Disco Dan/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Basic Trope: Someone whose Nostalgia Filter has been Turned Up to Eleven
  • Played Straight: Dan pretty much only listens to disco, even though it's not The Seventies anymore, and disco is, well, Deader Than Disco.
  • Exaggerated:
  • Downplayed: Even though Dan is a very big fan of The Seventies, he doesn't let it get in the way of his life.
  • Justified:
    • Dan is a Fish Out of Temporal Water; he was transported from The Seventies to the present.
    • Dan is actively planning and working to restore his life / society in general back to the tastes and mores of the era he feels most comfortable with.
  • Inverted:
  • Subverted:
    • Dan listens to disco, but he listens to other music, too.
    • When we first meet Dan, he is dressed in 1970s disco gear... because he's going to a fancy dress party and thought it would be funny. He consequently shows no unusual amount of interest in disco culture.
  • Double Subverted:
    • Which he unfavorably compares to disco. And he wears the leisure suit when he goes out clubbing.
    • Dan displays no unusual interest in disco culture in public—in private, however, it's another story...
  • Deconstructed: Dan will be missing out on a lot of things that may not be from his favorite decade, but are still good. He's also alienating himself from others and making himself the laughingstock of the town.
  • Reconstructed:
    • Dan learns that other music and fashion is good too. He can relate to others better...and they (usually) forgive his undying love for the Bee Gees.
    • Dan is blinded by nostalgia, but he's still pretty nice and easy-going about it; consequently, the people around him indulge his eccentricities and let him get on with it in good humour.
  • Parodied: Dan wears the leisure suit everywhere, and walks around to some disco beat a la the opening to Saturday Night Fever
  • Exploited:
    • A local nightclub hosts disco night, knowing that Dan and others like him will be there.
    • A flier is handed to Dan telling him of a Disco night at the local roller derby, specifically to lure him there for other reasons.
  • Lampshaded:
  • Averted: Dan is not blinded by a Nostalgia Filter and consequently has a range of interests and tastes from numerous different periods, some modern, some older.
  • Enforced: "We need a character who can be the laughingstock of Crappy Town."
  • Invoked: Dan is rummaging around the attic and finds his old leisure suit and disco records. He's inspired to try them out again for a bit of a laugh, but ends up taking it too far.
  • Defied: Dan puts them back, shaking his head about his previous involvement with disco culture.
  • Discussed: "Is he seriously wearing a leisure suit to work?"
  • Conversed: "Poor Dan. Apparently, someone neglected to tell him that The Seventies are over, and so is disco. That, or he knows and just doesn't care.
  • Played For Laughs: Dan's character only shows up when it's convenient for a joke, and anything dealing with how he manages the rest of the time is completely ignored to prevent Fridge Logic from kicking in.
  • Played For Drama:
    • Dan won't talk about or acknowledge anything that occurred after 1979. This keeps him from using computers, the internet, and many other facets of modern technology. Dan only uses calendars from the 1970's, so he shows up for appointments on the wrong day. People around Dan find him embarrassing to be around in public, and desperately try to get him to tone it down. Any attempts to question his dedication to this lead to violent and sometimes dangerous outbursts. Eventually, it's revealed that Dan underwent some trauma in the 1970's, and is psychologically unable to move on. The plot of the story is based around working through Dan's inner demons and helping him overcome his past.
    • Alternatively, it's not Dan who needs to learn something—his fascination with disco culture might be eccentric and taken to certain extremes, but is otherwise not harming him nor anyone else. It's actually the people around Dan who need to learn a lesson about not forcing Dan to conform with their own worldview just because they do not share his, and not being bullying Jerkasses just because someone else's taste in music and fashion is 'outdated' and different from their own.

Do the hustle back to Disco Dan, Baby!