History Main / ValuesResonance

* "As Long as You Love Me" by the Music/BackstreetBoys emphasizes the reciprocity of a relationship, as its chorus has the singer not caring about who their lover is, or even their origins or previous actions. With the recognition of LGBTQ+ rights in recent years, the chorus really ages like fine wine.

* In one episode of ''Series/{{Mash}}'' Hawkeye chews out Frank Burns for making fun of his mentally handicapped neighbor. These days, when we're just beginning to understand how hurtful ableist humor is, this comes across as quite refreshing.

* ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'', which came out in 1991, contains a very powerful message on the nature of a woman's choice, depicting Gaston's EntitledToHaveYou attitude towards Belle as what makes him the villain. The fact that he goes to such extreme lengths to get her attention, despite her turning him down multiple times, only emphasizes his villainy. Even in today's world, women can still be vilified for not returning feelings or for not liking someone who's effectively ''sexually harassing'' them, so its message of showing that it's Belle's choice that matters and not Gaston's is very refreshing.

** The anime frequently delves into various characters' mental states, and [[DysfunctionJunction very few of them are stable]]. This became especially relevant in TheNewTens with movements to destigmatize mental health problems, as well as increasing awareness of the effects of parental [[AbusiveParents abuse]] and [[ParentalNeglect neglect]].

** While the Captain Haddock's alcoholism is often treated as a joke, it's also shown as a hindrance for the characters in their adventures, and a big part of Haddock's development throughout the series is to learn to not be so dependent on the drink.

** "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS1E22TheMonstersAreDueOnMapleStreet The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street]]" is a classic episode about aliens who use good old-fashioned human prejudice and hysteria while they just watch and laugh. This was an allegory for the Red Scare, warning how communism is a danger, but the self-destructive anti-communist hysteria among the American people at the time was actually the best way for the real communists to ''win''. The episode was remade for ''Series/TheTwilightZone2002'', with the communist threat changed to terrorism. No other changes were made... or needed.
** "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS4E106HesAlive He's Alive]]" is another good contender, on how we keep monsters like UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler alive so long as we spread intolerance, no matter of what kind.
** "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS5E137Number12LooksJustLikeYou Number 12 Looks Just Like You]]" and its theme of over conformity and the Hollywood obsession with beauty (especially female beauty) is probably even truer today than it was back then. Eerily, it takes place in the year 2000.
** "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS2E42TheEyeOfTheBeholder Eye of the Beholder]]" has similar themes. The Closing Narration even invokes this:

** "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS2E47TheNightOfTheMeek The Night of the Meek]]" (the ChristmasEpisode) carries an {{Aesop}} about belief and the goodness of charity and giving, as opposed to blindly and selfishly asking and receiving. Its message is even truer today, as the commercialization of the holidays is greater than ever.
** "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS3E68TheShelter The Shelter]]" is a good example, whose message is somewhat similar to 'The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street', showing how when people turn on each other in times of crisis, it only leads to destruction. Incidentally, "The Shelter" is one of only a few episodes that keeps a fully realistic setting (no science fiction or supernatural elements), driving the point home that much harder due to the fact that it comes off as something that could actually happen in real life.
** Thanks to theories on global climate change that are increasingly agreed to be true, the depiction of people going mad and dying from extreme heat in "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS3E75TheMidnightSun The Midnight Sun]]" is far more unsettling today. And that's an episode that wasn't intended to be a moral lesson at all!

* ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryAsylum'': The scene the first episode where Leo respects Teresa's request to [[InterruptedIntimacy stop in the middle of sex and investigate an odd sound]] even when it's clear that he doesn't want to was a few years ahead of its time in recognizing and respecting that a partner's consent to sex is something they can and should be able to withdraw at any time, something which has gone on to become a staple of rape awareness lectures.

