Sandbox / Anvilicious Wick Check

On this page, we will be doing a wick check for the trope Anvilicious.

Why? This trope is suspected of being a sort of inverse of SANTBD, attracting a lot of complaining about morals being used in a heavy-handed manner. This wick check will be used to sort out examples for a possible TRS thread for this trope, similar to the proposed one for SANTBD.

Wick Count: of 63, 88.9% misuse rate.

• 33 (52.3%) neutral about Anviliciousness
• 7 (11.1%) complaints about Anviliciousness (intended use)
• 3 (4.8%) complaints unrelated to Anviliciousness
• 13 (20.6%) ZCE (nearly double intended use)
• 6 (9.5%) other issues

Examples used interchangeably with SANTBD: 11

Example neutrally describes a heavy-handed moral (33)

1. YMMV.No More Heroes 2 Desperate Struggle: The sequel is decidedly less subtle about its message against violence in the name of entertainment, especially the glorification of revenge. Then again, the original game's message [[SANTBD flew over many gamers' heads]]. Used interchangeably with SANTBD.
2. YMMV.The Last Of Us Part II: The game's anti-revenge/violence message, and the ways it portrays that message (such as enemies crying out the names of their comrades) has led to debate if the game [[SANTBD needed to be heavy-handed and unrelenting]] or is shallow and emotionally manipulative. Comparisons (positive or otherwise) to Spec Ops: The Line, NieR, NieR: Automata, Metal Gear Solid, Undertale and LISA were common in the months leading up to and after the release of the game. '''Equal argument for good or bad. Used interchangeably with SANTBD.'
3. WarIsHell.Anime And Manga:
   • One of the major themes of the Gundam saga especially Gundam 0080, Zeta Gundam, and Victory Gundam with the last two being the most harsh because Yoshiyuki Tomino was having Creator Breakdown while making them. Gundam 0080 beats you over the head with this trope. However, on the flip side, SANTBD, and it's overall one of the best Gundam series as a result of its utter bleakness. Which stems not from an anti war stance but Tomino's thoughts on Japan's actions in World War II and its imperialistic actions which mirror that of Zeon's.
   • Saikano is incredibly Anvilicious about this. [[SANTBD It]] works. Well for some.
   • Future War 198X shows the effects of World War III on the soldiers, civilians, and the powers behind each country fighting, shattering Japan's Nuclear Weapons Taboo and getting Space Battleship Yamato's director's message across loud and clear: nuclear weapons and war are bad. All misuse as YMMV on non-YMMV page. Two used interchangeably with SANTBD.
4. And Then John Was a Zombie: Animal Farm ends with the pigs coming to resemble human farmers so closely that the other animals find it hard to tell them apart from humans. They even begin to walk on two legs, wear human clothes, and carry whips. This is a rather Anvilicious commentary on how many revolutionary leaders become as corrupt and oppressive as the leaders they overthrew, if not more so. Misuse as YMMV on non-YMMV page.
5. YMMV.Animaniacs 2020: The show really likes to remind viewers about how Russia has been meddling in American politics since the 2016 election.
   • The show itself lampshaded how "bun control" was a heavy handed and thinly veiled jab allegory for gun control.
6. YMMV.Big Finish Doctor Who 093 Renaissance Of The Daleks: The humans use awful war tactics like Agent Orange, blowing up hills, enforcing their own religion upon others, and sending in untrained soldiers to fight wars whilst the Daleks want to bloodlessly take over the Earth without fighting. GET IT!?
7. YMMV.The Conversion Bureau The Other Side Of The Spectrum: The main fic and the side-stories are not exactly subtle.
   • For starters, it really likes to hammer in the fact that the Solar Empire is pure evil, with the xenocide, the various experimentations done on humanity, and the Mind Rape it regularly subjects its inhabitants to, not to mention how Uncanny the whole land is. So horrible, in fact, that Princess Celestia (you know, the picture of Reasonable Authority Figure in the show) literally almost goes insane just from knowing what happened. And she's not the only one who reacts as such.
   • The story also likes to hammer in that Violence is the Only Option. For example, the Newfoals being so mentally disabled and its original human soul subjected to And I Must Scream that Guilt-Free Extermination War is the only real option to use against them. Or the TCB Mane Six, TCB Twilight specifically, begging to be killed.
8. YMMV.The Rise Of Skywalker: The film isn't subtle about its "bloodlines don't matter as much as choices" aesop; Luke spells it out for Rey and the audience in the third act, and Rey adopts the family name "Skywalker" in the final scene. Some people suggested the filmmakers retconned Rey's origins from The Last Jedi to hammer this aesop in. J. J. Abrams stated he thought it was more dramatic for Rey to find out she didn't come from nothing, but instead from "the worst place possible" and still chose the light after struggling with the dark side.
