History Main / CluelessAesop

* ''Film/TheTrumpProphecy'' takes great pains to portray Creator/DonaldTrump becoming president as a good thing because... because God said so. While the movie uses footage and audio from his 2016 presidential campaign, it conspicuously leaves out any of the actual policies or positions that Trump ran on.

* Parodied in ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' when Gob sings a tone-deaf ([[{{Pun}} in every sense of the word]]) duet with a black puppet named Franklin about racism. Even more HilariousInHindsight if you've heard "Accidental Racist", a song with a similar concept which doesn't handle the issue much more gracefully but is played entirely straight.

** In 4x18 "Shooting Star", they have a school shooting... but the gun going off is entirely accidental and doesn't hurt anyone, and a teacher covers for the student at fault. So there are no actual consequences for the student who brings a gun to school and causes gunshots and terrifies the entire student body and faculty.
** There's also ''Glee'''s harmful portrayal of eating disorders in season 4. [[http://web.archive.org/web/20160305052803/http://proud2bme.org/node/510 As Catherine Weingarten says]], "Marley was convinced to become bulimic to avoid becoming like her [morbidly obese] mother. The mean girl Kitty easily convinces Marley that in order to play the part of “Sandy” in ''Grease'' she has to look a certain way. Marley does not even seem to understand that Kitty is getting her to experiment with dangerous eating disorder behavior. So Marley becomes fully bulimic and later even passes out during sectionals, which prompts everyone in Glee club to hate her. There is so much misinformation here about how one gets an eating disorder and the seriousness of eating disorders. ''Glee'' makes eating disorders seem campy and not very serious. We are supposed to be annoyed by Marley and not even care when she passes out at sectionals." There is also Liana Rosenman who wrote, "It is really dangerous [for ''Glee''] not to include a public service announcement of the dangers of eating disorders." and "Marley has an eating disorder for two days and then magically recovers. That is far from the truth. I struggled with anorexia for five years." Other people have published similar sentiments: "One topic ''Glee'' has failed horribly at covering is eating disorders. Eating disorders are often life threatening and last night's episode of ''Glee'' made it nothing short of a joke."

* Parodied in a series of ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' sketches; a group of high school students try to shed light on important issues through an [[TrueArtIsAngsty angsty]] theater production. There's one problem, though: the students are too preachy, pretentious, and focused on making the performance edgy to ''properly convey the message''. In one of the sketches, for example, the students sing a song about "who ''really'' runs the world". They then proceed to take the chorus of Music/{{Beyonce}}'s "Run the World" and replace every instance of "girls" with "whites". Creator/KenanThompson then points out what's wrong with this:

** Also the episode that dealt with the dangers of drinking-and-driving. Now, this subject unfortunately isn't that far removed from real-life high schools (not that Bayside could be considered entirely realistic), but the presentation is questionable. Bottom line, Zack and friends get found out because they keep telling different cover stories and get left with a lot of holes to plug. It's as if the intended lesson was "If you're going to lie, keep your story straight so you don't get caught."

* ''Series/ThisMorning'', an ITV programme, [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4252680/This-Morning-s-Phillip-Schofield-brought-tears.html attempted to discuss the issue of cyberbullying,]] but every time they try and tackle this issue they are accused of [[StopBeingStereotypical relying on stereotypes]], or ignoring the more complex cultural and social reasons behind this, mixing it with NewMediaAreEvil and ''then'' trying to [[ScareEmStraight scare the audience]] and make people [[MediaScaremongering overly paranoid about social media]]. [[{{Irony}} Especially as the show]] ''relies'' on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, it overlaps with BrokenAesop too. However, it would be safe to say that this show clearly ''cannot'' handle any Aesops relating to this topic.
* A Canadian children's program once tried to tackle the serious subject of alcoholism and [[BerserkButton Intermittent Explosive Disorder]]. That show was ''Series/TodaysSpecial''... And for maximum childhood-destroying effect, the IED-prone alcoholic was played by Gerry Parkes, better known as none other than kindly old Doc from ''Series/FraggleRock''!

