Author Tract: Difference between revisions

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* Sherwood Pictures makes films (such as ''[[Facing the Giants]]'' and ''[[Courageous]]'') that are specifically intended to teach about [[As the Good Book Says...|Christian morality]]. This makes sense, as they're produced and financed by a Baptist church.
* [[Steven Seagal]]'s ''[[On Deadly Ground]]'' caps off its green-friendly agenda with Seagal ''literally'' lecturing the audience on environmental problems and getting a round of applause.
 
 
== Literature ==
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** You know you're dealing with an Author Tract when you read a women's clinic employee saying that she's sad that all the world's children disappeared... '' because they can't perform any more abortions now''!
* The elves of the ''[[Inheritance Cycle|Inheritance]]'' books (''Eragon'', ''Eldest'', ''Brisingr'', and ''Inheritance'') are atheist vegetarians who impart their 'wisdom' to the main character and the reader, by spending quite a bit of time expounding upon how 'stupid' religion is ([[Elves Versus Dwarves|particularly to the dwarves]]). [[Christopher Paolini]] denies that this was a representation of his own beliefs, claiming it was simply an attempt to portray various cultures and viewpoints in the series. [[Author's Saving Throw|This became a lot more plausible after the third book.]] However, in the fourth book Eragon devotes two paragraphs to discussing the stupidity of religion, and in many places it is hinted that religion is scoffed at by all the main characters except Orik (the dwarf king) and Nasuada (the human queen).
* A large part of [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s ''[[Stranger in Aa Strange Land]]'' revolves around nudism and polyamory, both of which Heinlein practiced in his real life (''[[For Us, The Living: A Comedy of Customs]]'', a [[Missing Episode|lost early Heinlein manuscript]] which was first published in 2003, contains similar themes). Indeed, his works can largely be divided into pre-''Stranger'' and post-''Stranger'', with the latter showing far more evidence of this. There's also a greater-than-average amount of incest, including a mention that in his distant future it's genetically safer in some cases for a woman to bear her brother's children than an unrelated man's -- a couple's decision to have children together (or not) is based purely on their gene scans, not on consanguinity. Not that that necessarily stops them from ''marrying''; there's a reference to a happily married couple who are raising seven children, "four his, three hers, none theirs," (possibly a blended family and possibly using donor sperm for hers and donor eggs for his -- the text doesn't say which) because the genetic risks of having children together were too great. Apparently [[Hollywood Evolution]] leads to a world where [[Mary Suetopia|whatever the creator thinks is hottest happens]]. Heinlein was probably unaware of the [[wikipedia:Westermarck effect#Westermarck effect|Westermarck Effect]], or he would have been less sanguine about the possibility of genetic scans completely replacing the incest taboo as society's method of minimizing pregnancies and births marred by reinforced harmful recessive genes.
** All of Robert A. Heinlein's heroes have the same views as he does.{{verify}} Some of his early writing was made solely for the purpose of Author Tract. However, even his stories that weren't solely designed for it still have plenty of it in there. It is just that he was such a good writer with good ideas that he could get away with it. He also does get you to think about the issues, as well. ''[[Starship Troopers (novel)|Starship Troopers]]'' is the most popular story of his that has been accused of being an Author Tract, with critics basically saying it is just about worshiping the military.
*** ''[[Starship Troopers (novel)|Starship Troopers]]'' is an Author Tract, all right. He wrote it in protest of America signing a nuclear treaty with Russia—whomRussia — whom he did not believe would keep nuclear treaties. [[Unfortunate Implications]] in that [[Reality Subtext]], but this novel is good in itself. And it ''doesn't'' have the [[Squick]] that ''[[Stranger in Aa Strange Land]]'' does, which makes a difference: there are probably a lot of people who appreciate Heinlein's military politics, but not his sexual politics.
*** Or vice-versa - ''Stranger'' was well-liked by the hippie movement, for example, while they certainly weren't fans of ''[[Starship Troopers (novel)|Starship Troopers]]''.
*** ''[[Starship Troopers (novel)|Starship Troopers]]'' is very pro-military in general, but it was more about Heinein's ideas of how the military should be (as well as the associated political/philosophical ideas being pushed) than being pro military.
*** Weirdly, given that it suffers from such a severe dose of Author Tract, ''[[Starship Troopers (novel)|Starship Troopers]]'' comes closer than any of his other major novels to breaking the main character out of the 'Heinlein hero' mold. The protagonist ''isn't'' an attractive resourceful polymath; he's just a regular Joe (well, Juan) who believes the political line fed to him in school.
*** Heinlein is an unusual author tractist in that his political opinions and issue of choice evolved over time. While he never stopped writing author tracts, has later tracts effectively contradict his middle tracts, which in turn contradict his earlier tracts.
* ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four|1984]]'', by George Orwell, is nothing but an extremely [[Anvilicious]] Author Tract based on his vision of how Stalinist revision of history might be taken to its logical extremes.
** Orwell's ''[[Animal Farm]]'' is also a thinly veiled satire of the Russian Revolution, and more generally of the nigh-universal cycle of revolution and corruption.
*** Animal Farm can also come off as a pro-Trotskyist Author Tract given the fact that the one semi-good pig was an idealized version of Trotsky.
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* Self-proclaimed libertarian PJ O'Rourke's ''Don't Vote - It Just Encourages The Bastards'' is a bit hammery with its fundamental message of "All politicians suck, but left-wing ones suck worse than right-wing ones".
* G. P. Taylor's book ''[[Shadowmancer]]'' is a heavy-handed attempt to get the reader to convert to Christianity. It's filled with [[Hollywood Atheist]]s. One of the characters, Raphah, is clearly an author mouthpiece who condemns all things the author dislikes such as witchcraft and coffee.
 
