History Main / TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong

This is a surprisingly common [[AnAesop theme]] in children's shows, especially in the 1980s when MoralGuardians promoted it as the primary "pro-social" moral. The essence, as summed up in [[http://www.newsfromme.com/?s=the+complainer+is+always+wrong this article by Mark Evanier]], who wrote for the cartoons of the time, is this: ''the group is always right; [[TropeNamer the complainer is always wrong]]''. Thus, [[FamilyUnfriendlyAesop you should always agree]] with your friends and go along with whatever they want to do without argument -- unless it has to do with {{drugs|AreBad}}, of course. In extreme cases, ThePowerOfFriendship can even be contingent on [[PeerPressureMakesYouEvil making the holdout agree with the majority]]. The problems with mindless conformity encapsulated in the JumpOffABridgeRebuttal never come up, since, you know, everyone jumping off a bridge together is ''social'' and LonersAreFreaks.

* Environmentalism group 1010 Global produced an ad called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOmLcSeU2UY No Pressure]] in which a variety of people (teachers, bosses, etc.), asked their respective groups to come up with ideas for a new green initiative or contribute to it. "No pressure," they assure everyone. There's usually one or two dissenters... who are then ''blown up''. [[NoghtmareFuel Not in a cartoonish way, either, but in a shower of blood and guts]]. [[WouldHurtAChild Children included]]. Somehow it was written, pitched, filmed, produced and released without anyone wondering "will this be seen as violent or threatening?" Needless to say, it was seen as being in poor taste, and taken down. [[NeverLiveItDown But the Internet is forever...]]
* Every "Four out of five [insert profession here] agree that..." advertisement falls into this category.

* In the infamous ''Franchise/TheLegendofZelda'' fanfic, ''Fanfic/MyInnerLife'', Link's MarySue wife, Jenna, receives her very own kokiri fairy from the Great Deku Tree to keep. When Mido, the leader of the kokiri, has the audacity to point out that she [[CanonDefilement should not be receiving one due to not being kokiri]], Saria immediately tears him a new one for daring to suggest that Jenna doesn't deserve every little thing she gets.

** Batman subverts this Trope quite a lot in ''Justice League''. In the episode ''Hereafter,'' while the rest of the Justice League discuss what should be done after Superman's apparent death and who they should recruit to replace him, Batman refuses to take part (although he does show up for the funeral). He instead focuses on trying to find out what happened to Superman, being GenreSavvy enough to know he's still alive somewhere.

This is a surprisingly common [[AnAesop theme]] in children's shows, especially in the 1980s when MoralGuardians promoted it as the primary "pro-social" moral. The essence, as summed up in [[http://www.newsfromme.com/?s=the+complainer+is+always+wrong this article by Mark Evanier]], who wrote for the cartoons of the time, is this: ''the group is always right; [[TropeNamer the complainer is always wrong]]''. Thus, [[FamilyUnfriendlyAesop you should always agree]] with your friends and go along with whatever they want to do without argument -- unless it has to do with {{drugs|AreBad}}, of course. In extreme cases, ThePowerOfFriendship can even be contingent on [[UnfortunateImplications making the holdout agree with the majority]]. The problems with mindless conformity encapsulated in the JumpOffABridgeRebuttal never come up, since, you know, everyone jumping off a bridge together is ''social'' and LonersAreFreaks.

May overlap with SillyRabbitCynicismIsForLosers if the majority judges a character for their cynical beliefs. Compare TallPoppySyndrome, ObsessivelyNormal. Contrast with IgnoredExpert, OnlySaneMan, and ProperlyParanoid where the sole complainer is right. When this trope is inverted, the Complainer becomes a BlitheSpirit. Also contrast PeerPressureMakesYouEvil, where the Aesop is that you ''shouldn't'' go along with the group. See also ForgottenBirthday, where the person who bottles up his complaints about his birthday being forgotten is often found to be in the wrong in the end; also see UnacceptableTargets, wherein you are always wrong if you do not like the UnacceptableTarget.

