Humans Are Morons: Difference between revisions
→Video Games: Removed inaccurate example (it's actually a fight on if continuning to mass produce bioweapons is a good idea or waiting to backfire)
m (Mass update links) |
(→Video Games: Removed inaccurate example (it's actually a fight on if continuning to mass produce bioweapons is a good idea or waiting to backfire)) |
||
(13 intermediate revisions by 6 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"An American monkey, after getting drunk on brandy, would never touch it again, and thus is much wiser than most men."''|'''[[Charles Darwin]]'''}}
Line 7 ⟶ 6:
Sometimes, it feels like the only difference between humanity and the chimps is that we're only slightly less hairy.
A subtrope of [[Humans Are Flawed]],
Humans are not [[Humans Are Special|special]]. They're just an oddly evolved ape<ref>Many apologies to any [[Insult to Rocks|apes out there who now feel insulted]].</ref> out in [[Insignificant Little Blue Planet|the boondocks of the galaxy]] where, thankfully, intelligent life is so far away from us that we can live in our own squalor on this filthy planet without a care (or clue) in the world and not pose a threat to anyone out there [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien|who may actually be decent and civilized]] (but God help them if they ever ''do'' actually come here).
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
Outside of the [[Speculative Fiction]] genre,
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
* If [[E.T. the
If this trope is ever [[Subverted Trope|subverted]], it will involve a human talent or trait that [[Humans Are Special|makes us special]] for [[Suspiciously Specific Denial|some reason totally not]] [[Most Writers Are Human|related to the author's species]].
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]].
See
Not to be confused with [[Viewers are Morons]].
{{examples}}
▲== [[Comics]] ==
* 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
*** The [[Big Bad]] in the story, a government agent known only as "Van Owen," could be interpreted to an extent as an example of [[Hanlon's Razor|the overlap]] between this and [[Humans Are the Real Monsters]]. No matter what anyone says or asks him, he's convinced in his own mind that the peaceful alien is a secret spy looking to destroy the planet.
** "[[
** Several of Moore's ''Future Shocks'' from ''[[
* In ''[[Judge Dredd]]'' this is one of a few arguments made to show that [[Democracy Is Bad]] (especially as an [[In
** There was also the time when an [[Everything's Better
* In another ''[[
* 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.
* Throughout [[Silver Surfer
* In ''[[
== [[
* In [[Don Bluth]]'s ''[[Titan
▲* In [[Aeon Entelechy Evangelion (Fanfic)|Aeon Entelechy Evangelion]], this is how almost everybody non-human views humanity in general and the NEG in particular. This view is especially held by the Migou.
▲* In [[Don Bluth]]'s ''[[Titan AE]]'', 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.
* In ''[[Samson and Sally]]'', {{spoiler|Moby Dick}} states, "Mankind is not vicious, mankind is stupid!"
== Film - Live-Action ==▼
* ''[[Idiocracy]]'' takes place in a future where [[Social Darwinist|Survival of the Fittest]] has been hijacked by the astoundingly stupid.
* ''[[Mars Attacks
* In ''[[Men in Black (
** The Bug even dishes out the [[Fantastic Slur
{{quote|
* 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.
** ''[[Star Trek IV:
* The alien Eros from ''[[
** "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.
* As mentioned on the quotes page, this is one of the lessons brought up in "The Galaxy Song" from ''[[
* In ''[[Battlefield Earth (
** It's even more stupid when you consider that Terl is fully aware that humans had a technological society prior to the [[Alien Invasion]].
*** In the novel, it's established early on that Terl is an idiot. Scheming, devious, decently educated, but still an idiot.
* [[The Mothman Prophecies]]:
{{quote|
'''Leek:''' You're more advanced than a cockroach, have you ever tried explaining yourself to one of them? }}
* ''[[Planet of the Apes]]'', naturally, is the rare example of this in [[Speculative Fiction]] where humanity is ''less'' civilized than the apes, as opposed to usually being the ''slightly more'' civilized ones.
