"Jump Off a Bridge" Rebuttal: Difference between revisions

{{quote|'''Jimmy''': But dad, all my friends are gonna be there!, <br />

'''[[Cloudcuckoolander|Hugh]]''': I know, son, [[Metaphorgotten|but if all your friends were named Cliff, would you jump off them]]? I don't think you would.|''[[The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron|Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius]]''}}

The first rebuttal the parent makes in defense will inevitably be, "So, if the whole world/ your whole school/ all your friends were going to jump off a bridge, would you jump, too?"

Perfect set-up for a [[You Are Grounded]] or [[Can't Get Away Withwith Nuthin']]. Pertains to [[Peer Pressure Makes You Evil]].

{{examples|Examples}}

{{quote| '''Kate:''' Alice [the villain] isn't taking the night off, Colonel.<br />

'''Colonel Kane:''' And if Alice jumped off a bridge?<br />

== Fan FictionWorks ==

* In the Harry Potter fanfic ''Fire Burns'', Katherine and Remus have an arguementargument over Katherine having killed someone on Voldemort's orders.

{{quote| '''Remus:''' If someone told you to jump off a bridge would you do it?<br />

* ''[[Antz (Animation)|Antz]]'': Z tries to stop the foreman from finishing a tunnel that {{spoiler|leads to a lake, which will flood the entire colony}} by asking him this. As the foreman considers it thoughtfully, Z comments that he's asking the wrong guy.

* The movie ''[[Heathers]]'' asks the question, "If the coolest kids in school committed suicide, would others follow?" with a resounding, "Yes!" A dark way to address [[Truth in Television]], but [[Some Anvils Need to Be Dropped]].

** [[Life Imitates Art]]: In 2006-2008, a lot of teenagers in Bridgend, Wales decided to commit suicide on Bebo for no reason other than the fact that [[What an Idiot!|everyone else was doing it]].

* ''[[Coneheads]]'': Beldar Conehead's reaction at his daughter, Connie's fake tattoo on her cone.

{{quote| '''Connie:''' It's just a decal, everyone's wearing them.<br />

'''Beldar:''' If everyone jumped into a bitumious cauldron, would you jump in too?<br />

* ''[[Suicide Club]]'': Proven. The whole movie is about a wave of suicides among schoolchildren all over the country for seemingly no apparent reason. A group of school-kids are on the roof talking about the recent wave of suicides. One says, "We should kill ourselves too!" Guess what happens? The whole lot of them end up jumping off the building. One girl left who's too scared ends up dragging a friend along screaming "Now we have to! We have to!" Turns out {{spoiler|the current hot idol band is sending subliminal messages in their songs encouraging young people to kill themselves}}. They never explain why, but it's Japanese cinema, what do you expect?

* There's a joke which responds to the question with "I'm a lifeguard."

{{quote| '''Dick''': You wouldn't jump off a bridge just because your friends did, would you?<br />

{{quote| ''"Suppose everyone thought that way."''<br />

* In [[Dan Abnett]]'s [[Warhammer 4000040,000]] [[GauntsGaunt's Ghosts]] novel ''Ghostmaker'', Bragg is asked if the Ghosts would jump off a cliff if Gaunt told them to and says yes, of course, is that a trick question? {{spoiler|Bragg, while not the sharpest knife in the drawer, is deliberately playing up his [[Big Guy]] role to convince them he's [[The Fool]] because he knows one is [[The Mole]].}}

{{quote| '''His Mother''': So? If the two of them were going to jump off a bridge, would you jump, too?<br />

* ''[[The Fresh Prince of Bel -Air]]'': Will tells his uncle's jerk of a rival to "Drop dead!" and he does right then and there.

{{quote| '''Will''': Come on, man! If I told you to jump off a bridge, would you do it?!}}

{{quote| '''Ward''': Would you expect Wally to jump off a roof just because Chip did?<br />

* ''[[MASHM*A*S*H (television)|M*A*S*H]]'' subverted this in one episode:

{{quote| '''Col. Flagg''': This Chandler fellow decides he doesn't want to fight anymore. Soon other soldiers decide not to fight anymore. You know what will happen if everyone decides not to fight anymore?<br />

{{quote| '''Jane''': Let me ask you something. If Director Bertram wanted a CBI presence to jump off a cliff, would you and your CBI presence jump off that cliff?<br />

* [[El Chavo Deldel Ocho]] from all, have the most intelligent response.

{{quote| '''Chavo''': [[Literal -Minded|You told me to do that]]<br />

'''Don Ramón''': You're so obedient.(El Chavo shows pride over this). And if I tell to jump off a bridge, you would do it?<br />

* ''[[Old HarrysHarry's Game (Radio)|Old Harrys Game]]'', the sitcom set in Hell. Thomas is talking to a woman who killed herself because she listened to him when to told her to commit fraud and was subsequently arrested (or something like that). He denies responsibility "If I told you to put your head in the oven... OK bad example".

