History Main / AuthorFilibuster

It's worth noting that the creation of a story, especially those of works of fiction, may entice readers into receiving the message in an interesting manner but in fact, it neither adds nor subtracts evidence from a point of view. It may display evidence, it may make an argument using that evidence, it may convince the reader using that evidence. Authors should remember this, though: ''a work of fiction doesn't prove anything.'' The fact that the author expects to take their fictional world as instantly applicable to real life is part of what makes this trope so grating, but whether or not any specific reader considers an Author Filibuster a good or bad thing is usually dependent on [[ConfirmationBias whether or not the reader agrees]] with the content of the filibuster.

* ''Literature/{{Babylon}}'' has a few examples of this, but it's no more apparent in the final half of the second novel/eleventh episode of the anime, where the world leaders at the G7 Summit take up pages discussing how the concept of human morality and good and evil are essentially meaningless and all boil down to mankind's most base animal instinct to keep existing.

* Dutch children's book ''Literature/DeGriezelbus'' ("The Spooky Bus") involves an author of scary stories telling a number of his stories to a class of schoolchildren on a bus. ([[spoiler:The author later turns out to be a werewolf who intends to eat the children.]]) At one point, one of the children asks him why doesn't tell ''real'' scary stories, like those movies his brother watches in which "[[{{Gorn}} arms and legs are flying around]]". The author replies, and is presumably channeling the author of the ''book'' here: "That's not scary, that's disgusting!"

* Dutch children's book ''De Griezelbus'' ("The Spooky Bus") involves an author of scary stories telling a number of his stories to a class of schoolchildren on a bus. ([[spoiler:The author later turns out to be a werewolf who intends to eat the children.]]) At one point, one of the children asks him why doesn't tell ''real'' scary stories, like those movies his brother watches in which "[[{{Gorn}} arms and legs are flying around]]". The author replies, and is presumably channeling the author of the ''book'' here: "That's not scary, that's disgusting!"

** ''Literature/AtlasShrugged'' has [[TropeCodifier the definitive]] Author Filibuster in "This Is John Galt Speaking," where Creator/AynRand gives her protagonist an opportunity to lecture the reader for ''sixty'' pages on end (''eighty'' pages in the paperback edition); since he's [[DoNotAdjustYourSet taken over all channels]], the StrawmanPolitical villains are made to sit through it for three hours of plot time. There are several shorter examples in the same book, such as the sermon explaining that "If money is the root of all evil, then what is the root of all money? Virtue is the only thing that can give money any value. Is virtue the root of all evil?" In an example of artistic license, Ayn Rand, in ''Atlas Shrugged'', claims John Galt's radio monologue is only three hours. No one has ever been able to read, clearly and distinctly, the entire monologue aloud in less than ''six'' hours.

* The 1990-91 ''ComicBook/{{Foolkiller}}'' miniseries, appropriate as it was written by Creator/SteveGerber himself. He considered this his opportunity to really expunge on what the character is all about, especially since he seemed to be little more than a cheesy character (albeit one with a cool name) that most people remember for the Franchise/{{Zorro}}-like outfit and his battle with ComicBook/SpiderMan.

* Oddly enough, the ''ComicBook/{{Doom}}'' comic ([[http://www.doomworld.com/10years/doomcomic/comic.php?page=11 here]]) did this, interrupting the plotless violence with a rant about how radioactive waste is killing the environment. This may well be a parody of the tradition, though, assuming that the comic is a [[StealthParody parody]] to begin with.

[[quoteright:324:[[ComicBook/{{Doom}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nowimradioactivethatcantbegood_9_2.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:324: This is a comic about fighting the legions of hell in space, by the way.]]