* Environmentalism group 1010 Global produced an ad called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOmLcSeU2UY No Pressure]] in which a variety of people (teachers, bosses, etc.), asked their respective groups to come up with ideas for a new green initiative or contribute to it. "No pressure," they assure everyone. There's usually one or two dissenters... who are then ''blown up''. Not in a cartoonish way, either, but in a shower of blood and guts. Children included. Somehow it was written, pitched, filmed, produced and released without anyone wondering "will this be seen as violent or threatening?" Needless to say, it was seen as being in poor taste, and taken down. [[NeverLiveItDown But the Internet is forever...]]

* This trope seemed to become a running gag in ''SonicX'', a recurring situation would come in which Knuckles would object to a team mission plan, usually leading the gang to use peer pressure and goad his ego and bravery until he gave in (just for ComedicSociopathy humor, even normally sweet characters like [[{{Moe}} Cream]] or unrelated background ones would join in bullying the poor guy). This was only worsened by the fact that a lot of times [[StrawmanHasAPoint he turned out to be right to doubt their plans]] (like the idea of gambling a Chaos Emerald in a baseball game that Eggman surely wouldn't cheat in) yet oddly Knuckles rarely ever called them out on it nor did [[BecauseISaidSo they really give much of an argument against it]] outside that [[MilesGloriosus he was a gutless hack]] for not agreeing to go along with their plan. Also led to MoralDissonance since the gang also spent a lot of time explaining to Knuckles how he shouldn't constantly fall for Eggman manipulating or tricking him into working for him.

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNddW2xmZp8 An old Oscar Meyer commercial]] starts with a group of children singing the old "I wish I were an Oscar Meyer wiener" song. Then it shows a boy singing his own version, informing the world at large just how glad he is that he is not an Oscar Meyer wiener, and therefore will not be eaten. He trails off as all the other children turn to glare at him, and then he joins them singing it the right way. Creepy much?

* ''Series/ICarly'': iMeet Fred. Freddie is bashed with a tennis racquet because he said Fred [[OpinionMyopia wasn't that funny]]. And then tossed out of a treehouse. Among other things. This is HarsherInHindsight when you consider that Fred is considered ''highly'' LoveItOrHateIt out-of-universe.

* In ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'' [[http://bobadventures.comicgenesis.com/d/20170425.html during her trial,]] Galatea argues she's being unfairly shoved into this sort of role.

* This is one of the criticisms that often gets thrown at ''VideoGame/Persona4'', in relation to [[the spoiler:murderer, Adachi]]. Particularly during the one scene where the members of Investigation Team "counter" [[spoiler:his]] complaints about life by essentially doing nothing but invoking this in differing wording (e.g. "You're just acting like a whiny child", "your opinions don't matter since you're just a criminal", ect).

* This is one of the criticisms that often gets thrown at ''VideoGame/Persona4'', in relation to the [[spoiler:murderer, Adachi. Particularly during the one scene where the members of Investigation Team "counter" his complaints about life by essentially doing nothing but invoking this in differing wording (e.g. "You're just acting like a whiny child", "your opinions don't matter since you're just a criminal", ect).

* [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-zagging]] in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. The Complainer of the group, Sokka, is also TheSmartGuy. Of course, Sokka is also The ButtMonkey, so it is played straight on occasion. Basically, if the thing being discussed is [[SingleIssueWonk a trivial matter]], Sokka will almost always be wrong, often for comedic effect. If it's something plot-relevant, [[ProperlyParanoid he's almost always right]].

* ZigZagged in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. The Complainer of the group, Sokka, is also TheSmartGuy. Of course, Sokka is also The ButtMonkey, so it is played straight on occasion. Basically, if the thing being discussed is [[SingleIssueWonk a trivial matter]], Sokka will almost always be wrong, often for comedic effect. If it's something plot-relevant, [[ProperlyParanoid he's almost always right]].

* This is one aspect of the "communist" leanings of ''TheSmurfs''. [[DumbIsGood Brainy Smurf]] was the usual [[ButtMonkey complainer]].

* ''WesternAnimation/KaBlam'': Billy from "The Off-Beats", The running gag in the series usually [[PlayedForLaughs involved Billy]] saying something that would get Tina mad, and then the Populars would literally throw him out of the group, causing Billy to crash into something.

