Misused: Aloha Hawaii

Aloha, Hawaii! is supposed to be specifically about the "Hawaiian Vacation Plot", but is misused as either "Hawaiian Stereotypes" (which we already have in the form of Hula and Luaus) or "Hawaii/Hawaiian People Exist", which... isn't a trope.

The wick check shows that only about 35% of the examples are used properly, with 19% being ZCEs, another 19% being about stereotypes, and the remaining 27% being about Hawaii or Hawaiians in general. I think part of the problem is that the name isn't really indicative that it's specifically about vacations taking place in Hawaii, so renaming it to something like Hawaii Episode or Hawaiian Vacation would probably stop most of the misuse.

Rename ideas sound good.

Lumper thoughts: why not merge into Vacation Episode?

• Is this something more than "Vacation Episode but in Hawaii"? Could it not be accommodated with a "Hawaii is a common destination..." in VE's description?
• What makes Hawaii worthy of its own destination trope, and not Bali or Tahiti, besides the fact that it's accessible to characters with American citizenship? Unlike, say, Welcome to the Caribbean, Mon! it's not about stereotypes and we have another trope for those.
• And while this is more due to the bad name, assuming 35% of 144 wicks are correct, that leaves us with about 50 wicks, which is not a ton for a page that's almost 15 years old.

I'd be fine with merging into Vacation Episode.

(Unrelated ramble: I've never been to Hawaii even though I'm an American citizen; my preferred vacation destination is northeastern Massachusetts, mainly Essex County. In fact, I haven't been any farther west than St. Louis and its suburbs.)

Edited by GastonRabbit on Sep 27th 2021 at 11:22:44 AM

Vacation Episode. And on that page, instead of "Parent trope to Aloha, Hawaii! and Viva Las Vegas!", have it say, "Frequent destinations include Hawaii, [yadda yadda yadda]. Las Vegas as a destination has its own trope page, Viva Las Vegas!"

I'd be fine with changing the description to that.

Also, if we merge, I think we should turn Aloha, Hawaii! into a redirect to Hula and Luaus instead of redirecting it to Vacation Episode, similarly to what was done with Cosmic Horror being redirected to Eldritch Abomination (which it was being misused in place of) after being renamed to Cosmic Horror Story.

Edited by GastonRabbit on Sep 27th 2021 at 10:58:55 AM

I agree that it can be merged with Vacation Episode and changing the descriptions/redirects as necessary. I used to consider having a page on Hawaii Finale, when a globetrotting work ends in Hawaii (I know examples from Pang, Total Drama World Tour), but it's probably not worth it and we have Tropical Epilogue as well.

Edited by Piterpicher on Sep 27th 2021 at 7:26:12 PM

Merge with Vacation Episode.

I forgot Vacation Episode was a trope. for merging, then.

Merge

I'm not comfortable with the idea of merging. Hawaii is an extremely common destination for this kind of plot, it's already referred to as as a sub-trope of Vacation Episode on both pages, and I don't see what makes Viva Las Vegas! (another subtrope of Vacation Episode, which is the same thing as Aloha, Hawaii! but with Vegas instead of Hawaii) more worthy of being kept than this. I'm more in favor of a rename this time, maybe to something like Hawaiian Vacation Episode?

I was thinking about that when Tabs brought it up. I think what distinguishes it is the Hollywood version of the Vegas Strip has a very distinct atmosphere (gambling, late nights). But as the trope admits, Aloha, Hawaii! is basically an excuse to go to the beach, and so I don't think it is more or less unique than other beach destinations (I mentioned Bali as an example).

Yeah, the difference between Hawaii and Vegas is that Hawaii is just another tropical beach location (and all the interesting aspects are covered by Hula and Luaus), while Vegas is something pretty unique.

Then why not merge it with Beach Episode?

Beach Episode has its own connotations and meaning beyond "characters go to a beach or pool".

If we're going by the US alone (i.e., places other than Hawaii that American citizens can go to without a passport), Florida and California are pretty popular destinations for American beachgoers. Warm weather and beaches are found in parts of the US other than Hawaii.

Edited by GastonRabbit on Sep 27th 2021 at 5:05:44 AM

For the sheer luxury and "exoticness" of it, though, Hawaii is definitely seen as "the" vacation spot. Like, people love going to places like the Keys and Malibu, but Hawaii is seen as more special than that.

Still, though, it is still just a beach vacation spot at the end of the day, and I already brought up Hula and Luaus, which covers all the special stereotypes Hawaii has.

Edited by WarJay77 on Sep 27th 2021 at 6:07:20 AM

Yeah, I'm inclined to vote for either a merge or a disambig, but if someone's willing to try and justify keeping this as a separate trope, I'm willing to listen.

Almost certainly having to get on a plane to go on a Hawaiian vacation adds to the exotic factor; characters who live on the coasts might just drive a few hours.

This is where I wish the wick check entries had context listed because I agree that there may be room for a Hawaiian Vacations Are Luxurious or Luxurious Island Getaway type of trope (maybe expanded to Stock Luxury Destinations like the Swiss Alps; the former would be a sub/sister trope to Tropical Island Adventure), but not if all the usage is "the characters go to Hawaii in this episode". Paging ~idonom to weigh in on what the "correct" entries looked like.

Edited by Synchronicity on Sep 27th 2021 at 5:43:36 AM

That's true. A Stock Luxury Vacation Spot trope (name pending) might be worthwhile.

Okay, here's the "correct" examples in order:

• Creator.Jeff Foxworthy: A skit on Games Rednecks Play is about his family vacationing in Hawaii. As one might expect of a family of self-described rednecks, they were totally out of their element for the entire trip. His musical album adapted it into a song called "Howdy from Maui" featuring The Beach Boys and Los Straitjackets.
• Fanfic.Ancienverse: The main cast's arrival in the Alola region, unsurprisingly.^{for context} In the Pokemon universe, Alola is the series' equivalent of Hawaii.
• Film.A Fairly Odd Summer: Where the movie mostly takes place.
• Series.Growing Pains: The two-part Season 3 premiere, "Aloha", where Jason makes the family go on vacation, and it doesn't go well.
• Series.The Jeffersons: The Jeffersons and Willises take a trip to Hawaii in a four-episode season 7 arc.
• Series.Win Lose Or Draw: Two weeks of the syndicated version were played on an outdoor stage in the 50th state, with A-list celebrities Burt Reynolds, Jim Nabors, Carol Burnett, and Loni Anderson (Pat Morita and daytime host Vicki Lawrence replaced Nabors and Burnett for the second week). Instead of the doorbell, a shell horn was blown to signal the switch-off point.
• VideoGame.Cafe World: A Subversion of a Vacation Episode. All you do is cater their Luau.

...Yeah, in hindsight, the only context for the "correct" examples make the trope look like it's just "Vacation Episode IN HAWAII!" I'm now more in favor of merging it with Vacation Episode.

Thanks! I was thinking you'd chime in with something like "yeah, they're all used like X" but that is more helpful.

Yeah, okay, that usage just screams "merge".

Anti-split.

Merge with Vacation Episode.