Follow TV Tropes

Ask The Tropers

Go To

Have a question about how the TVTropes wiki works? No one knows this community better than the people in it, so ask away! Ask the Tropers is the page you come to when you have a question burning in your brain and the support pages didn't help. It's not for everything, though. For a list of all the resources for your questions, click here. You can also go to this Directory thread for ongoing cleanup projects.

Ask the Tropers:

Trope Related Question:

Make Private (For security bugs or stuff only for moderators)

Libraryseraph (Five Year Plan)
14th Feb, 2021 02:05:01 PM

Jimmy Savile isn't a complete unknown, I heard about in Canada. I could see the benefits of making it a tropeless Useful Notes page instead, but I don't think ignoring it makes anything different

Absolute destiny... apeachalypse?
bwburke94 Since: May, 2014
14th Feb, 2021 02:06:40 PM

Keeping it locked is good enough. Scandal or not, he was a legitimate creator.

I had a dog-themed avatar before it was cool.
RustBeard Since: Sep, 2016
14th Feb, 2021 02:07:12 PM

We use the creator namespace to describe actors and entertainers.

Serac Since: Mar, 2016
14th Feb, 2021 02:12:37 PM

He was just a television presenter and occasional DJ and, because of the scandal, none of his shows will air on tv again and have also been locked in the BBC archives. Because of that, nothing he actually did is tropable, which means his presence here is pointless and will only detract from the quality of the wiki!

Although we don't have an index of DJs, we do have one for Presenters, so that's not a valid argument against his tropeworthiness. And as for lost media, I actually don't know what the policy is on that; I know a work needs to be publicly accessible to be troped, but I'm not sure whether that's applicable to media that was once accessible, but isn't anymore. We need to have a wiki talk thread about that at some point.

Edited by Serac
bwburke94 Since: May, 2014
14th Feb, 2021 02:15:53 PM

Most Savile material isn't technically lost; it's Keep Circulating the Tapes at best.

I had a dog-themed avatar before it was cool.
mightymewtron Since: Oct, 2012
14th Feb, 2021 02:28:57 PM

As an American I learned about Savile through this wiki, yes, but that was because of material discussing his television work - Jim'll Fix It, Top of the Pops, that one Doctor Who episode, a Tweenies parody...granted, I heard about many of these as they were listed on Harsher in Hindsight, but they're still works. There's some relevancy here.

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Atlantis1930 (Troper Knight)
14th Feb, 2021 02:48:21 PM

Ok thanks for your responses. Looking back over this I think I may have been a bit too hasty in calling for the cut, as all of you have made valid points and I'm not too convinced by a few of my arguments on review. Sorry about that and thanks for your time.

Edited by Atlantis1930
gc10 Since: Feb, 2019
14th Feb, 2021 02:50:09 PM

For the reasons already mentioned I'm against cutting the page. Also, the 3rd point isn't really relevant, since on TV Tropes it's allowed to have Creators/Work pages about things that don't get out of their native country.

miraculous (Apprentice)
14th Feb, 2021 03:17:06 PM

Could we cut Friend to All Children from his page. That feels in bad taste.

Long-Runners is also for works Last time I checked so is misuse too.

"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."
mightymewtron Since: Oct, 2012
14th Feb, 2021 03:19:08 PM

^ Friend to All Children fits for his depiction on the show, not his real-life persona. Maybe we can add a note specifying that only his fictional self fits here? Such notes were there before but were cut for troping real life, but I don't mind re-adding the note just to prevent Unfortunate Implications that we somehow see the man himself as a Friend to All Children.

(Also, that edit history is wild!)

Edited by mightymewtron I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
WoodKnapp94 Since: May, 2020
14th Feb, 2021 04:44:36 PM

I'm going to agree with everyone here; just keep it locked. We could probably add it to Infamous And Controversial Works (despite the name, there is a folder for Creators) to ease the complaining.

Edited by WoodKnapp94
themayorofsimpleton (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded)
MichaelKatsuro Since: Apr, 2011
14th Feb, 2021 06:07:59 PM

Horrible as child abuse is, I want to state for the record that whether somebody is a good person or not has absolutely nothing to do with whether they get a trope page.

Zuxtron (On A Trope Odyssey)
14th Feb, 2021 07:04:09 PM

Honestly, the Friend to All Children trope does make me uncomfortable, as well as how his description almost entirely glosses over his crimes, other than a single short and vague mention in the last sentence.

mightymewtron Since: Oct, 2012
14th Feb, 2021 07:08:48 PM

Yeah, I just realized the description just says "A year later, ITV broadcast a documentary about Savile that triggered a police investigation into the biggest sexual abuse scandal in British history," conveniently avoiding directly mentioning that he himself was a sexual abuser. The only part of the page that really directly mentions it is the Undermined By Reality entry. There's got to be a better balance to strike here.

Edited by mightymewtron I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Adannor Since: May, 2010
14th Feb, 2021 11:40:05 PM

There used to be several mentions of the abuse in the "friends" entry. One going "In reality, however, he was most certainly not." another "In hindsight, it seems a lot darker and less friendly.".

The guy that deleted them both also added the "Do not add tropes pertaining to Savile's real life. They are not within the scope of the wiki." comment which kinda veers into feeling like its whitewashing.

Atlantis1930 (Troper Knight)
15th Feb, 2021 01:14:20 AM

Maybe we could do something similar to the Marion Zimmer Bradley page (an author who sexually abused numerous children along with her husband) where there's a short line at the end of the bio section about it. It seems to have worked for that page. I'm thinking that just adding a quick summary which at least addresses it is the way to go here.

So perhaps change the last paragraph of the bio at the top of the page from:

His death on 29th October 2011 led to a two-hour tribute programme that aired on the BBC. A year later, ITV broadcast a documentary about Savile that triggered a police investigation into the biggest sexual abuse scandal in British history.

To something like:

A year after Savile's death on 29th October 2011, ITV broadcast a documentary that contained numerous allegations that Savile had sexually abused children, allegations which grew into the hundreds in the weeks that followed and triggered a police investigation. This has irreparably tainted his life and career following his death.

I'm not suggesting we trope Real Life here, but at least now it's been addressed. I'm simply not comfortable with the page description as it stands.

Edited by Atlantis1930
Tabs MOD Since: Jan, 2001
15th Feb, 2021 01:31:41 AM

^ That looks good.

I don't like the Friend to All Children entry that much, but the tacked-on real-life troping ^^ is against wiki policy whether the creator is disgraced or beloved.

Top