Chewbacca Defense: Difference between revisions

<!-- Cochran states that Chewbacca is originally from Kashyyyk, but now lives on Endor. The footnote is not necessary. -->

 

'''Miria''': I think it means we won!|''[[Baccano]]''}}

 

== [[Fanfic]] ==

* ''[[The Vinyl Scratch Tapes (Fanfic)|The Vinyl Scratch Tapes]]'':

'''Vinyl:''' ''Hurray, that means I win by default!'' }}

 

== Film ==

* ''[[Thank You for Smoking]]'' provides an excellent example of this trope when the protagonist, a pro-tobacco lobbyist, demonstrates this debate technique to his son.

'''Nick:''' [''Pointing to the passers-by'']: Yeah but I'm not after you. I'm after them. }}

** Cut to the two of them eating vanilla ice cream cones.

** Plus when Joey has to write an essay on what's best about America, Nick replies "Our endless appeals system" with almost knee-jerk response time.

* Kronk's [[Good Angel, Bad Angel|shoulder devil]] in ''[[The Emperor's New Groove|The Emperors New Groove]]'' tried this: his argument for why Kronk should let Kuzco die was that (1) his angel counterpart was a pansy; and (2) he, the devil, could do a one-handed handstand. The latter actually convinced the angel more than it did Kronk, who was just confused and told them both to leave. This is particularly amusing because this is one of the few times Kronk actually poses an intelligent question as opposed to his usual demeanor as [[Dumb Muscle]].

'''Shoulder Angel:''' No, no... He's got a point. }}

* In the [[Coen Brothers]]' ''[[The Man Who Wasn't There]]'', ace lawyer Freddy Riedenschnieder seems to base his career on this. His defense of the protagonist's wife involves a truly baffling spiel about the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, while his defense of the protagonist himself involves some weird, vaguely existentialist drivel about him being a "New Man" in a modern, morally ambiguous world and presumably he isn't responsible. Unfortunately it gets interrupted.

* The [[Tom Clancy]] novel ''[[Executive Orders]]'' has politically-inexperienced President Jack Ryan questioned about abortion. He states that he's pro-life, but the decision should be left in the hands of the Senate. After he gets offstage, his Chief of Staff angrily points out that he just alienated the conservatives ''and'' the liberals; the former probably think he's using the Senate as an excuse, and the latter think the Senate is the only thing keeping him from rampaging all over a woman's right to choose. This is a rare example of an ''unintentional'' Chewie Defense (the CoS, incidentally, mentions that he himself is pro-choice).

* ''[[America (The Book)]]'' lampshades this process with one of the interesting moments in Senate history.

 

 

* The "Chosen" episode of ''[[Law & Order|Law and Order]]''.

* In ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]'', Sheldon proves an exemplar of this. He gets into an argument with Stuart, the comic book store manager (about which Robin would make a better replacement Batman). They argue for hours, until Stuart says that he's tired of it and going home. They have this exchange:

'''Sheldon:''' Darn right I win. }}

** His friends often don't even bother trying to argue; such is Sheldon's committed use of this trope. Leonard even admits to knuckling under as a matter of policy. On one occasion we clearly see the aftermath of such a defense, Leonard tiredly saying 'Three of us voted to go by plane, Sheldon voted to go by train, so we're taking the train'.

*** Even if it ''was'' like a giant puzzle, since when would two random pieces of a huge puzzle have more than an infinitesimal chance of fitting together? It's like he shook a box of nuts and bolts and metal sheets, noticed they failed to assemble themselves into something, and concluded that engineering is impossible.

* ''[[A Bit of Fry and Laurie]]'' has a deliberately ridiculous example in the sketch "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVRODdXVI3Q Judge Not]". It starts:

'''Lawyer:''' Oh it's correct, is it? I see. I wonder, Miss Talliot, whether you were aware that the American novelist Gertrude Stein was a self-confessed Lesbian? }}

::and only gets more absurd from there.

== Radio ==

* From ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' (original radio show):

'''Ford:''' I think they're very clever; they're trying to confuse us to death. }}

 

== Stand Up Comedy ==

* Comedian Ron White joked about this once.

 

 

* The musical ''[[Chicago]]'' has a song titled Razzle Dazzle that explains the trope quite thoroughly. It includes the line, "How can they see [the truth] with sequins in their eyes?"

* In the court scene of ''[[Oklahoma]]'', about Curly not being taken to the Police:

'''Aunt Eller:''' Maybe not, but you’ll sure feel funny when I tell your wife you are. }}

 

== Webcomics ==

* In the webcomic ''[[Elf Only Inn]]'' April uses the "silence means consent/defeat" fallacy in [http://www.elfonlyinn.net/d/20070509.html this discussion] with Percy the sarcastic paladin:

'''April:''' (happily) I don't like to brag but no one even tries to argue with me anymore. }}

** "Silence means I'm right" is a fallacy, but "Silence is consent" is a basic part of debating.

* This is how to win an edit war on [[The Other Wiki]], where the content is often controlled not by those with the more accurate information but by those with the strongest opinions.

** "The fish rots from the head down". As [http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/oldhive.html wikipedia-watch] puts it:

* This was discussed in a video of ''[[Andrew Klavan on the Culture]]'' where the opposing argument can simply be defeated by telling them to shut up as to stopping them from speaking out their point of view.

* [[Cracked]]'s take on [http://www.cracked.com/video_18297_stuff-that-must-have-happened-pitching-mt.-rushmore.html how Mt. Rushmore got approval] had the proponent of carving 3 President's heads (Lincoln was added to seal the deal) using this to leverage his position.

[[Category:Courtroom Antic]]

[[Category:Chewbacca Defense]]