandemic as a central threat. Development of both shows predates the Covid-19 pandemic that was in full swing by the time this series aired. Prime Video even shows a disclaimer before each episode stating that the show is not based on a real pandemic and that the subject matter may be upsetting.

mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#1553: Sep 26th 2020 at 2:59:25 PM

[up] The disclaimer means it fits Distanced from Current Events, but since it was aired during the pandemic, it isn't Hindsight.

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
fragglelover Since: Jun, 2012
#1554: Sep 26th 2020 at 6:26:08 PM

Found this on Back at the Barnyard under Hilarious in Hindsight:

  • Not really hindsight, but in the episode "Robo-Peck", the characters bring Peck back to life by turning him into a robot.

mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#1555: Sep 26th 2020 at 6:27:55 PM

Barnyard came out years after Robot Chicken. Chop away.

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#1556: Sep 26th 2020 at 6:49:29 PM

Reviewing these bits from Just Dance.

  • Harsher in Hindsight: "New Face" ends with the message "From the Just Dance Team with love ♡". Cue in backlash for Just Dance 2018. Zero context, and the little context provided here doesn't seem to be a good connection.
  • Heartwarming in Hindsight: A fan made a drawing about the coaches for Dancing Queen being congratulated and given back their gloves, before the actual routine is released in Just Dance Unlimited in August 2018. It's the fanwork that's Heartwarming not the actual work, but is otherwise legit if moved to the fanworks page.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight:
    • One song in each of the first two games in the series ("DARE" in the first game and "Pump Up the Volume" as Downloadable Content in the second) ends with the moonwalk. Can you guess which solo artist "moonwalks" over to the first licensed game despite being dead? Stretch, and also a ZCE since it doesn't specify it's the Michael Jackson game. Also his death seems irrelevant here.
    • One of the phone apps in the background of "Call Me Maybe" has a Just Dance icon. Over two years later, Just Dance Now is unveiled for Android and iOS. Seems legit.
    • The "She Wolf (Falling to Pieces)" dancer in 2014 is an ice queen with her hair in a braid that hangs over her left shoulder, reminiscent of Frozen's Queen Elsa... Whose signature song, "Let It Go", was included in the following installment of the game, complete with a dancer dressed like Elsa (and one dressed like Anna, for some reason), much like "Prince Ali" in 2014. Not sure? The visuals are similar to "Let It Go" but the outfit is kind of different.

Edited by mightymewtron on Sep 26th 2020 at 9:49:45 AM

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
SebastianGray (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#1557: Sep 27th 2020 at 12:21:04 AM

I am not quite sure how something can be both Harsher in Hindsight and Hilarious in Hindsight but I found this on YMMV.Seven Years In Tibet

  • Harsher/Hilarious in Hindsight: Depending on how to look at it, but both tropes can qualify. Jean-Jacques Annaud got banned for 15 years to even enter China for directing a movie portraying Dalai Lama at all and presenting Chinese occupation of Tibet in bad light, while all films directed by him got black-listed by default, including Enemy at the Gates. His first film after the ban was lifted? Wolf Totem, a French-Chinese co-production which created a minor scandal for being a blatant propaganda tube of Chinese government and white-washing Cultural Revolution.

Is it actually one or the other, or neither?

mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#1558: Sep 27th 2020 at 12:58:59 AM

Probably counts more as Harsher since propaganda isn't exactly Hilarious. It's more focused on meta than the content of the work either way so does it even qualify?

Edited by mightymewtron on Sep 27th 2020 at 3:59:07 PM

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
SebastianGray (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#1559: Sep 27th 2020 at 5:17:25 AM

[up]I'm unsure on that as well, which is why I asked if it could be neither.

WoodKnapp94 Since: May, 2020
#1560: Sep 27th 2020 at 12:56:15 PM

I posted this a couple pages ago but I never got a response:

YMMV.Laverne And Shirley

  • "Funny Aneurysm" Moment: In "Laverne and Shirley Move In", Shirley is expected to move to California to be with her mother. At Shirley's going away party, the devastated Lenny and Squiggy say goodbye to her. They then say goodbye to Laverne, leading to an exchange that had new meaning after the last, Shirley-less season.
    Laverne: I ain't goin' nowheres.
    Squiggy: Yeah, I know. But without her, what good are you?

(This feels like stealth complaining; the page also has a Seasonal Rot entry that is also about the last season.)

mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#1561: Sep 27th 2020 at 1:45:15 PM

[up]If given more context, it might be less about Seasonal Rot and more about the in-universe sadness about a character leaving. Haven't seen the show so I'm not sure.

