Disobey This Message: Difference between revisions

It should be noted that it is ''perfectly'' possible for a work to have as [[An Aesop]] that "being a [[Rebellious Spirit]] is a good thing" and thus be a sincere advocate of anti-authoritarianism. This trope is ''not'' about sincere advocates of anti-authoritarianism, but rather instances where such a message is ''undermined'' by "be a rebel by doing what I want you to do."

 

{{examples}}

 

== Advertising ==

 

** Sprite was ''especially'' bad with this. "Image is nothing" was their slogan even after they stopped doing ads which used this trope.

** A Time Warner Cable commercial urges consumers to "express your individuality with people just like you".

* Yahoo's "Start Wearing Purple" campaign, with purple touted as representative of innovation and individuality, comes to mind.

** The Irony being that purple is the traditional color of royalty and divinity, meaning people who wear it ''demand'' that others follow their every action...

** That is until you combine the two. There is an Anti-Drug PSA running where there are various Good and Bad influences on a teen's shoulders, including family, friends, and his basketball team. Of course, the Good influences invariably make better arguments than the bad ones. The last to speak is his father, who asks, "Do you enjoy making your mother cry!?" This is immediately followed by the line: "The '''only''' voice that matters is yours." Following this, the teen turns down the blunt offered to him.

*** To be fair, this seems to be more the result of bad wording, as it does make sense in trying to say "Your parents and teachers can tell you all about the evils of drugs and alcohol all they want, but when you're offered these things, it's still ultimately up to ''you'' and not ''them'' to make the decision."

== Film ==

 

** It should be noted that this line was a [[Throw It In]], and the guy that did it got a bonus for thinking it up.

* ''[[Dead Poets Society]]'': Don't do what grown-ups like me tell you! Let's all be individuals... together!

* Think for yourself is the main argument of the protagonist in [[Thank You for Smoking]], one he uses to assert that the schoolchildren should challenge authority, in this case the authorities saying smoking is bad for you and you shouldn't do it (he is PR man for the tobacco industry).

** An example would be in the [[Sword of Truth|novels of Terry Goodkind]], where the main character effectively ends up as a benevolent capitalist dictator, the series having explored the weaknesses of all other forms of government. The last chapter of the series features that character ''ordering his followers'', ironically enough, to no longer do the devotion, a ritual that has over time turned the heads of his family into objects of a cult of personality.

* The basic message of the essay ''Self-Reliance'' was "Everyone should be a nonconformist".

* Lampshaded in one of [[Maus]]'s self-referential meta-sections.

** Therapist: There's no way to explain the story that you're trying to tell. Maybe there just shouldn't be any more stories.

== Video Games ==

 

* ''[[Depict 1]]'' combines this with [[Mission Control Is Off Its Meds]]. If he says you need to collect gems, you die the moment you touch them. If he says the [[Spikes of Doom|spikes will kill you]], you can pick them up and use them as throwing weapons. If you fail to "press Esc to end the game" at what he says is the ending, he leaves you in a huff.

 

== Western Animation ==

* [[Goblin Hollow]]: "You laugh at me because I'm different. I laugh at you because you're all the same" -- on, [http://www.rhjunior.com/GH/00039.html as Ben points out], a mass-produced T-shirt.

** The same T-shirt appeared in a ''[[Charby the Vampirate]]'' page involving Victor's younger brother.

 

== Real Life ==