Compliment Backfire: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

It fails horribly, [[Hilarity Ensues|of course.]]

Julie means well, of course. How Alice ''[[Minor Injury Overreaction|takes]]'' it, however...

 

{{examples}}

* Jesse of ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'' gets a lot of the third one, but it's often a slip-up by James and Meowth. Harley secretly turned heel on May because of the second.

* In the second [[All There in the Manual|Sound Stage]] of ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]] A's'', Nanoha and Fate tell [[The Stoic|Chrono]] about how the [[Catgirl|Lieze Sisters]] believe that Nanoha should become a Combat Instructor, and he agrees. Chrono then gives his own thoughts on the matter which leads to the following exchange:

'''Fate''': Oh, he's praising you, really. }}

** Akane did this herself to Ryoga once. He was very depressed and using that depression for a special attack, and Akane tried to cheer him up by saying "You're a good friend!" Cue Ryoga, who has unrequited love for Akane, getting even more extremely depressed than he was already! (note the [[Real Life]] section below)

** Nodoka has insulted Ranma before by complimenting him on his cute, girlish looks or his talent at feminine tasks, because she has no idea that "Ranko" is actually her son. While Ranma loves being better than everyone else, he's not too thrilled that it's coming from his mother, the one person whom he ''needs'' to consider him manly.

'''Ilya:''' Don't just selfishly make people into [[Idiot Hero|idiot characters]]! }}

* [[Naruto]], when attempting to encourage Sakura, calls her a "master of brute force." Of course, being Naruto, he meant well, but that didn't stop Sakura from getting mad. [[I Resemble That Remark|And then hitting him.]]

* Dramatic version in ''[[Gundam Seed Destiny]]'': After destroying the Freedom Gundam, Shinn tells Athrun "I got revenge, for me ''and'' for you," and gets punched in the face, prompting a "What the hell is wrong with you?!" Shinn was referring to a battle where the Freedom shredded Athrun's Gundam and badly injured him, but he has no idea that the Freedom's pilot is Athrun's [[Childhood Friend]], whom he apparently just killed.

* Also [[Played for Drama]] in ''Kodomo No Jikan'', Aoki-sensei got told that he wanted by an another school that has joint elementary and middle school. He thinks that it means that the school board didn't trust him, even with everything he had done. Of course, when he realizes his own shortcomings in teaching Kuro and getting information from Houin-sensei that actually, wanted teachers actually had ''outstanding'' mark, he started to get it.

 

* A [[Running Gag]] in ''[[Empowered]]''. It seems Thugboy finds Emp's backside one of her most alluring features, while Ms. Powers herself often finds it disgustingly oversized (along with the rest of her). You can see where this is going.

** One of the only times this compliment didn't backfire was when Ocelotina remarked that Emp's butt "quivers fetchingly" when spanked. When Thugboy confirms this, she is delighted.

* A [[Running Gag]] in ''[[Justice League of America|Justice League International]]'' was that whenever [[An Ice Person|Ice]] had a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] someone would say "Way to go, Ice! [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?|I don't know why everyone thinks your powers are lame]]!"

'''Gentleman Ghost''': I'd take that as a compliment, old thing, and let it go at that. }}

** In another issue, he rescues the then-reformed Dr. Alchemy, who enthuses "I don't know why everybody says you're such a jerk!"

 

* The captain of the Enterprise-B in ''[[Star Trek Generations]]'', to Captain Kirk: "I read about your missions when I was in grade school."

** And in the 2009 movie Spock is complimented by his elders on overcoming the "disadvantage" of being a [[Half-Human Hybrid]]. Spock's response, while unflinchingly calm and polite, is very clear on where they can stick their praises. It is a credit to Quinto's performance in this scene that his "[[Parenthetical Swearing|Live Long and Prosper]]" comes off clearly as "fuck off and die" without any obvious expression of emotion.

* The poor little drunkard mouse calls [[The Great Mouse Detective|Professor Rattigan]] "the world's greatest [[Berserk Button|rat]]!" at the end of the little musical number. Rattigan [[Disproportionate Retribution|feeds him to his cat]].

 

'''Ahmed''': Heavens, no! My mother is a D'reg! She would be terribly offended if I trusted her! She would say she had not raised me right! }}

*** Of course it's an insult. "D'reg" isn't the D'reg name for D'regs; it's a word from a different Klatchian dialect that they [[Insult Backfire|gleefully adopted]], meaning "enemy". The D'reg word for "enemy" also translates as "target". They love to fight. They're an entire, richly-textured culture of cartoonish cliches.

