Author Tract: Difference between revisions

Note that this only applies when the entire universe and characters have been created to put forward the author's viewpoint. If an existing fictional universe or character has been altered to create a medium for a tract, then it's due to a [[Writer on Board]] ([[Author Filibuster]] is an extreme example of that). If the author's just filling up their story with stuff they like, that's [[Author Appeal]]. If it's gotten to the point where the tracting (or whatever personal issues the author has) has all but taken over the author's work, then the author has entered [[Filibuster Freefall]].

 

 

Contrast [[What Do You Mean It's Not Didactic?]]. May overlap with [[Artistic License]].

* ''[[Team Medical Dragon]]'' was written by Akira Nagai, a practicing doctor - and the manga basically centres around a maverick (but exceedingly skilled) cardiac surgeon and his team fighting against bureaucracy and corruption in the Japanese health services. It's particularly jarring when you realise that all the protagonists are incredibly good-looking compared to most of the antagonists, who are practically caricatures.

** The issue with the looks is somewhat taken care of in the live-action version, with the antagonists having a fair amount of attractive people, and Dr. Asada being the only one pointed out to be good-looking.

* Most of [[Hayao Miyazaki]]'s movies have at least one segment that preaches the importance of respecting and preserving nature. That is, if the plot itself isn't already completely built around the [[Aesop]].

** Interestingly enough, Miyazaki often protests that he does not make films with the intent of sending messages, he just makes them to entertain and [[Money, Dear Boy|for profit]]. Fans have a hard time believing that.

** The [[War Is Hell]] message is made even more effective by the fact that this is not a film about those fighting in the war, it is a film about the '''civilians''' who must suffer for the sake of it.

*** And yet the [[Aesop]] [[Grave of the Fireflies|this movie]] was meant to represent was "[[Honor Before Reason|being too stubborn in time of need]] is bad". Still bad, but not as bad as the unintentional one listed above.

** Which proves such people don't really get Britannia at all. Specifically, it was begun by the ''British'' government moving to the American continent.

** After which said continent effectively became Britannia. But if there's a critique of imperialism in it, Britannia's imperialism resembled the British and various European empires' rather than American-style globalization.

** They aren't that sane, however. Let's not forget [[Did Not Do the Research|this clunker of a statement about evolution]]:

{{quote|'''Rashad:''' Did you know that evolution is basically a racist concept? Some evolutionists still teach that white people evolved from "negroes" who evolved from apes- '''meaning "[[Goal-Oriented Evolution|white people are more evolved]]!"'''}}

** That said, basically every piece of official publication in Communist dictatorships is an example of this trope.

** In general comics are a popular form for propaganda because illustrated stories can reach across linguistic boundaries.

* ''[[The Invisibles]]'' was basically created as a way for [[Grant Morrison]] to explain his experiences with extraterrestrial contact and magic.

* [[Frank Miller]] has always been a little on the board about his politics in his writings, though they never have messed with a good story. However, the years have passed, and his works and just less and less stories and more and more just characters fighting and talking about HIS views on politics, specifically, HIS preferences on politics. And, with his new title, ''[[Holy Terror]]''... lets just say that Islam, the entire Islam, being terrorists or little children, won't be saved.

** ''[[Transmetropolitan]]'' actually does this right, as Spider is just unsympathetic enough to avoid being a [[Mary Sue]] 'I am right, you are wrong' type of character. You are left free to disagree with his individual likes and dislikes while sympathizing with his basic humanity, as many characters within the comic itself do. Many of the characters close to Spider constantly complain about what a [[Jerkass|horrible and unpleasant person]] he is, frequently abusing and taking advantage of him when he's blitzed on whatever drugs he's managed to come up with. At one point, one of the characters closest to him gets sick of his crap and leaves; but later returns and comments that the worst part of working with such a [[Magnificent Bastard|bastard]] is that he's the good guy, and actually making a difference.

** Most of Ellis' comics seem to have characters declaring their sociopolitical views, which always are along the same lines, and close to the author's own opinions.

* One of the reasons [[Bunny Ears Lawyer|William Moulton Marston]] created [[Wonder Woman]] was to convince everyone to come under 'loving submission' to a world matriarchy. Oh, and [[Author Appeal|bondage is highly enjoyable]].

* Comically subverted by [[Grant Morrison]] when he literally shows up in ''[[Animal Man]]'' to (among other things) mention that he feels, his own, writing for the book has become too preachy and contrived.

