Misused: Contemptible Cover

"Accurate" also isn't a requirement. The scope of the trope is "cover contains an excess of sexual, violent or otherwise lurid imagery" - whether it's accurate or not is not germane to the trope.

And I'm saying that if it is an accurate cover, it's not tropeworthy, because then it's just a cover that accurately describes the media. Does DOOM (2016) have a Contemptible Cover? It accurately shows the main character standing on a pile of corpses killing demons by the dozen.

This is also sort of why I think a broader supertrope would be a decent play. If we had to we could always make a new trope for "inappropriately violent cover" if we have enough examples of that (or just yard it), and turn Contemptible Cover into "covers people dislike" in general. I can think of a few examples of work covers that get talked about not because they're misleading or altered, but because they're just poorly designed in general.

Some of the new Warrior Cats covers have been criticized for being repetitive and bland or making the characters look bizarre compared to how old books portrayed them, and several infamous video game cover art is just poorly designed "Graphic Design Is My Passion"-esque work that turns people away for being poorly composed or ugly, even if they're not misleading. I think Contemptible Cover would work best as a broader concept that covers these scenarios, so long as they're things that have been commonly criticized and not just "I don't like this cover". Heck, if we need to TLP it, I might be able to come up with enough examples to make the draft.

Edited by WarJay77 on Jan 19th 2022 at 3:23:59 PM

Well, I am not convinced that "cover that accurately reflects the content" is not a trope. Art styles are tropes especially when they are of a part of a work, like a cover.

Art styles are tropes, but accuracy isn't a style: it's just a thing that happens.

If we make it into a 'covers that people dislike' trope, isn't that a magnet for complaining? At the very least it'd be a YMMV trope.

Edited by Orbiting on Jan 19th 2022 at 3:56:47 PM

It'll definitely be both of those things, so I understand if it's not a direction we want to go in. The title just seems to fit that concept way better than it fits the actual definition, and I think a supertrope for the "bad cover art" tropes could be useful... albeit also a nightmare if people misuse it.

WTH Artwork Designers / WTH Art Department, like What the Hell, Casting Agency? and What The Hell, Costuming Department??

I don't think we'd need to change the name if we make it YMMV, it's already negative (which will be a barrier to retooling it into an objective subtrope if we decide to go that route).

Yeah, I'm pitching the idea based in part on the current title.

On further reflection, I can see the merit in turning it into a YMMV trope for fans disliking covers, since everything objective seems to be covered by other tropes (Sexy Packaging, Covers Always Lie, and American Kirby Is Hardcore). The only thing that wouldn't be covered would be violent covers for violent works, which I maintain isn't noteworthy. Maybe something like Violence Sells for a general trope of hyping up the violent aspects of a work/marketing making a work seem much more violent than it actually is? I know I've seen a couple movies that were marketed as violent action when the violence was really only in a few scenes.

Violence Sells could work.

There is Rated M for Money

I can't tell if that's game-specific or not. The description is purely game-based, but there's non-game examples. But in lieu of anything better, moving the violence examples to that trope could work fine.

That trope seems to mostly be about getting a mature rating itself in order to seem more mature or edgy, not really about marketing something as more violent than it is.

Violence Sells would be a great way to differentiate from Rated M for Money and If It Bleeds, It Leads.

Yes, Violence Sells would also need a way to differentiate itself from American Kirby Is Hardcore.

Edited by Nen_desharu on Jan 19th 2022 at 5:44:55 AM

The difference would be that American Kirby Is Hardcore isn't necessarily about violence as much as it is having a generally darker/less goofy tone + is specifically for when a work is brought to another region. Violence Sells can occur with the original release of a work and the tone it hypes doesn't need to be dark (though it often is).

Yeah, I think it's a better approach to see what's left in Contemptible Cover after you take away the elements covered by other tropes. Violence Sells just feels like a good supertrope in general for stuff like If It Bleeds, It Leads and American Kirby Is Hardcore, so I'm all for pitching that.

I also see value in retooling this to a YMMV item — yes, there's the complaining risk, but IMO, it's still a noteworthy fan reaction that we don't seem to have yet.

The current name already sounds subjective and negative — the word "contemptible" indicates that people have a negative opinion of whatever's being called contemptible.

Edited by GastonRabbit on Jan 20th 2022 at 4:25:06 AM

Violence Sells could be a supertrope for the following:

• American Kirby Is Hardcore
• Animated Shock Comedy
• Gorn
• If It Bleeds, It Leads
• Murder Simulators
• The New Rock & Roll
• Rated M for Manly
• Rated M for Money
• Ultra Super Death Gore Fest Chainsawer 3000
• What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?
• What Do You Mean, It's Not for Kids?

Edited by Nen_desharu on Jan 20th 2022 at 2:20:51 PM

I like all those ideas.

Stop! Crowner time?

• Use the current name for a YMMV trope about covers fans dislike, moving current examples elsewhere
• Move the examples to other tropes and redirect to Covers Always Lie
• Rename

I can't think of any other option that either hasn't been ditched in favor of something better (like expanding to be a supertrope which got turned into making a YMMV concept) and I didn't add Violence Sells because such a trope can be drafted regardless.

Edited by WarJay77 on Jan 20th 2022 at 4:21:05 AM

I think these ones:

• Covers Always Lie: the cover is inaccurate for X reason
• Sexy Packaging: the cover implies the work is much sexier than it is
• American Kirby Is Hardcore: an adaptation's cover shows it as edgier than the work really is
• Misaimed Marketing: the cover is meant to appeal to a different demographic than the work actually appeals to