* ''Series/KamenRiderSaber'': ''Saber'' is primarily a show about its various heroes navigating TheConspiracy while [[YouAreNotAlone learning to communicate and rely on one another to protect people as a cohesive unit]]. Storytelling is a RecurringElement throughout the show but is heavily-downplayed as device; contributing more to the gimmick rather than being a major plot-point on its own merit. The show's last two episodes reverse this to be a commentary on how [[TropesAreTools originality is relative as long as it's impacting the reader]], complete with an elaborate [[RealLifeWritesThePlot spectacle of real-world people talking about their favorite stories]] via various ImagineSpot[=s=] to fuel [[spoiler: a WorldHealingWave]]. While the message that "[[TropesAreTools originality is not the be-all-end-all of a story's worth]]" [[DontShootTheMessage isn't inherently a bad one]], it's completely separate from what the show's been[[note]]The primary Aesop has been to learn to rely on others and trust your friends, but [[spoiler: Storious' motive to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy the world because his stuff being recorded in the Book Of All means nothing produced can be original]]]] and [[AWorldHalfFull Touma deciding none of that matters as long as a story works]] comes completely out of left field.[[/note]]; so disconnected from the primary themes of ''Saber'' that it feels less like the epilogue to a show about bonds and more like a side-special that diverts from its source-material to [[TakeThat decry fans that want everything to be "original" as people that can't enjoy stories]].

* Rick Remender had Havok give a very controversial speech in ''ComicBook/UncannyAvengers''. Due to the speech's controversial nature, and likely also due to his response to many people who took offense with it (namely, by telling these people to go 'drown in hobo piss'), Remender then stops the plot dead in its tracks for three pages in a later issue, just to have two characters debate the matter. He uses the Scarlet Witch as his AuthorAvatar, with her being portrayed as levelheaded and reasonable, while Rogue, who represents those who don't like the speech, is snippy and blinded by emotion. As you'd guess, the Scarlet Witch is portrayed as being correct, which didn't go over all that well considering Wanda's current position as TheScrappy among many ''X-Men'' fans.

** It has always been a quintessentially British series, and as such is usually penned by authors from the isles. Starting with writer Jamie Delano and including Garth Ennis and Mike Carey, all the authors the series has had usually ended up using the series as a vehicle to criticize and point out the worst aspects of British politics, economics, and popular culture. Many storylines cover UsefulNotes/{{Margaret Thatcher}}'s economic policies and her handling of UsefulNotes/TheFalklandsWar, for example, and the general woes of British society are firmly analyzed and represented as equal or worse than any supernatural threat the protagonist himself faces.

* As Jhonen Vazquez's ''ComicBook/JohnnyTheHomicidalManiac'' went on, more and more text began appearing that dealt with the main character's philosophical doubts, to the point that the panels would usually carry more text than drawings.

* Creator/SteveDitko may have been a master comic book storyteller, but when he did not have a collaborator like Creator/StanLee to restrain him, his comics became notorious for the Objectivist philosophical lectures that dominated his more personal stories. The ''Mr. A'' stories are by far the worst, though ''ComicBook/TheQuestion'' could be just as bad at times.
* The five issues long series ''ComicBook/{{Warrior}}'', a licensed comic about every ProfessionalWrestling fan's favorite crackpot, The Wrestling/UltimateWarrior, is one great big WallOfText after another meant to elucidate the reader on Warrior's bizarre mystical-reactionary philosophy and paint Warrior as UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}. Between the sheer density of the text and the preponderance of made up words (just what in the blue hell is "Destrucity", anyway?),[[note]]The comic actually does provide a definition for the word, but somehow it causes the word to make ''even less'' sense than before.[[/note]] it confused its few readers so badly that both the third and the fourth issues had to open with an explanation of the previous issues (with the recap on the fourth issue being a footnote and unreadable due to being black text on black paper). The one issue this doesn't apply to? The Christmas special, a completely [[NoDialogueEpisode dialogue-less issue]] in which Warrior goes to the North Pole, puts SantaClaus [[{{Squick}} in bondage]], steals his clothes, ''[[spoiler:and possibly rapes him]]''. There's a reason that every wrestling fan on the planet has agreed that the guy is nucking futs. It's bad enough to [[http://www.thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/bt/spoonyone/reviews/7238-warrior1 mess with the space-time continuum!]]
* Matt Fraction's first issue of the ''Invincible ComicBook/IronMan'' comic has young villain supergenius Ezekiel Stane, fresh from his latest round of building and selling [=WMDs=] to genocidal terrorists, stop to spend four pages testing out his latest weaponry on the board of directors of a tobacco company, while delivering a rant on a) the evils of smoking and b) why, despite Ezekiel's long list of crimes against humanity, he is still infinitely morally superior to people who grow and sell tobacco.
* Oddly enough, the [[Comicbook/{{Doom}} Doom comic]] ([[http://www.doomworld.com/10years/doomcomic/comic.php?page=11 here]]) did this too, interrupting the plotless violence with a rant about how radioactive waste is killing the environment. This may well be a parody of the tradition, though, assuming that the comic is a [[StealthParody parody]] to begin with.
* Creator/WarrenEllis' ''ComicBook/{{Transmetropolitan}}'', whose main character's inflammatory news articles, while only sometimes political, and definitely in-character (insofar as Spider is an homage to Creator/HunterSThompson), are too long and detailed to NOT also be the author's viewpoint.