{{quote| '''Homestar:''' (wearing sunglasses at night) Sup?<br />

'''Marzipan:''' Homestar, that is not cool.<br />

'''Homestar:''' Yes, it is. Strong Bad said so.<br />

'''Marzipan:''' Well, if Strong Bad told you to jump off a bridge--<br />

== WebcomicsWeb Comics ==

* Dr. Gardevoir attempts this with the Sniper in ''[[Level 30 Psychiatry (Webcomic)|Level 30 Psychiatry]]''

{{quote| '''Gardevoir''': ''[[Squick|You threw jars of your own urine at people?]]''<br />

'''Sniper''': ''Saxton Hale said it would be cool.''<br />

'''Gardevoir''': ''If Saxton Hale jumped off a cliff-''<br />

'''Sniper''': ''Like he did in "Saxton Hale vs the Red Cliffs of Doomver"?''<br />

{{spoiler|'''Gardevoir's split personality'''}}: 'Has that cliff jumping question ever worked?'' }}

* ''[[Rugrats (Animation)|Rugrats]]'': A variation occurs in the episode "Driving Miss Angelica", where Angelica has successfully tricked Chuckie into being her slave, and she now blames him when her orders have gotten them trapped in a closet.

{{quote| '''Chuckie''': But, Angelica, you ordered me to come up here.<br />

'''Angelica''': Do you always do everything I tell you? If I told you to jump off a bridge, would you?!<br />

{{quote| '''Penny''': ...But daddy, all my friends are going.<br />

'''Oscar''': If all your friends jumped off a cliff, would you do it?<br />

'''Penny''': If it was fun.<br />

* ''[[The Simpsons (Animationanimation)|The Simpsons]]'':

{{quote| '''Marge''': What on earth possessed you to get an earring?<br />

'''Bart''': Milhouse has one.<br />

'''Marge''': If Milhouse jumped off a cliff...<br />

{{quote| '''Bart''': I can't go [to Nelson's birthday party]. No one else is!<br />

'''Marge''': If no one else jumped off the Empire State Building, would you not jump?<br />

* In the ''[[Futurama (Animation)|Futurama]]'' pilot, Bender refuses to bend bars, saying he's only programmed to bend girders.

{{quote| '''Fry:''' If you were programmed to jump off a bridge, would you?<br />

{{quote| '''Vince:''' But every kid at school has seen it!<br />

'''Mom:''' If every kid at school jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?<br />

** In another episode, [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|he]] [[Lampshade|lampshadeslampshade]]s [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|this]].

{{quote| '''Lula:''' So if everyone had the plague you want it too?<br />

* From the ''[[Dan Vs.]]'' episode "New Mexico":

{{quote| '''Elise''': Okay, but we're having salad for dinner.<br />

'''Chris''': ...Dan said we were having burgers.<br />

'''Elise''': If Dan jumped off a cliff, would you?<br />

'''Chris''': *thinks about it*<br />

'''Elise''': Chris!<br />

'''Chris''': *stammers* I mean, it depends.<br />

'''Elise''': Don't jump off a cliff!<br />

'''Chris''': Well, I wasn't planning on it.<br />

'''Elise''': But if Dan jumped, you would?<br />

'''Chris''': *thinks about it*<br />

* ''[[The Legend of Tarzan (Animation)|The Legend of Tarzan]]'': A kid injures himself after trying to imitate Tarzan, citing his ability to jump from the top of a waterfall and land safely. His aunt begins to ask the question before realizing it's a poor example.

{{quote| '''Buford/Bufavulous:''' Mother always told me if all the other kids were jumping off a cliff, I should to.<br />

'''Baljeet/Baljeetolas:''' Your mother said that?<br />

* In a [[Darkwing Duck (Animationanimation)|Darkwing Duck]] episode while DW is under the effect of a [[Love Potion]] (which makes him all buddy/buddy with Negaduck), Negaduck tells him to jump off a cliff, so he does. He even yells Geronimo on his way down.

{{quote| '''Negaduck:''' And to think, all this time all I had to do was ask.}}

* The ''[[Twilight (Literaturenovel)|Twilight]]'' [[Fan Dumb]] went to a all new low when [http://www.examiner.com/x-4908-Twilight-Examiner~y2009m7d15-Twilight-fan-cliffdives-where-Bella-did-Quileute-Nation-not-responsible-for-the-incident someone jumped off a cliff] because Bella did it.

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100503135809/http://www.outpostnine.com/gaijin_smash/2009/01/japanese-people-say-the-darndest-things---version-xp.html This post] on [[Gaijin Smash]] discusses the cultural gap on date excuses.

[[Category:Jump Off A Bridge Rebuttal{{PAGENAME}}]]