== Literature ==

* ''The Human Stain'' by ''[[Philip Roth]]'' "Oh how difficult it is to be a rich white man in Academia! No one recognizes your true genius! Surrounded by PC nuts who think you're being racist for ENTIRELY innocuous comments and those women pretending to be smart like men with their twittering and their sensitivity... but they all really just want in your pants." The whole book is a beautifully written whine about how he wishes people would stop calling him a sexist racist jerk who's condescending and mean to everyone.

* The ''[[Sword of Truth]]'' series by [[Terry Goodkind]] is often accused by detractors of being nothing more than Objectivist propaganda, particularly the later books. These themes only begin to crop up later in the series: ''Faith of the Fallen'' is two-fifths desperate battles and [[Angst]], and three-fifths [[Anvilicious|clangingly obvious]] pro-[[Ayn Rand]] [[Author Filibuster|soapboxing]] on how individuals working for themselves in a free market works far better than your broken, inevitably corrupt socialism. ''Confessor'' also stumps for atheism.

** In truth, [[Orson Scott Card]] does this in a lot of his novels, but usually expounding on religion and philosophy instead of politics. He often introduces characters who spend a good deal of time discussing and speculating on the nature of God. Examples include Sister Carlotta in the ''[[Ender's Game|Ender's Shadow]]'' series, and most of the village in the ''Xenocide'' series. To be fair, he usually folds this speculation into the plot pretty well.

*** A more blatant example: Towards the end, the ''Ender's Shadow'' series also features numerous lectures from widely disparate characters on how the only way to really be a part of the human race is to have babies, culminating in one Battle-school grad stopping her troops in the middle of a battle and telling them to go home and procreate.

* Another notable Narnian example comes at the end of ''[[The Silver Chair]]'', where the Lady of the Green Kirtle is set up as a [[Hollywood Atheist]] of the "completely evil" variety and Lewis puts into her mouth some deliberately skewed philosophical arguments against the existence of Aslan. (Particularly bad because the Green Lady actually ''knows'' that Aslan exists, and is just straight-up lying.)

** Mostly an example of the [[Flat Earth Atheist]] or an outright portrayal of the Devil as described by fundamentalist Christians, because she knows that Aslan exists, she is just trying to convince others he doesn't.

* 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 A 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," using donor sperm for hers and donor eggs for his 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.

*** 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.

*** 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.

** 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.

* ''[[Stationery Voyagers]]'' is a mix of this with [[Author Appeal]], mixing spoofs of works the author either really likes or really dislikes with an elaborate commentary and hypothesis on evangelical Lutheran theology, conservative politics, and how the two both reinforce and seek to balance each other. Season 3 devolves into numerous levels of [[Take That]] on groups the author finds fault with: the Kinsey Institute, Planned Parenthood, GLAAD, ecoterrorists, activist judges, and other political left-wing [[Acceptable Targets]].

** While it doesn't shy away from criticizing Islam or Islamic terrorists, the series is surprisingly soft towards non-militant Muslim individuals in general, even allowing a group of proto-Muslims to do something heroic in one flashback episode. {{spoiler|Although the Drismabons are still depicted as destroying the Kaaba in one episode, [[Crosses the Line Twice|then laughing about it]].}}

* Matthew Dickens spends the last hundred pages of the book ''[[Magnus]]'' telling the reader about his personal views on religious doctrines, evolution, theology, [[Superman Returns]], etc.

* This trope was [[Charles Dickens]]' stock in trade. All of his works are morality plays meant to drive home his socialist ideals. In ''[[A Christmas Carol]]'', Ebeneezer Scrooge rails that the poor are lazy and inferior and deserve to die, on scientific principle, and then an innocent child almost does. In ''[[David Copperfield]]'', ''[[Nicholas Nickleby]]'', and ''[[Oliver Twist]]'', more innocent children are mercilessly abused, either by predators that society chooses to do nothing about, or by the very institutions of that society. In ''[[Little Dorrit]]'', citizens are reduced to professional beggars by the debtors' prison system. And the list goes on.

* The Arthur Hailey novel ''The Moneychangers'' has a recurring character to filibuster about how Gold is Good. Given that he's a pundit with his own popular newsletter, and is married to one of the secondary characters, and the book is about banking, it kinda makes sense. Then, after the 'real' ending, the US establishes a gold-backed dollar, and we are treated to the full text of one of said pundit's newsletters. Guess what it's about? The book ends with the lead putting the newsletter down and reflecting how wise said pundit is.

