Humans Are Morons: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

[[File:getabrain 6917.jpg|frame| [[Hypocritical Humor|You said it! buddey]]]]

 

{{quote|''"An American monkey, after getting drunk on brandy, would never touch it again, and thus is much wiser than most men."''|'''[[Charles Darwin]]'''}}

This is often the source of [[Fantastic Racism]] exemplified in alien civilizations towards humans; whenever you see words like "monkeys," "primates," "chimps," and "apes" used as [[Fantastic Slur]]s, you're generally dealing with an alien species that believes humans are pretty far down on the totem pole. This may also lead to [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien|a sufficiently advanced species]] to note that there is [[No Intelligent Life Here]].

 

 

This can overlap with [[Humans Are the Real Monsters]] in the event that any brutish or violent human actions are more closely perceived as being [[Hanlon's Razor|thoughtless, rather than malicious]], but usually these two tropes are separate. When trying to figure out whether an act of violence counts as humans being bastards or morons, there's always one easy distinction to tell the two apart:

 

* If [[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial|E.T.]] comes to Earth and the humans attack him with [[Torches and Pitchforks|pitchforks and sticks]], it's [[Humans Are the Real Monsters]].

 

 

Compare with [[The Ditz]] and [[The Fool]] when dealing with stupidity on an individual level, and [[Medieval Morons]] when a [[Time Travel|time traveler]] has to deal with human stupidity, rather than aliens. Contrast: [[Humanity Is Superior]], [[Humans Are Leaders]].

 

 

Not to be confused with [[Viewers are Morons]].

 

{{noreallife|We don't know any [[Real Life]] non-human societies to compare humanity to.}}

 

* A favorite for [[Alan Moore]] when he writes anything about aliens interacting with humans, occasionally referring to humans derogatorily as [[Fantastic Slur|"chimps" and "apes."]]

** In ''Skizz'' a peaceful alien is stranded on Earth ''a la [[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial|E.T.]]'', which, to his own species, is classified as a "hellworld" planet for many reasons, among them being that human civilization is far too primitive and undeveloped for people to handle alien contact. The first encounter the alien has with humans is discovering drunk skinheads pummeling each other with their fists; the revelation that he's stranded on a planet where the locals are '''''that''''' primitive is more than enough to make him cry.

* In another ''[[2000 AD]]'' strip, ''Bec & Kawl'', [[The Greys]] who abduct Pierre seem to view humans as play-things to be abused and toyed with for their amusement, when not partaking in the traditional [[Anal Probing]] and [[Half-Human Hybrid|alien-human hybrid]] experiments, of course. One grey even refers to Pierre as a [[Fantastic Slur|"monkey-man."]] [[The Greys]] do, however, decide to recruit Pierre (who is a pest control expert) for the job of "taking on the filthiest vermin of all" (a separate malevolent alien race hiding amongst us on Earth, waiting for the opportune moment to strike), which turns out to be {{spoiler|A [[Batman Gambit]] for [[The Greys]]' own gain.}}

* In the ''[[Strontium Dog]]'' story arc "Bitch," aliens who have taken [[Ronald Reagan]] hostage find The Gipper to be so astonishingly stupid that they can't fathom how this man could possibly be "the leader of the human race" without assuming that the rest of us aren't that bright, either.

 

 

* In [[Don Bluth]]'s ''[[Titan A.E.]]'', after losing their homeworld, humans are viewed as sort of sentient, endangered vermin unleashed on the galaxy.

* The main antagonist in ''[[Finding Nemo]]'' is a slightly hyperactive little girl who simply doesn't realize that if she shakes the bag too hard she'll kill the little fish inside.

* In ''[[Ratatouille]]'', unlike Remy's father, who believes [[Humans Are the Real Monsters]], Remy believes the humans are just ignorant, seeing that rats have traditionally been pests, anyway.

* ''[[Idiocracy]]'' takes place in a future where [[Social Darwinist|Survival of the Fittest]] has been hijacked by the astoundingly stupid.

* ''[[Mars Attacks!]]!'' features many situations where people want to believe that the Martians are peace-loving and our friends, despite them repeatedly vaporizing everyone.

