History Main / YouHaveToBelieveMe

* Mulder of ''TheXFiles'' has a bad habit of this; when trying to enlist outside aid in dealing with a case (local police, FBI higher-ups, etc.) he makes sure to tell them ''exactly'' what he thinks is going on, no matter how insane, as opposed to sticking to the parts they're likely to believe.

* Kyle Reese and Sarah Connor's [[CassandraTruth rantings and ravings]] about a [[BadFuture future war]] and sentient computers in the [[TheTerminator Terminator]] films gets them both labeled as nutters. By the second film, Sarah has even been institutionalized.

* When ''Film/AbbotAndCostelloMeetFrankenstein'', poor Chick spends most of the movie trying to convince Wilbur that he's seeing monsters.

* In ''Series/TheOuterLimits'' episode "The Special One", a father asks the board of education if they provide tutors as part of the enrichment program. When he's told that they don't, he reveals that a man posing as a tutor has been visiting his son. And then he reveals that the man isn't human, is from outer space (which he couldn't possibly know), disappears and materializes, and then starts talking about climate control machines.

* {{Averted}} / {{Defied}} in ''{{Gothic}} II''. When the [[NoNameGiven Nameless Hero]] has to gain Paladins' support against the dragons in Valley of Mines, he simply tells their commander, "The question is not if you should believe me, but whether you can afford to ''not'' believe me if I'm telling truth." It works pretty well -- the Hero is sent to the Valley for confirmation.

* Intentionally invoked by Frank in ''Series/SevenDays''. When a journalist is about to expose the governments time-travel experiments he confirms her story on national television. He then [[RefugeInAudacity goes on]] to say that he is the only man that can time travel, which is why the CIA let him out of the psych ward so he can pilot the ship that [[ETGaveUsWiFi runs off of alien technology]] found at [[RoswellThatEndsWell Roswell]] and designed by a [[HotScientist sexy Russian]] that totally digs him. He (and the journalist) are laughed off the show.

** Harry is terrible at this in general, and never learns. One could blame the other characters for the same thing as Harry is almost always at least slightly right about whatever crazy conspiracy he's crowing about, but he's always screaming and shouting at people when they show even an ounce of reasonable doubt, rather than, you know, presenting any actual ''evidence''...
** Aside from Dumbledore and Sirius, everyone always seems to disregard Harry's theories almost offhand. In the first book, nobody wanted to hear that he thought the Philosopher's Stone was being stolen, in the third, nobody listened when he claimed Sirius was innocent and Peter Pettigrew was still alive, he spends most of the fifth trying to convince the world Voldemort was back, and in the sixth nobody, including his personal friends, believe him when he says Malfoy is a Death-Eater. This does have an instance of CryingWolf and people do take him seriously at times (like when Mr. Weasley is attacked), but by the end of the sixth book, when Professor [=McGonagall=] is point-blank asking him for his input on something, he keeps it a secret, having apparently decided AdultsAreUseless.
** Harry's problems with communications can at least [[FreudianExcuse be blamed on a truly shitty upbringing]] under the Dursleys where he has trouble making friends and most of his social interactions with people were doing chores for his aunt and uncle. And he does have rather a good reason to not bother with [=McGonagall=], as she'd previously flat-out refused to believe him about the Stone, Malfoy, and Umbridge. Note: The business about him making friends? Well it was because up until he went to Hogwarts, his cousin Dudley went to the same school as him, and according to the first book "At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang." and "He had always been last to be chosen (in gym), not because he was no good, but because no one wanted Dudley to think they liked him."

* In ''MassEffect'', [[spoiler:the Council is generally considered TooDumbToLive for ignoring your warnings about the Reapers. But then again, Commander Shepard probably could've come up with some much better arguments.]]