* The Creator/DisneyChannel [[VerySpecialEpisode Special Presentation]], ''Franchise/WinnieThePooh: [[http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Too_Smart_for_Strangers Too Smart for Strangers.]]'' Seeing the residents of the Hundred Acre Wood dole out advice to the kiddies on how to avoid being kidnapped and molested is pretty questionable in itself, because Winnie the Pooh and his friends shouldn't be aware of stuff like that due to the innocence of their world and the fact that their leader is six years old. Even more surreal; instead of using the animated characters, they chose to use the costumed characters from the show ''Series/WelcomeToPoohCorner'' which makes the whole thing seem generally creepy. The fact child safety experts have since [[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/stranger-danger-lesson-does-more-harm-than-good-warns-charity-10280789.html largely dismissed]] [[TooSmartForStrangers its intended message]] as overly simplistic, [[JustForFun/TelevisionIsTryingToKillUs dangerously naïve]] ParanoiaFuel with the potential to put children in more danger,[[labelnote:Why?]]The vast majority of victims of kidnapping and child abuse ''know and trust their abuser'', rendering the very premise of Stranger Danger nonsensical. Abusers tend to be authority figures such as [[EvilTeacher teachers]] who a child would trust without question absent any obvious reason not to or [[CreepyUncle relatives]] who would have particularly easy access to the child, neither of which could reasonably be considered a stranger; even in the case of [[DepravedKidsShowHost celebrities]], none of the children Creator/JimmySavile abused would have considered him a stranger. In addition, Stranger Danger lessons—albeit not this particular one—often fail to make exceptions for people who are blatantly trustworthy, which ''has'' caused lost children to avoid rescuers for fear of being kidnapped[[/labelnote]] leading to it being [[DiscreditedTrope downplayed]] in favor of the more nuanced Tricky People, doesn't help one bit.

* City High's "What Would You Do?" is a charming, upbeat, top 40 pop song... about not judging strippers. Sounds harmless in theory, but the bubbly pop beat can't carry the serious message. The male narrator finds out that his childhood friend is a runaway ParentalIncest victim who turned to stripping to feed her baby boy, and [[MoodDissonance cheerfully accuses her]] of just being a lazy party animal who makes excuses for why she doesn't have her life together. Any other sane reaction would have utterly ruined the happy pop vibe. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceYjUymR-wo The cover by Bastille]] works a lot better by stripping down (no pun intended) the beat, portraying the male narrator as clearly in the wrong during his rant, and making the message of the song way more sincere.

* ''Podcast/MomCantCook'': {{Discussed|Trope}} in the episode on ''Film/TheLuckOfTheIrish'', a film which attempts to cover themes of immigration and identity in modern America. Andy and Luke agree that it fails to do so, on account of it being a comedy film aimed at children, and drawing heavily on Irish stereotypes.

* ''Series/SesameStreet'' had two episodes about divorce. However, the first went over terribly in part because it not only showed the aftermath of the divorce, but the parents going through with it as well —- kids were just too upset by it, and when they realized that there was ''no way'' they could present the issue well, they scrapped the episode, swallowing the cost. A good couple decades later, they made another storyline about Abby Cadabby having divorced parents. They showed her as happy and the divorce as having happened in the past. While it didn't go on the regular show, it's available as a resource for divorcing parents and has been shown to go over much better with children.
** They did handle it in a good way before this, sort of. Before they conceived—and scrapped—the "Snuffy's parents get a divorce" storyline, they gave us [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrjNQo0YDic&ab_channel=SesameStreet this little song,]] with a little bird explaining that her parents "live in different places, but they both love me." As with Abby and her parents later on, it shows a child of parents who live apart as well-adjusted and accepting of the situation.

* Averted in an ''Radio/AdventuresInOdyssey'' episode that teaches AnAesop about cursing. Though it would seem impossible to teach such a moral in a Christian children's radio show, where you obviously aren't supposed to use curse words, it manages to pull it off by having some kids ''thinking'' that a certain word is a curse word and using it in such a way. It's a bit odd, but it actually works pretty well.