 
== Live-Action TV ==
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** He later expanded in his blog that he was in fact just mocking ship to ship combat and not shipping itself.
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'' has had several cases over the years, including "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S10/E05 The Green Death|The Green Death]]" ([[Green Aesop]]), "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S22/E04 The Two Doctors|The Two Doctors]]" (vegetarian), "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S27/E04 Aliens of London|Aliens of London]]"/"[[Doctor Who/Recap/S27/E05 World War Three|World War III]]", "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S15/E04 The Sun Makers|The Sunmakers]]" (anti-tax), "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S9/E02 The Curse of Peladon|The Curse of Peladon]]" (pro-EEC), "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S11/E04 The Monster of Peladon|The Monster of Peladon]]", [[Doctor Who/Recap/S26/E01 Battlefield|Battlefield]] (Nuclear weapons).
* ''[[Penn and& Teller: Bullshit!]]'' is completely blatant about its skeptical and Libertarian agendas from the very first episode. Teller has said (aloud, with his voice) that he likes the show being totally biased, but still fair.
* Gene Roddenberry, the creator of ''[[Star Trek]]'', had a history of putting his atheist beliefs in his work, though this only became Anvilicious in ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|The Next Generation]]'' (there are several affirmative mentions of a belief in God by heroic human characters in the original series).
* Is it coincidence that the soapboxing quotient on ''[[Quincy]]'' increased as [[Jack Klugman]] got more script control? Er... no.
 
 
== Music ==
{{quote|(Given the large number of [[Protest Song|protest songs]]s and other musical agitprop, this probably should only list notable or extreme examples)}}.
* The album ''Firestorm'' by [[Filk Song|filk]] musician Leslie Fish is intended as a set of instructions for surviving after a nuclear war. Many of her other songs are author tracts on the subjects of religion, anarchism, and civil liberties.
* System of a Down lost a lot of their fandom after their concerts became political talk-downs instead of politically charged ''music''.
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** [[Auto Tune the News]] has plenty of political moments.
* "Long Leather Coat" by Paul McCartney, issued in 1993. If you are not in animal-lib, you will get chills listening to this.
* Several of John Lennon's works from '72 and '73. "Woman Is the Nigger of the World." There is even the Nutopian National Anthem-... which is silent...
* Much of [[Green Day]]'s ''[[American Idiot]]'' album contains constant [[Take That]]s against the George W. Bush administration. One song on the album, "Holiday", despite already being an Author Tract manages to still have an [[Author Filibuster]] where the song stops for the singer to [[Strawman Political]] [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] and George Bush directly through spoken word, complete with [[Godwin's Law|pulling a Godwin]]. Only a couple of tracks on the album ("Holiday" and "American Idiot" especially) are explicitly political, though, with the main focus of the album being [[Rock Opera|a narrative]] about disaffected youths. Most assume the entire album is nothing but political ranting because the two most [[Anvilicious]] songs were released as singles and, consequentially, received the most airplay
* ''Diary of an Unborn Child'' is an anti-abortion Author Tract that would possibly have been more effective had the titular protagonist not embodied [[Tastes Like Diabetes|Sickening Sweetness]] and [[Nightmare Fuel]] in equal measure, making its eventual demise [[Broken Aesop|more of a relief than anything]]. [[Narm|And then it starts singing.]]
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{{quote|"So when I see all these rock stars up there talking politics, it makes me sick. If you`re listening to a rock star in order to get your information on who to vote for, you`re a bigger moron than they are. Why are we rock stars? Because we`re morons. We sleep all day, we play music at night and very rarely do we sit around reading the Washington Journal."}}
** Likewise, [[Elvis Presley]] is known for his comment to a reporter who asked for his opinion on the Vietnam War; The King politely replied with "Ma'am, I'm just an entertainer," and he ''left it at that''.
* Neal Morse left his Prog Rock band [[Spock's Beard]] after becoming a Christian. His ''Testimony'' album is pretty much the story of his conversion, although he tends not to be didactic and simply calls it "my story."
* Early [[Chicago (band)|Chicago]] had a lot of these. If it's penned by Robert Lamm, expect this trope (also, expect a lot of vitriol aimed at the establishment). Exemplified by [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|''A Song for Richard And His Friends.'']]
* [[Toby Keith]]'s early albums were a mix of fun or melancholy country tunes, of above-average quality. For a while, they are mostly raucous instructions on blind patriotism, bible-thumping and how he's better than everyone.
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* While normally [[Bob Dylan]] puts enough subtlety in his protest songs that you could naively assume they were made purely for the artistic merit, he didn't even try with "Neighborhood Bully".
** His 1964 song "Ballad in Plain D" is a fairly straightforward rant about the end of his relationship with Suze Rotolo (the woman with him on the cover of ''The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan''), blaming her 'parasite sister' for breaking them up.
* [[Ministry]] did an entire TRILOGY''trilogy'' of a full-length albums specifically against George W. Bush.
* A Perfect Circle's album ''Emotive'', which could probably be renamed 'take this album to an anti-war protest.'
* Many thrash metal bands moved in this direction during classic metal's [[Gotterdammerung]] between 1988 and 1991, trading sex and violence for left-wing politics and anti-war messages, and beer-fueled fury for punkish societal indignation. The lyrical style became derisively known as 'CNN thrash' by some fans, although some classics did arise out of this. [[Anthrax]] was the most famous example (the entire ''Persistence of Time'' album is a series of political songs), although [[Metallica]] flirted with it on ''And Justice For All''. Some bands, like Sacred Reich and Toxik (whose second album is a [[Concept Album]] about how television is bad for you) made their entire careers doing this sort of music.
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** With Hart's grandson, Mason Mastroianni, in the writer's seat, the preachiness has been dropped and the strip has returned to gag-a-day format. There was a strip ("Hey, I found this paper from 2004...") that implies ''B.C.'' merely takes place [[After the End]].
 
