History Main / BothSidesHaveAPoint

* ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'': Inverted by Sabertooth. He considers both Xavier's and Magneto's factions hypocritical for pretending that mutants are oh-so-great, rather than just fallible humans with super-powers.

*** When it comes to the climax, while Steve does admit that he does selfishly want to protect Bucky, he also is correct that Bucky was brainwashed into killing the Starks. Tony acknowledges this when he greets Bucky as "Manchurian Candidate" and when told about the brainwashing, says "I don't care," rather than claiming that Steve is wrong/lying.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid|1989}}'', Ariel and her father King Triton are at odds because of the former's obsession with the surface world. Triton thinks that [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters humans are nothing but savages]], and that his daughter's unhealthy obsession with them is only going to get her killed, while Ariel believes that humanity is a fascinating species and wants to be a part of them. In this instance, Triton is right that humanity can be dangerous, and his hatred of them isn't entirely irrational--the [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaidIIIArielsBeginning prequel]] shows that they [[spoiler: killed his wife]], and are just as destructive due to their fishing. But Ariel is right that her father isn't willing to give humanity a chance simply out of hatred, and her experiences on the surface world show that humans are far from the monsters Triton claims them to be. Ultimately, Triton acknowledges his daughter's points and lets her become human to stay with Prince Eric, but Ariel does come to admit that she was being needlessly reckless in her obsession with the human world, as her actions nearly gave Ursula control of the entire undersea kingdom (and possibly the world itself).

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanUnderTheRedHood'': Batman and Red Hood's conflict stems from deciding the fate of ComicBook/TheJoker, who murdered the latter when he was still Robin. Jason believes that Joker has been a KarmaHoudini for too long, and needs to die for all the destruction and pain he's caused. Batman agrees with him--even admitting he's thought about crossing that line--but for someone who's crusade hinges on [[ThouShallNotKill staying above the villains]] and avoiding [[HeWhoFightsMonsters becoming no worse than those he fights]], he refuses to outright kill him. Jason does admit he understands Batman's code to an extent, but not as far as Joker goes. It's a subjective topic even InUniverse, but both characters make valid arguments.

* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'':

* In ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'', Mike and Sully's initial conflict stems from their different approaches to scaring. Mike believes that it's a matter of proper technique, while Sully prefers simply using his natural skills to scrape by. Unfortunately, neither monster seems to get that it requires both to make a difference. Yes, looking scary is important, but it's useless without the technique behind it. Yes, having a plan is immensely necessary, but it won't work unless you're able to ''be'' scary in the first place. It takes getting kicked out the Scaring Program, expelled from the university, and nearly getting [[spoiler: trapped in the human world]] to get both monsters to realize that they each had a point, and they could utilize their natural strengths to create an unstoppable team.
** The original film, ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'', plays with this. When a human girl gets lost in the monster world, Sully and Mike try to get her back. However, while Sully starts getting attached to this little girl (whom he nicknames Boo), Mike just wants to be rid of her first thing. When the two end up getting banished [[spoiler: thanks to learning of Mr. Waternoose's secret plot]], Mike accuses Sully of ignoring his own feelings in the matter and dismissing his advice, ruining his life and everything he's worked for just because of a kid they were trying to get rid of anyway. He's being a jerk about it, [[JerkassHasAPoint but he's right in some way]], since Sully never considered how this would affect him, and effectively shot their entire career they spent a decade working towards, not to mention it left Mike's relationship with his girlfriend Celia strained (possibly beyond repair), and he can't ever fix things in exile. However, Sully, though acknowledging Mike's point, refuses to stop rescuing Boo, since, like it or not, she's just a kid trapped in a world she doesn't know, and she's the target of a conspiracy [[spoiler: led by Waternoose and Randall, who want to literally suck the scream out of her (which, mind you, would likely [[WouldHurtAChild kill her]]), and then do the same to other kids.]] Even if he's not considering Mike's feelings, Boo is still in serious danger, and it's far from responsible to leave her at the mercy of the villains. Mike tells him he's [[PlotMandatedFriendshipFailure on his own]], but it's only a few minutes later that Mike [[ChangedMyMindKid comes back]] and admits that he was wrong to have refused to help, since his friendship with Sully was what mattered most to him.

* ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'': Upon Chancellor Palpatine's recommendation, Anakin is made a member of the Jedi Council, but not a Jedi Master. He complains about how unfair it was he wasn't getting made a master, but Mace simply tells him to take a seat and leaves it at that. In this case, Anakin's temper tantrum had proven Mace's point that he's not ready for the responsibility being a master entails, given his troubled emotional state, and this gesture was a favor to a man they really don't trust (and have no good reason to [[BigBad considering]]. But Anakin also has legitimate concerns about being asked in return [[spoiler: to spy on the Chancellor, a man he considers to be a friend and father figure.]]

* In ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmericaTowerOfBabel'', when the rest of the League discover that Batman devised plans to defeat them (in the event of them being brainwashed, possessed, or going evil/insane on their own), the team debate about their response to this discovery. Plastic Man, Aquaman and Wonder Woman regard it as a betrayal from someone they trusted while Kyle Rayner, Wally West and J'onn J'onzz acknowledge that Batman's reasons for coming up with the plans in the first place was valid even if they're angry at him for spending months regarding them as test subjects (Superman also voted against Batman's acts, reasoning that Batman could have at least told the others that such plans existed without compromising their effectiveness, but he quits before the vote could be cast, and the rest of the Bat-Family ends up paying the price by being heavily distrusted in the process). Batman is, of course, right to have such plans in place, as all of these members could potentially destroy the entire world if they wanted to (Superman especially, as [[BewareTheSuperman it has been shown time and again]]), so there needs to be some sort of a contingency in place in any event they break bad. Even a few of the heroes agree they have the potentially to cause trouble in any circumstances, so said plans may be needed in that case. However, the League has every right to be angry at him, since Batman could have told them about the plans without necessarily spilling the details as to how they could be implemented, as he effectively used his friends as his own personal guinea pigs without their consent. Well-intentioned or not, he blatantly violated their trust.
* In ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'', Superman and his crew are right that the anti-heroes have become too bloodthirsty and overzealous, blurring the binary of hero and villain, losing track of concepts like collateral damage and simply not caring about the people not on their power level. ''But'' the anti-heroes are also right in their belief that simply beating up supervillains and tossing them in jail is a temporary solution at best and useless at worst because of JokerImmunity and that more violent action is the only counter to the less-restrained villains.

* In the ComicBook/XMen ''Schism'' event, which leads to the second volume of ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen'' and to ''ComicBook/WolverineAndTheXMenMarvelComics'', both Cyclops ''and'' Wolverine have valid points:

** This can also be used for the initial conflict between Xavier and Magneto. Xavier goes the democratic route, hoping for peace, but the amount of destructive mutants in the world tends to over rule peace talks. Although Magneto does go overboard sometimes (killing innocents, trying to destroy the world, bad stuff), he has a point that a war between mutants and humans was always going to happen. Any time things look like they'll get better, a shady government agency or the Sentinels or a random human faction will come along and murder a bunch of mutants. Mutants that aren't ready to fight will most surely die. This is one of the reasons he joins Cyclops after Schism.

* ''WesternAnimation/Cars1'': Lightning [=McQueen=], an arrogant rookie race car, gets lost in the small town of Radiator Springs on his way to the Los Angeles International Speedway for his final race of the season, and is ordered by Judge Doc Hudson to repair the damage he caused during his arrival. [=McQueen=], being a {{Narcissist}} with an ItsAllAboutMe attitude and a big {{Jerkass}} personality to the rest of the townsfolk, half-asses it and is forced to stay longer when he loses a race to Doc. While staying around, he learns that Doc used to be [[spoiler: the famous Fabulous Hudson Hornet, a three-time Piston Cup Champion racer.]] Doc, naturally, wants Lightning to put a lid on it, but as he sees the old car [[spoiler: test out his racing skills]], he confronts him on why he quit. It turns out, [[spoiler: he ''didn't'' quit. He was forced into retirement after a big wreck, and had spent the last several years living in Radiator Springs, with no one knowing of his old life.]] Doc is quick to call out Lightning on his attitude and how his LackOfEmpathy for others has made him uncaring towards the plight of the struggling townsfolk. Lightning quickly retorts that they don't know who Doc really is, but he does have a bit of a JerkassRealization and is quick to change his attitude by [[spoiler: staying in town an extra day and giving the folks some much needed business, and even fixing the neon signs for them]]. Yet Doc [[spoiler: calls the racing network to tell them where Lightning is so he can shoo him out]], at which point Sally [[WhatTheHellHero calls him out on it]]. At this point, he has a HeelRealization and [[spoiler: takes Mater, Fillmore, Luigi, and Guido to the LA Speedway to serve as Lightning's pit crew, complete with his old Hudson Hornet decor]].

* ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'': Upon Chancellor Palpatine's recommendation, Anakin is made a member of the Jedi Council, but not a Jedi Master. He complains about how unfair it was he wasn't getting made a master, but Mace simply tells him to take a seat and leaves it at that. In this case, Anakin had proven Mace's point that he's not ready for the responsibility being a master entails, given his troubled emotional state, and this gesture was a favor to a man they really don't trust (and have no good reason to [[BigBad considering]]. But Anakin also has legitimate concerns about being asked in return [[spoiler: to spy on the Chancellor, a man he considers to be a friend and father figure.]]

* ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2'': Harry Osborn is suffering from a terminal disease, and wants Spider-Man's blood, believing it to be his only hope of survival; however, Spider-Man refuses, believing it might harm or kill him, or even turn Harry into a monster like the Lizard. While Spidey makes a valid point, Harry also does when he points out to Spidey that he's already dying, so he's got nothing to lose either way. Spider-Man still refuses, resulting in [[spoiler: Harry's transformation into the Green Goblin and the subsequent death of Gwen Stacy after Harry subsequently turns to other means of curing himself in his desperation and eventually chooses to perform the latter action after discovering the truth about Spider-Man being his friend Peter so as to spite him for said earlier refusal to help him by giving him his blood.]]
* ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' and ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' ultimately plays with this trope in regards to Thanos and the Avengers, who come into conflict over the former's desire to use the six Infinity Stones to wipe out half the universe, convinced it's the only way to save everyone from a devastating overpopulation crisis like the one that decimated his home planet. The thing is, not a single one of the heroes disputes Thanos's reasoning; in fact, not once do they question the validity of having too many people and not enough resources, seeing as Earth (and undoubtedly many other planets), experiences the same issues daily. What they do dispute is his methods in solving that crisis, given that he's committing universal ''genocide''. Ultimately, [[spoiler: he wins, but his methods prove to have left devastating physical and psychological effects on the survivors, including governmental collapse, mass displacement, a rise in crime, and many other societal issues that rose out of having the planet's population get halved almost instantly, proving the Avengers correct that Thanos was not right in the way he pursued his course of action. He is only right that with less of a population, there's not as many people to feed, and it's shown to have a ''small'' impact on the environment, but the much more lasting damage he implements proves him utterly wrong. Then, when the team tries to undo the damage and ends up encountering a past version of Thanos in the process, he subverts his entire point of view by showing he's a NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist who is willing to ''wipe out the entire universe'' when they show ingratitude for what he did, intending to rewrite all of reality to his own personal whims, proving the Avengers as being utterly right.]]

* ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'':
** Tony believes that the Avengers need to be accountable for their actions, while Steve believes that the heroes themselves are the best ones to make judgement calls. Their experiences in previous films both lend credence to their points of view:
*** Tony's cavalier attitude towards his tech has led to horrible consequences (such as Ultron's creation), while Steve has encountered corrupt and incompetent government officials who've made situations worse.
*** What it comes down to is that while the heroes ''might'' not be the best ones to make a judgement call, how can they be sure that anyone they hand the responsibility to would be better? Why would the whole world put their lives in a bunch of misfits?
** On a more personal level, they make several questionable decisions in how they handle the conflict. They ''do'', however, raise several valid points. From Iron Man:
*** He's hounded by the [[spoiler:captured Anti-Accord team for arresting them and sending them to a HellholePrison. While they are indeed given very dubious treatment, Stark points out that he was just doing his duty (as he is under a lot of government pressure), and that the Anti-Accord side should have known what they risked when they aided a known felon]].
*** Likewise, Cap tears into Tony for keeping Wanda under what is essentially house arrest without even telling her, and while Tony's motivations and right to make that call are left dubious, he is right when he says Wanda ''really'' isn't safe among the masses right now. Later properties such as ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', and ''Series/WandaVision'' also prove Tony's point that Wanda is a very big danger not just to herself, but also to the world at large, considering the kind of powers she possesses.
*** Lastly, while Tony could be seen as irresponsible in bringing Spider-Man, who's still an inexperienced teenager, into the conflict, his orders were for Peter to keep his distance and just web up opponents without becoming involved, which Peter promptly ignores. His first scene even depicts him being guilt-shamed by the mother of a Sokovian victim and he presents this to the Avengers as why he thinks they, himself included, need to be kept in check. Tony doesn't start acting irrational until [[MagnificentBastard Zemo's]] schemes ruin any chance of reconciliation between the two sides.
*** At the climax, [[spoiler:Tony is completely right that Bucky killed Tony's parents and Steve at least suspected it and never told him about it. Steve tells the truth when questioned and later apologizes to Tony for lying.]]
** From Captain America:
*** He seemingly takes the accusations of collateral damage very lightly, but he ''does'' make a valid point saying things would be much, ''much'' worse if the Avengers didn't do anything at all (specifically, the human race would've been conquered by Thanos or HYDRA, or driven extinct by Ultron, either of which is overwhelmingly worse than the collateral damage caused by the Avengers in stopping these from happening).
*** While he may be borderline unreasonable in his desire not to sign the accords (it should be noted that Steve was willing to compromise up until he heard about the situation with Wanda's house arrest), he points out those agreements would turn the Avengers into a bunch of glorified attack dogs, which would only allow him to help people selectively,[[note]]the UN, being a politically driven government body that are not known for having a good track record when it comes to interventionism, renders the very likely possibility that any regulation of the Avengers' activities could and possibly would be used to forward a political agenda rather than help people, which is the Avengers' primary focus and the main reason they were formed in the first place[[/note]] to say nothing of how easily groups like HYDRA or other villains, [[spoiler:such as the villain of this very movie,]] have repeatedly been able to insert themselves into government groups like this in the past.
*** Additionally, the way the government officials act throughout the film (sending the police after Bucky, who's only a suspect based on circumstantial evidence, with shoot-to-kill orders, refusing to adhere to Steve, Sam, and Bucky's right to legal representation after they're brought in, and [[spoiler:refusing to release the captured Team Cap members and go after Zemo when it's definitively proven he was responsible for the bombing]]) shows that putting them in control of the Avengers would not be the best idea.
*** He also gets a lot of flak for dragging all the other Anti-Accord heroes in his quest to help Bucky, disregarding the fact that each and every one of them made the decision to help Cap themselves, with several of them having their own personal motivations for assisting Cap.
*** When it comes to the climax, [[spoiler:while Steve does admit that he does selfishly want to protect Bucky, he also is correct that Bucky was brainwashed into killing the Starks. Tony acknowledges this when he greets Bucky as "Manchurian Candidate" and when told about the brainwashing, says "I don't care," rather than claiming that Steve is wrong/lying.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthParkJoiningThePanderverse'': The special's two central characters: Eric Cartman and Kathleen Kennedy, are both portrayed as very flawed and going about the wrong way to deliver/deal with criticism. Cartman mostly wrote out of hateful bigotry with very little constructive criticism. Meanwhile Kennedy responded impulsively to Cartman's hate mail instead of ignoring it and ends up taking the easy solution of using the Panderstone. After an argument between the two, they eventually concede that, despite their errors, both of them had a point. Cartman, after learning that his actions only made things worse, admits that it was wrong and lazy of him to deliver purely vitriolic and hateful feedback rather than any helpful criticism. Kennedy, meanwhile, learns that progress should be fought for the hard way without shortcuts and that a work's quality and writing should not suffer for the sake of inclusion and diversity. By the episode's end, the two are on friendly terms.

* ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'': As presented in the titular conflict (with further expansion being founded upon in the film's expanded cut), both Batman and Superman distrust each other due to their methods of heroism. The Dark Knight finds the Man of Steel to be a very powerful and extremely dangerous being who could potentially wipe out all of humanity on a whim (as ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'' demonstrates in the [[spoiler: Knightmare Sequence, where a brainwashed Superman has reduced Earth to a wasteland on Darkseid's behalf]], and his destructive actions in ''Film/ManOfSteel'' are further proof of the danger he possibly presents (with the implication that ItsPersonal due to Bruce having lost several of his employees at Wayne Enterprises' Metropolis offices the day of the attack). At the same time, Superman feels that Batman is a danger for taking the law into his own hands, notably branding criminals for death at the hands of their fellow inmates, and having fallen from Gotham's savior to [[HeWhoFightsMonsters a man on the edge of being no better than those he fights]]. Both heroes come to acknowledge the other's point of views when Batman realizes Superman is not the threat he perceives to be, taking efforts to be better [[spoiler: when Superman dies battling Doomsday]], and finds new motivation in the aftermath (guilt for the role he played in [[spoiler: Superman's death]] in ''Film/JusticeLeague2017'', and becoming more hopeful in ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague''), while Superman strives to be better [[spoiler: following his resurrection]] in both cuts of the film, becoming the symbol of hope he was meant to always be.

* ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' and ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' ultimately plays with this trope in regards to Thanos and the Avengers, who come into conflict over the former's desire to use the six Infinity Stones to wipe out half the universe, convinced it's the only way to save everyone from a devastating overpopulation crisis like the one that decimated his home planet. The thing is, not a single one of the heroes disputes Thanos's reasoning; in fact, not once do they question the validity of having too many people and not enough resources, seeing as Earth (and undoubtedly many other planets, experience the same issues daily). What they do dispute is his methods in solving that crisis, given that he's committing universal ''genocide''. Ultimately, [[spoiler: he wins, but his methods prove to have left devastating physical and psychological effects on the survivors, including governmental collapse, mass displacement, a rise in crime, and many other societal issues that rose out of having the planet's population get halved almost instantly, proving the Avengers correct that Thanos was not right in the way he pursued his course of action. He is only right that with less of a population, there's not as many people to feed, and it's shown to have a ''small'' impact on the environment, but the much more lasting damage he implements proves him utterly wrong. Then, when the team tries to undo the damage and ends up encountering a past version of Thanos in the process, he subverts his entire point of view by showing he's a NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist who is willing to ''wipe out the entire universe'' when they show ingratitude for what he did, intending to rewrite all of reality to his own personal whims, proving the Avengers as being utterly right.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'': Rémy admits that he and his dad have different viewpoints on the food they take from humans and he can understand Django's perspective. Django says that taking garbage is better than risking their lives in the kitchen. His reasoning is that humans throw out garbage rather than protect it personally, and they don't have a chance to be picky what with the world wanting to kill them. To really strike his point home, he shows Rémy a ratcatcher shop where rodent bodies are mounted in the window, saying that it's why rats need to keep a low profile. Rémy believes, on the other hand, that it's stealing because humans often make things rather than take them, and he wants to earn his way to a good meal rather than stay a scrounger. He tells his dad that what they put into their bodies and minds has an impact and they have a choice to do better. What's more, the only way to move past being a body display for a ratcatcher is to fight for change, and be willing to risk your life for it. They come to a compromise at the end; Django sees Linguini standing up for Rémy and realizes that not all humans are bad, agreeing to help his son in the kitchen. Rémy in turn admits that his dad may have been right when their entire family's presence at Gusteau's gets the restaurant closed, that sometimes having a low profile is pragmatic. The rats at the new Ratatouille restaurant are proper patrons, paying for their food, but staying hidden from the human populace. Django also admits he's proud of Rémy for sticking to his guns.
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthParkJoiningThePanderverse'': The special's two central characters: Eric Cartman and Kathleen Kennedy, are both portrayed as very flawed and going about the wrong way to deliver/deal with criticism. Cartman mostly wrote out of hateful bigotry with very little constructive criticism. Meanwhile Kennedy responded impulsively to Cartman's hate mail instead of ignoring it and ends up taking the easy solution of using the Panderstone. After an argument between the two, they eventually concede that, despite their errors, both of them had a point. Cartman, after learning that his actions only worsened things, admits that it was wrong and lazy of him to deliver purely vitriolic and hateful feedback rather than any helpful criticism. Kennedy learns that progress should be fought the hard way without shortcuts and that work's quality and writing should not suffer for the sake of inclusion and diversity. By the episode's end, the two are on friendly terms.

* This is largely how ''WebVideo/InternetHistorian'' ultimately felt about the drama surrounding the utterly disastrous launch of ''VideoGame/NoMansSky''. On one hand he feels that fans went ''way'' too far in attacking the developers and accusing them of lying or being conmen, that the hype for the game was far too high, and he even defends the lead developer for simply being an introverted poor public speaker rather than one who deliberately lied. On the other hand, he ''does'' talk about the things the developers actually were dishonest about, like the demo world being randomly generated (it wasn't) or that it was possible to encounter other players in the world (it wasn't), and points out that some of the fans' complaints about the game were justified and that the dishonest things they did fuelled a lot of the more extreme accusations about the crew who made the game.