* There is a board game named ''Pug You!'' where pugs ask the players friendship-destroying questions. This is apparently supposed to be their revenge for being bred in a way that causes suffering, and intended to tell the message of "breeding pugs is bad". This theme does not appear in the game itself, and even if it did, the message of "you should care that these dogs are suffering because of how they are bred" does not mesh well with a crass game that encourages you to be a jerk.
* In the 1990s, a series of ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' quiz cards were made. The questions were completely unrelated to ''Mario'' and dealt with topics much heavier than what the video games usually cover, such as war, religion, and politics, complete with [[http://www.suppermariobroth.com/post/148802038720/some-mario-quiz-cards images of Mario and friends doing things related to the question]], such as Luigi reading a book about the Nazis and Mario being a member of [[https://i.imgur.com/vW9yQMc.jpg three]] [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DNL3RJXWsAUvEJl.jpg different]] [[https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/242/137/994.jpg religions.]]

** ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' had Oliver step in as a temporary mayor of Star City and having to deal with numerous political issues. One of these involved gun control and the balance between security and individual rights. The show features TheArcher as someone able to go [[RockBeatsLaser toe-to-toe with a group of armed criminals and come out ahead]], as well as just being an action show where several other heroic characters use firearms for heroic actions. The show simply couldn't offer a solution to the problem, so had Oliver lock himself with his opposition in a room and tell the city afterward that they had come to a satisfactory compromise, [[TakeOurWordForIt without actually explaining what that was]].

* Critics of ''Theatre/{{RENT}}'' argue that the musical falls into this trap, particularly with regards to how it treats HIV/AIDS. It's set in the 1980s in the shadow of the AIDS crisis, many of the characters are avant-garde {{Starving Artist}}s and it has designs towards being edgy, challenging and confronting. However, because it's also a major Broadway musical written in the 1990s, it couldn't necessarily be ''too'' edgy, challenging and confronting lest it chase away the paying customers. This means that it tends to focus more on the struggle of the {{True Art}}ist DoingItForTheArt and being faced with the prospect of having to SellOut, with AIDS being mostly treated as a romanticized VictorianNovelDisease. Furthermore, the show tends to take a "drop out and reject the system" attitude rather than a "fight and challenge the system" approach—which, given that the AIDS crisis actually resulted from numerous systematic institutional failings, incompetence, and outright callous indifference which were ripe for angry critique and challenge, means that it's pushing the wrong lesson to take.

* ''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.

* {{Creator/Seanbaby}} discusses this [[http://www.seanbaby.com/absoludicrous/straightup.htm in his review of the feature-length anti-drug]] PSA ''Film/StraightUp'', talking about how it repeats the message "drugs are bad" while doing next to nothing to actually educate the viewer on the consequences of drug abuse.

* ''Film/LosingIsaiah'' is about a recovering drug addict and former prostitute Khaila getting sober and fighting to regain custody of her toddler son Isaiah, who had been adopted by social worker Margaret and her family. Since Khaila is black and Margaret is white, the film ''attempts'' to paint the message that black children belong with black parents, and Khaila had gotten her life together and is the rightful mother of Isaiah, while Margaret is a self-righteous WhiteSavior. But where this fall flats is that it was Khaila's own fault she had lost Isaiah: she left him in a dumpster while getting high because his crying annoyed her (the baby was saved by garbagemen at the last minute), and she hadn't seen him in ''three years'' because she thought he was dead. During that time, Margaret and her husband had legally adopted him. Khaila takes them to court to regain custody and points out their one legitimate flaw: that they have no real intention of educating Isaiah about his black heritage, but she downplays how unfit of a parent she was when she had him, and never considers how traumatic it would be for Isaiah to rip him away from the only family he has known. In real life, once adoption is finalized there are no take-backs; it can't be reversed just because the birth parents' circumstances have improved. Isaiah was legally the son of Margaret and her husband, and the ''most'' Khaila could hope for would be visitation. It comes as no surprise that Creator/JessicaLange, who played Margaret, has since admitted that the movie is one of her [[CreatorBacklash least favorite starring roles]] due how badly it bungled its message.