* Creator/GarthEnnis can get into this. While it works in the context of the stories, ComicBook/{{Preacher}} having the protagonists discuss how any God who made the world must be evil, ComicBook/ThePunisher having characters talk about the horrors of war and Comicbook/TheBoys featuring long-winded TakeThat dialogue towards DC and Marvel-style superheroes, there are also random, out of nowhere ones. In Preacher, Cassidy raves at Jesse about his distaste for the word 'insecure'. Comicbook/TheBoys also has a scene where Butcher claims that every straight man is homophobic and anyone pretending otherwise is just lying.
* Rick Remender had Havok give a very controversial speech in ''ComicBook/UncannyAvengers''. Due to the speech's controversial nature, and likely also due to his response to many people who took offense with it (namely, by telling these people to go 'drown in hobo piss'), Remender then stops the plot dead in its tracks for three pages in a later issue, just to have two characters debate the matter. He uses the ComicBook/ScarletWitch as his AuthorAvatar, with her being portrayed as levelheaded and reasonable, while Rogue, who represents those who don't like the speech, is snippy and blinded by emotion. As you'd guess, the Scarlet Witch is portrayed as being correct, which didn't go over all that well considering Wanda's current position as TheScrappy among many ''X-Men'' fans.
** ''ComicBook/AllNewXMen'' by Brian Michael Bendis had Kitty Pryde rant about the subject in response, siding with those who don't like the speech, although she's much more accepting of those who do agree with it.
* The 1990-91 ''ComicBook/{{Foolkiller}}'' miniseries, appropriate as it was written by Steve Gerber himself. He considered this his opportunity to really expunge on what the character is all about. Especially since he seemed to be little more than a cheesy character (albeit, one with a cool name) that most people remember for the Franchise/{{Zorro}}-like outfit and his battle with ComicBook/SpiderMan.
* The last issue of Marvel's ''[[ComicBook/GIJoeARealAmericanHeroMarvel G.I. Joe]]'' series (Issue #155): "A Letter From Snake Eyes". Creator/LarryHama is in full force and pulls no punches as this is the first time we ever get into the mind of the most mysterious Joe of all. Hama, being a former soldier, knows what he's talking about when he says WarIsHell. This is definitely considered one of the better uses of this trope, given the high value of this issue in the collectors market.

* In a 1945 ''ComicStrip/LittleOrphanAnnie'' strip, Annie soliloquizes about the dreadful foster home she's been placed in. She sleeps in the attic, dresses in a cut-down maid's uniform, is allowed no friends or recreation, and has to take every irksome task from serving dinner to shoveling coal -- she is treated as a slave or unpaid servant -- but as she observes, it could be much much worse, because at least she's not in an orphanage "sponging off the taxpayers".

** ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'' is full of long speeches on why war is necessary and the attitudes necessary in being a soldier, as well as sermons on the topic of "spare the rod, spoil the child."