** This makes even less sense in ''Overload'', a novel about a ''power company'', when the President establishes a gold-backed dollar. The protagonist, an power company spokesman, promptly comes up with a perfect comment about the dangers of America's dependence on foreign oil, as requested by the reporter who presented the story to him so she could get a soundbyte. [[Kavorka Man|Then she sleeps with him]].

* Much of [[Sheri S. Tepper]]'s work reads as thinly disguised, feminist utopianism; particularly [[The Gate to Women's Country|The Gate to Womens Country]] and ''The Revenants''. ''Beauty'' paints a rather extreme picture of the human race's 'destruction' of Earth's environment.

** The parts of ''Toll the Hounds'' where the readers seem to be directly addressed are actually told by Kruppe (who, as we know since the very first book, just loves the sound of his own voice).

* Even [[Edgar Allan Poe]] wasn't immune to this, though to either his credit or his fault, he restricted it to philosophy--''The Imp of the Perverse'' is entirely about his idea of a previously uncredited motivating force behind people's actions.

* [[Tom Clancy]]'s ''[[Jack Ryan|Executive Orders]]'' has President Jack Ryan remaking the U.S. government.

* Norman Spinrad's ''[[The Iron Dream]]''. An [[Alternate History]] [[Adolf Hitler]] (who became a writer instead of a politician) writes ''Lord Of The Swastika'', a pulp SF adventure with a plot that mirrors the real-world rise of the Third Reich. It's followed by a review where a scholar heaps praise on Hitler as a brilliant writer of rollicking good adventure stories, and whose only criticism is that he thinks it was a bit implausible for the protagonist to rise to power by creating a rather silly cult of personality and machismo. Naturally the whole thing is one giant [[Take That]] at the [[Broken Aesop]] morality of pulp SF and fantasy stories.

* Ernest Callenbach's ''[[Ecotopia]]'', a depiction of an environmentalist utopia.

* A great deal of [[Meg Cabot]]'s books, especially her YA novels. It was especially apparent in ''Ready Or Not'', where Ms. Cabot literally stopped the narrative to rant against the abstinence movement. Her other books contain some amounts of similar commentary.

** These were not separate goals, but Sinclair couldn't control readers' reactions. After America panicked about food safety and ignored the plight of the workers he said, "I aimed for their hearts and hit them in their stomachs."

* ''[[Nation]]'', by [[Terry Pratchett]], is unusually heavy handed with its themes. If one has read many Pratchett books or has ever listened to him speak on religion, it becomes extremely obvious that the book is almost entirely an Author Tract about humanitarianism, atheism, thought, and the role religion plays in society. This becomes even more obvious at the end of the book where Pratchett drops all pretense of writing a story and simply has a section that may as well be Terry himself making a speech about humanity. When you consider the fact that this obvious Author Tract was written after the author became aware that he has a fatal disease, the straight-forward nature of the book can be outright heartwrenching.

* ''[[Uncle Tom's Cabin]]'', "the book that started the Civil War," is a novel aimed at women in an attempt to get them to convince their voting husbands to outlaw slavery. Many times the narrator will address the reader directly to push her down this logical path.

* ''Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded'' by Samuel Richardson was a very popular didactic novel to teach young women the importance of feminine virtues, including piety, domesticity, and most importantly chastity. The main character is basically a [[Mary Sue]] of the feminine ideal who repeatedly asserts her virtue against the advances of a rakish suitor.

** Even at the time the book was published, some were disgusted by the classification of "virtue" as "virginity". One author wrote a parody, ''Shamela'', that ridiculed the concept by having long conversations over the heroine's "vartue", pointing out just how meaningless the word "virtue" is when used in the original.

* ''[[Only the Super Rich Can Save Us]]'' by Ralph Nader. Yes, ''that'' Ralph Nader. Although- consumer advocate that he is- he never pretends that the book is anything other than 'how everything could be so much better if a few rich people got together and implemented my program.'

* Eugen Richter's ''Pictures of the Socialistic Future'', which has the [[Strawman Political]] as the viewpoint character who celebrates Germany's slide into Stalinist Communism and saves the [[Author Avatar]] for the very end. Interestingly, it was published in 1891 and managed to predict much of the [[Crapsack World]] the Soviet bloc would become.

