History Main / CluelessAesop

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

** In retrospect, Mikhail Rasputin's quasi-introduction falls into this category by FridgeLogic--Peter Corbeau compares his death to the real-life Apollo 1 fire... except that it was later revealed that Mikhail hadn't actually died, but had been sent to another dimension, gone insane, and come back as a supervillain. Addressing real-life disasters is hard in a comic that's so big on bringing people BackFromTheDead.

* Dan Olson of ''WebVideo/FoldingIdeas'' discusses this in his video on WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic's infamous review of the 1982 film adaptation of Music/PinkFloyd's ''Music/TheWall''. One of his major critiques of the review is that Creator/DougWalker simply doesn't have the capacity to convey any meaningful message about the film. He suggests this to be a mixture of Doug's lack of apparent research into the film and its history, leading to a lot of mistakes that come off as ShallowParody at best, his personal unwillingness to think or engage deeply with challenging works beyond a surface level, his CausticCritic AccentuateTheNegative style being well-suited to ripping apart low-quality kids movies but a poor fit for a deeply personal arthouse film, and the review itself being overall incoherent due to an overdose of skits and random asides. This causes the ultimate message of "I liked it fine" or the claims of it being a love letter to the band to come off as hollow.

* Dan Olson of ''WebVideo/FoldingIdeas'' discusses this in his video on the WebVideo/NostalgiaCritic's infamous review of the 1982 film adaptation of Music/PinkFloyd's ''Music/TheWall''. One of his major critiques of the review is that Creator/DougWalker simply doesn't have the capacity to convey any meaningful message about the film. He suggests this to be a mixture of Doug's lack of apparent research into the film and its history, leading to a lot of mistakes that come off as ShallowParody at best, his personal unwillingness to think or engage deeply with challenging works beyond a surface level, his CausticCritic AccentuateTheNegative style being well-suited to ripping apart low-quality kids movies but a poor fit for a deeply personal arthouse film, and the review itself being overall incoherent due to an overdose of skits and random asides. This causes the ultimate message of "I liked it fine" or the claims of it being a love letter to the band to come off as hollow.

** The series's portrayal of Purebloods' prejudice toward Muggle-borns has been criticized for grossly misrepresenting how racism ''actually'' manifests in the real world. Muggle-borns are often treated with contempt for their non-magical ancestry due to a widely held belief that people of pure magical ancestry are naturally more gifted in magic, which the series portrays as wrong. But the series's entire premise also hinges on the belief that wizards and Muggles are [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything incapable of peacefully coexisting in one society because they're too different from each other]], which the series portrays as correct. In effect: discrimination against Muggle-borns is only really portrayed as wrong because Purebloods and Muggle-borns are functionally ''identical'' to each other apart from their ancestry--unlike wizards and Muggles, who actually '''are''' different from each other. This gets particularly uncomfortable when you consider how much pressure RealLife people from marginalized ethnic groups face to assimilate into the dominant culture of the societies where they live; by going out of its way to emphasize that Muggle-borns don't deserve persecution because they're not ''really'' different from other wizards, the series seemingly implies that [[TheWhitestBlackGuy they deserve sympathy for having abandoned their Muggle roots and fully assimilated into the Wizarding World]] (indeed, none of the Muggle-borns in the series seem to have any kind of attachment to the Muggle world that they left behind). Long story short: it's hard for a series to competently convey an anti-racist message while also presenting a more-or-less completely sympathetic portrayal of a segregated society.

* ''Webcomic/CtrlAltDel'' infamously attempted to do a serious story arc about one of the main characters suffering a miscarriage. In a goofy TwoGamersOnACouch comic that features things like a holiday called "Wintereenmas" and a robot made out of several UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}}es. Needless to say, this is not an environment conducive to a serious discussion about the impact of miscarriage on people's lives, and there is definitely a reason the majority of people [[ParodyDisplacement only know this comic]] as the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loss_(comic) Loss meme]] it spawned.

** "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS7E17EyeOfTheBeholder Eye of the Beholder]]" The episode is a bizarre and curiously awkward attempt at an anti-suicide PSA, but they botch it by trying to have it both ways. The first act treats the suicide of a RedShirt completely seriously, exploring the fact that the crewman had no logical reason to feel unhappy and showed no external signs of being sad. It's fairly effective and true to life. But then it undermines the message by revealing that it was all the result of PsychicPowers gone awry. The fact that the setting is an enlightened {{Utopia}} makes it difficult for the show to portray characters with serious mental issues, and even if it weren't an enlightened utopia, the show is sci-fi, so having it be normal depression wouldn't fit with the genre.

* ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'' [[VerySpecialEpisode "To Catch a Falling Star"]] features an actress named Jennifer Nocturne develop Stockholm Syndrome towards [[FakeUltimateHero Captain Nemesis]], somebody who had previously captured her and tried to kill her. It develops to the point where she's willing to aid him in escaping prison and committing mass murder. The episode heavily discusses the dangers of Stockholm Syndrome and how unhealthy the mindset is. The problem? WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce had Gwen develop feelings for, and eventually start a relationship with Kevin Levin, somebody who regularly tried to kill her, Ben, and Max in the [[WesternAnimation/Ben10 original series]], with Gwen even being taken hostage by Kevin in the Season 2 finale. However, unlike Jennifer and Nemesis, Gwen and Kevin's relationship is portrayed positively. While the series would eventually reveal that Kevin's prior villainy had been the result of his species going crazy when absorbing energy, Gwen was not aware of this when she began dating Kevin. Furthermore, while Kevin has legitimately turned over a new leaf, that doesn't change the fact he is still a dangerous individual at risk of turning psychotic at any time, having even had a relapse into villainy the prior season, which, yes, included an assault on Gwen to drain her powers. [[WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse The next series]] would double the unfortunate implications by revealing Gwen had developed her crush at age 11, back when Kevin was still a criminal. The fact that this is the only episode of "Ultimate Alien" to lack an appearance from Kevin suggests that the writers were even subconsciously aware their prior StrangledByTheRedString made it impossible for the franchise to properly tackle this issue.

** According to Creator/JKRowling, the idea behind the House Elves and Hermione's attempts to help them was to satirize WhiteMansBurden-esque activism, where well-meaning people from a more privileged group are so determined to help others in a less privileged group that [[OpinionOverride they ignore what the people they're trying to help actually want]]. Not only was this such a fantastical allegory most didn't pick up that Aesop, but the House Elves are effectively a SlaveRace whose HappinessInSlavery portrayal is identical to how many real-life slaves in the past were portrayed by their owners as an excuse to justify owning slaves. There's also evidence that, as in real-life, [[ConditionedToAcceptHorror their "enjoyment" of servitude is forced]], as they're psychologically conditioned to [[SelfHarm physically punish themselves severely]] if they fail a task or disobey their masters. The closest the series comes close to decrying the whole system of House Elf slavery is that [[GoldenMeanFallacy it's wrong to enslave them if you're an abusive master, not that it's wrong to enslave them at all]], which fails when ''Deathly Hallows'' reveals even a loving and well-meaning master can accidentally lock an elf in an infinite loop of failure and self-punishment by incautiously giving them an impossible order. That the closest real-life equivalent to this issue is something that we would be completely justified in opposing shows how unsuitable the Aesop is for the setting.

* ''WesternAnimation/SevenLittleMonsters'': The SwearWordPlot episode "The Bad Word" has Mama explain to Two after he learned the bad word from a careless construction worker that bad words should never be spoken, but her phrasing is extremely vague and disregards that most adults who swear in real life don't particularly care if what they say could upset whoever is around to hear them.

** In general, if not done well the metaphor of mutants representing various oppressed groups victimised by those in power can quickly start to fall apart when you remember that, unlike the members of the real-world oppressed groups they're used to represent, many mutants often have dangerous superpowers that non-mutants, and many other mutants, would have legitimate reasons to be concerned about and would want to have their powers removed/erased.

* ''Fanfic/SuperSmashBrothersGuardiansArise'', a fanfic based on the popular game about [[MascotFighter characters from various video games duking it out in a party fighter environment]] inserts themes such as [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil slavery]] and [[FinalSolution genocide]], both of which would have been dealt with in far more serious fanfiction, but it uses ''Smash'' as the medium to tell the story. Not to mention that it was originally a [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids K-rated story]]. The slavery theme becomes even more apparent when, [[spoiler: after the final battle against Tabuu, it depicts a group of slaves revolting against Primids led by a man named [[Literature/UncleTomsCabin Tom]], homaging the work of classic literature...in a fanfic about a crossover between video game characters]]. Not to mention that while the BigBad did commit genocide on various other races, some of the titular Guardians had a part in it.

* ''Film/IAccuseMyParents'': Not one but two Aesops without a clue:
** Teaching parents to pay more attention to their kids than their booze? Not a bad idea. Teaching them to do so by showing a young man time and again making completely stupid decisions to the point where he goes on the run from the mob and gets charged for manslaughter... ''despite none of that having anything to do with his drunk parents?'' Sure, maybe if they'd paid more attention to him, he might not have gotten away with all those choices, but Jimmy makes so many stupid decisions that it's hard to believe bad parenting alone was the problem.
** The dedication at the end says that the movie was sent to entertain the UsefulNotes/YanksWithTanks overseas (it was [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII 1944]]). Let's see: a film where a kid goes completely off the rails due to his parent's absence is shown to a large group of young forced-to-be-absent fathers, some of whom might never come home. Brilliant!