* Subverted in ''Film/StarTrek''; when he's figured out what's going on, Kirk races into the bridge like a madman yelling about how it's a trap. Given his actions -- plus the fact that he's pretty much a stowaway -- Captain Pike is within seconds of having him locked up when Uhura validates Kirk's story with evidence and Spock (who has been given no reason to like Kirk) acknowledges that Kirk's theory is logical. This plus the fact that Pike wrote his dissertation on the anomalous event Kirk is trying to prove is happening a second time, and Pike gives Kirk the benefit of the doubt.

!!Examples

[[folder:Film]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* ''MonsterHouse'': [[GeniusLoci An abandoned house]] eats anyone who approaches it. The kids tell the police this (loudly), instead of "someone went in and never came out".
* The movie ''Disney/ChickenLittle'' uses this one a lot. Chicken Little's flabbergasted babbling as he attempts to explain himself isn't exactly helped by his own father apologizing for his craziness to the townspeople.
* Appears in ''{{Mulan}}'', as she struggles to tell her former teammates that some of the Huns have survived an avalanche that buried their army.
* ''TheSimpsons''

* Subverted in ''StarchaserTheLegendOfOrin'', when Orin is trying to convince the others of the existence of the outside world and gets interrupted by [[BigBad Zygon]].

* In ''RecessSchoolsOut'', three different groups of people report strange happenings in Third Street School: TJ reports the green laser, his friends report his kidnapping, and even the [[AdultsAreUseless typically unhelpful]] Ms. Finster reports ninjas. And yet, the cops make no connection and just laugh each one out of the room.

* Averted in [[http://www.angryflower.com/spooky.gif this]] BobTheAngryFlower comic. Bob makes up a completely plausible reason for cops to investigate a house that turns out to be haunted by knife ghosts.

-->'''Mary:'' I'm sure I could have handled that better.

* ''TheLadykillers'' uses this as a FramingDevice, with a little old lady telling the desk sergeant at her local police station about how a gang of criminals used her house as the base for a bank heist. The story, of course, is true, and the sergeant, of course, doesn't believe a word of it. [[spoiler:Which makes the old lady realize that nobody ''else'' will believe she has a tidy fortune in banknotes sitting in her basement, so she drops the issue herself, subverting this trope quite literally at the last minute.]]

* A segment in ''HouseOfMystery'' #227 called ''The Weird World of Anton Borka'', a young farmer is BlessedWithSuck via a gift from an old peddler. Anton's able to see a group of strange creatures who promise to ensure he has good fortune, but because only he can see them the rest of his town think Anton's insane. No matter how much he pleads that the creatures are real everyone just shrugs it off as "crazy Anton".

* In ''FanFic/FeverDreams'' when L is sick he begins raving to everyone that Light is Kira and he's going to kill us all! Everyone attributes it to L's high fever. It doesn't help that in his fever and paranoia L assumes that the doctor Watari brought in must be in on the conspiracy. [[TheCuckoolanderWasRight L was right]] and Light ''is'' up to something [[spoiler: but for once it doesn't involve killing anyone.]]

* In ''TheMist'', David Drayton makes a very lame attempt to tell Norton about "the creatures in the mist". Even his companions comment this to themselves.

* [[TwistEnding The final scene of]] ''Film/SoylentGreen'', in which Charlton Heston's character [[ItWasHisSled desperately shouts the titular staple's]] [[HumanResources secret ingredient]], [[PopculturalOsmosis is often played as this in]] {{Shout Out}}s / {{parodies}}, [[BeamMeUpScotty but actual scene doesn't really fit the trope.]]