* The ''[[Maximum Ride]]'' novels are one big [[Green Aesop]] after book three.

* ''[[Dragonrider]]'' by Cornelia Funke is flagrantly plagued by the author's numerous holier-than-thou agendas. Every character we are supposed to like is a vegetarian, a pacifist, and will never stop bemoaning mankind's need to put animals in cages even though this theme has cursory relevance to the actual plot, at best. The problematic nature of this aesop is artlessly dodged in that the good dragons subsist entirely off of moonlight and breathe fire that doesn't burn. In one particularly obnoxious scene, a main character sneaks into the campsite of a scientific expedition and releases several caged chickens and a monkey, an act that was not only entirely inconsequential to the plot but also failed to explore the ramifications of the fact that the newfound freedom of these creatures was in the Egyptian wilderness (lucky, lucky chickens). The author is further guilty of putting Eastern people high up on a pedestal over Western people to a point of othering them, not to mention betraying that she probably isn't as familiar with Asia as she would have us believe.

* The [[Jakub Wedrowycz]] stories are written by a conservative author, and it shows sometimes; in one of the stories, the bad guys are radical left-wing ecologists, and in another the heroes chase away an European Union official.

* In ''[[Does My Head Look Big in This]]?'' by Randa Abdel-Fattah, about a Muslim girl living in Australia who decides to wear a hijab regularly, this occurs a lot. The main character often has speeches about the fact that non-Muslims should just see it as a piece of cloth and not as her whole personality. While this is a worthwhile message, this is expressed through contrived situations.

* [[John Grisham]]'s books often feature this trope, targeting big business and/or conservative views. ''The Confession'' is an egregious example: the book attacks the death penalty by constructing a miscarriage of justice where the pro-death penalty side are all grossly negligent and unlikeable, in contrast to the anti-death penalty side. To top it off, once the message is thoroughly beaten through you, Grisham decides to dedicate a few pages to having a character rail against the death penalty.

* 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".

 

 

* [[Rush]]'s [[Rock Opera]] ''2112'' is essentially a hard-rock adaptation of [[Ayn Rand]]'s ''[[Anthem]]'', and a number of the group's other songs reference Objectivist ideals, such as "Tom Sawyer", "Red Barchetta", "The Trees", and (appropriately enough) "Anthem".

** Not for nothing is the track "2112" known as 'the best Objectivist novel ever written'.

* In the 2000s, it has become chic to produce remixes of existing songs (protest songs in particular) containing soundbytes from the creator's political candidate of choice. This editor recalls hearing a version of Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" mashed up with a John Kerry speech in 2004, and 2008 has seen a will.i.am-produced hip-hop remix of several [[Barack Obama]] speeches.

** [[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...

** Not to mention that in trying to be strawmannishly [[Anvilicious]], the creator portrays the mother as literally quaking in fear at the very concept of her child, implying that she hates it and despises it. Of course, if your unborn fetus was chirping at you about every stage of its development in a Chipmunk-esque voice, it might scare you, too.

** There's also the fact that the stages of development are completely inaccurate. [[Did Not Do the Research]] indeed.

* [[Stan Rogers]] sang unabashedly about many social issues, but really only dabbled tractfully into politics by taking on the subject of [[The Troubles]] with his song "House of Orange" - this despite being Canadian, not Irish. The song's still good, despite the occasional heavy-handedness of the lyric:

{{quote|And causes are ashes where children lie slain.}}

 

== Theatre ==

 

== Web Animation ==

 

 

* ''[[Fans]]!'' is a little too vehement in its defense of fanboys. Claim that they're valuable, intelligent and worthwhile human beings, fine. Claim that fanboys have the [[Plot Tailored to the Party|specific combination of strengths]] that makes them the only ones capable of defending Earth, and that the biggest, geekiest fanboys alive will be revered by future generations as heroes who made all of society possible... that's taking things a bit too far.

** ''[[Shortpacked]]'' seems to take the opposite tack in its satire and often portrays fans with complaints of any sort as self-entitled morons. Not surprisingly, what is considered unfair and what is considered perfectly okay seems to coincide with the author's tastes...