9. YMMV.The Day The Earth Stood Still 2008 "Stop destroying your planet with primitive technology or we will stop all your technology. And that's only because Humans Are Special Bastards."
10. YMMV.Pokemon The Mastermind Of Mirage Pokemon: Hacked Pokemon are bad, got it?
11. YMMV.Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Gates To Infinity: Having the embodiment of everyone's negative emotions as the final boss is about as pushy as one can get in saying that negative emotions are bad.
12. Oz: The creator's thoughts on capital punishment and prison reform are made very obvious. The fact that Governor Devlin is a pretty blatant Straw Character based on mid-late 90's Republican governors doesn't exactly help.
13. YMMV.The Green Inferno: Uninformed activism does more bad than good. SANTBD for some.
14. YMMV.The Powerpuff Girls 2016:
    • While the original didn't make such a big deal about the heroes being girls, the 2016 reboot has girl power as a prominent theme.
    • A specific episode example would be "Spider Sense," which has a very obvious message against polluting and being wasteful.
15. YMMV.Dm C Devil May Cry: Everything wrong with Limbo City is literally the result of a demonic banker enslaving humanity through biased media, junk food, and debt. The parallels are not so much drawn as they are gouged.
16. YMMV.Jessica Jones 2015:
    • Kilgrave basically functions as an avatar of rape culture, including forcing women to smile for his amusement, his victims being prosecuted and punished more harshly than he is, said victims hurting themselves to abort an abuser's child, stalking a woman and ruining her life because he can't own her, hiding safely behind a society that believes he doesn't exist, and selectively interpreting past and present events so that he looks much nobler and sympathetic than he really is. Of course, this is taken up to eleven because his powers themselves force people to do things without their consent.
    • In a more sympathetic vein, Alisa, Jessica's mother, is an avatar of how society treats the mentally ill; despite her best efforts, she's a serious threat to herself and others and cannot be permitted to live free. However, even after she turns herself in, she is subjected to constant abuse, as if her illness is somehow her fault and she deserves to suffer for not being well; exemplified by Dale Holiday, a sadistic prison guard who subjects her to Electric Torture, destroys her possessions, force-feeds her food that makes her physically sick, and turns out to be a serial killer.
    • In-between those two examples are Malcolm and Trish; recovering addicts. Everything they do is either an attempt to reject or satisfy their addictions, and even their worst actions in pursuit thereof are never without sympathy; it's clearly shown that they are going through sheer, utter hell, and even when they fail their weakness is shown as debilitating, not purposeful. Jessica herself acknowledges that as an alcoholic who only stays functional due to her powers, she isn't in a position to really condemn.
    • The brief story arc dealing with Alisa's abuse in jail is itself this trope. Of course it's a male guard who's sadistic, abusive, and secretly a serial killer who lives alone with his stash of kill-trophies. After Jessica kills him, the woman who replaces him is warm, friendly, asks for nothing but respect and gives it in return, and is a mother whose daughter wants to follow in her footsteps. Subtle.
17. YMMV.Interstella 5555: The plot couldn't be a more blatant metaphor for the corporate pop-music industry sucking the soul out of good music if it had dialogue.
18. YMMV.Josh Scorcher: As a former Marine, Josh has fervently criticized the ever-present Artistic License – Military in media multiple times, noting that it has resulted in [[SANTBD misconceptions of the military and its members.]] Eventually taken to the point of parody:
    Josh: And that, for the 374th time, is why in great detail, the Equestrian military sucks. Used alongside SANTBD.
19. YMMV.Jonah A Veggie Tales Movie: The movie has to make sure that the message of compassion and mercy is completely hammered down until it pierces the inside of your skull. Ironically, it's forcing you the message without any compassion or mercy.
20. YMMV.Jurassic World: Subtlety is not this film's strong point. Claire's flaw being that she's a workaholic is really hammered in, with her sister insisting that motherhood is great and that kids are great, and she'll totally have kids one day.
