Basic Trope: The assumption that a work's patrons are of at least above-average intelligence.
- Straight:
- Peter's play The Life of the Mind doesn't talk down to its audience by over-explaining or constantly repeating plot points.
- The show uses a game show's worth of trivia.
- Exaggerated:
- Peter's plays are almost impossible to understand even at a genius-level IQ.
- The show uses theories and philosophies that are only understood by graduate students... across multiple fields.
- Downplayed:
- Peter's plays make occasional use of interesting tidbits to enhance the story.
- The basic narrative behind the play could be understood by anyone, but a lot of subtext is lost without understanding the subject matter.
- The show refers to works and ideas that are well-known in one field, but obscure in others.
- Justified:
- Peter comes from a family that instilled an appreciation for high culture in him, which is what he shares with his audience.
- Peter is Writing Around Trademarks.
- Inverted: Peter's plays make Moose Murders look like Death of a Salesman.
- Subverted:
- Peter claims his writing challenges the audience intellectually, but his writing begs to differ.
- There isn't a deeper meaning behind Peter's play: it really was just nonsense intended to confuse its audience.
- Peter summarizes the play in a way which his audience would understand.
- Parodied: Peter addresses his audience during the curtain call for the show, answering any questions they may have about its content.
- Zig Zagged: Peter's plays run the gamut in terms of accessibility, ranging from deep and complex to almost childishly simple.
- Averted: Peter makes no effort to talk up or down to his audience.
- Enforced:
- Peter loathes authors who don't give it their all, and intends to give his audience every measure of his intelligence as a playwright.
- Peter is working with an In-Joke, which is only supposed to be understood by his close associates. Letting too many people in on the joke would ruin it.
- Lampshaded:
- The advertising for The Life of the Mind boasts that you require a Mensa membership to see it.
- Lampshaded the Obscure Reference
- Invoked: Peter uses every trick in the medium of theater to better connect his plays to his audience.
- Exploited: Peter uses his "genius cred" to become a critical darling.
- Defied:
- "I wake up in the morning and write the simplest, trashiest thing I can think of because that's what gets me paid."
- "I want to write something thought-provoking, but in a way that my audience would actually understand."
- "No one's going to get these references; better just stick to the Small Reference Pools."
- Discussed: Several critics take umbrage with the inaccessibility of Peter's plays.
- Conversed: Peter's audience may not "get" his plays entirely, but they always take away bits they find important.
- Implied: Peter's plays are either off- or off-off-Broadway productions.
- Deconstructed:
- It turns out Peter's audience really is stupid, and doesn't appreciate word one of what he attempts to give them through his plays. He takes it poorly.
- The complicated nature of Peter's play hides the fact that he doesn't grasp the basic essentials of writing a play and the audience is intelligent enough to see through his attempt at such and the play gets hit with bad reviews.
- Reconstructed:
- Peter's plays attract a die-hard fandom of people who do appreciate them, eventually becoming part of the great literary canon of civilization years down the line.
- Peter constructs the play so that it could be better understood with repeat viewings. This makes the work a richer, more dynamic experience that changes with each viewing.
- Played for Laughs: The playbill for The Life of the Mind comes with a pop quiz.
- Played for Drama: Much of the intrigue in The Life of the Mind depends on being able to piece together the plot before the characters do.
Tropers are so smart, they probably don't even need this link back to the main page.
