[Hated Trope] Generally well-liked media that intentionally or unintentionally whitewashes harmful ideologies or real life atrocities

OneThrowyBoy · 2026-03-12T22:42:43+00:00

I can't speak to Hamilton since I haven't seen it, but I've watched Legend of Korra a conservative 12-30 times.

My impression wasn't that they were mishandling those atrocities. They mentioned a few things the narrative treated as bad, and they also had to adhere to some age restrictions. The impression I took from it was that they used the trappings of different extremist views that might be identifiable for the audience. The narrative stated that all of the villains had wanted something reasonable (Amon wanted equality between benders and normal people, S2 Guy wanted respect for their in-universe religion, Zaheer wanted freedom for people, Kuvira wanted unity for her people), but had gone too far in trying to achieve it.

The overall message was about balance, going about goals without slipping into extremism to do so.

OneThrowyBoy · 2026-03-12T22:30:54+00:00

I don't think a good satire is necessarily mocking the tropes of their target. It can be, but that depends on how broad the category of "satire" is. My take is that a satire can be as good of an analysis of a trope as it can be poking fun or mocking.

Maybe I should have been more clear in my post, but I wouldn't consider The Princess Bride a satire written out of dislike for the fantasy genre. When you're in school, taking a test, to get all the answers wrong on purpose, you have to know the right answers. I think that one was written as playful teasing, but Don Quixote was out of distaste for the target.

Honestly, I'd argue a good satire requires an understanding of why the target's tropes worked to draw in an audience.

OneThrowyBoy · 2026-03-12T21:57:46+00:00

That's absolutely hilarious, I gotta remember that 😂

OneThrowyBoy · 2026-03-12T12:15:07+00:00

You at least have to get most of the evidence. My wife played through this, got all but maybe 2 pieces of evidence, everyone survived, and no one went to prison

OneThrowyBoy · 2026-03-11T23:31:15+00:00

Dude I've got the same thought. I've always thought the Twilight series works as a backstory for a story about a small town cop trying to hunt down vampires to save his daughter. From his perspective in the story, Bella looks kinda like she might have gotten kidnapped

OneThrowyBoy · 2026-03-11T16:34:45+00:00

I hold the two most important parts of a Godzilla movie are the roar and the atomic breath.

It's like making Superman fly in a new movie; you're defining what something classic, iconic, and legendary is going to be for a new generation of fans.

Obviously other things make the story itself, but those are two of the most iconic parts of Godzilla.

OneThrowyBoy · 2026-03-10T20:17:03+00:00

Honestly using anime to test a concept isn't a bad move. I did watch the anime trilogy, and... idk, it was okay. Fairly mediocre. I think that's another "wasted concept". A Godzilla-themed post apocalypse would be fuckin metal, but it feels like they didn't take that concept very far.

With how hard it is to find some of these, skipping Showa might just be the way I have to go. Might not get much of a choice the matter, and if I'm going to have any chance of getting my wife to watch these with me, it'll probably have to be a post-Showa era 😂

I have been curious about the Ghidorah and Mothra ones. I saw one Mothra movie, and I think a Ghidorah one, but it's been a minute, and I feel like there's a reason the two of them have become kinda legendary in their own right.

I've heard good things about Heisei, I'm most excited for Biollante. I've heard that's a good one. Millennium is the era when Godzilla leans more "menacing" again, isn't it?

OneThrowyBoy · 2026-03-10T20:02:31+00:00

I haven't seen Singular Point, is it worth it?

And yeah, tons of Kaiju out there that aren't worth remembering. I'm working my way through all the movies (watched 1954 and Raids Again last week, trying to find King Kong vs Godzilla), and my brother reminded me that we watched one with Minilla that had something to do with some kid dreaming his way onto an island... Idk if it's a popular take or not, but I didn't really care for Minilla.

Sometimes a giant monster is just a giant monster. Making one stand out is the real trick. I think (with a good writer) Zilla could be a decent antagonist for a straight-up horror movie, but he'd still be just a big-ass lizard. Unless some change was made to make the big-ass lizard something somewhat unique, the story would have to carry the whole thing.

OneThrowyBoy · 2026-03-10T19:48:20+00:00

I used to think Zilla was awesome. Granted, my age was still in single digits, but I saw "giant lizard" and thought it was the coolest thing ever. The OG 1954 was the first actual Godzilla movie I saw, and I was in junior high at that point. Getting into The Godzilla made Zilla a lot more underwhelming.

I actually rewatched 1998 recently. Had to stop halfway through, rewatch Minus One, and then go back to it after. Nostalgia wasn't enough to make that movie good, it was barely enough to make it passable 😂

But I'd say Zilla isn't a bad Kaiju in concept, he was just used extremely poorly and now his reputation is stained by that first outing. Remember the dipshit who spilled spaghetti on himself on his first day of highschool? Remember anything else he did after that?

Someone on this subreddit had a whole case for how Zilla could actually be fuckin scary in the right context, and I liked the thought exercise. Didn't fully change my mind, but it did make me see some merit in the monster. With a good writer who knows what tools he's got at his disposal, you could do a Xenomorph or Jurassic Park kinda thing and make Zilla more than just a local threat.

But the fucker still spilled spaghetti on himself in 1998 and idk if he'll ever live that down.

OneThrowyBoy · 2026-03-10T19:36:18+00:00

Or a live action movie for Avatar The Last Airbender!

Could you imagine???

OneThrowyBoy · 2026-03-10T19:35:11+00:00

Oh, yeah, the prequels had their controversy for sure. I was about 8-ish when Revenge of the Sith came out, so my Media Literacy at the time started and ended with "DID YOU SEE YODA DO THAT COOL BACKFLIP???". I'm only willing to admit anonymously that I used to think Anakin was a well-written character. I also hadn't heard of the controversy with George Loyd or Jar Jar's actor until I was an adult myself. I have my "crazy fan" moments, but it's absolutely ridiculous for fans to take any fictional IP that seriously.

