History Main / ALessonLearnedTooWell

* In ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'', absent father and divorcee [[Characters/MonsterVerseMarkRussell Mark Russell]] realizes that he never should have abandoned his remaining family after the death of his first child to a past {{Kaiju}} battle caused a GriefInducedSplit and sent him into ExcessiveMourning, and he reunites with his daughter Madison when she almost dies in the havoc of the film's FinalBattle ''after'' she's been kidnapped by genocidal eco-terrorists. Five years on in ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'', Mark has re-entered Madison's life, but it's implied (outright confirmed in the novelization) that he's smothering and borderline-overprotective, and he absolutely ''refuses'' to accept that Madison isn't a baby anymore no matter how much she proves her mettle.

* In ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'', absent father and divorcee [[Characters/MonsterVerseMarkRussell Mark Russell]] realizes that he never should have abandoned his remaining family after the death of his first child to a past {{Kaiju}} battle caused a GriefInducedSplit and sent him into ExcessiveMourning, and he reunites with his daughter Madison when she almost dies in the havoc of the film's FinalBattle ''after'' she's been kidnapped by genocidal eco-terrorists. Five years on in ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'', Mark has re-entered Madison's life, but it's implied (outright confirmed in the novelization) that he's smothering and borderline-overprotective, and he absolutely ''refuses'' to accept that Madison isn't a baby anymore no matter how much she proves her metal.

* ''ComicBook/{{Irredeemable}}'': One of [[Characters/IrredeemablePlutonian Plutonian's]] many foster parents taught him not to use his powers for personal gain. As such, he never told his foster father that his foster mother had cancer until it was far too late because it would have been a personal gain.

* Series/{{Blackadder}}: In "[[Recap/BlackadderS3E4SenseAndSenility Sense and Senility]]", dimwitted Prince-Regent George [[CannotTellFictionFromReality doesn't understand]] that events in a stage play are make-believe. Blackadder finally gets him to understand that it's just entertainment -- and then a BombThrowingAnarchist tries to assassinate him at the theater and he mistakes it for [[AllPartOfTheShow another bit of entertainment]]. (Fortunately, it's a NonFatalExplosion bomb.)

* Series/{{Blackadder}}: In "[[Recap/BlackadderS3E4SenseAndSenility Sense and Senility]]", dimwitted Prince-Regent George [[CannotTellFictionFromReality doesn't understand]] that events in a stage play are make-believe. Blackadder finally gets him to understand that it's just entertainment -- and then a BombThrowingAnarchist tries to assassinate him at the theater and he mistakes it for [[AllPartOfTheShow another bit of entertainment]]. (Fortunately, it produces a NonFatalExplosion.)

* ''Series/BreakingBad'': Mike Ehrmantraut's "half measure" speech to Walter White was clearly him ImpliedDeathThreat implying to Walter that he needed to kill Jesse Pinkman before the latter went off the rails. Unfortunately, Walter's takeaway is to protect himself and Jesse at all costs, which is what eventually [[spoiler:leads to Mike's own death seasons later.]]
* ''Series/DoctorWho'' has this central to Series 9. In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E5TheGirlWhoDied The Girl Who Died]]", the Twelfth Doctor finally realizes [[YouLookFamiliar why he has the face he does]] after Ashildr dies helping to defeat the MonsterOfTheWeek and he is lamenting his inability to change things and the inevitability of loss in his lives. He has the face of the patriarch of the family Donna Noble convinced his tenth self to save in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E2TheFiresOfPompeii The Fires of Pompeii]]" even as he insisted he couldn't save anyone from that disaster, and he realizes his subconscious chose this when he regenerated into Twelve to remind him that he should ''always'' save others if there's a chance to do so -- in fact, that saving people is his mission in life as ''The Doctor''. Unfortunately, the only way he can save Ashildr has the side effect of making her '''immortal''', and this paves the way to him being betrayed by her and captured and tortured by [[spoiler:his own people]] '''and''' also [[spoiler:the death of his beloved companion Clara]], leading to a SeasonFinale in which he temporarily becomes a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds who believes that honoring his "duty of care" to another is worth risking ''the space-time continuum''.
* ''Series/IDreamOfJeannie'': In "Never Put a Genie on the Budget", Jeannie, not understanding modern credit, buys $2000.00 worth of goods. Major Nelson insists she go on a strict budget. She overdoes it, taking in hippies as boarders and splitting a T.V. dinner for supper. Things go south as Major Nelson is expected to entertain a visiting Russian Cosmonaut.

** It happens again in ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'' when he and Hermione infiltrate the new [[PuppetState Voldemort-aligned]] Ministry of Magic, where Umbridge is persecuting Muggle-born wizards in a KangarooCourt. Harry says "You're lying, Dolores, and you ''must not tell lies.''" before stunning her and making off with the Horcrux they came to steal.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'': In "To See the Invisible Man", the state sentences Mitchell Chaplin to a year of invisibility for the crime of coldness because he is not emotionally open with his family or co-workers. Mitchell initially relishes the opportunity to do anything that he wants with no repercussions as [[SilentTreatment everyone must ignore him or face the same punishment themselves]]. However, the incredible loneliness eventually gets to him and he longs for ordinary human interaction. Six months into his sentence, he begs an invisible woman to talk to him but she refuses as she does not want her own sentence to be increased. Four months after his punishment has ended, the same woman approaches Mitchell and pleads with him to acknowledge her existence and ease her suffering. While Mitchell is initially reluctant, he soon hugs the woman and assures her that she is not invisible and that he cares about her. His own experience of invisibility taught him how difficult it is and led him to comfort another person in pain instead of ignoring her.

** The chivalrous "Red Leg" Zeff passed on his firm belief in [[WouldntHitAGirl never striking women]] to his protege, Sanji. Presumably, he only intended for Sanji to not use his fighting skills to abuse women; instead, Sanji adheres to Zeff's code so zealously that he has refused to fight back against powerful {{Action Girl}}s to the extent that, on several occasions, he has survived only due to sheer luck. Even Nami, Sanji's female crew-mate, has declared Sanji's intentions admirable but his execution idiotic.