* As cited by WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd's review, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'''s overarching themes of loss, grief, and hope resonates with a lot of people, especially those who have played the game as kids and are revisiting them as adults. The Nerd even compares the game's events to the real world's state of affairs in TheNewTwenties, with the World of Balance being an equivalent of Earth before the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic (and the "good old days" in general), the Cataclysm to the pandemic itself, and the World of Ruin to the post-pandemic days, where there's still uncertainty about the world's stability no thanks to the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas conflicts.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' has a GreenAesop about overuse and misuse of natural resources that is demonstrated largely in the first half of the game. When the party travels to Walse, they attempt to convince the King to shut down the crystal amplifier because one crystal already shattered from it, but he dismisses them based on a "lack of evidence" that is obviously motivated by his reluctance to take the political risk. In Karnak, the inventor of the amplifiers actually tries to shut them down, but Queen Karnak throws him in jail and then censors any further dissent by building a ''wall'' between the town and the Great Library, whose scholars have also been raising the alarm. In both cases, the denialism does nothing to alter physical reality and both crystals shatter. It is quite prescient about the political mess that would surround climate change in TheNewTens, which involves a cocktail of denial, [[IgnoredExpert discrediting of scientists]], and apathy. Additionally, Exdeath's origin story (the second world using a tree in the Forest of Moore as a trashcan for various evil spirits) has parallels in the real world with toxic waste dumps and ecological "sacrifice zones" that eventually result in worsened natural disasters, floods, and contamination illnesses--various scholars indicate that Galuf's world used to be a lot like Bartz's until their toxic waste dump grew a brain.

* Lessing's ''Nathan der Weise'' still resonates with its message of tolerance, even though it is only limited to Muslims, Christians, and Jews in the narrative and the famous ring parable that even (daringly for its time) suggested that all three of them were wrong. Dust off the somewhat antiquated language and you could make it a modern movie with little to no effort, even though [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny some of its narrative devices]] have not aged as well as the message.

Keep in mind that this is somewhat a subjective trope, as what resonates as an accurate observation for a conservative may not be the same as a liberal, for a woman may not be the same as for a man, for a devoutly religious person may not be the same as an atheist, for a citizen of one country not the same as a citizen of another, and so on. The best advice (as always applicable when one deals with the internet) is to keep an open mind. Likewise, do not assume that merely because it is ''old'' that it is ''accurate''.

* ''Series/KamenRiderFourze'': One early two-part episode deals with a student turned willing MonsterOfTheWeek who got rejected by several girls and uses his newfound powers to get revenge on Yuki by [[ItMakesSenseInContext destroying the locker that doubles as a portal to their secret headquarters]] to 'see her cry' then attempting to send a bus full of girls who also 'rejected him' off a bridge to their deaths. With the rise of violence and VictimBlaming in incel culture in the late 10's and early 20's, it's much more relevant today as it was in 2011.

‘cause I don't really got shit else, so that shit helps when I'm depressed\\

* ''Manga/CodenameSailorV'': One chapter shows Minako being harassed by an obsessive {{Otaku}} who assumes she's a guy in drag because he can't accept the idea of [[GamerChick a girl beating his high score in a video game]], as well as how he acts completely inappropriate when she turns into Sailor V and overall thinks girls have no right to "invade" video arcades. This chapter is surprisingly still relevant today, especially given the surge in harassment against female gamers and fans during TheNewTens for supposedly being "fake geek girls".

** Prostitution was not seen as illegal or wicked for either the woman or the man partaking in the woman's services - in fact, it was seen as a sacred act done by priestesses of Ishtar. Shamhat in the Epic of Gilgamesh is one such sacred prostitute who has an important role in turning WildMan Enkidu into a civilized man. Even the Code of Hammurabi, which is definetly [[ValuesDissonance draconian compared to modern laws]], protects the rights and good name of said prostitutes and makes it illegal to slander them. Thanks to the general increase in sex-positivity and attempts at destigmatizing sex work, this resonates in modern times more than at any other point in history.

** Portraying the Incas and their descendants as rightfully wary of foreigners due to their past with the Spaniards, and criticizing the European exploitation of Peru and its rich culture in ''The Seven Crystal Balls'' / ''Prisoners of the Sun''. It's exemplified the best in the scene that opens the first book, where the gentleman sitting next to Tintin calls out the desecration of Rascar Capac's tomb, and later the scene where Tintin saves Zorrino from being bullied by two presumably Spaniard men.
*** Additionally, the Incans were ''not'' demonised for protecting their heritage - and the expedition was done in the name of teaching the world what the Incans were ''actually'' like.