* ''Series/ICarly'': iMeet Fred. Freddie is bashed with a tennis racquet because he said Fred [[OpinonMyopia wasn't that funny]]. And then tossed out of a treehouse. Among other things. This is HarsherInHindsight when you consider that Fred is considered ''highly'' LoveItOrHateIt out-of-universe.

* ''Series/ICarly'': iMeet Fred. Freddie is bashed with a tennis racquet because he said Fred wasn't that funny. And then tossed out of a treehouse. Among other things. This is HarsherInHindsight when you consider that Fred is considered ''highly'' LoveItOrHateIt out-of-universe.

* {{Zig-Zagged|Trope}} in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. The Complainer of the group, Sokka, is also TheSmartGuy. Of course, Sokka is also The ButtMonkey, so it is played straight on occasion. Basically, if the thing being discussed is [[SingleIssueWonk a trivial matter]], Sokka will almost always be wrong, often for comedic effect. If it's something plot-relevant, [[ProperlyParanoid he's almost always right]].

* Inverted and Played With in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. The Complainer of the group, Sokka, is also TheSmartGuy. Of course, Sokka is also The ButtMonkey, so it is played straight on occasion. Basically, if the thing being discussed is [[SingleIssueWonk a trivial matter]], Sokka will almost always be wrong, often for comedic effect. If it's something plot-relevant, [[ProperlyParanoid he's almost always right]].

Alice, Bob, and Carol are friends. Alice and Bob want to paint their clubhouse green. Carol thinks brown would be better. She goes to the paint store to buy brown paint to try and force the issue, but has trouble climbing the ladder with one hand and falls and spills paint everywhere and gets covered in it, and Alice and Bob say that this happened because Carol was so wrong to act alone.

* Between himself and his best friend Suzaku and dear sister Nunnally, it sure feels like this for Lelouch of ''CodeGeass''. Taken to even greater heights in Turn 19 of R2 during Schneizel's meeting with the Black Knights; first with Tamaki and Diethard, who contend that [[spoiler:anyone could have faked the recording]], and after everyone has made up their minds, Kallen, [[spoiler:who in an attempt to protect Zero from his would-be traitors, calls her fellow comrades out on being too one-sided, only to be warned to get out of the way or be shot down on suspicion of being geassed. Lelouch ends up lying to her in order for her life to be spared.]] The following episode, Diethard's earlier attempt to rein in an AWOL Ohgi by holding Villetta, the one responsible, captive, ended up with him getting a few bruises, and complaining to himself that Ohgi, who remains on the Black Knights and is now joined by Villetta, is miscast as a leader.

May overlap with SillyRabbitCynicismIsForLosers if the majority judges a character for their cynical beliefs. Compare TallPoppySyndrome. Contrast with IgnoredExpert, OnlySaneMan, and ProperlyParanoid where the sole complainer is right. When this trope is inverted, the Complainer becomes a BlitheSpirit. Also contrast PeerPressureMakesYouEvil, where the Aesop is that you ''shouldn't'' go along with the group. See also ForgottenBirthday, where the person who bottles up his complaints about his birthday being forgotten is often found to be in the wrong in the end; also see UnacceptableTargets, wherein you are always wrong if you do not like the UnacceptableTarget.

* Subverted in the Zerg campaign of ''StarCraft'' with Zasz, an obnoxious lieutenant in the ranks of the alien race. He spends the first half of the campaign being obviously jealous because [[HiveMind The Overmind]] has chosen Kerrigan has his ultimate creation. Then Zasz gets killed for good because nobody else listened when he said the Protoss were setting up an obvious trap and Kerrigan was falling right into it.

* The 2000s version of ''StrawberryShortcake'' seems to have this [[AnAesop aesop]] quite a bit, specifically in The Costume Party and Mind Your Manners, where both complainers are ''tricked into complying'' with Strawberry and her friends' views via parties. A ''lot'' of episode conflicts are solved by tricking or distracting the troublemaker into forgetting they had any reason to disagree or be upset, especially when it involves differences of opinion and personal choices.