 

* ''[[Farscape]]'' had Aeryn compliment Zhaan on being "a true warrior" after she almost singlehandedly defeated the episode's [[Big Bad]] when she and D'argo failed. Zhaan just looks shocked and quietly leaves. D'argo explains to Aeryn that Zhaan is a ''priestess'' and a fervent [[Actual Pacifist]], who had seriously bent her ethics to beat the baddie. Essentially, [[Your Approval Fills Me with Shame|"You could not have cut her more deeply."]]

* ''[[The Muppet Show]]'', where newcomer Annabel Sue Pig tells Miss Piggy of her lifelong admiration of her.

* [[Frasier]] and Niles read a new manuscript by a reclusive novelist. They lavish compliments on him, including how brilliant it was to mirror Dante's nine levels of Hell in the nine rooms of a bordello. The author hadn't intended this, realizes he ripped off the entire structure from Dante, and throws the manuscript into the fireplace.

* In one episode of ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'', Spock is a little too honest:

'''Spock:''' No, sir. }}

* Similarly to the ''[[Farscape]]'' example, the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode "The Doctor's Daughter" has Jenny complimenting [[Technical Pacifist|the Doctor]] on his skill as a soldier.

*** [[Your Approval Fills Me with Shame|They now have their own Trope.]]

* A common problem with Simon Tam from ''[[Firefly]]'' in regards to Kaylee.

'''Kaylee:''' No, no, I get it. Back on Osiris you probably had nurses and debutantes crawling all over you. But down here at the bottom of the barrel, there's just me. }}

** And then there's this:

'''Simon''': All right! Fine, I'll go. Just... stop describing me. }}

*** Though, being Mal, those weren't necessarily intended as compliments.

*** Except for the soft hands (which are arguably professionally useful to a doctor, after all), they certainly weren't compliments.

'''Jackie:''' Oh, Mrs. Forman, [[I Resemble That Remark|you're my favorite old lady!]] }}

* ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]''. The Emergency Medical Hologram has a tendency to do this, even when he's not trying to be his usual [[Dr. Jerk]] self.

'''EMH:''' It's not meant to be. You've always been interested in autopsies. }}

* ''[[Spaced]]'' has Twist, who constantly makes backhanded insults in the guise of compliments towards her friend Daisy. For example when Daisy appears on the scene of her birthday party at a restaurant with a brand new dress and make-up in an attempt to impress, Twist comments that she looks nice and follows that with "I wish I could dress down like that". This is particularly grating in that everyone else at the table hasn't even noticed the way Daisy looks and the atmosphere is already extremely tense for a multitude of reasons.

* In [[Full House]], after Rebecca gives birth to twins Nicky and Alex. Joey goes into [[Cuteness Proximity]] mode, saying that they look like miniature [[Looney Tunes|Elmer Fudds]]. To this, Becky screams "MY BABIES LOOK LIKE ELMER FUDD!" and breaks into tears.

* ''[[The Andy Griffith Show]]'':

* Early on in ''[[Friends]]'':

'''Chandler''': ...omigod, this parachute is really a ''knapsack!'' }}

** Pierce compares his ex-step-daughter's appearance to those of the call girls he frequents. It goes over about as well as you'd expect.

** Britta's comment about the attractiveness of Troy's grandmother ends in her being spanked.

** In the first episode, when Pierce tells Jeff "You remind me of myself at your age", Jeff's response is "I deserve that."

* Screech from ''[[Saved by the Bell]]'' does this twice. The first time he makes this mistake, he tries to compliment his prospective girlfriend's mother with a celebrity... and he compares her with, of all people, Arnold Schwarzenegger. The other mistake involves an episode of ''The New Class'' series where Screech attempts to be complimentary to Mr. Belding when introducing him to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar:

'''Kareem''': (Turning to Mr. Belding) Mr. Belding, we need to talk. }}

* In an episode of ''[[Parks and Recreation]]'', this is [[Ice Queen|April]]'s response to being told that she's a "[[Pet the Dog|very nice person]]."

* In ''[[Scrubs]]'' JD means to compliment Julie when he says "you smell like my mom". Naturally this has the opposite effect. Thankfully he saves himself...

'''JD's Narration:''' (''sniffing her'') Ah, Mommy. }}

* In ''[[True Blood]]'' Arlene attempts to comfort Sookie by saying "you really are smarter than people give you credit for".

 

* [[Weird Al]]'s "That's Your Horoscope for Today": "You are the true lord of the dance, no matter what those idiots at works say."

 

* In the ''Redeye'' comic strip, the incompetent brave tried to butter up his chief with the line, "You don't sweat much for a fat guy." The brave intended it as a compliment. This is a gender-reversal of a real life line Alex Karras originally said to a girl he was dancing with, with the same intention.

* A ''[[Dilbert]]'' comic listed one of "The 7 Habits of Highly Defective People" as "use compliments to show your prejudices". The corresponding picture showed the [[Pointy-Haired Boss]] telling Alice "Ooh, nice crisp photocopy, Alice. I don't think a man could have done it better!"

* One strip of ''Out of the Gene Pool'' has the baseball player Puff Maghee punching out a sports reporter. Another reporter on the scene points out that the term Cinderella Story is a compliment.

 

* The bridesmaid Zorah has a line like this in ''[[Ruddigore]]'': "Dame Hannah, you're a nice old person..." Play it right and it always gets a laugh from the audience.

* Set up and then subverted in ''[[Mary, Mary]]''. Bob, at a loss at how to win back Mary, says she doesn't know he believes she's pretty. He never got to tell her that she was as beautiful as "a lovely piece of white porcelain," because he knew what she would say: "White porcelain? You mean like the kitchen sink?" Indeed, in their final reconciliation scene, he gives her that compliment, and her retort is as predicted, except that she catches herself in mid-sentence and goes sweet.

* [[Cyrano De Bergerac]]: Cyrano tricks a poor Bore to invoke this trope (so he can literally kick the Bore's ass) at Act I Scene IV: When asked if [[Berserk Button|his nose is large]], the Bore desperately says it’s minute:

Small—my nose? }}

 

* A lot of a male player's attempts to compliment Nathyrra in [[Neverwinter Nights]] Hordes of the Underdark are...ill-received (at best)

* In one ''[[Solatorobo]]'' sidequest, when [[Tail Concerto|Waffle]] attempts to complement [[Continuity Cameo|Alica]] {{spoiler|for looking pretty in a princess dress}}, she just gets mad at him for comparing her to [[The Rival|Princess Theria]].

 

* In ''[[Freefall]]'' Sam's idea of complimenting Florence is "You look good ... for a dog in a dress."

* ''[[Ménage à 3]]'': The following.

'''Gary:''' Uh... don't cry... I'm sure your IQ's '''much''' bigger than your breasts! }}

* ''[[Girl Genius]]'' has [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20120217 a genuine compliment] apparently designed to go like this, as befits between two [[Mad Scientist]] [[Vitriolic Best Buds]].

 

* Amy from ''[[Futurama]]'' does this to Leela a lot. To whit:

''(Leela smashes Amy with the Planet Express Ship stairway ramp)'' }}

* ''[[Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (animation)|Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers]]'' had a poodle actress (dog food commercials, [[Lassie]] takeoffs and the like) as a recurring guest star. ''Every time'' someone says how much they admire her, they tell her they've been fans for years and years. And years. And years...

** The compliments weren't what was messed up, it was Pesto that was [[Hair-Trigger Temper|broken.]]

* In ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', Zuko goes on an incredibly awkward date with a girl in Ba Sing Se. He tries to offer her a compliment, but since he [[Adorkable|sucks at talking to girls...]]

'''Jin''': ...Thanks? }}

** In another episode, Aang and Katara are stuck in a cave and... this happens.

'''Aang''': What, I'm saying I'd rather kiss you than die, that's a compliment! }}

* During one of the video sequels to Disney's ''[[Tarzan (Disney film)|Tarzan]]'', Tarzan mentions how much more used to getting around the jungle Jane is. "You act more like an ape every day!" "Well, I ''never'' -" ''(sees his confused expression)'' "...heard such a sweet sentiment."

* In an episode of [[Quick Draw McGraw|''Snooper and Blabber'']] the duo are disguised as servants protecting the valuable diamond of a matron whose 65th birthday is being celebrated. Snooper gets the cake thrown in his face after quipping to her "You'll never see 60 again!"

 

* Mary Whitehouse, patron saint of [[Moral Guardians]] in the UK, once praised ''[[The Goodies]]'' as the sort of decent, wholesome television she'd like to see more of. The boys were horrified, and rapidly produced an episode called "Sex and Violence", featuring Beryl Reid as "Mrs Desiree Carthorse".

* Under Tony Blair, the UK government drew up a list of celebrities to be encouraged as good role models for children. When actress Emma Thompson found out she was on the list she told the press her immediate reaction was "an overwhelming desire to go out and score a load of cocaine in rebellion."

* [[Nikola Tesla]] was eventually awarded the Edison Award, which is named after his archrival, [[Thomas Edison]].

* Journalist Johann Hari decided it was ''definitely'' time to change his diet and get in shape when the staff of his local Kentucky Fried Chicken gave him a Christmas card and a round of applause for being their best customer.

** It gets better. If they were to destroy it, the act could also be seen as blasphemy. [[Morton's Fork|So either way they have a Qur'an that's blasphemous to do anything with.]]

* Joan Rivers said in her documentary she hates being told she was a trailblazer for female comics because she's not done working!

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Index Backfire]]

[[Category:Insult Tropes]]