* In ''Film/GalaxyQuest'', Jason Nesmith tries to tell his co-stars that the odd-looking fans at the convention were really aliens: "They were termites... or dalmatians!" They don't believe him at first, even when a couple of the Thermians (shapeshifted into humans) arrive.
* This is ridiculously common in [[BMovie slasher and monster flicks]] where the hero(es) have to warn the general public of the impending danger.
** For example, in ''Beware! Film/TheBlob!'', the female lead witnesses the eponymous monster's first two victims, then almost becomes a victim herself. When it comes time to alert the public, the most coherent thing she can utter is "It came ''after'' us; it came ''after'' us!" She does get a little better by the end of the film; but by this time, as per the dictates of the trope, her credibility is done gone shot.
** Somewhat reversed in ''Film/AnAmericanWerewolfInLondon'', as it's one of the walking corpses who's trying to convince the living protagonist, who dismisses them as a hallucination.
--->"Goddammit, David, ''please'' believe me! You'll kill and make others like me! I'm not having a nice time here."

* A review of ''EvanAlmighty'' posed the question that never seems to be answered in those kinds of movies -- so Steve Carell tells his wife he's been chosen by God to recreate the Noah story and that's why all this weird stuff is happening. She doesn't believe him. Why doesn't he take her into the bathroom and show her how his beard grows back immediately when he shaves it, and so on? (Of course, [[IdiotPlot the movie as it is depends on characters assuming]] that everything that happens to Evan is some kind of misguided attempt at humor he's engineered and is now refusing to let go, no matter how miserable it clearly makes him and how much he insists that it's not his fault.)
** Given the idea behind ''Evan Almighty'', in that case it's probably done as a point about the Christian concept of faith, which is to be expected of believers without the demand of proof.
* The eponymous character in ''WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}}'' attempts to contact the police and explain that her parents were kidnapped, but once she gets to the part about the Other Mother, they shrug it off. Admittedly, she could have at least convinced them that her parents really were missing, but that doesn't mean they could do anything constructive. She also tells Wybie what's going on, but she doesn't try very hard to convince him, and is more venting at him than trying to explain anything. (Also somewhat justified by Wybie being rather a smart-arse.)
** She loses all credibility (despite [[CassandraTruth telling the complete truth]]) when she starts throwing shoes at him.
* ''Film/TheGoonies'' had Chunk get away from the Fratelli's and find a phone. Unfortunately, he's [[CryingWolf cried wolf]] before.
-->'''[[PoliceAreUseless Cop]]''': Hey, is this like the time you found the critters that [[Film/{{Gremlins}} turn into monsters when you feed them after midnight?]]
* Speaking of ''Film/{{Gremlins}}'', this is what happens when the hero tries to explain the title creatures to the cops. And again in the sequel.

* Played with in ''SmallSoldiers''. The main heroine is trying to call the police to help them against the attacking toys, and insists that it's not a prank call. Then she reverses herself and says that it is, "So you'll come over and arrest me, right?" [[PoliceAreUseless They hang up.]]
* Generally averted in ''TheMidnightMeatTrain'', where the protagonist (played by Bradley Cooper) is quite reasonable and diplomatic with the police detective, accepting that the evidence he has is not enough to convict Vinnie Jones of being a SerialKiller. Unfortunately, [[spoiler: his paranoiac dedication to finding out the truth drives him crazy]].

