History Main / GenreBlindness

[[folder:Fan Works]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* Though this trope tends to protect every superhero's identity to some degree, ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker'' takes this to new extremes when The Joker sends his gang of Jokerz to attack Terry at a nightclub. In a world where everyone wonders who Batman's true identity is, nobody in the group pieces together that the young man with the same proportions and voice as Batman, who is a skilled martial artist and acrobat, and clever CombatPragmatist, who ''The'' Joker wants taken out, just ''might'' be the Bat. Chucko even casually remarks that he can't understand why they've been sent after some "random" kid, but shrugs it off because it's at least fun.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* The main characters in ''Series/{{Scream}}'', despite being horror movie and pop-culture buffs, with one guy being downright obsessed with horror movies, still get hunted down and murdered easily. In particular they always do LetsSplitUpGang, and it always works against them.

* ''Manga/DragonBall'':
** When Goku, Bulma, Yamcha, Oolong and Puar infiltrate Pilaf's castle, they come across a bunch of arrows. The group decides to follow them until they reach a dead-end. A trap wall then closes behind the group, trapping them. The scene cuts to Pilaf who says, "I didn't think there even were people that stupid."
** Whenever the cast is dismissive towards a current threat because of their appearance. This happens with Frieza's final form, Androids 17 and 18 being teenagers, Cell's final transformation, Fat Buu, and finally Kid Buu. You would think they'd learn that appearances mean nothing in this series and it is often the most unassuming villains that are the most dangerous.
* Part 3 of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' features a rather JustForFun/{{egregious}} example when the group is being assaulted in their dreams by a stand-wielding baby. Normally the group is GenreSavvy bordering on paranoid, assuming that anything unusual happening is the result of an enemy stand, but suddenly everyone except Kakyoin decides that a stand-wielding baby is simply too farfetched an idea (when they'd already encountered a stand-wielding orangutan.)

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[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In ''Literature/ExHeroes'', heroine Stealth is aiding other heroes battling the rise of a zombie virus in the world. As she sees the military refusing to shoot civilians in the head "because of the optics" and medical personnel trying to help clearly infected people, Stealth realizes society is doomed as, despite all the evidence in front of them, people will refuse to accept the reality of the undead even as it attacks them.

** One Federation droid control ship, two Imperial Death Stars, and a First Order Starkiller Base later, the villains of the film series seemingly still haven't cottoned on to the idea that focusing most of your military strength into a single, centralized station with numerous, readily-exploitable weaknesses isn't the winning strategy it may appear to be. The baddies tend to have a supreme sense of arrogant superiority about them, but one would think they'd reevaluate their MO after the ''first'' time their ultimate super-weapon was destroyed by a RagtagBunchOfMisfits, otherwise they haven't got that much to be smug about. The First Order's obsession with proving their superiority is at least justified, considering their entire philosophy is based on Imperial revivalism.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsResistance'': Tam Ryvora naïvely believes that the First Order, a faction which emulates and idolizes the evil Galactic Empire, is just another faction instead of the bad guys. She brushes off her friends and co-workers when they try to warn her about the FO's true nature after they begin to occupy the Colossus, claiming that they're making the platform more secure after [[spoiler:the kidnapping of Colossus owner Captain Doza's daughter Torra by pirates — which the First Order arranged]], and getting angry with Kaz when he tries to point out how oppressive the First Order is making the platform. At one point, she uses the fact that her grandfather used to work in an Imperial factory to defend herself, even after her boss Yeager points out in response that the Empire liked to prey on the vulnerable. In [[Recap/StarWarsResistanceS1E18Descent "Descent"]], it comes to a head when [[spoiler:after finding out that Kaz and Yeager have been [[LockedOutOfTheLoop keeping her in the dark]] about their Resistance connections when stormtroopers come to arrest Team Fireball, she decides to side with the First Order as she believes that she can prove her innocence this way so they'll leave her alone. She learns the hard way that they only see her as a tool, forcing the friends that she dismissed to have to rescue her from the results of her own ignorant decisions.]]

* One episode of ''Series/{{Charmed}}'' had the villain conjure up fairy tale monsters and traps. The sisters fall for almost every one, because they've never read (or even heard of) any of these stories, ''even Literature/LittleRedRidingHood''.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsResistance'': Tam Ryvora naïvely believes that the First Order, a faction which emulates and idolizes the evil Galactic Empire, is just another faction instead of the bad guys. She brushes off her friends and co-workers when they try to warn her about the FO's true nature, at one point using the fact that her grandfather used to work in an Imperial factory to defend herself, even after her boss Yeager points out in response that the Empire liked to prey on the vulnerable. In [[Recap/StarWarsResistanceS1E18Descent "Descent"]], it comes to a head when [[spoiler:after finding out that Kaz and Yeager have been [[LockedOutOfTheLoop keeping her in the dark]] about their Resistance connections when stormtroopers come to arrest Team Fireball, she decides to side with the First Order as she believes that she can prove her innocence this way so they'll leave her alone. She learns the hard way that they only see her as a tool, forcing the friends that she dismissed to have to rescue her from the results of her own ignorant decisions.]]

* The Cy-bugs in ''Disney/WreckItRalph''. They are the only characters who don't seem to realize that they are in a video game. Unfortunately, this means that they do not know when to stop, so they actually pose a bigger threat than any of the GenreSavvy villains.

* Derek Maza from ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' has to be a lifetime achiever of this trope. He ignores Eliza's warnings, he buys everything that Xanatos says (the GenreSavvy master [[TropeNamers who CREATED the Xanatos Gambit]] trope) and became Talon due to his own stupidity. And again, not once does he blame Xanatos until the end. THEN he keeps FANG around, and doesn't assert that he's the leader of the Mutates. All in all...very Genre Blind.
* Explained in ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' by the Villain Traditions that most of the bad guys follow. These traditions include the villains "making their lame pun and leaving" the heroes in a DeathTrap. Señor Senior Senior [[ContractualGenreBlindness sticks closely to this]], even telling Kim how to escape. Shego, on the other hand: "I prefer [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim the direct approach]], but you know Drakken..." Drakken does start getting better about it by season 3, where he immediately launches the doomsday weapon sans countdown.
* You'd think after the first dozen or so times, Timmy of ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' would think for more than a few seconds before saying "I wish..." Occasionally he inverts it, and has been quite GenreSavvy at times. For example, in the second part of the ''Wishology'' special, he was able to convince [[EvilTeacher Mr. Crocker]] to help him by simply saying he'd show Crocker his fairies.
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'' plays with this. Riley becomes a chocolate bar mogul while managing to be both Genre Blind and GenreSavvy. He achieves his success by emulating all of the methods used in a number of crime movies, primarily ''Film/{{Scarface 1983}}''. After Huey lampshades that none of the crimelords in the movies ever survived, Riley tells Huey that he doesn't want to hear any more downsides. Riley proceeds to fall straight into all the same tropes from the films, ending up in a shootout in the penthouse from ''Scarface'', though he does survive by taking enough of Huey's GenreSavvy advice to wear a bulletproof vest.

* ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'':
** The heroes not only have Genre Blindness, they seem to have inter-episode amnesia. How many times can you really think say "[[LetsSplitUpGang Let's split up]] to explore the haunted castle" and think it's a good plan? This actually ''is'' {{lampshade|Hanging}}d in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/WhatsNewScoobyDoo'' Long story short, Fred realizes that they ''always'' split up the group the same way and decides to split it up a different way with [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Fred and Shaggy teaming up]]. HilarityEnsues.
** Then again, whenever the gang is GenreSavvy and assumes the monster is fake, it turns out to be real (like the zombies in [[TheMovie the first movie]]). Perhaps they're so GenreSavvy that they know that Genre Savviness makes the monsters actually become real, so they feign Genre Blindness.
** Fred must be particularly genre savvy in ''What's New, Scooby Doo?'' In another episode, half way through, Fred suggests that, instead of trying to figure out who's under the mask, they simply set up a trap, capture them, and deal with it later... One way or another, it didn't work out just right.
** One episode of ''WesternAnimation/APupNamedScoobyDoo'' has Red Herring wanting to add a sidecar onto his mom's motorcycle for her birthday without her finding out. So what does he do? He steals it, and then dresses up as a monster to scare people away. This is in spite of the fact that he lives in the same neighborhood as a ''detective agency who regularly deal with guys dressed up as monsters.''
** Almost ''every'' villain-of-the-week in ''A Pup Named Scooby-Doo'' is suffering from this. In the original series, having so many people hiding their crimes by disguising themselves as monsters could be more excusable, since Scooby and the gang are constantly road tripping across the country, but all of the crimes in this show happen in one city. After reading in the local news about the 10th or 12th person to get caught using a monster disguise to hide their evil plans, you'd think more people would realize that it's not a very good idea.
* Though this trope tends to protect every superhero's identity to some degree, ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker'' takes this to new extremes when The Joker sends his gang of Jokerz to attack Terry at a nightclub. In a world where everyone wonders who Batman's true identity is, nobody in the group pieces together that the young man with the same proportions and voice as Batman, who is a skilled martial artist and acrobat, and clever CombatPragmatist, who ''The'' Joker wants taken out, just ''might'' be the Bat. Chucko even casually remarks that he can't understand why they've been sent after some "random" kid, but shrugs it off because it's at least fun.
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'': If Robin wasn't so good at [[IndyPloy improvising]] (and so [[BadassNormal well-trained]]), he would've been dead a ''long'' time ago. The boy simply has no concept that things may not be what they appear to be. ''He gave a frickin' communicator to a villainess who was masquerading as one of his own team'', which was how the season's BigBad and his EvilMinions almost defeated the Titans. There may be nothing wrong with giving a communicator to someone you think is a friend of yours and who you think might be in trouble soon... but there ''is'' after you just spent the whole episode fighting a ''shapeshifting'' villainess.
* In one ''WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror'' episode on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', while being chased by the wolf man Flanders, Homer instructs Marge to hide in the abandoned amusement park, Lisa to hide in the pet cemetery and Bart to hide in the spooky roller disco, while he goes skinny dipping in "the lake where the sexy teenagers were killed 100 years ago tonight." Most of the ''Treehouse of Horror'' episodes rely upon either this trope or the family's rampant stupidity or both to work, especially since many of them parody some sort of famous horror movie. One of the early ones has the family stay at a hotel parodying The Shining, with BLOOD gushing out of the elevator not long after they arrive, but the Simpsons don't take [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere the opportunity to leave,]] and that's just a start.

* On one episode of ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb,'' Isabella is [[GoingForTheBigScoop investigating a superhero for the Fireside Girl newspaper]], swooning over him while simultaneously getting annoyed at her normal {{Love Interest|s}}, Phineas, for constantly disappearing. Guess who the superhero turns out to be. GenreSavvy Candace even calls her out on this.
-->'''Isabella:''' Phineas is the Beak?!\\
'''Candace:''' Hey! You just earned your ''[[SarcasmMode Uh-Duhr]]'' [[MeritBadgesForEverything Patch]]!

* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'': You'd think after living with him as long as they did the Smiths would probably be GenreSavvy enough by now to know just how much of a [[TheSociopath sociopathic bastard]] Roger is to take precaution not falling for any of his lies and schemes. Especially true with Stan and Francine, both of whom have been regularly shown to be easily fooled by Roger's plans. The Smiths are the only people in-show who see through Roger's [[PaperThinDisguise disguises]], but they always seem to trust him more than they should in later per episode.
* The eponymous character of ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'' can be this at times. For example, in the episode "Let's Play Magicians", she sees [[CatsAreMean Mr. Cat]], as a magician, stick several swords into [[NighInvulnerability Quack Quack]] and then [[SawAWomanInHalf saw him in half]]. Despite the fact that Mr. Cat spends almost all the episodes torturing Quack Quack, she thinks he is actually doing a magic trick and is shocked when she finds out it isn't a trick.

** One Federation droid control ship, two Imperial Death Stars, and a First Order Starkiller Base later, the villains of the film series seemingly still haven't cottoned on to the idea that focusing most of your military strength into a single, centralized station with numerous, readily-exploitable weaknesses isn't the winning strategy it may appear to be. The baddies tend to have a supreme sense of arrogant superiority about them, but one would think they'd reevaluate their MO after the ''first'' time their ultimate super-weapon was destroyed by a RagtagBunchOfMisfits, otherwise they haven't got that much to be smug about.

** Anakin Skywalker, who, throughout the prequels, gets played by Palpatine harder than [[Dissimile that one game in Chuck E. Cheese's that doesn't work anymore.]] Somehow Anakin plays straight into his hands at every step, despite Palpatine's "manipulations" consisting of genius philosophy like "good is a point of view". Anakin apparently went through Jedi training completely without absorbing a morsel of knowledge, as he must consult Yoda as an adult Jedi Knight about dealing with his fear of loss, which is evidently a key element of the training he supposedly completed. Anakin sees Palpatine as a good friend and mentor despite his constant obvious attempts to turn him against the Jedi Order, convince him to go against his moral convictions and kill defenseless enemies, and leave his old master Obi-Wan behind to die. Then, Palpatine makes himself too easily indispensable to Anakin by telling him A STORY about a Sith who could keep others from dying, ensuring that Anakin will always stubbornly save his life, instead of asking for proof he can do what he says (which he can't).