* ''[[Demolition Man]]'' provides the unique depiction of a [[The Future|Future]] where humanity has eradicated all the things that make humans [[Jerkass|bastards]] in the [[Present Day]] but has become more paranoid, inexperienced, and clueless as a trade-off.
* prot from ''[[K-PAX]]'' certainly has a few choice words for humans.
{{quote|
::And another...
{{quote|
* In ''[[Evil Dead|Army of Darkness]]'' Ash shows himself on many occasions to be no different than the [[Medieval Morons]]... except [[
* Subtly subverted in [[Steven Spielberg]]'s remake of ''[[The War of the Worlds (
** Similar scenes also happen in another Spielberg film, ''[[E.T. the
** 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.
* ''[[Jackass]]'', a series of movies (and a TV series at first) that uses this trope and [[Rule of Funny]], did well enough at the box office to have sequels.
** ''America's Dumbest/Funniest Home Videos'' is similar.
== [[Literature]] ==
* In ''[[
* In ''[[The
** 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.
* Terry Bisson's short story "[[
* Both Mein Herr and the fairies tend to share this opinion in [[Lewis Carroll]]'s ''[[Sylvie and Bruno]]''.
* The original
* In ''[[Tales From the Mos Eisley Cantina]]'' this was a definite theme in The Devaronian's Tale.
{{quote|
'''Wuher:''' Trilingual.
'''Labria:''' Someone who speaks two languages?
'''Wuher:''' Bilingual.
'''Labria:''' Someone who speaks one language?
'''Wuher:''' Monolingual?
'''Labria:''' Human. }}
* In the book ''The VMR Threory'', this is the view held by many races that first contact humans, given that the human individuals who are in charge of first contact situations are complete idiots to the point that other species think that humanity is [[Too Dumb to Live]]. This has sparked two theories of how it's possible for humanity to have been able to reach space and survive as a species. The first is that there's smart humans and dumb humans, and if they mess with the dumb humans, the smart humans will come and kick their asses. The second is that there is a specific race out there guiding humans that is infinitely more dangerous than all of humanity. The most popular theory of who this master race is happens to be [[Title Drop|The Vampire Master Race]].
* In ''[[
** Another example comes at the end of the FAQ Section on Chapter 2: Life, revolving around the author refusing to explain to aliens what creationism is, despite "billions of people" believing in it as the origin of life up until the end.
{{quote|
A. Look, if you're so damn curious, check into a hotel room, open the bedside table and start reading.
'''Q. Hold on a moment. ''[Pause]'''''
'''Wow.'''
A. We know.
'''Q. Six days? ''Six days?!?'''''
A. ''[Covers eyes, shakes head]'' }}
* The ''[[My Teacher Is an Alien]]'' series plays with this a bit. The aliens are studying humans partially to figure out why it is we have the most powerful brains in the galaxy, but only use [[
* 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]].
* ''[[
== [[Live Action TV]] ==▼
▲* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' has humanity constantly proving that we're idiots. First, there's Sunnydale. There's a reason the trope [[Weirdness Censor]] used to be called Sunnydale Syndrome. Secondly, Season 8 shows the rest of humanity isn't much better. Basically all of humanity (although, [[Stephen Colbert]] has been shown to be one of the few smart ones) has become vampire fanboys/fangirls after Harmony gets a TV show, with people willingly getting sucked on Riley-style. They also think the Slayer Organization is evil. Fucking idiots.
{{quote|
▲* ''[[Stargate SG 1]]'':
'''Dr. Jackson:''' Wait a minute, you're actually saying that you need someone... ''dumber'' than you are?
▲{{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.<br />
▲'''Dr. Jackson:''' Wait a minute, you're actually saying that you need someone... ''dumber'' than you are?<br />
'''O'Neill:''' You may have come to the right place. }}
* The ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' episode "Virtuoso" introduced us to the Qomar, a [[Rubber Forehead Aliens|Rubber Forehead
** 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.
Line 132 ⟶ 124:
** His later incarnations seem to have pretty much the same thought. Indeed, when he's not going on about the marvelousness of humanity (a particular feature of the Tenth Doctor), he's ranting about how stupid/blind/ignorant they are. Sometimes in the same episode.
