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Acceptable Hard Luck Targets: Difference between revisions
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In a way, these might be even worse than other [[Acceptable Targets]]. While many people do show pride in their culture, ethnic group, nationality, etc. - people generally (with few exceptions<ref>the Deaf culture being one</ref>) don't show pride in a disability, illness, or whatever hardship that they have. It's usually considered bad enough that they have the disability, illness, or any other hardship - that being discriminated for it would add insult to injury, so to speak.
Of course, in some cases there's some circular logic here - they're only unlucky because they happen to be [[Acceptable Targets]].
{{examples}}
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'''Overweight'''
You must be dumb. End of story. Or lazy. Or greedy. Or gluttonous (in some TV shows fat characters never appear in a ''single scene'' without shoving food into their mouths). Or low-class trailer trash. Or a slob. Or sweaty, stinky, or otherwise sub-human. Or, in an inversion, if you're American you must be a disgusting fat slob.
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== Examples ==
* Kill Moves from ''[[Everybody Hates Chris]]''.
* [[Bum Reviews|Chester A. Bum.]]
* The "Crazy Cat Lady" from [[The Simpsons]].
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'''[[Evil Albino]]'''
Though with some luck this just might be heading for [[Discredited Trope]] status, though there's still a very long way to go yet. See [[Heroic Albino]]-- compare how short is next to the [[Evil Albino]] one.
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'''People with [[Speech Impediment|speech impediments]]'''
Common speech problems such as the lisp, stutter, pronunciation of "r" as "w", or even funny accents, are still regularly used for comic effect. This can even extend all the way up to damaged vocal cords requiring the use of an external electronic voicebox, or complete loss of speech, which usually results in jokes about people having to [[Talking with Signs|write down everything they say]]. Most [[Looney Tunes]] characters had "[[Elmuh Fudd Syndwome|amusing]]" speech impediments, but the classic examples have to be Michael Palin's portrayal of Pontius Pilate in ''[[Monty Python's Life of Brian]]'', and Peter Cook's Impressive Clergyman in ''[[The Princess Bride (film)|The Princess Bride]]''.
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* Worth noting that the actor who played the stuttering public attorney in ''[[My Cousin Vinny]]'' actually had a speech impediment in real life for years and only recently beat it before signing up for the role. He thought of his character having a speech impediment as a "sick joke."
* Subverted in ''[[Pan's Labyrinth]]'', in which {{spoiler|the character who stutters is told that he will not be tortured if he can count to three without stuttering. He can't, and is tortured.}}
* Played with in M*A*S*H, when a wounded soldier with a bad stutter treated as an idiot by his commanding officer. However, the normally snobbish and rude Charles was very sympathetic and mentions that many very intelligent people also had stutters, at the end of the episode it was revealed that Charles's sister also has a stutter.
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* Averted in ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]''. Kripke is a jerk to the main characters, but they never pick on his rhotacism. Of course, it's still pretty clearly intended.
** Sure? "What accent is that?"
** The character that asks that was born in India and moved to America, it seems like the writers were re-asking a fan question.
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'''People with non-disabling deformities'''
Especially with the increase in the availability and use of plastic surgery, people who have noticeable disfigurements that are not actually disabling (or at least don't appear to be, regardless of whether they actually are) are subject to ridicule, if they're ever shown on television at all.
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== [[Western Animation]] ==
* An episode of ''[[Family Guy]]'' at one point featured Stewie having a recollection about a man with a cleft lip, who he referred to as a harelip - an offensive term for the condition.
** Not to mention Jake Tucker and his upside down face.
* Zuko from ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' (the main villain of Season 1) has a nasty burn scar on his face, which was given to him by [[Abusive Parents|his own father]]. {{spoiler|He does get a [[Heel Face Turn]] in Season 3, though.}}
** Zuko is an interesting example, as his scar doesn't prevent him from being [[Mr. Fanservice]].
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'''[[Tourettes Shitcock Syndrome|Tourette's Syndrome]]'''
The "swearing disease", despite the fact that swearing tics occur maybe ten percent of the cases.
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== Examples ==
* [[Western Animation]] In an episode of ''[[South Park]]'', Cartman encounters a child whose Tourette's causes him to swear, Cartman sees this as an opportunity to swear all he wants and use Tourette's as an excuse. Kyle sees through Cartman's ruse right away and sets out to disprove him. Other children are shown in the episode with different kinds of ticks that do not involve swearing.
** It's worth noting that the Tourette Syndrome Association called the episode "surprisingly well-researched" and were generally happy with the way people with Tourette's were portrayed in the episode.
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'''Mouth Breathers'''
It's ''always'' used to describe people who are dumb in some way. Admit it...you've heard it used to describe that [[Jerk Jock]] or that bigass Bully with more muscle than brain in high school, or those stupid customers who ask stupid questions. Some of us have to breathe through our mouth because we have a cold, sinus infection, the flu, or really bad allergies. (And we all know 90% of Allergy Medications don't work) OI!
== Examples ==
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== [[Real Life]] ==
* Not to mention when it's caused not by a temporary sickness or allergy, but a permanent deformation of the internal sinus passages.