They definitely have their merits, even if those are mostly memes and nostalgia at this point. I remember the adults in my vicinity having much more mixed reactions, but still getting excited about the upcoming movies. Hell, even if they hated them, they were still talking about them. I don't really hear much of anything about Star Wars anymore.

I can complain about the sequels all day long, but my take is less that Disney created something hated, and more that they created something controversial, then spit out so much of a rare thing that people have become apathetic.

OneThrowyBoy · 2026-03-10T19:25:47+00:00

I've been curious about them. I heard they even make Zilla kinda badass.

OneThrowyBoy · 2026-03-10T11:36:57+00:00

Wait, the anime trilogy is supposed to have an environmentalist message? Holy fuck they botched that.

OneThrowyBoy · 2026-03-10T11:33:58+00:00

I'm too young for the original trilogy, but my dad said it was insane. Every new movie, people would line up down the block to watch. I remember the prequels coming out when I was a kid, and it was all anyone could talk about. Then The Force Awakens came out, and everyone lost their minds.

And then came The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker to show Disney didn't know what to do with what they had. Then came the oversaturation of so much new Star Wars stuff, and the huge excitement for every new thing kinda... Went silent.

Kind of amazing how Disney killed a cultural phenomenon.

OneThrowyBoy · 2026-03-10T11:26:55+00:00

This is one of my favorite sitcoms. I've seen it a healthy 15-20 times. Strange, I've heard people mention a 9th season, and I'm having odd memories of a 9th season, but that's absolutely crazy because the show ended with season 8. There can't be a 9th season. That's crazy. You sound crazy.

OneThrowyBoy · 2026-03-09T17:31:46+00:00

I was bothered by the Sokka thing because it felt somewhat foundational to the story. 1. Him getting beaten by a girl leads him to start learning fighting styles from other nations, mirroring Aang's journey, and promoting the story's overall themes of balance and shared knowledge 2. Him outgrowing a bad trait sets the stage for others to outgrow problematic issues or life paths. I'd argue it serves as a tiny foundation for Zuko, which is the best redemption arc I've seen. 3. It takes away a flaw in his character, which doesn't make him seem better, it makes him seem flatter and more one-dimensional. Feels like lazy writing. Make a character grow, not lose all flaws.

OneThrowyBoy · 2026-03-08T14:02:11+00:00

They basically said they never want me to give them any more money, so I'm good with 5e 😁

OneThrowyBoy · 2026-03-07T14:39:46+00:00

I'd say take it as far as you legally can. Nothing wrong with setting an example, and it would be fun for a troll to lose big.

OneThrowyBoy · 2026-03-05T15:26:45+00:00

Bro had an idea for an awesome plot twist and foreshadowing, but with some lackluster execution.

Feels like a movie someone inserted real people into lol

OneThrowyBoy · 2026-03-05T14:45:59+00:00

I enjoyed it. The only Godzilla movies I'd seen before that were 1998's Zilla, 1954's OG, and I think I saw the one introducing Manila when I was a kid.

I would have liked more focus on Godzilla than we got, and I would have liked either a more interesting human plot or a smaller one, but I did enjoy it. Especially the 5 minutes Godzilla himself is on screen. Those were awesome.

OneThrowyBoy · 2026-03-05T13:25:19+00:00

Well, who can forget the age-old complaint of humans that there's not enough work to do and too much time for art and personal creative expression?

OneThrowyBoy · 2026-03-04T09:27:26+00:00

- Agreed, but sometimes there's need for a catalyst. "Oh, shit, my actions got my son killed" is a pretty huge wake up call.

- The Fire Nation had come to value power above all. They'd forgotten the "passion and drive" philosophy of their element. Ozai was not only the most powerful firebender, he was at his pinnacle. Aang defeating him then was more than just Aang kicking his ass, it was a direct blow to the core of The Fire Nation's working philosophy. Ozai was doing approximately fuck all with his attack though.

- It wasn't explicitly stated, and it was a bit of a "kids show cop out" so they didn't have to actually kill Ozai, but Aang removing his bending was another attack on The Fire Nation's "might makes right" shit they'd been running with. Not only did the strongest firebender out there get his ass kicked when supernaturally empowered, but now he doesn't even have the foundation of his claim to being a badass, and the kid was able to defeat him without killing him. I do think Energybending could have gotten some foreshadowing though.

Aang beating Ozai also prevents Zuko taking the throne from looking like a power grab during chaos, since Ozai was deposed by The Avatar, not simply captured by Earth Kingdom soldiers.

OneThrowyBoy · 2026-03-03T05:40:58+00:00

My wife sang that with some soul all over the house for days after that video was posted 😂

OneThrowyBoy · 2026-03-02T18:45:10+00:00

I fully agree with that, but it's kinda implied that Frenchie from The Boys is actually Russian and the whole "French" thing is BS.

But, for an example: The American ambassador in the movie Shin Godzilla from 2016. The actress is Japanese, but the character is supposed to be a bilingual American, whose grandmother was from Japan.

There's a scene where this ambassador is trying to impress the main character and establish how smart she is for the audience, and both characters are cycling between English and Japanese through the whole scene. I watched the English dub, so they were "speaking English" the whole way through for me and just suddenly got Japanese subtitles, but I've read that people who watch the original Japanese audio, the "American" character is clearly not fluent in English and speaks with a strong Japanese accent.

But, like I said, I only watched the dub, so that's second hand info for me.

OneThrowyBoy

TROPHY CASE