** Of notable example is the Doctor's [[TheNthDoctor tenth incarnation]], who says "That's impossible" far too many times for someone who's seen what he has.
** A bit character from "The Unicorn and the Wasp" [[FamousLastWords goes out]] with the wonderfully Genre Blind line:
--->'''Professor Peach:''' I say, what are you doing with that lead piping?

** Another example would include "Turn Left", [[spoiler:in which Donna Noble doesn't notice that the fortune teller she's talking to is ObviouslyEvil until it's too late]].
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Despite the fact that he was very astute in almost every other regard, Roose Bolton fails to realize that repeatedly taunting his psychopathic son about his uncertain position as heir and then dropping his guard around him is a very bad idea.
* In ''Series/HouseOfCardsUS'', Zoe Barnes starts to suspect that [[spoiler:Underwood killed Russo]], so if she even potentially thought it was true, especially because he is so powerful, a genre savvy thing to do would be to [[spoiler:predict you are going to be disposed of and get a statement of sanity at several psychiatrists that you aren't suicidal and also write a letter/record a video with evidence of all communications with Underwood, copy it and leave it at several civil law notaries, with the instruction to mail it to news sources and the president in case of her death. And also to create a program which would mail all of those informations from several computers to major US and foreign news sources, Facebook, 4chan, Website/YouTube, etc]]. That way [[spoiler:Underwood couldn't simply cover it up as babbling of an insane man]]. In real life, this is what people who know a lot do to protect themselves.
* After the third or fourth time on ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', you would think that the crew of the ''Enterprise'' would realize that if the crew is acting strange, they are being infected by space viruses/spores/controlled by aliens. And if [[TheKirk Captain Kirk]] is acting strange he is either being possessed by a evil villain, [[Recap/StarTrekS3E2TheEnterpriseIncident acting on super secret orders]], or a clone/android/manifestation of a split personality. Sheesh. Every single ''Franchise/StarTrek'' show and movie suffers this. Guys, when something unusual happens or someone is acting strange, don't just ignore it or shrug it off.
** Averted in the episode "Mirror, Mirror", where Spock immediately notices that something's wrong with Kirk, [=McCoy=], Scotty, and Uhura (because they're the evil alternate dimension counterparts of the originals), and has them tossed in the brig.
* In ''Series/TeenWolf'', there's at least one Horror Movie Stupidity Cliche in any given episode. The first episode takes the cake, though. Two teenagers— one of them asthmatic— search for the OTHER HALF OF A CORPSE. At night. In the woods.
* In the ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' episode "Countrycide", when the team split up to investigate the creepy village, they were assaulted by [[spoiler: cannibals]] one-by-one.
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'':
** They might have gotten better in later seasons but throughout Season One, the boys were always fighting about if the problem of the week was supernatural or not. With the exception of "The Benders", where it was just human cannibals, you would have thought with their years of training they would know better than that. Possibly explained in-universe in that they presumably follow a lot of false leads looking for supernatural things, which aren't shown in episodes because they're boring.
** Guest characters in Supernatural also do this ''constantly'', especially in the first season. This included the couple making out in the middle of the woods who hear strange noises. The boy gets out of the car to investigate and disappears, following which the girl ''gets out too''.
** Dean actually points out the idiocy of a pair of teenagers in one episode.
--->'''Dean:''' I got a question for ya. You've seen a lot of horror movies, yeah?
--->'''Teen:''' I guess so.
--->'''Dean:''' Do me a favor. Next time you see one? Pay attention. When someone says a place is haunted? Don't go in!
* In one episode of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Xander and Giles make the mistake of enlisting Spike's help at one point, and he just outright tells them he's going to now betray them, asking if they've all forgotten he's an evil demon who hates them.
-->'''Xander:''' ...We're dumb.
* Almost any character in ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' is afflicted with this, it would actually be quite a bit quicker to come up with a list of characters who aren't Genre Blind. This also goes for anytime they try and make a deal with a bad guy, to the point where when a bad guy keeps his word it is pretty difficult to argue it isn't an example of TheUntwist. A few quick examples:
** When trying to track the movements of the mysterious [[SixthRanger Green Ranger]], the rest of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers immediately ask the new kid that dresses in green from head to toe if he has noticed anything unusual lately. He hasn't, though. False alarm, guys! The dressing in green part isn't so much the genre blindness (Less they were going to beat up everyone who wears something green) -- it's the fact that said Green-wearing kid is also a known martial artist with something of a rivalry going with the Red Ranger.
** No matter the team, the Rangers also never seem to realize that if there's no explosion, the monster's not dead yet.
* The characters in ''Series/StargateSG1'' and ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' are ''usually'' pretty GenreSavvy. But:
** The cultures encountered by SG-1 often appear blind to the obvious fact that the Stargates aren't of a make that could be credited to an ancient culture, and just consider it an old artifact. Some don't even realize that it is a sort of gate (even if just a symbolic one), despite it standing on a pedestal with stairs leading up to it.
** In Season 4 of ''Atlantis'', Samantha Carter has two instances of genre blindness combined with ArbitrarySkepticism:
*** The first where she is skeptical about [[spoiler:Teyla's visions]].
*** The second where she is skeptical about [[spoiler:John's time-travel story]]. Given her wacky adventures as a member of [=SG-1=], and the mission reports from Atlantis that she would have read about, she ''really'' should have known better.
** Compare to Gen. Hammond in ''SG-1,'' who immediately gives some of Daniel's most outlandish claims his full attention. ''"The things I've heard while sitting in this chair..."'' Though Hammond has at least one instance himself, in the third season, when Daniel is hallucinating and Hammond and everyone else dismisses it as schizophrenia. By this point Daniel has already been presumed dead two or three times (and the entire team has come back from the dead at least once), they have dealt with bizarre alien [[TheVirus viruses]], the team has used TimeTravel and negotiated a peace treaty with the help of [[TheGreys Roswell greys]]... but if Daniel says he sees something no-one else can, he must be crazy! It didn't help Daniel thought he was going crazy, too.

** This is topped by the end of Book 4. The [[spoiler: surviving]] Petrellis and Matt have subdued and captured Sylar, the resident AxCrazy ManipulativeBastard with [[ComboPlatterPowers the powers of everybody he's ever killed]]. Good situation, right? So WhyDontYouJustShootHim... naturally, they don't. Instead, they brainwash him [[spoiler: into thinking he's Nathan]]. Because even though previous attempts to control Sylar have failed disastrously, and Matt's powers are known not to be absolute, and you'll have to take on an emotionally stressful {{masquerade}} to maintain this, it can't possibly go wrong!