* Take one look at [http://peoplewhodeserveit.com/2009/03/16/129-heavy-mouth-breather/ This link]. Wow, I hope those guys ''NEVER'' have allergies or a bad cold.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[King of the Hill]]'': "Bobby is breathing through his mouth, I'm afraid if I feed him he'll suffocate!"
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'''People with allergies'''
Especially ones that cause them to develop cold or flu - like symptoms from plants, animals, dust, etc. Like overweight people, their suffering and awkwardness is often just plain funny. It's often depicted as just one more indication that the character isn't Mr. or Miss Right for the protagonist. However, if a secondary protagonist is a [[Loser Protagonist|Loser]], an allergy sufferer rejected by [[The Hero]] may be his last hope for wedded bliss. There's also a tendency to give nebbishy characters allergies in order to reinforce their wimpiness.
== Examples ==
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== [[Real Life]] ==
* See also, Mouth breathers. Some people ''have'' to breathe through their mouth because they can't clear their nose out thanks to allergies. It's a Catch 22 allaround...the second you clear it out, within 10 minutes, your nasal passages are blocked again and you ''have'' to breathe through your mouth.
* This one is perhaps less offensive and more idiotic in that pretty much ''everyone'' has some allergy- it's just the severity and specifics of the allergy that people start a fuss over. Really, to say someone has no allergies is to say that they have a superhuman immune system.
** A lot are played through laughs, at least hayfever. Allergies like Nuts or Shellfish? ''No laughing matter''. Even people who complain about not being able to eat peanuts in an area that has a large no nuts sign is more than often shut up when they learn how ''severe'' peanut allergies can be.
*** People who loudly and/or obnoxiously inform others -especially strangers- of their allergies are perfectly acceptable targets, regardless of the severity of said allergies.
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'''[[Perpetual Poverty]]'''
There's usually a good reason for it in [[Real Life]], but in sitcoms they're often depicted as lazy, ignorant, etc., or else the [[Butt Monkey]] / [[Cosmic Plaything]]. It's really interesting when the lower-class (usually) guy falls for the [[Rich Bitch]] and has to deal with the vast ocean of differences between the social classes. [[Hilarity Ensues]].
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'''People who were held back a year in school'''
Commonly portrayed as a [[Jerkass]] Bully, being ''much'' bigger than the class, being ''incredibly'' stupid, and most fiction examples won't cover any potential examples for being held back (such as how they were held back because they spent too much of the school year in the hospital recovering from a severe illness or injury). They also are ''never'' shown as taking school seriously; frequently giving up and not even ''trying'' to do their schoolwork so they can catch up.
== Examples ==
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* Kelso on ''[[That '70s Show]]'' was held back as a kid and kept it secret out of shame. It fits the role of Kelso as the group's resident idiot, and he takes some shots at him when they hear it. The main joke however is that he was old enough to legally buy beer for them and told nobody.
== [[Real Life]] ==
* This seems to differ a lot the higher up you go - high-school may show seniors who didn't graduate and are there an extra year, but sometimes the lines of what is acceptable for a sophomore and the like will be shown as blurring; such as how a junior will be taking chemistry. This also changes a ''lot'' more for the "Honors" students.
** Differs from country to country. In [[German Education System|Germany]], it's not exactly uncommon to repeat a year, while in other countries it rarely happens - so if it does, expect students doing so to stick out.
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'''Community college'''
The ultimate butt of education jokes. Whether a series takes place in high school, "real" college, or the outside world, expect at least one joke about a character attending community college. Despite the fact that many educational professionals agree attending community college for two years and then transferring to a four-year school is an excellent financial decision, pop culture and society at large have not gotten over the fact that "anyone can get into community college." Community college students are seen as A) poor, B) lazy, C) stupid, or D) all of the above. This is one of the few fiction-based acceptable targets that also applies completely in real life--it is perfectly acceptable to insult the community college system and its students in most social situations.
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'''Trade School'''
By people who have not been to trade schools.
== Examples ==
== [[Real Life]] ==
* Astronauts actually ''did'' get people understanding them, before [[wikipedia:Lisa Nowak|Lisa Nowak]] went after that woman her boyfriend was having an affair with.
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'''Male Harassment victims'''
Did you know that Sexual Harassment can actually happen to ''men'' too? Or that women can actually commit Sexual Harassment...and actually do it to ''a man'' and not another woman? Or that men can actually commit Sexual Harassment against ''other men''? Most places don't actually realize this and force men who are targets of harassment to "take it like a man" and that anyone who tries to do something about the harassment is "PC Bullshit" or "a wimp."
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== [[Western Animation]] ==
* In an episode of ''[[King of the Hill]]'', Hank Hill's reaction to being told he can sue for "Male on Male Sexual Harassment" is... "BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!" followed by his shocked expression. The other person he shows it to also is too afraid to admit it. It's amazing how [[Truth in Television|real]] it can be.
** Another episode had him being borderline-stalked by a female cop with the hots for him, which wasn't shown as being the least bit acceptable. Yet still played for laughs.
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'''People with physical features that some just don't happen to personally find attractive'''
If someone finds a person unpleasant for any reason, it's not uncommon for the complainer to, while ranting about this person they find unpleasant, also throw in "[[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|Oh, and they also have a big nose/a weird chin/creepy eyebrows/chubby cheeks/are fat/too hairy/etc]]".
== Examples ==
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