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
maxwellsilver Since: Sep, 2011
#1562: Sep 28th 2020 at 1:03:38 AM

From GoodFellas

    Goodfellas 
  • Harsher in Hindsight: During the parts focusing on Henry's childhood, it's easy to think that Henry was destined to be a troublemaker when he was young. However, in real life, Henry suffered from a number of learning disabilities that had remained undiagnosed at the time. Since his teachers had no concept of conditions such as Dyslexia in the 1950s, they just assumed Henry wasn't interested in school and labelled him a failure. In fact, Henry himself stated that he never learned the alphabet until he was 20. Henry's inability to fit in at school was one of the primary factors leading him into joining the mob.Trivia, not hindsight
  • Hilarious in Hindsight: And to think, this won't be the last time Ray Liotta gets involved with a mob...Actor garbage, incorrect indentation
    • Henry Hill, a short form of which is Hank Hill.Names The Same, but not really (I added this one)
    • When Paulie is being arrested, one of his guys yells, "Why don't you go to Wall Street, get some real criminals. Cut to 20 years later and Scorsese makes The Wolf of Wall Street, the Spiritual Successor to both this movie and Casino and is pretty up front about how Wall Street brokers are just as corrupt as gangsters.Isn't The Wolf of Wall Street a Spiritual Successor to, y'know, Wall Street? In fact, that even feels more like a shout out to Wall Street
    • Michael Imperioli, best known as Christopher from The Sopranos, has one of his first roles as the waiter who runs afoul of Tommy. Plus, Lorraine Bracco. Plus plus, Tony "Paulie Walnuts" Sirico as one of Paulie Cicero's henchmen in the 1955 scenes. Plus plus plus, Tony "Larry Boy Barese" Darrow as the hangout owner who complains to Paulie about Tommy.Retroactive Recognition
    • Henry's moan at the end of the film that he can no longer get decent food was belied in 2002, when he wrote his own cookbook (The Wiseguy Cookbook, published by New American Library, no less), detailing how you can make decent Italian-American food when you don't have access to the best and freshest ingredients like he once did. It includes recipes for the entire meal he made the night he gets arrested (veal cutlets, ziti with meat sauce and green beans with garlic and olive oil) as well as many others, including the healthier diet he adopted later in life. Yes, now you too can eat like a mobster.note Seems more like cause and effect: Hill couldn't get good Italian food, so he made do with the ingredients he could get (which is the core concept of the cookbook, substituting and making do)
    • Tommy ends up being murdered by someone named Vinnie. Fast forward two years later and Joe Pesci plays a character named Vinny who is called to investigate a murder.Actor garbage
    • Robert De Niro plays Jimmy "The Gent" Conway, known by some as "The Irishman". 29 years later De Niro, Pesci, and Scorsese once again collaborated on a movie where De Niro plays a gangster titled The Irishman.Actor garbage
  • Retroactive Recognition:
    • This wouldn't be the last time Lorraine Bracco, Michael Imperioli, and Tony Sirico were involved in a highly acclaimed gangster story.Actor garbage, and not what that trope is about

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog

    Sonic 
  • Harsher in Hindsight:
    • "Mass Transit Trouble", an episode about Robotnik attempting to bomb three separate transit stations, feels darker than the other episodes because of similar bombings in real life. It doesn't help that Robotnik and his henchmen are far more competent than usual.Too general
    • In "Sonic Breakout", Robotnik imprisons Sketch Lampoon for making fun of him in a satire based on Humpty Dumpty. This is less funny to watch after the Charlie Hebdo shooting in 2015. However, it becomes Hilarious in Hindsight after Donald Trump threatened to have the FCC go after Saturday Night Live for making fun of him.First part isn't very similar, and "despot imprisons critic" isn't unique to this show. Second half is a Trump example
    • The "Babysitting" Sonic Says segment has Sonic telling Tails to keep babies away from electrical sockets, immediately before pointing to a coin telling him to "look out for small objects" they can choke on. Many years later, much older kids would be putting coins in electrical sockets as part of an online "challenge".Not sure. He's telling kids not to stick things in outlets, so clearly they're not listening
  • Hilarious in Hindsight: Has its own page.Might have to look into this page

Superman Returns

    Superman Returns 
  • Harsher in Hindsight:
    • The already tense scene where Lois and her son are held hostage by Lex Luthor can be quite uncomfortable to watch in light of the revelation that Kevin Spacey was a prolific sexual predator who targeted underage actors. Bryan Singer has also been accused of that.Not sure
      • Not to mention that his Establishing Character Moment has him swindling an old lady into getting her will and she mentions how he "shown [her] pleasures that [she] never known".
    • The ending with Superman promising never to leave Earth, Lois and his son again becomes absurdly devastating 13 years later, when this version of the character returns in the crossover of Arrowverse Crisis on Infinite Earths, and it is revealed that the Joker murdered Lois, Perry White, and Jimmy Olsen. It's even worse when you remember this is the same Superman from Christopher Reeve movies...Pretty sure this valid, but the last line seems like misuse: how does that make it even worse?
  • Hilarious in Hindsight:
    • Henry Cavill (who would go on to play Superman in Man of Steel) was one of the top two contenders for the role along with Brandon Routh when it was still going to be a reboot. Singer later revealed that he gave the part to Brandon Routh because Routh bears a greater resemblance to Christopher Reeve. Singer's slavish devotion to replicating Richard Donner's film, rather than any apparent interest in anything else about Superman, was at the core of the problems that audiences had with Superman Returns, and it even extended to casting the lead.Actor garbage and not hindsight
    • The reveal that Superman is a father would become a reality when Convergence revealed that pre-New 52 Superman and Lois now have a son named Jon, who would return to the main DC Universe when DC Rebirth came out.Seems like a weak connection
    • The wig Lex wears is the same hairstyle that Jesse Eisenberg sports in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, as pointed out by Honest Trailers.Note sure

wingedcatgirl mys. minty from the silly dimension from lurking (Holding A Herring) Relationship Status: Oh my word! I'm gay!
mys. minty from the silly dimension
#1563: Sep 28th 2020 at 7:17:34 AM

The Harsher examples from Sonic can go, all of those are bad shoehorns.