* Katherine Reimer in ''Series/{{Jekyll}}''; when you're all alone with Mr. SuperpoweredEvilSide, who's explicitly warned you to make sure that the lights are ''never ever'' out when the good personality isn't firmly in control, anyone who's seen a single horror movie ''might'' want to think of some ways to disable the security system that don't involve drugging him and cutting off the power to the entire huge, soundproofed house...
* The main characters of ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'', being humongous nerds, should probably have no problem with sidestepping their Genre Blindness, maybe realizing they are at least in a situation similar to a ''Series/ThreesCompany''-type sitcom... Sadly (and gladly...?) they never do. It works just fine, though, so no biggie.

* In the Taiwanese CopShow ''Series/BlackAndWhite'' they meet an undercover and ask him to find some information. The guy is already leaving when he turns around and declares "Please remind the chief that he promised to [[{{Retirony}} retire me after this case.]] I have promised my [[FatalFamilyPhoto girlfriend that I'll marry her soon. My boy is already five years old and still illegitimate..."]] This ''complete'' and ''utter'' lack of genre savvyness triggers cringing equivalent to watching someone take a head dive into a shark basin. And for good measure another cop explains that "[[TemptingFate He's the last surviving undercover in that group]]." It was just painful.

* ''Series/{{JAG}}'': {{Discussed|Trope}} in "Déjà Vu". Harm is blindsided due to his own emotional baggage.
-->'''Harm:''' There's a lot of things you're blind to. But you don't realize it until it's too late.
* One episode of ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'', "The New Breed", began with a [[ScienceIsBad scientist]] holding a press conference to announce that his new nanotechnological discoveries would allow him to "[[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow improve upon]] [[ScaleOfScientificSins God's design.]]" ''What series did he think that he was on!?!''
* On ''Series/BabylonFive'', at one point Commander Sheridan says that he doesn't believe in dreams and signs and portents ... in a show whose plot '''runs''' on dreams and signs and portents.
* In an episode of ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'', a recurring character in a hostage situation (and bomb vest) because of a psychotic kidnapper with multiple personalities refers to a previous good time as "a blast." He's blown up when the psycho points out "Who doesn’t love a pun?"
* One episode of ''Series/{{Charmed}}'' had the villain conjure up fairytale monsters and traps. The sisters fall for almost every one, because they've never read (or even heard of) any of these stories, ''even Literature/LittleRedRidingHood''.
* Mark Gordon on ''Series/HighwayToHeaven'' is the sidekick of an angel for the entire series, but never seems to learn to trust Johnathan, an angel. This is a man who has seen the miracles of God -- and he's taken part in them, but when an angel tells Mark it's going to rain, what does Mark do? He laughs in his face and tells him he's crazy.
* ''Series/{{Chuck}}'':
** Comically averted by Morgan Grimes, when his obsessive knowledge of bad Kung-Fu movies helps him realize [[spoiler:Shaw faked a fight with several Ring agents and has actually been working with them]]. In fact Chuck and Morgan both show significant multiple-genre awareness throughout the series.
** Leads to a CMOF when Morgan points out an instance from Chuck.
--->'''Morgan:''' You dreamt Shaw was alive? Chuck, you saw him die. You checked for a pulse right?\\
'''Chuck:''' Well, he fell into a river.\\
'''Morgan:''' "He fell into a river"! Of course he's alive! Haven't you ever seen a John Carpenter movie?
** Typically played straight with Sarah and Casey, who are often left confused by the antics and comments of their more genre-savvy partners. Sarah in particular suffers from this. Casey, at least, recognizes that you should never say things like "[[TemptingFate one last mission]]" and displays a much better grasp of popular culture.
* In ''Series/{{Community}}'', episode [[Recap/CommunityS2E06Epidemiology "Epidemiology"]], as fitting for a zombie parody.
-->'''[[spoiler:Rich:]]''' I thought I was "special!"
** In "Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps", an example of why getting rid of Genre Blindness isn't always a good thing is provided. After listening to Britta's cliched horror story, Abed objects to the fact that her characters make the classic 'mistakes' of horror movie protagonists and revises the story so that they act more GenreSavvy about the situation. Unfortunately he takes it too far, to the point where because his characters know exactly what to do to avoid being taken by surprise by an insane serial killer, there's no suspense or tension whatsoever, and the people listening are just bored and irritated.
* ''Series/OnceUponATime'':
** Among other things, Regina (The Evil Queen) actually believes that she can curse the entire fairy tale world to be trapped in a world without happy endings, and that she can finally end the fact that BeingEvilSucks and get her ''own'' happy ending. After [[spoiler:she brings back her sleeping-curse-poisoned apple]] to get rid of [[TheChosenOne Emma]] once and for all, she brags to Mr. Gold (Rumplestiltskin) that she's now won and made the curse even stronger. [[GenreSavvy Gold clearly doubts this.]] [[spoiler: He is right.]]
** Emma gets this when she [[spoiler:ends up in the Enchanted Forest]]. [[FishOutOfWater She's "out of her element".]]
* The monsters in {{Toku}} always seem to react to the hero gearing up his FinishingMove by running straight at him. You'd think they'd learn after a while.
* Peter in ''Series/{{Fringe}}'' takes this to a ridiculous extreme. The standard Fringe formula: person or people die bizarre, horrific death. Title sequence. Team shows up, Walter presents insane-sounding hypothesis on what happened. Peter insists that this is impossible, despite the fact that he works for Fringe Division and Walter has nearly always been correct. Remainder of episode proves that Walter is, in fact, correct. Pretty quickly, Peter is just {{lampshad|eHanging}}ing how weird whatever is instead of doubting it. He stops entirely by the end of the series.
* ''Series/{{Justified}}'' lampshaded this when a corrupt cop wonders whether he should make a run for it. He is too proud to subject himself to the embarrassment of being chased down and then apprehended like all those idiots that are shown on TV. On the other hand he figures that the ones who get away are not shown on TV since audiences do not want to see the bad guys get away. While he ponders this, the heroes make their move and he gives up easily. He was Genre Savvy to know he was screwed from the very start and he was just hoping that the good guys would have the Idiot Ball this time.
* On ''Series/{{Maury}}'', you'd think the people who are brought out to be ambushed with big secrets would guess ahead of time what was about to happen. This is particularly JustForFun/{{egregious}} on "cheating man" shows, when they put a suspected cheater in the green room with a sexy decoy to see if he makes a move. Naturally, the guy ''always'' takes the bait -- if he'd ever seen the show, he'd know there was a camera taping his every move. Of course he might just figure that he might as well be hung for a thief as a liar, so....
* On ''Series/{{Cops}}'' or any RealityShow featuring criminals running from the cops, as well as jail, routinely features suspects who are surprised that their attempts to run from the police are unsuccessful and resisting police officers doesn't go so well for them. This is likely caused by selective editing. It's less entertaining to have the suspects surrender quietly. Well, once in a while it's funny like in the example below where it's the guy's second time on the show, but that's funny precisely because it's a rare subversion of this. Presumably, if shows like ''Cops'' show chase scenes, then the kind of people who watch that show want to see chase scenes, or the producers think they do. So when suspected criminals don't run, it just gets edited out of the show. Unless ''Cops'' reports on the percentage of times suspects run even if they don't get filmed, or makes a point to show every single case they follow an officer along on, or something?
* The whole "To Catch a Predator" segments on ''Series/{{Dateline}}''. People, the second Chris Hansen shows up (instead of the jailbait you met over the internet), points out the camera, and asks you to take a seat, just ask where the cops are and turn yourself in rather than embarrass yourself further. At least one guy simply walked out of the house and laid down on the lawn with his hands behind his head, waiting for the cops. This would have been GenreSavvy on his part [[SubvertedTrope had it not been]] '''[[WhatAnIdiot his second time on the show.]]''' On the other hand, genre savvy actually led to one guy's ''death''. As soon as he saw Chris Hansen and company pulling into his driveway, [[DrivenToSuicide he killed himself]]. Perhaps we should be grateful for the genre blindness.
* Aelita in one episode of ''Series/CodeLyokoEvolution''. XANA makes a specter that resembles her mother and she buys it hook line and sinker. Note that this is the third time XANA has used a spectre to trick Aelita with her dead parents.
* ''Series/OnlyFoolsAndHorses'': Lennox has absolutely no clue whatsoever how to be an armed robber. Rodney in the same episode taking his cigarettes when he could have had the gun beside him is equally blind.
* ''Series/IkMikLoreland'': Mik has a serious blind spot whenever she finds herself in a situation reminiscent of a fairy tale.
* On ''Series/TheJoeSchmoShow'', Matt Kennedy Gould, the original Joe Schmo who was the only person on the show unaware while it was happening that everything around him was scripted, was extremely genre blind about certain things. For example, the character Ashleigh, described as "The Rich Bitch," handed out friendship bracelets in the first episode, the purpose being to twist people around and make them think she was their friend so they'd be less expecting for her to stab them in the back. However, after the show, Matt admitted that he never did understand why she handed out those friendship bracelets.
* In ''Series/{{Wipeout}}'' you have to get through obstacle courses as fast as possible. Being obstacle courses, there will be traps. Despite this there's a shocking number of contestants that are bum rushing through the qualifier and ignores even the most obvious traps like the sole, muddy panel by the ledge.
* A few chefs on ''Series/HellsKitchen'' (USA) had actually served a dish that was not completely fresh for the competition's opening signature dish showcase, using something that is prepackaged or frozen. While one of the first chefs to do this, Rock, was able to bounce back and win his season, the other offenders got an imaginary DunceCap put on their heads along with a tongue-lashing from chef Gordon Ramsay (who threatened to kick a few of these people out), and none of them even made it to the halfway point of the show.