21. YMMV.Mad Max Fury Road: The movie is not subtle about its feminist message. The bad guys are all men. Every woman is a good guy. Even the title character is a Supporting Protagonist to a strong, independent woman who ultimately takes power from a patriarchal regime. An early Armor-Piercing Question is "who killed the world?" with the implication that it's the men in power who are the cause of the Crapsack World of the setting.
22. YMMV.Little Women 2019:
    • Jo quotes a letter by Louisa May Alcott that sums up the thesis of the movie rather bluntly (However, the trailers are partly to blame for this, leaving out the final line, "But I'm so lonely"):
      "Women, they have minds, and they have souls, as well as just hearts. And they've got ambition, and they've got talent, as well as just beauty. I’m so sick of people saying that love is just all a woman is fit for. I’m so sick of it!"
    • Amy's speech about marriage as an "economic proposition" is also quite anvilicious, considering what we've already learned about legal and social restrictions on female autonomy at the time. Unsurprisingly this bit wasn't in the script, and was thought up by Meryl Streep moments before it was filmed.
23. YMMV.Littlest Pet Shop 2012: "Pump Up the Panda" really hammers in its "be happy with your body" aesop, with two of the three plots being dedicated to it.
24. YMMV.Lilo And Stitch The Series:
    • The strong emphasis on ʻohana (family).
    • "Frenchfry" delivers its message about eating healthy with about as much subtlety as a volcanic eruption.
25. YMMV.Knights Of The Old Republic II The Sith Lords: The sheer amount of derision hurled at both the Star Wars universe in general and the Force in particular. [[SANTBD While there are definitely good points to be made]], how many of them are valid is perhaps the major point of contention between those who love the game and those who don't. Overall, narrative's insistence on blaming the Force itself for all the problems with the universe can be seen as a heavy handed metaphor for the dangers of religious zealotry. Notes its seen as good or bad depending on one beliefs. Interchangeable with SANTBD.
26. YMMV.Renegade Cut: His Atlas Shrugged review is mostly him deconstructing the philosophy of Objectivism. Depending on your point of view, this might fall under SANTBD. Notes its seen as good or bad depending on one beliefs. Interchangeable with SANTBD.
27. YMMV.Revenge Of The Sith: The dialogue between Anakin and Obi-Wan on Mustafar has undergone Memetic Mutation for how on-the-nose it is regarding the conflict between Anakin's militaristic With Us or Against Us stance and Obi-Wan's insistence on democracy. The movie also came out when the Iraq War was a hot-button issue, so it's not hard to draw parallels between that scene and arguments regarding the USA's military interventions in foreign nations.
28. YMMV.Saw VI: Released right in the middle of a bad recession and a heated debate on health care, the writers give us an opening trap featuring two bankers who gave loans to people they knew couldn't pay, and the main game's victim, William, is an executive at a health insurance company who is forced to make some fantastically gory life-or-death decisions for his co-workers before getting killed by the widow and son of a man he denied coverage. One scene is an outright Author Filibuster in which Jigsaw, in a flashback in William's office, states that it's hypocritical to attack the government for trying to take life-and-death decisions away from doctors and their patients, when the health insurance industry does this regularly by denying coverage.
29. YMMV.Shin Megami Tensei IV Apocalypse: The game is about as unsubtle as all get out about how the power of friendship overcomes all with Peace route choices.
30. YMMV.Sonic Boom:
    • "Battle of the Boy Bands" screams (or more accurately sings) in the viewer's face exactly what the writers think about pop music and teen idols.
    • "Nutwork" pulls no punches in its Satire of news media and its viewers. Sticks, of all people, is presented as the voice of reason compared to the greedy TV newscasters and Apathetic Citizens.
31. YMMV.Sly 3 Honor Among Thieves: Like the Canada levels in 2, both Venice's and Australia's stories hammer in "polluting and destroying the environment for your own gain is bad" message. The latter is especially bad about it, as Bentley constantly laments the destruction the miners brought with them.
32. Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost: Being an "eco-goth" band, the song "Earth, Wind, Fire, and Air" is thick on its message on the importance of being environmentally friendly. It's still very catchy and fun, so no one really cares. Notes the Anvil is not a bad thing.
33. YMMV.The LEGO Movie 2 The Second Part: The movie really hammers hard its message near the end: even though the world isn't always sunshine and roses, that doesn't mean the world is also 100% cynical, and people shouldn't be cynical all the time either. However, see SANTBD. Interchangeably with SANTBD.