== Recorded and Stand Up Comedy ==
 
== Stand Up Comedy ==
* Dara Ó Briain has been known to [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMvMb90hem8 rant about science] in a very entertaining manner.
* Bill Hicks' comedy routines were pretty much nothing but this trope. He liked challenging mainstream beliefs on society, religion, politics and pop culture, often in a deliberately controversial way.
* [[George Carlin]]'s later concerts have tended to include at least one section that comes across as not so much comedy as a rant to the effect that "the very concept of religion, and in particular Christianity, is inherently illogical and overbureaucratic."
** Overall George Carlin's career can be summed up as starting out as "guy telling obscene jokes with a lot of profanity with witty observations sprinkled throughout" and ending up as "grumpy old man standing on stage bitching about the stuff he hates".
 
 
== Theatre ==
* ''Bat Boy: The Musical'' (based on the [[Weekly World News]] story) features a blatantly obvious anti-religion message as every single religious character is depicted as either being dumb and/or violent. It shouldn't come as a surprise that Brian Flemming (of ''The God Who Wasn't There'' infamy) co-wrote it.
 
 
== Video Games ==
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* The ''[[Oddworld]]'' games have shades of this. The save the environment aesop being essentially the point of the entire series. A proof that [[Tropes Are Not Bad]] in that even if one finds the whole thing heavy-handed it tends to be presented in an entertaining fashion.
* ''[[The Last Resurrection]]'' portrays Jesus (the game's final boss) as being personally responsible for crusades, inquisitions, witch-burnings and even Nazism; during the ending sequence the heroes conclude that world peace will not be achieved until all religions are abolished. It's a long-shot, but there's a small chance that the designer might not be too keen on organised religion.
* It's no secret that Matt Roszak, the man behind the ''[[Epic Battle Fantasy]]'' series, has never been fond of modern politics and the stupidity it brings in politicians and regular folk alike, and it shows in The Iron Fortress arc in ''EBF5Epic Battle Fantasy 5''. thatThe arc openly mocks the sociopolitical climate that emerged in the 2010s: [[Arc Villain|Lance]] believes the government is too incompetent to get anything done and conquering the world under an openly fascist ideology is necessary to save it from an upcoming alien invasion that only he believes will happen ({{spoiler|turns out he had done serious research and was right about the invasion}}),. while theThe regular townsfolk who have to suffer his madnesstirades and become paranoid, and Matt is accused of being one of Lance's sycophants by Anna because he has blonde hair. At least Lance is at least shown to be redeemable and willing to fix his mistakes after begrudgingly joining the party.
 
== Web Animation ==
* The online flash series ''[[Broken Saints]]'' is deeply immersed in Author Tract, all taken Brooke Burgess' new-found (as of the original writing) philosophical outlook on life. He also makes no secret of his political views, particularly as regards the relationship between the U.S. and Iraq post-Gulf War I. One of the main protagonists is an Iraqi 'freedom fighter' who is struggling to balance his desire for justice against the Western invaders and the peaceful teachings of his religion. It is worth noting that the series was well under way before 9/11, and was almost completed before the second Gulf War.
 
 
== Web Comics ==
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Religion Tropes{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Wish Fulfillment]]
[[Category:Creator Standpoint Index]]
[[Category:The Only Righteous Index of Fanatics]]
[[Category:AuthorReligion TractTropes]]
[[Category:Wish Fulfillment]]