* In ''[[Star Trek: First Contact]]'', humans of the 21st Century live in a post-apocalyptic society with just barely enough infrastructure to continue research on warp drive, while the other races have already begun exploring the galaxy and view humanity as being "too primitive." However, this is ultimately [[Subverted Trope|subverted]] by the rest of ''[[Star Trek]]'' canon as we somehow nonetheless become one of the dominant space faring races.

** Primarily because First Contact finally inspired humans to work together. The more amazing part is how the Phoenix (first ship with warp drive) was built mainly from scrap and based on a decommissioned ICBM.

* The alien Eros from ''[[Plan 9 from Outer Space]]'' can't seem to reason with the humans without chastising them for their stupid minds! "[[Narm|Stupid!]] ''[[Narm|Stupid!]]''"

** "Because all you of Earth are ''idiots!''"

*** Although considering that their way to warn us about potentially dangerous scientific experiments we shouldn't attempt is a (very localized) [[Zombie Apocalypse]], there's a strong case for this being the pot calling the kettle black.

* Both versions of ''[[The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951 film)|The Day the Earth Stood Still]]'' feature Klaatu chastising humanity for being irresponsible with all that they have; [[The Remake]] provides a [[Humans Are Special]] moral to ultimately [[Subverted Trope|subvert]] this, however.

* In ''[[Battlefield Earth (film)|Battlefield Earth]]'', it's the belief of Terl and the Psychlos is that the so-called "man-animals" are too stupid to tie their own bootlaces. This arguably becomes unintentional [[Hypocritical Humor]] given that Terl and his fellow Psychlos spend a great deal of time holding the [[Idiot Ball]] themselves.

** It's even more stupid when you consider that Terl is fully aware that humans had a technological society prior to the [[Alien Invasion]].

::And another...

{{quote|'''prot:''' Sometimes it's hard to imagine how you've made it this far.}}

* Subtly subverted in [[Steven Spielberg]]'s remake of ''[[The War of the Worlds (2005 film)||The War of the Worlds]]''. The aliens who explore the basement our human characters are hiding in show a lot of fascination in a bicycle tire, hinting that for all the greater technological advancements they have over humans, they never invented a tool as simple and practical as the wheel.

** They also act like little children who constantly have to be told ''not'' to lick everything in sight because they may get sick. Especially on an alien planet.

 

== [[Literature]] ==

** Well, humans ARE only the third most intelligent species on Earth, behind [[Sapient Cetaceans|Dolphins]]

* A chapter of [[Carl Sagan]]'s book ''Pale Blue Dot'' titled "Is There Intelligent Life On Earth?" covers a fictional alien visitor observing human activity from space that cause it to speculate if there really is such a thing as human intelligence.

* Both Mein Herr and the fairies tend to share this opinion in [[Lewis Carroll]]'s ''[[Sylvie and Bruno]]''.

* In ''[[Tales From the Mos Eisley Cantina]]'' this was a definite theme in The Devaronian's Tale.

{{quote|'''Labria:''' What do you call someone who speaks three languages?

* In the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]], the [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Columi Columi] (a species with [[My Brain Is Big|giant heads containing huge brains]], but tiny bodies), upon discovering worlds populated by humans, quickly returned home in disappointment at having found "subsentient barbarians" instead of [[No Intelligent Life Here|the intelligent life they were looking for]].

 

* ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'':

{{quote|'''Thor:''' The Asgard have tried to stop [the Replicators]. You have demonstrated their weakness may be found through a less... ''sophisticated'' approach. We are no longer capable of such thinking.

'''Dr. Jackson:''' Wait a minute, you're actually saying that you need someone... ''dumber'' than you are?

'''O'Neill:''' You may have come to the right place. }}

** In "Dark Frontier", we learn that the Borg catalog humans as having "below-average cranial capacity". ''Ouch''.

* The darkest episodes of the ''[[Outer Limits]]'' [[Revival]] are more often the ones where the human protagonist(s) is an astounding [[Unwitting Pawn]] who is duped into destroying the Earth or selling out his own species for the benefit of a more cunning alien villain or someone who winds up paying dearly for a severe lapse in judgment.

** The Ninth Doctor was particularly fond of calling humans "stupid apes" whenever he was angry at us.

** This trait in humans is why the Tenth Doctor in particular finds the human race to be amazing. In the episode ''Utopia'', The Doctor visits a human refugee base in the year 100,000,000,000,000 AD, a time in which the Universe was ending and most races had gone extinct, and states his wonderment at how the human race is one of the few races to survive to the very end of existence.

