History Main / SourGrapesTropes

* FantasticAesop: a very common variant of this trope is a moral lesson warning against the use of nonexistent technology or magic, such as using time travel to fix your problems.

Stories that don't do this are WishFulfillment fantasies, [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools not that there's anything wrong with that]]. Fiction has been providing wish fulfillment for centuries. Contemporary fiction, though, often comes off as somehow ''obliged'' to show the downside of a desire. Not doing so might [[SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids be seen as "juvenile."]] Ironically, Sour Grapes Tropes tend to indulge in their own backhanded brand of WishFulfillment; these tropes are often used to assuage [[TallPoppySyndrome an audience's discomfort]] and [[GreenEyedMonster envy]] seeing a more ambitious or intelligent or lucky character at succeeding in a way that the viewers can't by showing the 'bad' side of their success. See [[Creator/FriedrichNietzsche Nietzsche's remarks on ''slave morality'']] for the intellectual impulse behind many of the usages of these tropes.

The {{Trope Namer|s}} is the classic BeastFable "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fox_and_the_Grapes?wprov=sfti1 The Fox and the Grapes]]." In the story, a hungry fox tries and fails to reach some grapes that grow high above him from the grapevine, growing increasingly frustrated until he gives up. As he leaves, the fox convinces himself that the grapes were sour (meaning unripe) all along and thus not worth his time, even though he had no way of knowing if the grapes were truly sour, in an attempt to relieve his own frustration and make himself feel better. This is where the term "sour grapes" comes from, which is used to refer to the attitude of disparaging something purely because one cannot have it themselves. Said attitude is what underlies many of the tropes listed below, as they all involve fantastic, desirable situations or traits that both the creator and audience have no way of experiencing for themselves.

Stories that don't do this are WishFulfillment fantasies, [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools not that there's anything wrong with that]]. Fiction has been providing wish fulfillment for centuries. Contemporary fiction, though, often comes off as somehow ''obliged'' to show the downside of a desire. Not doing so might be seen as "juvenile." Ironically, Sour Grapes Tropes tend to indulge in their own backhanded brand of WishFulfillment; these tropes are often used to assuage [[TallPoppySyndrome an audience's discomfort]] and [[GreenEyedMonster envy]] seeing a more ambitious or intelligent or lucky character at succeeding in a way that the viewers can't by showing the 'bad' side of their success. See [[Creator/FriedrichNietzsche Nietzsche's remarks on ''slave morality'']] for the intellectual impulse behind many of the usages of these tropes.

The TropeNamer is the classic BeastFable "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fox_and_the_Grapes?wprov=sfti1 The Fox and the Grapes]]." In the story, a hungry fox tries and fails to reach some grapes that grow high above him from the grapevine, growing increasingly frustrated until he gives up. As he leaves, the fox convinces himself that the grapes were sour (meaning unripe) all along and thus not worth his time, even though he had no way of knowing if the grapes were truly sour, in an attempt to relieve his own frustration and make himself feel better. This is where the term "sour grapes" comes from, which is used to refer to the attitude of disparaging something purely because one cannot have it themselves. Said attitude is what underlies many of the tropes listed below, as they all involve fantastic, desirable situations or traits that both the creator and audience have no way of experiencing for themselves.

* ComesGreatResponsibility: When you have super powers, using them for anything other than helping others [[PersonalGainHurts never works out]].

The TropeNamer is the classic BeastFable "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fox_and_the_Grapes?wprov=sfti1 The Fox and the Grapes]]." In the story, a hungry fox tries and fails to reach some grapes that grow high above him from the grapevine, growing increasingly frustrated until he gives up. As he leaves, the fox convinces himself that the grapes were sour (meaning unripe) all along and thus not worth his time, even though he had no way of knowing if the grapes were truly sour, in an attempt to relieve his own frustration and make himself feel better. This is where the term "sour grapes" comes from, which is used to refer to the attitude of disparaging something purely because one cannot have it themselves. Said attitude is what underlies may of the tropes listed below, as they all involve fantastic, desirable situations or traits that both the creator and audience have no way of experiencing for themselves.

The TropeNamer is the classic BeastFable "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fox_and_the_Grapes?wprov=sfti1 The Fox and the Grapes]]." In the story, a hungry fox tries and fails to reach some grapes that grow high above him from the grapevine, growing increasingly frustrated until he gives up. As he leaves, the fox convinces himself that the grapes were sour (meaning unripe) all along and thus not worth his time, even though he had no way of knowing if the grapes were truly sour, in an attempt to relieve his own frustration and make himself feel better. This is where the term "sour grapes" comes from, which is used to refer to the attitude of disparaging something purely because one cannot have it themselves. Said attitude underlies the tropes listed below, hence the name "Sour Grape Tropes."

The TropeNamer is the classic BeastFable "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fox_and_the_Grapes?wprov=sfti1 The Fox and the Grapes]]." In the story, a hungry fox tries and fails to reach some grapes that grow high above him from the grapevine, growing increasingly frustrated until he gives up. As he leaves, the fox convinces himself that the grapes were sour all along and thus not worth his time (meaning unripe), even though he had no way of knowing if the grapes were truly sour, in an attempt to relieve his own frustration and make himself feel better. This is where the term "sour grapes" comes from, which is used to refer to the attitude of disparaging something purely because one cannot have it themselves. Said attitude underlies the tropes listed below, hence the name "Sour Grape Tropes."

%%While the index name comes from the original fable "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fox_and_the_Grapes?wprov=sfti1 The Fox and the Grapes]]", it is not about disparaging a thing you can't get. The fox was disgusted with himself for wasting time and effort trying to reach a bunch of grapes that were sour, meaning unripe.
%%Except that's literally exactly what it's about. While the fox disparaged himself for doing this, he really had no way of knowing the grapes were sour and just made that statement up so he'd feel better.