Genre Blindness is what keeps the cast of ''Series/ThreesCompany'' leaping to outrageous conclusions even after the hundredth stupid misunderstanding, instead of sitting down and talking things out. It makes young girls go for walks alone in the woods after midnight without a flashlight or a weapon when there's an axe murderer or a vampire around. It makes the supergenius {{supervillain}}s in ''Film/JamesBond'' movies stuff the hero into an elaborate melodramatic DeathTrap [[BondVillainStupidity from which he inevitably escapes]] instead of [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim just shooting him]].

* In the American version of ''Series/HouseOfCards'', Zoe Barnes starts to suspect that [[spoiler:Underwood killed Russo]], so if she even potentially thought it was true, especially because he is so powerful, a genre savvy thing to do would be to [[spoiler:predict you are going to be disposed of and get a statement of sanity at several psychiatrists that you aren't suicidal and also write a letter/record a video with evidence of all communications with Underwood, copy it and leave it at several civil law notaries, with the instruction to mail it to news sources and the president in case of her death. And also to create a program which would mail all of those informations from several computers to major US and foreign news sources, Facebook, 4chan, Website/YouTube, etc]]. That way [[spoiler:Underwood couldn't simply cover it up as babbling of an insane man]]. In real life, this is what people who know a lot do to protect themselves.
* After the third or fourth time on ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', you would think that the crew of the ''Enterprise'' would realize that if the crew is acting strange, they are being infected by space viruses/spores/controlled by aliens. And if [[TheKirk Captain Kirk]] is acting strange he is either being possessed by a evil villain, [[StarTrekS3E2TheEnterpriseIncident acting on super secret orders]], or a clone/android/manifestation of a split personality. Sheesh. Every single ''Franchise/StarTrek'' show and movie suffers this. Guys, when something unusual happens or someone is acting strange, don't just ignore it or shrug it off.
** Averted in the episode ''Mirror, Mirror'', where Spock immediately notices that something's wrong with Kirk, [=McCoy=], Scotty, and Uhura (because they're the evil alternate dimension counterparts of the originals), and has them tossed in the brig.

* Explained in ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' by the Villain Traditions that most of the bad guys follow. These traditions include the villains "making their lame pun and leaving" the heroes in a DeathTrap. Señor Senior Senior [[ContractualGenreBlindness sticks closely to this]], even telling Kim how to escape. Shego, on the other hand: "I prefer [[WhyDontYaJustShootHim the direct approach]], but you know Drakken..." Drakken does start getting better about it by season 3, where he immediately launches the doomsday weapon sans countdown.

* In one ''WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror'' episode on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', while being chased by the wolf man Flanders, Homer instructs Marge to hide in the abandoned amusement park, Lisa to hide in the pet cemetery and Bart to hide in the spooky roller disco, while he goes skinny dipping in "the lake where the sexy teenagers were killed 100 years ago tonight."
** Most of the Treehouse Of Horror episodes rely upon either this trope or the family's rampant stupidity or both to work, especially since many of them parody some sort of famous horror movie. One of the early ones has the family stay at a hotel parodying The Shining, with BLOOD gushing out of the elevator not long after they arrive, but the Simpsons don't take [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere the opportunity to leave,]] and that's just a start.