* Literature/SisterhoodSeries by Creator/FernMichaels: Well, this series has gone into this trope a number of times. The book ''Payback'' portrays a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) as the scum of the earth who suck up your money like leeches, use that money to pamper themselves, and will simply stand back and not lift a finger to help you as you die of a life-threatening illness. The book ''Vendetta'' portrays China as a CrapsackWorld that cheerfully brings YellowPeril wherever it goes! The book ''The Jury'' has one character Nikki Quinn tell the other characters about the vicious cycle of abuse between spouses. The book ''Fast Track'' portrays the World Bank (particularly its president) as a money-sucker that will leave poor countries to rot and die. The book ''Under the Radar'' portrays a polygamist sect as a cult made up of the CorruptHick, rapists, and pedophiles hiding behind religion and treating women as a BabyFactory.

** The wild adventures in the ''Literature/CouncilWars'' novels at one point come to a screeching halt as they're sitting around a fire and Edmund explains how humans in the late 20th/early 21st centuries were just so damn silly for believing in a clearly absurd thing like human-caused climate change ([[CriticalResearchFailure while getting the cause of it wrong]]).

** In ''Princess Of Wands'', a hunt for a soul-eating demon is interrupted so that the main character can lecture a StrawLiberal about how awful abortion is and how it should be banned, based on her religious views. China gets cited as a country with "mandatory abortions" that's still overpopulated, [[CriticalResearchFailure ignoring that China's extreme population control measures are the result of its overpopulation, not the cause]], and that the main character is supposed to be Episcopalian, which as a Christian denomination has aligned strongly pro-choice.

* Music/RogerWaters already delivers enough political messages in song or between songs. But in the Us + Them Tour, there's a whole 20 minute intermission with no one on stage (Waters and the band rest, the technicians ready both the flying pig and the elaborate recreation of the ''Music/{{Animals}}'' factory) while the big screen shows messages of resistance against whoever Waters opposes.

* The 1990-91 ''ComicBook/{{Foolkiller}}'' miniseries, appropriate as it was written by Steve Gerber himself. He considered this his opportunity to really expunge on what the character is all about. Especially since he seemed to be little more than a cheesy character (albeit, one with an AwesomeMcCoolName) that most people remember for the Franchise/{{Zorro}}-like outfit and his battle with ComicBook/SpiderMan.

** "The Juice is Loose" spends its entire runtime defending OJ Simpson. In the closing scenes, there's an explanation about how it's wrong to judge others... then it ends with OJ stabbing three people. The same episode has a ''literal'' filibuster, where the writers used up three minutes of their show to... play a Conway Twitty music video. The DVD commentary for that episode gleefully announces that they put the whole thing in there because people would assume that Fox was just not playing ''Family Guy''. They knew how it is inappropriate for the show, and did it just to piss off the people who watch.

* Early in ''Literature/NorthangerAbbey'', Jane Austen takes a few paragraphs to rail about anti-novel snobbery that held novels to be low and trashy.

** [[WebVideo/KingdomHeartsInANutshell Just A Pancake]] does this in his 'in a nutshell' of [[VideoGame/KingdomHearts3dDreamDropDistance Dream Drop Distance]]

--> Pancake: Okay, time out! Who the hell wrote these scripts? I mean, really! Darkness within darkness? Darkness within freaking darkness?!

** One particularly egregious example has an episode defending OJ Simpson and in the closing scenes there's an explanation about how it's wrong to judge others and it ends with OJ stabbing three people. The BrokenAesop infuriated many viewers who felt that they had just had a half hour of time stolen from them.
** A particularly horrifying example of a literal filibuster came from the same episode where they used up 5 minutes of their show playing... a Conway Twitty music video. The DVD commentary for that episode announces gleefully that they put it in for its whole ~5min run because people would assume that Fox was just not playing WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy. They know how it is inappropriate for the show, and put the whole thing in to piss off the people who watch.
** Parodied in ''The Road To Germany'' when Stewie mocks Brian after he said an obvious TakeThat towards the war in Iraq.
** Quagmire's [[{{Hypocrite}} reviled]] TheReasonYouSuckSpeech toward Brian in ''Jerome is the New Black'' seems to be a LampshadeHanging and a calling out of the many times Brian has been used as an author mouthpiece.

** Another episode had Stewie launch into one long and vitriolic tirade about ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', particularly the "Mr. Plow" episode. It didn't make any sense to anything else in the episode (which is quite a feat considering how often the show does that) and came off more as something said out of bitterness and jealousy.