** In "Jessie's Song", Jessie becomes addicted to simple over-the-counter caffeine pills. This is fairly realistic, as caffeine is indeed addictive. However, while the withdrawal is minor and usually limited to headaches and irritability, the show treats her reaction as if she were taking cocaine, and she is shown developing a dire, uncontrollable, terrifying craving for what is essentially just Starbucks in pill form. It's clear that the writers wanted to include a drug episode, but didn't want any of the characters using actual illegal substances, and the overall message kind of falls flat given the substance in question.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Minoriteam}}'': This is arguably the main problem with the series. Basically, the series is trying to [[PrejudiceAesop talk about racism]]. However, the presentation is so garbled that it can be unclear what the actual point is supposed to be. For a specific example, "El Dia Gigante" is about how El Jefe's dad, El Yo, views El Jefe as promoting negative stereotypes of Mexican culture. Given the fact El Jefe is a combination of various Mexican stereotypes by design, you think the story would take El Yo's side. However, he unleashes a Main/{{Kaiju}} on the city to [[DisproportionateRetribution kill people for praising El Jefe]] and attempts to murder Fasto and Jewcano. This seems to suggest we aren't supposed to agree with him. So, this just begs the question of [[LostAesop what the story is trying convey]].

* The pedophilia awareness PSA ''Film/TrickyPeople'' made an admirable attempt to be serious and would have actually been pretty effective... had the creators not decided to include the ridiculously cartoony Barney-esque character of Yello Dyno. And if that wasn't enough, they give the evil pedophile a wacky, bumbling sidekick, who provides PluckyComicRelief.

** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS29E15NoGoodReadGoesUnpunished No Good Read Goes Unpunished]]" was harshly criticized as being a petty response to the criticisms brought up by the documentary ''The Problem With Apu'', as Marge discovers a favorite book from her childhood, ''The Princess in the Garden'', but is alarmed at its ValuesDissonance as seen through adult eyes, culminating with a scene where [[AuthorAvatar Lisa]] [[BreakingTheFourthWall addresses the audience]], [[AuthorTract saying "Something that started decades ago and was applauded and inoffensive, is now politically incorrect. What can you do?"]]. [[https://www.npr.org/2018/04/09/600794630/the-simpsons-to-the-problem-with-apu-drop-dead NPR in particular]] argued that the comparisons between ''The Princess in the Garden'' and ''The Simpsons'' itself don't mesh because: 1.) Apu ''isn't'' the main character of the show (to whit, he isn't even featured in the episode itself beyond a picture in Lisa's room); 2.) the thought that the writers can't change characters without drastically altering the show itself flies of the face of [[CharacterDevelopment several developments the show's made over the years]], e.g. Lisa adopting both vegetarianism and Buddhism; and 3.) ''The Simpsons'' isn't a long-forgotten work, it's an ''ongoing'' work with episodes made year after year. To make matters even worse, Creator/HankAzaria, who played Apu, said in an interview he hadn't known about that scene till he saw the premiere and [[CreatorBacklash he was disappointed at how dismissive the show was about those criticisms]].

* The innumerable "Don't drink and drive" PSA's, while (usually) understood by adults, were often this to kids who saw them. The problem is that they rarely, if ever specify that you're not supposed to drink ''alcohol'' when driving. As such, a lot of kids thought they meant you couldn't drink ''anything'' while driving. This site Iusedtobelieve.com (about weird and/or funny things people believed as kids) has an [[https://www.iusedtobelieve.com/transport/cars/drink_driving/ entire section]] about this misconception, including people who thought things like that they were going to die due to their bus driver [[ComicallyMissingThePoint drinking coffee while driving them to school in the morning.]]

* ''Webcomic/IWillSurvive'' is an abortion-themed comic based on ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'', the Disney family-friendly film about a WorldOfFunnyAnimals. While ''Zootopia'' deals with serious issues such as racism, stereotyping, political/social unrest, and bullying, [[DarkFic abortion is on a completely different level]]. To make matters worse, the main point of the comic wasn't about abortion; it was to show that even a FanPreferredCouple could break up in the wrong circumstances. By using a controversial topic like abortion as said circumstance, and depicting Nick's pro-life view as having the upper hand in the argument, readers missed that point entirely and saw the comic as an anti-abortion AuthorTract. The comic's creator later clarified his intentions, but it didn't help much. Later comics went into full-on FilibusterFreefall, featuring Judy dying in similar circumstances to American president UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy's assassination, with both a strawman conservative and strawman liberal [[WhoShotJFK attempting to claim credit]].