** Despite being practically the patron saint of savvy, Tarquin has one major weakness. [[BigBadWannabe He]] simply cannot, ''will not'' acknowledge that he isn't the BigBad of the story.

* When Wrestling/VinceMcMahon challenges Wrestling/CMPunk to a match, Punk happily accepts, saying Vince is a feeble, senile old man and beating him will be easy. Especially egregious because Punk is normally a savvy FourthWallObserver, so he should have known that Vince is a BadassGrandpa.

* Three cartoon shorts were created for ''VideoGame/BendyAndTheInkMachine'' Chapter 3. One, "Tombstone Picnic," played in the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzj007eqD-U reveal trailer.]] In that short, Bendy chooses to have a picnic in a graveyard. Cue a skeleton coming out from the grave.

* The final boss of ''VideoGame/TombRaiderAnniversary'' displays a shocking example of genre blindness. After the player wins the first phase of the boss battle, the BigBad gets back up for round two, saying: "I can't die, you fool. Sooner or later, you're going to run out of bullets." Whoops. Looks like someone forgot what [[Franchise/TombRaider series]] this is... and the fact that Lara Croft is famously known for [[BottomlessMagazines never,]] ''[[BottomlessMagazines ever]]'' [[BottomlessMagazines running out of bullets.]] Except for [[TheMovie that one time.]]
* For a {{Super Robot|Genre}} anime fan, Ryusei of ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' sure is clueless about love. Not only does he have one person who wants to have sex with him, he has ''two'' -- and he's in a LoveTriangle. The numbskull has been on ''dates'' and he's still clueless. Being completely oblivious to the fact that [[spoiler: the guy who thinks of you all as being nothing but samples is actually evil.]] That's being pretty genre blind.

* In ''[[VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King]]'', the titular character makes every Bond Villain mistake in the book. For almost every major blow your character deals to the Scourge, the Lich King makes some kind of appearance, many of them in person! Yet, except in one instance when he's provoked to an UnstoppableRage, the most he does is pull you in, [[DeathIsCheap kill you]], and then toss you aside without reanimating or corrupting you in any way, ''fully knowing'' you'll resurrect and come after him again later. (In fact, you can resurrect and then run [[TooDumbToLive right back to where he's still standing]], and he'll pull a WhatTheHellHero before ''doing it again''.) Instead of killing you for real, he often makes a small speech, punishes a minion, or sends a RedShirt lieutenant on you, before walking away. It was something criticized by many players, the writers falling into the cliche of making Arthas, formerly a terrifying badass, a pathetic Bond Villain.
** In the end, it's not Genre Blindness at all. He's smart, but covers it with a lot of [[ObfuscatingStupidity Obfuscating Bond]] [[BondVillainStupidity Villain Stupidity]]. [[spoiler: The only reason he left the players alive as long as he did was that he ''wanted'' them to become stronger than he is. The entire fight is Arthas giving more and more to the battle, until he finally holds nothing back and fights with his full strength. If the players die, unfortunate, but still good minions. If they ''don't'', he's found minions that surpass even his ''own'' immense power, which is what he ''wants'', being a necromancer with near-unbreakable control over his resurrected minions, and the ability to trap souls in his blade. The raid can't actually slay him on its own - either you're weaker and he kills you, or you're stronger, [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment and he]] ''[[FailureIsTheOnlyOption kills you]]''. Knowing that [=NPCs=] are next to useless compared to players, he begins his reanimation ritual, mocking the frozen Tirion while he and the crippled and restrained Bolvar watch helplessly. And, in the end, he only loses because Tirion's rescue subverts every boss battle trope that [=WoW=] has. When, in any other Final Boss Battle, does an ''NPC'' disarm and permanently paralyze the boss, turning him into a glorified ''training dummy''? Arthas, with 10% HP remaining, can actually be struck by weak melee hits until death (which can take something like an hour, if Tirion is the only one doing it). Let's rephrase that: Arthas, the BigBad of an entire expansion, dies because an NPC gets up off the ground after [[TheProtagonist the party]] dies, and [[PrecisionFStrike flipping]] ''solos'' him. '''''[[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome Outside of a cutscene.]]''''']]
*** This is a ''[[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments hilarious]]'' moment if you're in a raid with GenreSavvy people who don't know how the fight plays out. [[spoiler:Yell out over voice chat "goddamn it, WIPE, ''WIPE!''" and listen to the panic and confusion when everyone dies instantly. Then listen to the ''awe'' when the ''rest'' of the scene plays out...]]
* In ''VideoGame/UnchartedDrakesFortune,'' Nathan Drake, Elena Fisher and Victor Sullivan witness firsthand that [[spoiler: the legend of El Dorado is largely twisting of reality over the ages, and that El Dorado is a big, golden coffin containing a mummy that turns people into [[UnexpectedGenreChange ageless zombies]]]]. In the sequel, ''[[VideoGame/Uncharted2AmongThieves Among Thieves]],'' Nathan and Elena are just as incredulous as Chloe Frazer at the suggestion that [[spoiler: the Cintamani Stone could have some sort of supernatural or at least biologically enhancing property about it,]] often even saying "Do you really believe in this stuff?"
** They get better about it once they actually arrive in Shambhala, where they call Chloe out on ''her'' ArbitrarySkepticism.
--->'''Elena''': We're standing in ''Shambhala'' and you're questioning what's possible?
** Though Lazarevic is savvy in certain places, like when Nate tries to take one of his men hostage (which he solves by [[ShootTheHostage shooting the hostage]] himself), he really needs to learn that you never pull a NotSoDifferent speech on the hero when there's still monsters crawling about. [[spoiler: Chances are they're right behind you and ready to beat you to death, thus sparing the hero from having to finish you himself.]]
*** That's nothing compared to the earlier moment when [[spoiler: he had Nate and co completely helpless, but didn't just kill them because he wanted Nate "to see Shambhala and die knowing that [Lazarevic has] taken it from him."]]
* ''VideoGame/Uncharted4'': Oh look, your paramilitary squad captured the heroes alive after they worked on solving the big puzzle involving the greatest pirate capital in the world! Now they claim that the next piece of the puzzle is that [[SchmuckBait big, giant, golden cross]] standing on top of a ''scale''. Sure, order one of your mooks to grab the crucifix, then listen to the stupid archaeologists ramble on about how it's technically not a symbol of Christianity without the guy stuck to it and more of a roman indication of your impending doom [[OhCrap OH SH-]]
* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'', Master Xehanort is often trusted by the heroes (particularly [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter Terra]]) despite being so ObviouslyEvil it hurts.
** While Terra's trust is somewhat justified (Terra's master insists that dark magic is ''never'' good, despite several scenes where Terra only keeps himself or others alive because of it, while Xehanort by comparison is calm, patient, understanding, repentant, and informs Terra that darkness, used carefully and when necessary, isn't any worse than other magic), the real idiot here is his master Eraqus himself. Terra had ''no'' reason to suspect Xehanort's motives, since Xehanort was (apparently) a respected Keyblade Master. However, Xehanort had, in the past, informed Eraqus ''to his face'' that he'd blanket the multiverse in darkness if he could, for no other reason than because he didn't believe the lore that darkness was a super evil destructive force. And damn the consequences. Then he used darkness to deeply scar Eraqus' face, and left. When the game's story kicks off, [[WhatTheHellHero he's briefly invited by to visit the apprentices before disappearing]], and then [[WhatAnIdiot Eraqus tells Terra to go FIND this guy.]]
** Riku actually has a pretty embarrassing moment of Genre Blindness in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI''. Toward the end of the game, [[SentientWeapon Sora's Keyblade]] changes its allegiance to Riku because, technically, he was the one who was supposed to have it in the first place. But before fighting each other, Sora makes a speech about how [[ThePowerOfFriendship he realizes that he doesn't need the Keyblade after all because all he needs are his friends. His friends make his heart strong]]. How does Riku respond? [[TooDumbToLive "Pfft. Your heart? What good will that weak little thing do for you?"]] Guess who the Keyblade decides to go back to immediately after Riku insults the power of the heart in KINGDOM HEARTS?
* In ''VideoGame/TheGodfather 2'' Carmine Rosato abruptly offers a truce despite a reputation for not doing so. Most people think it Seems Legit. [[spoiler: Obviously, it isn't. Michael even calls Dominic out on falling for it.]]