** "[[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.

* ''Film/LosingIsaiah'' is about a recovering drug addict and former prostitute Khaila getting sober and fighting to regain custody of her toddler son Isaiah who had been adopted by social worker Margaret and her family. Since Khaila is black and Margaret is white, the film ''attempts'' to paint the message that black children belong with black parents, and Khaila had gotten her life together and is the rightful mother of Isaiah, while Margaret is a self-righteous WhiteSavior. But where this fall flats is that it was Khaila's own fault she had lost Isaiah: she left him in a dumpster while getting high because his crying annoyed her (the baby was saved by garbagemen at the last minute), and she hadn't seen him in ''three years'' because she thought he was dead. During that time, Margaret and her husband had legally adopted him. Khaila takes them to court to regain custody and points out their one legitimate flaw: that they have no real intention of educating Isaiah about his black heritage, but she downplays how unfit of a parent she was when she had him, and never considers how traumatic it would be for Isaiah to rip him away from the only family he has known. In real life, once adoption is finalized there are no take-backs; it can't be reversed just because the birth parents' circumstances have improved. Isaiah was legally the son of Margaret and her husband, and the ''most'' Khaila could hope for would be visitation. It comes as no surprise that Creator/JessicaLange, who played Margaret, has since admitted that the movie is one of her [[CreatorBacklash least favorite starring roles]] due how badly it bungled its message.

* ''Film/LosingIsaiah'' is about a recovering drug addict, Khaila, getting sober and fighting to regain custody of her toddler son who had been adopted by social worker Margaret and her family. Since Khaila is black and Margaret is white, the film ''attempts'' to paint the message that Khaila had gotten her life together and is the rightful mother of Isaiah while Margaret is a self-righteous WhiteSavior. But where this fall flats is that it was Khaila's own fault she had lost Isaiah: she left him in a dumpster while getting high because his crying annoyed her (the baby was saved by garbagemen at the last minute), and she hadn't seen him in ''three years'' because she thought he was dead. During that time, Margaret and her husband had legally adopted him. Their biggest flaw--not thinking it a priority to educate Isaiah about black culture--could have been addressed without ripping him from the only stable home he had known and returning him to a woman who is essentially a stranger to him. Khaila wins back custody by way of ChewbaccaDefense, but this predictably traumatizes Isaiah, and the movie ends with the women agreeing to co-parent. In real life, once adoption is finalized, it can't be reversed just because the birth parents' situation has changed; Isaiah was legally the son of Margaret and her husband, and the ''most'' Khaila could hope for would be visitation. It comes as no surprise that Creator/JessicaLange, who played Margaret, has since admitted that the movie is one of her [[CreatorBacklash least favorite starring roles]] due how badly it bungled its message.

* ''Film/LosingIsaiah'' is about a recovering drug addict, Khaila, getting sober and fighting to regain custody of her toddler son who had been adopted by social worker Margaret and her family. Since Khaila is black and Margaret is white, the film ''attempts'' to paint the message that Khaila had gotten her life together and is the rightful mother of Isaiah while Margaret is a self-righteous WhiteSavior. But where this fall flats is that it was Khaila's own fault she had lost Isaiah: she left him in a dumpster while getting high because his crying annoyed her (the baby was saved by garbagemen at the last minute), and she hadn't seen him in ''three years'' because she thought he was dead. During that time, Margaret and her husband had legally adopted him. Their biggest flaw--not thinking it a priority to educate Isaiah about black culture--could have been addressed without ripping him from the only stable home he had known. Khaila wins back custody by way of ChewbaccaDefense, but this predictably traumatizes Isaiah, and the movie ends with the women agreeing to co-parent. In real life, once adoption is finalized, it can't be reversed just because the birth parents' situation has changed; Isaiah was legally the son of Margaret and her husband, and the ''most'' Khaila could hope for would be visitation. It comes as no surprise that Creator/JessicaLange, who played Margaret, has since admitted that the movie is one of her [[CreatorBacklash least favorite starring roles]] due how badly it bungled its message.