* Basically the entire plot of ''A Cry in the Wilderness'', in which a father, suspecting that he might have contracted rabies, chains himself up in a barn, telling his son not to release him under any circumstances. Later he realizes that there is an imminent flood.
* ''TheLadykillers'' uses this as a FramingDevice, with a little old lady telling the desk sergeant at her local police station about how a gang of criminals used her house as the base for a bank heist. The story, of course, is true, and the sergeant, of course, doesn't believe a word of it. [[spoiler:Which makes the old lady realize that nobody ''else'' will believe she has a tidy fortune in banknotes sitting in her basement, so she drops the issue herself, subverting this trope quite literally at the last minute.]]
* In the first few minutes of the 1982 version of ''Film/TheThing1982'', some Norwegians land their helicopter near the American base and start shooting at (what looks like) a Siberian Husky. When some of the Americans come out to see what all the fuss is about (including the security guy with his revolver), instead of dropping their guns and de-escalating things, the Norwegians keep excitedly shouting (in their native tongue) and shooting at the dog. The security guy pops them both before they can tell the Americans about the dog-thing.
* In ''AmericanDreamer'', Alan tries to explain things to the police, but he gives poor context for the situation, making the woman [[EasyAmnesia who thinks she's an adventure novel heroine]] look credible.
* In ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan'', Peter tries to convince Captain Stacy that Dr. Connors is the Lizard with nothing but his say-so to back it up. Stacy has him removed [[spoiler:but does ask one of his officers to look into it]].
* ''Film/TheyLive'': Averted in a way during the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-MVMbm6c0k 5 minute fight sequence]] where the protagonist won't take no for an answer from the person he is trying to convince.
* Happens a lot to Nora in ''Film/HouseOnHauntedHill1959'', who keeps seeing dead bodies and blood stains. [[spoiler: It's part of an elaborate plot to keep her constantly on the verge of a nervous breakdown.]] By the time her ImpliedLoveInterest, Lance, eventually spots one of the severed heads she told everyone about, he's had it with this trope, so he grabs the head by the hair and takes it to show everyone.
* Played with in the original ''Film/FrightNight'', when Charlie, convinced that his neighbor is a vampire who has been murdering local women, only tries to convince the police that his neighbor is a murderer, rather than a vampire. Sadly, when he doesn't have enough evidence, he goes right to the vampire story.
* Early in the ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'' series, "Crazy Ralph", a local vagabond, would show up to try to warn people to stay away from Crystal Lake. In the end, the only person to take him seriously is [[spoiler:Jason Vorhees, who cuts Ralph's throat early on in [[Film/FridayThe13thPart2 Part II]].]]
* At first the main character of ''Film/TakeShelter'' tries to hide his fears because he knows everyone will assume he's crazy. Eventually, though, he has a full-blown outburst at a work event, resulting in the page quote.

* In ''FanFic/FeverDreams'' when L is sick he begins raving to everyone that Light is Kira and he's going to kill us all! Everyone attributes it to L's high fever. It doesn't help that in his fever and paranoia L assumes that the doctor Watari brought in must be in on the conspiracy. [[TheCuckoolanderWasRight L was right and Light ''is'' up to something]] [[spoiler: but for once it doesn't involve killing anyone.]]

** One of the BigFinishDoctorWho audio plays, ''Minuet in Hell'', has the Eighth Doctor lose some of his memory after crashing the TARDIS and winds up in a mental hospital. He tries to tell people his name and what happened, and tells the Brigadier when he shows up that he (the Doctor) recognizes him, but no one believes him, because, well, he's in a mental hospital (the Brig doesn't recognize him because he hadn't seen that incarnation before).

* ''{{Starcraft}}''
** In ''{{Starcraft}}: Brood War'', Aldaris incites a major military revolt and goes off on a mindless tirade about how evil the Dark Templar are and how they would doom the Protoss society. Just as he is finally defeated and starts to explain what he's discovered, Kerrigan pops in and assassinates him. The heroes eventually find out the hard way that Aldaris was right two campaigns later....all because the guy descended into a raving lunacy rather than rationally approaching the dilemma.
** Almost completely subverted by Zeratul in ''{{Starcraft 2}}''. True enough, he starts out as if he's going to play this trope straight, coming to Raynor in a dark corridor and acting all crazy and hurried, but he ''does'' give ol' Jimmy all of the information he has, expressed as logically as possible. It's also hard to fault him for boarding the ship in secret, because, well, he's a Protoss (and a Dark Templar to boot), [[BlueAndOrangeMorality and that's just the way they do things]].

** Almost completely subverted by Zeratul in ''{{Starcraft 2}}''. True enough, he starts out as if he's going to play this trope straight, coming to Raynor in a dark corridor and acting all crazy and hurried, but he ''does'' give ol' Jimmy all of the information he has, expressed as logically as possible. It's also hard to fault him for boarding the ship in secret, because, well, he's a Protoss, [[BlueAndOrangeMorality and that's just the way they do things]].