* In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil6'', Helena's sister is infected with the C-Virus and has turned a clearly abnormal shade of green, covered with slime and general "I'm-no-longer-human"-indicative growths. So yeah, running up and hugging her is really intelligent given that you've already witnessed first-hand what the virus is capable of, because of course she isn't going to turn on you. That NEVER happens....

* In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'' armed guards will flock to investigate when they find a colleague whom Batman has knocked unconscious. They then makes comments such as [[LetsSplitUpGang "We'll find him quicker if we all split up!"]] and spread out throughout the room, allowing them to be picked off one by one.
* In ''VideoGame/DeadIsland'' the threat of a nuke is the motivation to keep the survivors moving, which seems reasonable given the threat and the end of over half of zombie fiction. It's so effective two different characters make up the lie. One small problem: the Australian military responding to the pandemic doesn't actually have nukes. No one even wonders just how it would be possible. To be fair, the cast isn't made up of geniuses, just [=MacGyvers=]. A former sports star and a rapper are the last people that would know that, and the other two aren't soldiers, and considering Australia's tactical insignificance to anything remotely related to their jobs, it's unlikely they'd know that.
* In an example pertaining not to the game's storyline but instead its marketing, the circumstances concerning ''VideoGame/HaloReach'''s early arrival. Microsoft did everything it could to try and make it successful and apparently decided it was more efficient to distribute it to select reviewers from Live instead of just mailing copies. [[ForegoneConclusion Guess]] [[WhatAnIdiot what]] [[DigitalPiracyIsEvil happened]].
* ''VideoGame/HauntingStarringPolterguy'': The Sardinis fail to see that just moving to another house won't fix their problem. Even after they've been scared out of three of them in the same way that clearly points to a poltergeist, they just move to another house. Also, they never hire a ghostbuster or something like this.

* One ApocalypticLog in ''VideoGame/HorizonZeroDawn'' had a pre-apocalypse scientist noting with bitter amusement that [[spoiler: despite a century and a half of science fiction warning them, humanity ''still'' managed to wipe itself out in a RobotWar]].

** Rare, but when Dr. Wiley distracts Mega Man with "there's something behind you" -- ''[[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/041202 he forgets to run away]]''.
** Mynd was this at first. Although he is a smart and dangerous villain, he is handicapped by not actually [[NoFourthWall reading the comic itself]]. [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/011024 Here is a prime example]], where he recognizes Proto Man as a truly competent fighter, yet could not resist announcing his plans to the audience. [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/011028 Thus, he is a victim of a]] RunningGag. When he finally attacked, he abruptly became savvy, heavily following the EvilOverlordList. In fact, there was supposed to be a series of comics before the attack where he finally sat down and went on an ArchiveBinge. [[http://bobandgeorge.com/archives/comics/0111/011101a.html Here]] [[http://bobandgeorge.com/archives/comics/0111/011102a.html are]] [[http://bobandgeorge.com/archives/comics/0111/011103a.html the]] [[http://bobandgeorge.com/archives/comics/0111/011104a.html comics]] [[http://bobandgeorge.com/archives/comics/0111/011105a.html showing]] [[http://bobandgeorge.com/archives/comics/0111/011106a.html this]] [[http://bobandgeorge.com/archives/comics/0111/011107a.html development]].

* ''Webcomic/{{Pibgorn}}'' [[http://www.gocomics.com/pibgorn/2003/02/14/ Causes Geoff to be disarmed]]

* ''Webcomic/SkinHorse'' has a fairly large cast with plenty of GenreSavvy characters, and when a side character [[http://skin-horse.com/comic/skin-horse/ tempts fate in the most obvious way possible]], their response:

Genre Blindness is what keeps the cast of ''Series/ThreesCompany'' leaping to outrageous conclusions even after the hundredth stupid misunderstanding, instead of sitting down and talking things out. It makes young girls go for walks alone in the woods after midnight without a flashlight or a weapon when there's an axe murderer or a vampire around. It makes the supergenius {{supervillain}}s in ''Film/JamesBond'' movies stuff the hero into an elaborate melodramatic DeathTrap [[BondVillainStupidity from which he inevitably escapes]] instead of [[WhyDontYaJustShootHim just shooting him]].

* A commercial for Geico has a group of slasher movie characters running from the villain. They suggest several places to hide which no real life person would try. One character suggests getting into a running car and is dismissed as crazy. Their eventual hiding place turns out to be where the villain is hiding. He seems to be mentally rolling his eyes when he sees them.

* In ''Manga/FairyTail'', [[spoiler:you'd think Carla would have told more than one person about her second deadly premonition, given the way the one about the S-Class exam turned out.]]