* ''Film/LosingIsaiah'' is about a recovering drug addict, Khaila, getting sober and fighting to regain custody of her toddler son who had been adopted by social worker Margaret and her family. Since Khaila is black and Margaret is white, the film ''attempts'' to paint the message that Khaila had gotten her life together and is the rightful mother of Isaiah while Margaret is a self-righteous WhiteSavior. But where this fall flats is that it was Khaila's own fault she had lost Isaiah: she left him in a dumpster while getting high because his crying annoyed her (the baby was saved by garbagemen at the last minute), and she hadn't seen Isaiah in three years because she thought he was dead. During that time Margaret had legally adopted him. Margaret's biggest flaw--not thinking it a priority to educate Isaiah about black culture--could have been addressed without ripping him from the only stable home he had known. Khaila wins back custody but this predictably traumatizes the boy, and the movie ends with the two women deciding to co-parent Isaiah. But in the real world, adoption can't be reversed just because the birth parents changed their mind; Isaiah was legally the son of Margaret and her husband, and the ''most'' Khaila could hope for would be visitation. It comes as no surprise that Creator/JessicaLange, who played Margaret, has since admitted that the movie is her [[CreatorBacklash least favorite starring role]], precisely because of how badly it bungled its message.

* The D.A.R.E. group, in the late 1980s through the '90s, tried to encourage kids to not do drugs. Unfortunatey their focus on not giving in to peer pressure came across as implying [[DoNotDoThisCoolThing "everyone is doing drugs except you and will bully you if you don't do it to"]]. Numerous studies of the program have found not only did it not work but kids who went through the program were actually ''more'' likely to use hallucinogenic drugs then those that didn't go through the program, making the whole thing counterproductive.

* ''Series/SesameStreet'' had two episodes about divorce. However, the first went over terribly in part because it not only showed the aftermath of the divorce, but the parents going through with it as well—kids were just too upset by it, and when they realized that there was ''no way'' they could present the issue well, they scrapped the episode, swallowing the cost. A good couple decades later, they made another storyline about Abby Cadabby having divorced parents. They showed her as happy and the divorce as having happened in the past. While it didn't go on the regular show, it's available as a resource for divorcing parents and has been shown to go over much better with children.

** Events of 9/11’s scale happen on a regular basis in the Marvel Universe, plus as many fans have noted, it’s not conceivable that absolutely ''none'' of the superheroes residing in New York (and by extension the Marvel Universe at large) could have prevented the attack from happening. Granted, the issue ''has'' since been rendered CanonDiscontinuity [[note]]]mainly on account of Captain America being present when as of the latest continuity, he didn't thaw out until the Obama Administration[[/note]], but it strikes a raw nerve among fans.

** Events of 9/11’s scale happen on a regular basis in the Marvel Universe, plus as many fans have noted, it’s not conceivable that absolutely ''none'' of the superheroes residing in New York could have failed to prevent the attack from happening. Granted, the issue ''has'' since been rendered CanonDiscontinuity [[note]]]mainly on account of Captain America being present when as of the latest continuity, he didn't thaw out until the Obama Administration[[/note]], but it strikes a raw nerve among fans.

* The infamous 9/11 VerySpecialEpisode of ''Franchise/SpiderMan''. While one understands the noble intentions writers had, attempting to tackle the event in a world of superheroes falls flat on readers the moment FridgeLogic hits, for two reasons.

** "[[Recap/FuturamaS7E22LeelaAndTheGenestalk Leela and the Genestalk]]" raises a point about the risks of genetic engineering, which is treated in-universe as something relatively new and unpredictable just as it was in the 2000s, even though by 3012, the long-term effects of genetic engineering should've logically been known already. It also doesn't help that a number of previous episodes had referenced genetic engineering as though it were just another innocuous tool.

* ''Film/TheImitationGame'' tries to preach about how awful homophobia is. Except despite being a {{biopic}} of UsefulNotes/AlanTuring, who was actually quite open about his sexuality and had no problem making advances on men he was interested in, the film seems determined to [[ButNotTooGay avoid actually showing him in a relationship with another man]]. All the affairs he has are completely offscreen, and the first half tries to make it seem as though he's attracted to Joan Clarke. On the flip side, the film has no problem showing him being persecuted and chemically tortured over his sexuality, with a fictional blackmail subplot (where an undercover Soviet spy threatens to expose his secret when he's discovered) playing up many homophobic [[{{cliche}} cliches]] that were used in real life as reasons to discriminate against gay men - that they were automatic security risks because of their sexuality.