Suddenly I'm... still rotating Fallen London in my mind even though I've stopped actively playing it.
fragglelover Since: Jun, 2012
#1564: Sep 28th 2020 at 9:17:12 AM

Found this on The Empire Strikes Back:

"Funny Aneurysm" Moment: Before the asteroid chase, Han is trying to repair the Millennium Falcon when his toolbox falls on top of him, hurting him in the process. In June 2014, Harrison Ford got injured during filming for Episode VII when a hydraulic door from the Falcon set fell on top of him.

Tomodachi Now a lurker. See you at the forums. Since: Aug, 2012 Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free
Now a lurker. See you at the forums.
#1565: Sep 28th 2020 at 9:24:04 AM

I think is valid.

To win, you need to adapt, and to adapt, you need to be able to laugh away all the restraints. Everything holding you back.
WoodKnapp94 Since: May, 2020
#1566: Sep 28th 2020 at 2:07:23 PM

While on a Wiki Walk, I found this on Chocolate Baby:

  • Family Guy: A particularly warped version turns up, in which Brian is thought to have impregnated Carter Pewterschmidt's prize-winning greyhound — but when the puppies are born, they all look like Ted Turner. This is Hilarious in Hindsight since TBS and [adult swim] now syndicate Family Guy, but did not at the time of the original airing.

What exactly does the show's syndication have to with this example?

ShinyCottonCandy Everyone's friend Malamar from Lumiose City (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Everyone's friend Malamar
#1567: Sep 28th 2020 at 2:11:46 PM

[up]Just trim that bit for being natter. If you ask me, we could do with a whole project to locate YMMV wicks from objective tropes in the main namespace, as many of them are just like that, but it may be too large an undertaking, and the discussion should be held elsewhere anyway.

My musician page
mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#1568: Sep 28th 2020 at 5:14:21 PM

[up][up] While that last sentence isn't really necessary for the objective trope example, it actually isn't a bad Hindsight example as Ted Turner owns both of those other networks, making it come across as retroactive Biting-the-Hand Humor.

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Anddrix Since: Oct, 2014
#1569: Sep 28th 2020 at 7:03:04 PM

Found this on The Desert Storm:

  • Harsher in Hindsight: Fever centers around a mysterious virus that sends the Jedi Temple into a quarantine. This was posted online several months prior to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Serac she/her (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Oh my word! I'm gay!
she/her
#1570: Sep 28th 2020 at 8:16:50 PM

That one is just "diseases exist" misuse.

Adept (Holding A Herring) Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
#1571: Sep 29th 2020 at 7:41:45 AM

Found this on YMMV.Act Age

  • Harsher in Hindsight:
    • The title of the most recent chapter of the manga is "Poison". Then the author's arrest "tainted" the series itself and led to its cancellation, making that chapter the last one.
    • The fact that writer Matsuki approached artist Usazaki first seemed innocuous enough — talent recognizing talent to join forces and conquer the industry! — but his arrest calls his motives for approaching Usazaki into question, as the artist is (assumed to be) female and was very much underage when they started working together. Usazaki’s own statement on the series’ cancellation takes Matsuki’s guilt as an established fact and words its sympathy for his victims in a way that suggests (without outright admitting) experiencing a similar trauma,note  brings more levels of ick.

The second part reads too much like speculation. I'm not too sure about the first part either. Cut?

HighCrate Since: Mar, 2015
#1572: Sep 29th 2020 at 7:48:16 AM

That first one is ridiculous shoehorning. You could write that with any vaguely-negative word.

"The chapter was titled 'Murder,' and then the author killed the manga's chances..."

"The chapter was titled 'Hot Dog,' and then the author was such a weiner that the manga got cancelled..."

AlleyOop Since: Oct, 2010
#1573: Sep 29th 2020 at 8:08:34 AM

[up] I'll admit finding about the info regarding the second did give me some IRL Fridge Horror, but it's still too deep into speculation territory. Nuke it.

WoodKnapp94 Since: May, 2020
#1574: Sep 29th 2020 at 8:49:19 AM

YMMV.PokeParkWii

This is cuttable, right?

ShinyCottonCandy Everyone's friend Malamar from Lumiose City (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Everyone's friend Malamar
#1575: Sep 29th 2020 at 8:53:43 AM

[up]Yeah, we explicitly disallow examples with those references.

Edited by ShinyCottonCandy on Sep 29th 2020 at 11:53:57 AM

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