* Almost anyone who uses the word "vigilante" in traditional comics. Most of the real-world problems with vigilanteism are the SubvertedTrope that the genre is built from: here the hero really is TheHero rather than a KnightTemplar loose cannon, and PoliceAreUseless makes "interfering with the authorities" a pointless objection too. (Naturally some comics or some moments in them do allow RealityEnsues instead, but these may serve more as a momentary HeWhoFightsMonsters cautionary tale, or a token StrawmanHasAPoint.)

* Any "victim" character in ''Film/TheStrangers'' is so genre blind it's astounding they're not forced to wear dark sunglasses and follow a seeing-eye dog. The first death involves [[spoiler:the husband's friend, Mike, walking into the house after the three killers have already pinned the protagonists down in a corner. The husband, James, has a shotgun pointed at the door to the room they're hiding in. Instead of turning off the deafeningly loud record player and calling out to the couple, Mike slowly... creeps... down... the hall... (''BLAM!'')]] It gets really horrid when Kristen, the wife, attempts to [[spoiler:run across the backyard for a radio in the barn. Instead of carefully selecting her steps, she tumbles into a two foot deep trench and [[TwistedAnkle snaps her leg like a twig]].]]

* In ''Film/NowYouSeeMe'', Agent Rhodes continually takes on the Horsemen like regular criminals and keeps playing into their hands by refusing to think how a magician would. [[spoiler: Or so everyone thinks, see ObfuscatingStupidity]].

** Most of the time the characters in the series manage to avoid this, except for the sixth book. While it is true that Harry is always mistaken about something important, most of the other characters refuse to believe that BigBad Voldemort [[spoiler:would recruit Draco Malfoy to the Death Eaters because they think that Voldemort has no use for a teenage boy, not fully trained as a wizard.]] The only one who ''does'' know can't say anything, because it would risk the life of the recruit.
** Another big example occurs in book five when Kreacher (already established to hate Harry, Sirius, and all their friends) tells Harry that Sirius is being held captive by Voldemort. Hermione even points out that Harry has a "saving people thing" which is clearly being exploited, but Harry insists on going anyway. [[spoiler:It is, of course a trap, and Sirius dies as a result of Harry's GenreBlindness.]]

* In the American version of ''Series/HouseOfCards'', Zoe Barnes starts to suspect that [[spoiler:Underwood killed Russo]], so if she even potentially thought it was true, especially because he is so powerful, a genre savvy thing to do would be to [[spoiler:predict you are going to be disposed of and get a statement of sanity at several psychiatrists that you aren't suicidal and also write a letter/record a video with evidence of all communications with Underwood, copy it and leave it at several civil law notaries, with the instruction to mail it to news sources and the president in case of her death. And also to create a program which would mail all of those informations from several computers to major US and foreign news sources, Facebook, 4chan, YouTube, etc.]] That way [[spoiler:Underwood couldn't simply cover it up as babbling of an insane man.]] In real life, this is what people who know a lot do to protect themselves.

** In "Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps", an example of why getting rid of GenreBlindness isn't always a good thing is provided. After listening to Britta's cliched horror story, Abed objects to the fact that her characters make the classic 'mistakes' of horror movie protagonists and revises the story so that they act more GenreSavvy about the situation. Unfortunately he takes it too far, to the point where because his characters know exactly what to do to avoid being taken by surprise by an insane serial killer, there's no suspense or tension whatsoever, and the people listening are just bored and irritated.

* Spoofed during the Jerry Seinfeld-Tim Allen match on the ''WesternAnimation/CelebrityDeathmatch'' episode "Seinfeld's Last Stand." Jason Alexander, Creator/JuliaLouisDreyfus and Michael Richards do a [[FaceHeelTurn Heel Turn]] on Jerry for ending the show and announcers Nick Diamond and Johnny Gomez say, "We wrestling announcers are usually so perceptive."

** Riku actually has a pretty embarrassing moment of GenreBlindness in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI''. Toward the end of the game, [[SentientWeapon Sora's Keyblade]] changes its allegiance to Riku because, technically, he was the one who was supposed to have it in the first place. But before fighting each other, Sora makes a speech about how [[ThePowerOfFriendship he realizes that he doesn't need the Keyblade after all because all he needs are his friends. His friends make his heart strong]]. How does Riku respond? [[TooDumbToLive "Pfft. Your heart? What good will that weak little thing do for you?"]] Guess who the Keyblade decides to go back to immediately after Riku insults the power of the heart in KINGDOM HEARTS?

--->'''[=MacDougal=]:''' ''Right, I'm going to wander down that lonely deserted street and get my bag.''

* ''VisualNovel/{{SOON}}'': Discussed and Lampshaded by Atlas about the developers of the evil robots.

* One ApocalypticLog in ''VideoGame/HorizonZeroDawn'' had a pre-apocalypse scientist noting with bitter amusement that [[spoiler: despite a century and a half of science fiction warning them, humanity ''still'' managed to wipe itself out in a RobotWar.]]

* [[SophisticatedAsHell Rose]] from ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' is the most openly intellectual of the [[FourTemperamentEnsemble four main characters]], but is the most GenreBlind of the four, often falling into enemy traps and being TooDumbToLive on more than one occasion. Though it's a {{Deconstruction}}.

* The reporters from [[http://www.theonion.com/content/video/experts_agree_giant_razor_clawed this]] ''Website/TheOnion'' segment.

** While still GenreSavvy, Sokka has had one or two moments of Genre Blindness. Most notable was in [[spoiler:"The Boiling Rock", where he tries to talk to Suki while still wearing his guard disguise. Later, he does ''the same thing'' when he tries to talk to his father.]]

** The villain of the episode "Valley of the Unicorns" ends up trailing the heroes to the eponymous valley because he evidently didn't think to look for a CaveBehindTheWaterfall that's ''[[EverythingsBetterWithRainbows rainbow-coloured]]''.

** She's not the only one. In [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E11KeepCalmAndFlutterOn "Keep Calm and Flutter On"]], Rainbow Dash insists the Mane Six come up with a backup plan in case the whole "befriending" business with Discord to have him do a HeelFaceTurn doesn't work out, and the other ponies agree with her, with Twilight settling for good old fashioned brainwashing. The blindness is extra bad because not too long before the Mane Six helped another former villain turn good thanks to the PowerOfFriendship. Once again, [[SpoilerTitle read the title of the show]], and [[ForegoneConclusion see how well Twilight's brainwashing plan works out]]. [[spoiler:It doesn't.]]

Ultimately, while it can be a problem if used too [[TVTropesDrinkingGame egregiously]], sometimes you just have to [[MST3KMantra shrug your shoulders]] and chalk it up to WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief.