History Main / GrassIsGreener

* The ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "The Algae's Always Greener" has Plankton switch places with Mr. Krabs to try to get the Krabby Patty secret formula.

* ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'': "There are nooooo cats in Ameeeerica! And the streets are paved with cheeeese!"
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'': Ariel's desire to go up to the surface, as described in the song at the top of the page.
* ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'': "I want much more than this provincial liiife...!" Belle is reading [[IWishItWereReal a story about a prince in disguise...]]
* The ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "The Algae's Always Greener" has Plankton switch places with Mr. Krabs to try to get the Krabby Patty secret formula.

* ''WesternAnimation/AladdinAndTheKingOfThieves'': Aladdin and Jasmine's song "Out of Thin Air".

[[folder:Film: Animated]]

[[folder:Film: Live-Action]]

-->-- '''Sebastian''', ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1'', "Under the Sea"

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1'': Ariel's desire to go up to the surface, as described in the song at the top of the page.

->'''Donkey''': If your life was so perfect, then why'd you [[DealWithTheDevil sign it all away]] to [[BigBad Rumpelstiltskin]] in the first place?\\

* Spoofed in the satire ''Film/Water1985''. Creator/MichaelCaine is the governor of this minor British colony in the Caribbean, and has just received word that the suits back in London are shutting down the colony and shipping the natives off elsewhere. Caine is griping that he's the only one who seems to be angry about this. "I suppose they all want to go where the grass is greener." "They'll find it jolly expensive!" (Caine and his companion are smoking the local dope at the time).

-->-- '''Sebastian''', ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'', "Under the Sea"

* ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'': Ariel's desire to go up to the surface, as described in the song at the top of the page.
* ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'': "I want much more than this provincial liiife...!" Belle is reading [[IWishItWereReal a story about a prince in disguise...]]

* Disney/ThePrinceAndThePauper: Both Prince Mickey and Pauper Mickey.
* Disney/AladdinAndTheKingOfThieves: Aladdin and Jasmine's song "Out of Thin Air".

[[folder:Film]]
* After the climax of ''Film/{{Election}}'', [=McAllister=] moves from Omaha, Nebraska to New York City. [=McAllister=] thinks of his new life in New York is "exciting" compared to his old life in Omaha, although he is now living in a ridiculous small apartment instead of a house, and has a more humble job as a museum tour guide, probably earning less with a much higher cost of living. The implication of it all is that [=McAllister=] is just delusional.
* In ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', Dorothy wanted to go somewhere "Over The Rainbow".
* Spoofed in the satire ''Film/Water1985''. Creator/MichaelCaine is the governor of this minor British colony in the Caribbean, and has just received word that the suits back in London are shutting down the colony and shipping the natives off elsewhere. Caine is griping that he's the only one who seems to be angry about this. "I suppose they all want to go where the grass is greener." "They'll find it jolly expensive!" (Caine and his companion are smoking the local dope at the time).
* In ''WesternAnimation/OverTheHedge'', one of the porcupines compares grass stuck in his quills to the grass in the subdivision, and declares that it actually ''is'' [[LampshadeHanging greener on the other side.]]

* ''Film/{{Duets}}'': Frustration with his dull life as a traveling salesman and a family that didn't seem to appreciate him (along with a healthy dose of beta-blockers) led Todd Woods to drop everything and pursue a cross-country karaoke competition.

* The phrase is used ''Film/LuckyNumberSlevin'' as a matter of lifestyle rather than location, where the title character, Slevin, and a crime boss known as "The Rabbi" have a conversation about how he can be both a gangster and a rabbi. When asked point-blank how that works, he turns uncomfortable and admits to being a "bad man" who (as he regains his momentum) doesn't so much justify it as he is both "what could have been" ''and'' "what could not", and "[his] grass is always green".

* An anglophone expression that reflects his mindset is "keeping up with the Joneses." The titular "Joneses" are one's neighbors or immediate peers. To keep up with them is to do things not because a person necessarily wants to do them, but because they want to improve their own life by emulating someone else's. In addition, the desire to not be seen as "inferior" to one's peers is also part of it. Quite often, people who follow this mindset will find themselves buying and doing things they don't want, but feel obligated to do out of some vague promise of an improved life. However, it rarely pans out this way.

* In ''Manga/GlassMask'', Maya and Ayumi envy each other over their different home lives, while focusing on the disadvantages of their own. Maya envies Ayumi for having loving parents that support her choice of being an actress, while Maya's mother was more a believer in ToughLove, and the ample opportunities Ayumi has had to expand and improve her acting skills from childhood onward. Meanwhile, Ayumi envies Maya for having genuine friends that love and support her, with Ayumi realizing she's a LonelyRichKid, and her natural talent at acting. She also feels that Maya is a lot more free than Ayumi, who has been working for years to step out of the shadow of her actress mother's shadow and be seen as more than just the child of celebrities. When either mentions this to the other, they seem rather surprised to hear that.

* TruthInTelevision, the classic immigrant story.
** And not just immigrants from one country to another; it's a significant reason for people to move around ''within'' a country, too. (having found work elsewhere or going off to school are probably the only more common reasons)

* In "Once Upon a Time", an episode of ''Series/TheTwilightZone'', a man played by Creator/BusterKeaton is driven buggy by the high prices and everyday annoyances of 1890. He steals an experimental time machine and travels forward to 1961, which he assumes will be a utopia. The noise and even higher prices of the then-present convince him that he prefers living in his own time.

* In ''LightNovel/GoblinSlayer'', when we get a chance to see the perspective of the goblins, it's revealed that the goblin psyche is one part a total LackOfEmpathy to one part an insatiable envy, and a resentment of all things better than theirs, mixed with a complete refusal to actively try to help themselves get better. They steal whatever they can, let it get destroyed from lack of maintenance, and do nothing but curse others for having nicer things. A good illustration of this comes the Goblin viewpoint chapter in Volume 4, where a goblin who took a spear from a captured adventurer decides he wants the belt his brother took instead, only to become outraged and possessive when he realizes his brother wants the spear as well.

* ''WesternAnimation/LittleRuralRidingHood'' has the [[CountryMouse Country Wolf]] visit his [[CityMouse cousin in the city]], and proceeds to go gaga over City Red. Embarrassed by his cousin's lack of self-control, City Wolf drives him back home... and [[NotSoDifferent proceeds to go gaga over]] ''Country'' Red, prompting Country Wolf to chide him over his lack of self-control and [[HereWeGoAgain drive him back home to the city]].

* In ''Manga/NyotaiKa'': young unlucky in love SalaryMan Makoto wishes to become a woman because he's convinced women have it better in life because they can exploit young men for attention, money and gifts. After he actually does becomes a woman (courtesy of a Goddess eager to teach him a lesson) he quickly discovers that young women [[NearRapeExperience face enormous pressure to "put out"]] in exchange for that attention, and that's just one of the downsides. Others include getting hit on constantly and getting groped on the train.

* A variation: in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'', even though Koholint Island seems like a perfectly fine place to live and nobody else (besides the hero) ever thinks of leaving, Marin wishes to leave and travel the world like a seagull. [[spoiler:Even though the island turns out to be AllJustADream, if you never die in a run of the game it's shown that she gets her wish.]]

* ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'': "The seaweed is always greener, in somebody else's lake..."