* ''Literature/LatawnyaTheNaughtyHorseLearnsToSayNoToDrugs'' has the title kind of saying it all, but it goes a little deeper. The horses in the book aren't anthropomorphized in any way, so you have the surreal experience of a horse with a joint sticking out of its mouth being treated with the utmost seriousness—and that's aside from the fact that it portrays "marijuana overdose" as lethal. (Funnily, [[AccidentallyCorrectWriting it is to horses]], so [[FantasticAesop if you're a horse, don't smoke marijuana.]])

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePagemaster'' aims to be about how reading is fun and can show kids a world of wonder. Aside from the obvious joke about a film telling kids to read, it features only [[SmallReferencePools the most extreme surface-level elements of the books it focuses on]], and outright gets many things wrong about them—for instance, its depiction of ''Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde'' has almost nothing to do with the original book, and seems to owe itself far more to film adaptations. It results in a curious situation where a film about how kids should read great classic works of literature seems to have been made by people who never read said works.

* ''Film/FantasticBeastsTheCrimesOfGrindelwald'' got a pretty cold reception in part for this, as the attempt to tackle subjects like the rise of real-world fascist regimes and the tragedies of the early 20th century through the eyes of an extant and active society of wizards couldn't really work no matter how you framed it. Either the wizards [[HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct somehow couldn't prevent those atrocities]], or [[AllPowerfulBystander they were A-okay with what was going down]], both of which would make wizarding society as a whole completely unlikable. The end result ended up seemingly being that they had to stop the rise of [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Grindelwald's fascist regime]], or otherwise he would reveal himself to the Muggles, take over the world and... [[ArsonMurderAndLifesaving stop the Holocaust from happening]].

* ''Film/TheImitationGame'' tries to preach about how awful homophobia is. Except despite being a biopic of Alan Turing, who was actually quite open about his sexuality and had no problem making advances on men he was interested in, the film seems determined to [[ButNotTooGay avoid actually showing him in a relationship with another man]]. All the affairs he has are completely offscreen, and the first half tries to make it seem as though he's attracted to Joan Clarke. On the flip side, the film has no problem showing him being persecuted and chemically tortured over his sexuality, with a fictional blackmail subplot (where an undercover Soviet spy threatens to expose his secret when he's discovered) playing up many homophobic cliches that were used in real life to discriminate against gay men - that they were automatic security risks because of their sexuality.
* ''The Life Zone'' is an anti-abortion screed. However, if one were to describe the plot, it would seem to be the exact opposite. The film is about three women who are kidnapped and held against their will by a man calling himself their "jailer" who only ever speaks to them through a television screen and forbids them to speak to him unless he specifically addresses them. The women are also forced to watch pro-life propaganda while they're being held against their will. If that weren't enough, the movie also sets up extremely easy strawmen for it to knock down; such as a man (played by the director) asking a man why, if it's not okay to kill a baby one minute after it's been born, it's okay to abort a baby one second ''before'' it's born. Or one of the women making the argument that abortion is morally correct just because it's legal. Or arguing that the kidnappers aren't oppressing women because one of them is a woman herself. If that ''still'' wasn't enough, the film ends by revealing that the "jailer" is actually ''Satan'', the two women who turned against abortion were possibly fallen angels, and the third woman (who refused to give in to the anti-abortion message) will now spend the rest of eternity in hell.
* ''Film/ReeferMadness'' failed so ''badly'' at its [[DrugsAreBad intended message]] that it's used as a {{straw|Character}}man by people lobbying to legalize marijuana. Though then again, it might not have been the best idea to start the film by [[DoNotDoThisCoolThing giving detailed instructions on how to make and smuggle joints.]] And even then, the film was simply using its message as an excuse to show behavior that wouldn't otherwise pass UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode.

** ''Film/CoolCatSavesTheKids'' aims to teach kids about bullying and the dangers of guns. In terms of bullying, the character of Butch the Bully is a one-dimensional CardCarryingVillain who is constantly pointed out to have no friends so he will be easy for the child audience to digest, the result being his behavior comes off as a cartoonish caricature and not addressing how bullies are usually ''groups'' who pick on the people who ''actually'' have no friends. Since the film can't point out to its young target audience how guns can kill people if not handled responsibly, it can't really make it clear why Cool Cat and his friends need to tell an adult when they found one, and the threat when Butch finds said gun is just that he will use it to steal other kids' lunch money, something he could just as easily do by raising his fist and intimidating someone.

* ''Film/TheyLive'' is an allegory for [[CapitalismIsBad the evils of unchecked Capitalism and Reaganomics]], depicting the rich and powerful, as well as members of the police force, as alien invaders infiltrating and subverting our society. Unfortunately, since aliens are, by definition, outsiders, [[MisaimedFandom many Neo-Nazis took this movie as a validation of their beliefs that Jews were running a secret cabal to brainwash society]], much to Creator/JohnCarpenter's [[https://news.avclub.com/john-carpenter-thinks-internet-nazis-need-to-quit-misin-1798255923 chagrin.]]

* ''[[https://www.dereksavage.com/trolly1.htm Trolly the Trout Finds a Gun]]'' by Creator/DerekSavage takes the cake. A lesson on UsefulNotes/GunSafety is presented using ''fish''. It's a major case of MoodWhiplash, too, since the message of the other ''Trolly the Trout'' books are "having friends that are different from you is cool" and "stealing is wrong".

* ''ComicBook/CivilWar2006'' attempted to depict a GreyAndGrayMorality conflict over a SuperRegistrationAct, but did so in [[Franchise/MarvelUniverse a setting]] that had always universally held the opinion that such things were unambiguously ''bad''. The ComicBook/XMen stayed out of the entire debate since in their own comics, government registration of mutants was always portrayed as the first step towards state-sponsored internment/genocide of anyone with an X-gene. Further, Mark Millar and Marvel editorial's intention was [[BothSidesHaveAPoint to portray both sides making good points in the argument]] but ultimately come down with the Pro-Registration side winning, depicting them as the more reasonable side. Yet they ''also'' had the Pro-Regs doing monstrous things like throwing people into the Negative Zone or threatening heroes into compliance over the Pro-Reg laws, despite the fact that the law hadn't so much as been written yet. We're supposed to root for them as they commit horrible crimes and prove the Anti-Reg's argument about the SHRA being fascist. Compounding this was the fact that many of the writers disagreed about which side was supposed to be right, leading to loads of ArmedWithCanon fights. One book would have Iron Man stopping an extremist Anti-Reg vigilante, only for another to have him casually imprisoning innocent people in the Negative Zone without a trial (or even being charged with a crime). Mr. Fantastic was given ''three different reasons'' for being on the Pro-Reg side, necessary because Mark Millar made him pro-Reg despite vehemently opposing this back in older Fantastic Four comics. The overall sense of the plot is that [[WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants nobody really knew how to handle it]].

** The episode about Jessie's caffeine pill addiction, legendary for its {{Narm}}. Indeed, "I'm so excited... I'm so ''scared!''" became a ''huge'' MemeticMutation.

* The infamous 9/11 VerySpecialEpisode of ''Franchise/SpiderMan''. While one understands the noble intentions writers had, attempting to tackle the event in a world of superheroes falls flat on readers for two reasons.
** Events of 9/11’s scale happen on a regular basis in the Marvel Universe, plus as many fans have noted, it’s not conceivable that absolutely ''none'' of the superheroes residing in New York could have failed to prevent the attack from happening. Granted, the issue ''has'' since been rendered CanonDiscontinuity [[note]]]mainly on account of Captain America being present when as of the latest continuity, he didn't thaw out until the Obama Administration[[/note]], but it struck a raw nerve among fans.

** There was another odd set of anti-drug ads where a girl high on weed is shown (through [[UnintentionalUncannyValley icky special effects]]) to have melted into the couch. Doug Benson has a terrific deconstruction of how clueless this ad was in ''Super High Me'': if your reaction to an anti-drug PSA is [[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs "Whatever they were smoking, I want some"]], it has failed.

** "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E17TheOutcast The Outcast]]", a well-intentioned episode in which a member of an androgynous species faces persecution for identifying as female and having romance with Riker. The GayAesop gets muddled by the fact that the episode uses gender identity as a science-fiction stand-in for homosexuality. Released in 1992, the episode fails to anticipate that gender identity would itself become a part of the wider LGBT movement. And to avoid the risk of backlash, the episode never explicitly references homosexuality, preferring to speak on it only through its central metaphor, which undermines its message.