*** Willis isn't afraid to take shots at himself, but also loves slamming people who disagree with his opinion on various message boards. One storyline in the comic in particular is a major Author Tract- it's a poorly-disguised attempt by Willis to get Dinobot to win an online poll that will enter him into the Transformers Hall Of Fame. One character from the strip is campaigning for Congress by also campaigning for Dinobot's entry.

*** To be fair, this is a common complaint against D&D paladins. Many good players make it a personal challenge to create a likable paladin simply because so many people have been burned by them.

* ''[[Unicorn Jelly]]'' and ''Pastel Defender Heliotrope'', both by Jennifer Diane Reitz, both start out as (respectively) amusing and cute fantasy and science fiction stories, but the Author's soapboxes about religion, homosexuality, and transgenderism [[Anvilicious|overwhelm the plot]] more than once. It is revealed at the end of ''Pastel Defender Heliotrope'' that it was about anti-piracy legislation as well (which seems like an [[Ass Pull]] to boot since it only comes up in the last page or two).

* With ''[[The Last Days of Foxhound]]'', this is bound to happen when a biochemistry student writes a comic about Metal Gear Solid, but it's noticeable how he still makes it funny. Mantis is the typical mouthpiece. [http://gigaville.com/comic.php?id=272 Dr. Naomi Hunter supplements Mantis' rants with more reasonable but obviously frustrated objections].

** Also played with when the plot stops so that Mantis can rant against banning gay marriage. The best part is that it is ''entirely'' in-character - he isn't so much arguing ''for'' gay marriage as he is saying that having sex with reproduction is just as gross as having sex without reproducing.

* Parodied in ''[[The Adventures of Dr. McNinja]]'' when the [[Alt Text]] claimed that:

{{quote|This whole comic has been a setup for me to push my views on you that man should not fly.}}

* Critics of ''[[YU+ME: dream]]'' have branded it an author tract, saying that all straight characters are portrayed as evil, especially in the first section. Possibly [[Justified Trope|justified]] because {{spoiler|it's all Fiona's dream, and since she's newly out, possibly somewhat biased.}}

* ''[[Kit N Kay Boodle]]'' is entirely a vehicle for Richard Katellis' views on free love, yiffing, and the plight of the furry community. The world outside of idyllic, nudist Yiffburg is full of monstrous dictatorships and ruthless capitalist states that criticize Yiffburg for being horny layabouts. Any character who ''doesn't'' constantly want sex with total strangers is either an evil fascist or an oppressed soul, and the answer is invariably anonymous sex, either to defeat or convert them to the yiffy way of life. It doesn't help matters that the story is occasionally interrupted by the author describing the sexual exploits he and his wife have with their parents.

* ''[[Better Days]]'' started out as an author tract largely for conservatism and mild misogyny, but has gradually grown into an author tract for Objectivism as Jay Naylor discovered that particular philosophy and became a huge [[Ayn Rand]] fan. The most recent chapter of the comic is basically a long rant against abstract art or any art that '[[True Art Is Incomprehensible|doesn't look like something]]', culminating with the 'good' artist whose paintings "look like what they're of" being given validation first in the form of a big check from a businessman, and then discarding her own search for fulfillment to move in with the male main character, whom she expects nothing of (not even fidelity). And guns are good. [[Fetish Fuel|Very very good]].

* ''[[Jesus and Mo]]'' is an unabashed Author Tract ridiculing religion. The comment box is headed with the note "This comments section is provided as a safe place for readers of J&M to talk, to exchange jokes and ideas, to engage in profound philosophical discussion, and to ridicule the sincerely held beliefs of millions. As such, comments of a racist, sexist or homophobic nature will not be tolerated."

 

== Western Animation ==

** And then [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] it in ''Cartoon Wars''. Repeatedly. Let it never be said that, whatever their views, Parker and Stone are not self-aware.

{{quote|"And if you ask me, your show has become so preachy and full of morals that you have forgotten how to be funny!"}}

== [[Fan Fiction]] ==

* ''[[Harry Potter and The Methods of Rationality]]'' is, in part, its author's attempt to teach lessons in rational thinking through the medium of ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'' fanfiction.

* "Harry Potter Turns to the Lord" is a fanfiction about a Gary Stu teaching Harry Potter that witchcraft is evil.

* In ''[[Chrono Trigger Crimson Echoes]]'', {{spoiler|King Zeal [[What the Hell, Hero?|calling out Crono and the party]] near the end}} could qualify as this, given the context.