Example complains about a heavy-handed moral (8)

1. YMMV.Ghostbusters 2016: Female empowerment is very much a theme of the film. However, it occasionally comes across as clunky due to the negative portrayal of men being stupid, wrong, and/or evil. Might be more do to handling than heavy handedness but here for now.
2. YMMV.Doctor Who S 36 E 5 Oxygen: Even episode writer Jamie Mathieson admits the episode may have been too loaded on his view that Capitalism Is Bad. Fails to explain audience backlash. Redundant with Creator Backlash.
3. YMMV.Darling In The Franxx:
   • "No man is an island, people and love are stronger together" is a theme beaten over the audience's head every major arc. And if you haven't gotten it by episode 21 with the Jian metaphors, the nature of piloting, and the interpersonal interactions between the P13 cast, the Klaxxosaur Princess explicitly spells this out as Zero Two sacrifices herself to save Hiro.
   • Kokoro's "So what if I want to have a child?" defense in episode 17, coupled with Alpha's disgust at her reasons, dropped the relationship moral a little too hard. Only second one clearly expresses complaining. Fails to explain how it was too hard though.
4. YMMV.Digimon Fusion: While always something of a mainstay in the series, this season really ratchets up the Loners Are Freaks and Power of Friendship themes. Some would say to annoying levels. Taiki constantly preaches the values of friendship and the villains all pretty much have lack of friends as their main flaw. Other characters get in on it too.
5. YMMV.Interviews With Monster Girls: There have been complaints that the series beats the viewer over the head with the message of "don't be prejudiced". However, as detailed under Accidental Aesop, some question if it was even the writer's intention at all.
6. YMMV.Jurassic Park III: Contested Sequel: Mostly in regards to comparing it to The Lost World. Where Lost World is more hotly contested and polarizing, Jurassic Park III tends to more often be dismissed as So Okay, It's Average. While the former has bigger set pieces and more polish in the production values, it does suffer from too many subplots and a rather Anvilicious tone. JP III, meanwhile, is a little more to-the-point. Conversely, it's also the film that gets the most flak for not contributing enough to the rest of the series, while Lost World gets praise for at least trying to expand on the scale and storyline from the first film.
7. YMMV.Mass Effect Andromeda: The Scrappy: The Archon. Despite him being a Hate Sink of a Scary Dogmatic Alien, he drew fans' ire for different reasons. His design was often seen as either not intimidating, unoriginal and/or blatantly allegorical. He has no positive traits that would make him a more effective villain, and even failed as a Scary Dogmatic Alien because he betrays his people for a worse, selfish agenda. The players also don't get the satisfaction of fighting him in a final battle. Nothing about the character made fans gravitate towards him, even as a villain, and many considered him the worst antagonist that Bioware ever created. Pothole.
8. YMMV.She Ra And The Princesses Of Power: Base-Breaking Character: Swift Wind is a contender for most divisive character. Many people find his singing, constant Anvilicious dialogue and general obnoxiousness to be quite irritating. Swift Wind's Off-Model, Uncanny Valley animation doesn't really help his case either. On the other hand, many fans like how he sometimes helps Adora emotionally, and they find his bombastic personality endearing rather than annoying. Swift Wind also seems to be divisive amongst the crew of She-Ra, since Geiger said on Twitter that they hate Swift Wind more than the fans did.

Pure complaining (3)

1. YMMV.His Dark Materials: In The Amber Spyglass, the series' commentary on the evils of mindlessly deferring to authority, God included, becomes impossible to ignore. This obviously pushed away certain readers, while others argue that SANTBD. Complaining about content, not heavy handedness of it. Used interchangeably with SANTBD.
2. YMMV.Dogma: Many of the ideas proposed in the film about organized religion and the nature of spirituality are worth serious consideration, but since they're filtered through typical '90s snark-talk, a lot of it comes off as Sophisticated as Hell. More often than not, the film feels like a long, navel-gazing conversation with someone than a story. Praises the intended message and complains are not about the heavy handedness of delivery.
3. YMMV.Gravity Falls S 2 E 16 Roadside Attraction: The "being a playboy is bad" message can come off as this since the two cases it presents, Stan and Dipper, don't really do all that much that's objectionable. Stan only flirts with a single (receptive) female for the entire episode, and Dipper is only ever really seen holding pleasant and friendly conversations with the girls whose hearts he is accused of breaking. Despite everyone referring to what Dipper did as "flirting" and treating it as a great wrong against the girls, he never actually does anything close to romantic with them. Complaints irrelevant to heavy handedness.

ZC Es (13)