* In ''[[Spaced]]'', Tim defends the Sci-Fi genre arguing that "the thoughts and speculations of our contemporary authors and thinkers have probably never been closer to the truth." [[Gilligan Cut|Cut to]] a group of aliens outside the comic book shop laughing at how ridiculous everything on display is.

* Played for laughs in the early episodes of ''[[Farscape]]''. D'Argo and Aeryn continually get frustrated at how slowly John learns new skills and generally view him as completely useless. However, his own ingenuity and pluckiness end up saving the day very frequently.

{{quote|'''Nan:''' I have proof. Scientific. People are far dumber than they realize. }}

 

* Ever since [[GWAR]] was banished from their home planet for stinking up the place, they've been stuck here with what they often call "[[Puny Earthlings|human filth]]." In their eyes, humanity is ''far'' beneath them, and human life is practically worthless, existing only give them something to enslave and viciously exploit. The song "Slaughterama," for instance, is about a game show that's intentionally designed to "kill everyone that's worth killing."

* The [[XTC]] song "Across This Antheap."

{{quote|The stars are laughing at us, as we crawl on and on across this antheap.}}

 

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

* The Batarians from the ''[[Mass Effect]]'' universe tend to think that ''every'' other alien race is beneath them, but they especially think humans are among the stupidest and most expendable of the Citadel species. Then again, [[Aliens Are Bastards|those guys are just bastards]]. It is ''really'' stinging them that humans are beating them out economically and militarily despite being the new arrivals on the galactic scene.

** They mainly assume humans are dumb because it's not possible to make facial expressions they would recognize as thoughtful or sophisticated with fewer than four eyes.

* ''[[The Sims Medieval]]'' has "people are dumb" as the epiphany that prompts [[A God Is You|The Watcher]] into direct intervention.

 

* In ''[[Drowtales]]'' humans are considered to be a type of goblin. Though considered somewhat cunning individually (like Vaelia, the [[Badass Normal]] human bodyguard of Ariel) collectively humans are viewed as less intelligent than orcs. In one chapter, a group of drow children with the help of said [[Badass Normal]] and a squad of [[Mauve Shirt]]s, took down an entire human castle, which was being used to sacrifice elves as part of [[Blood Bath|a hairbrained bid for immortality]].

 

* Even that damn squirrel, [[Neurotically Yours|Foamy]], thinks this about us!

* The [[Darwin Awards]] is also a catalog of human stupidity.

* The Vampires of ''[[The Blademourner Trilogy]]'' share this view of humans, even going so far as to keep them in what is essentially a giant hamster cage.

* Kuraii of ''[[The Gungan Council]]'' believes ''all'' humans are this.

 

* ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]''. ''Everyone'' in Springfield is a complete idiot or social reject for one reason or another. ''NO EXCEPTIONS'' (Except, maybe Maggie). In almost every annual [[Halloween Episode|Treehouse of Horror episode]], however, the townsfolk are visited by [[Aliens Are Bastards|Kang and Kodos]] who, despite being more advanced and pretty crafty on occasion, are probably the only aliens in the universe stupid enough to even ''want'' to travel the galaxy for what there is in Springfield, let alone turn it in to an annual activity.

* In ''[[Futurama]]'' the 20th Century is known as "The Stupid Age" to historians. However, that doesn't make humans of the 31st Century any less stupid than us.

** And again in the episode "The Late Philip J. Fry" where we see Fry, Bender, and The Professor time-travel forward to the year 5 Million AD where they learn that [[The Time Machine|human evolution has deviated along two paths]], one evolving from intellect and reason and the other evolving from brute strength [[Dumb Muscle|and very little else]]. The mentally superior race explain that they can devise a backwards time-travel device for our characters to use within five years. Cut to five years later where we find that the brainless apes have sacked the settlements of the more intelligent, reasonable species.

*** That last part may have been a reference to how the Morlocks appeared to be nothing more than brutal savages but were actually maintaining the machinery that supported their Eloi cattle.

* The 100th episode of ''[[South Park]]'', "Cancelled," reveals Earth to be a giant [[Reality TV]] show for the rest of The Universe's silly amusement.

** Not to mention the whole "Space Cash" incident.

[[Category:Humans Are Indexed]]

[[Category:Stupidity Tropes]]

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