1. YMMV.We Never Learn: Follow your dreams, no matter what. You can achieve them with some hard work and determination, no matter how ambitious or unlikely they are. Doesn't state if heavy handed or audience reaction.
2. YMMV.The Gift 2015: Be careful how you treat people, because even something you don't think much of in the moment can destroy someone's life. Doesn't state if heavy handed or audience reaction.'
3. Trap Door: Used as the gimmick for the game show Russian Roulette, where contestants are eliminated by dropping through the door they're required to stand on (although, as the show's name suggests, whether or not a contestant is eliminated is a random process). To make the gimmick's usage even more Anvilicious, there's a lever to activate the Trapdoor in front of each player, essentially forcing them to eliminate themselves in this manner. Another Anvilicious aspect was the fact that the platform was designed to look like the chamber of a revolver, with the six contestants as the "bullets". Can't tell if complaint or not. Misuse as not clearly about Aesop and YMMV on non-YMMV page.
4. Recap.Teen Titans S 3 E 7 Revolution: Conflict Ball: For the sake of hammering home the Diplomacy Aesop, the Titans argue over who should be the leader in the wake of Robin being taken out of commission. Up until this point, whenever Robin was unavailable to lead, Cyborg had always stepped up to the plate unquestioned. Needless pothole. ZCE. YMMV in non-YMMV page.
5. Series.Star Trek Enterprise: Aesoptinum: Trellium-D (drug abuse), and Pa'nar Syndrome (AIDS). Needless pothole. ZCE. YMMV in non-YMMV page.
6. YMMV.Anthem: Practically Ayn Rand's Signature Style.
7. YMMV.The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: Homophobia and the societal demonization of gay people/gay culture is bad. How is it heavy handed about it.
8. YMMV.Orson Scott Cards Empire: Let's just say this book is not subtle in its execution and leave it at that. Also has SANTBD entry.
9. YMMV.The Sith Resurgence: Both Holdo and Aliana make it clear that while it is possible that there might be light left in Kylo Ren, nobody is obligated to reach out to him on that basis alone. Even if he were to redeem himself, he's done so much evil that someone is likely to kill him regardless. Fails to explain how heavy handed, redundant with Hard Truth Aesop if it is an Aesop.
10. YMMV.The Wicker Man 2006: Either way you take the film's supposed moral (see above), it still comes across as this. Likely not an example if it's failing to convey intended Aesop.
11. YMMV.Cyanide And Happiness: This strip manages to be that and the usual horrible C&H wrongness at the same time. Turns out the real monster is bad parenting.
    • This one, taking advantage of the Depressing Comic Week to draw the readers' attention to whale hunting.
    • And this one. As mentioned above, homophobia is an acceptable target for the Explosm crew. Seems to too much rely on weblinks to explain lack of subtlety.
12. YMMV.Rick And Morty S 4 E 3 One Crew Over The Crewcoos Morty: Dan, we get it. Heist movies are stupid.
13. YMMV.Reefer Madness: Subtlety? HA.

Other/unsorted (6)

1. YMMV.Mobile Suit Gundam 00: Basic rule of life even in 2307: don't take a ride in a stranger's car. See what happened to poor Kinue when she gets into Ali Al-Saachez's car? Misuse as minor scene and moment, not main lesson. Accidental Aesop.
2. YMMV.Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire: In case you didn't realize that the Death Eaters were Fantastic Racists based upon real-life racists, this movie spells it out for you by making their uniforms a Palette Swap of the KKK. Later films would mostly be more subtle with the villains' costuming. Doesn't sound like the central Aesop. But it did make efforts to correct.
3. YMMV.The Day The Earth Stood Still 1951: "Grow up and stop being Bastards or someone out there will make you stop." [[SANTBD This is a damned good one.]] They way Klaatu delivers the message at the end, the audience is made to feel as if he is talking directly to them. Especially poigniant when you remember that this film was released during the height of the Cold War. Prasing heavy handedness. Used interchangeably with SANTBD.
4. YMMV.Persona 5: In Kaneshiro's palace, people are literally represented by walking ATMs, which is already hugely unsubtle. The game still points this out, and explains what this means. Misuse as complaint about unsubtle symbolism, not Aesop.
5. YMMV.Doctor Strange 2016: SANTBD: Near the beginning of the movie, Strange engages in a degree of distracted driving seen in Public Service Announcement advertisements. There is a warning against distracted driving at the end of the credit roll. What keeps this from being Anvilicious is that the consequences — primarily the damage to the driver's hands — drive the plot immediately following the accident in a believable way, and even at the end — after going up multiple ranks on the Super Weight scale — the main character has still not recovered full use of his hands. Both Anvils misused as not central Aesops of the story.
6. YMMV.Sausage Party: The arguments over the Great Beyond's existence or lack thereof are taken straight from the standard arguments between believers and atheists. To some, the film ultimately comes down on the "side" of vague agnosticism, to others on the anti-religious atheist side (see What Do You Mean, It's Not Political? below). Whatever the case, there is a message that if you want to challenge a belief system, you need to offer an appealing alternative, as summed up by Barry late in the movie:
   Barry: (to Frank) You can't just slam their beliefs! You have to show them that there's a better way. You need to inspire them like you inspired me! You need to give them... hope. Misuse. Fails to explain how heavy handed about the subject.