** 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.
{{quote|
* 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 ''[[
* A fantasy variation appears in ''[[True Blood]]''.
{{quote|
* 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|
▲== [[Tabeletop Games]] ==
* ''[[Warhammer 40 K]]'''s Imperium of Man has hardly advanced their technology in the 10,000 years since anyone has last seen The Emperor Of Mankind. Human culture throughout their vast empire is extremely paranoid and superstitious, and the government is such a vast, inept bureaucracy that a simple ''filing error'' can lead to entire populations of people being immediately forgotten about and/or destroyed.▼
** A similar example exists in FASA's ship combat sim Renegade, at least for the majority human government. The Terran Overlord Government got to be the big dog in the galactic stage by being brutally stupid and corrupt, being based upon the worst excesses of Rome. In their case, the filing error will not only wipe out a planet and/or its location, but also result in about 140 senatorial murders. Whereas the most gross stupidity in Warhammer is a result of religious fanaticism, in Renegade's universe, it's a result of purely shortsighted greed and avarice. And occasionally throwing bureaucracy into bureaucracy. Forget the name of it but the creation of one TOG fighter led them to many victories, as the constant reshuffling and retitling of it while it was in development resulted in a huge amount of nasty ambushes for spies who reported on freighters and dignitaries having only 'light escorts.' To make matters worse, TOG owns roughly 3 times as many planets as the Tyranids have devoured. It is not unheard of for an entire SYSTEM to escape taxes in the political morass for decades, only to later be invaded by their hosts who want it paid back with interest.▼
* Any game that goes in for [[The Masquerade]] ends up with some level of this. It's particularly egregious in settings where human ignorance of the supernatural is reliant entirely on humans' refusal to accept the existence of such things.▼
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
▲* ''[[Warhammer 40
▲** A similar example exists in FASA's ship combat sim Renegade, at least for the majority human government. The Terran Overlord Government got to be the big dog in the galactic stage by being brutally stupid and corrupt, being based upon the worst excesses of Rome. In their case, the filing error will not only wipe out a planet and/or its location, but also result in about 140 senatorial murders. Whereas the most gross stupidity in Warhammer is a result of religious fanaticism, in Renegade's universe, it's a result of purely shortsighted greed and avarice. And occasionally throwing bureaucracy into bureaucracy. Forget the name of it but the creation of one TOG fighter led them to many victories, as the constant reshuffling and
▲* Any game that goes in for [[The Masquerade]] ends up with some level of this. It's particularly [[egregious]] in settings where human ignorance of the supernatural is reliant entirely on humans' refusal to accept the existence of such things.
== [[Video Games]] ==
* Much of the humor in ''[[Destroy All Humans!]]'' and its sequels is derived straight from this.
* 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 (Video Game)|The Sims Medieval]]'' has "people are dumb" as the epiphany that prompts [[A God Is You|The Watcher]] into direct intervention.
* In ''[[
==
▲* In ''[[Drow Tales]]'' 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|Mauve Shirts]], took down an entire human castle, which was being used to sacrifice elves as part of [[Blood Bath|a hairbrained bid for immortality]].
▲== Web Original ==
* Even that damn squirrel, [[Neurotically Yours|Foamy]], thinks this about us!
* A theme in ''[[Banana
* ''[[(The Customer is) Not Always Right]]'' catalogs ''a lot'' of stories about people being stupid.
* The [[Darwin Awards]] is also a catalog of human stupidity.
* As is ''[[FSTDT|Fundies Say the Darndest Things]]''.
*
* 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.
== [[Western Animation]] ==▼
* ''[[Invader Zim]]''. So Much.
▲== Western Animation ==
** To be fair, the Irkens as a whole seem more technology
▲* ''[[Invader Zim]]''. So Much. EVERYONE is an idiot, except for Gaz and maybe Dib. The Irken Empire could not care less about the planet and just use it to get rid of Zim. The episode where Tak is introduced sums it up quite nicely; her home base turns out to be much too big because it's actually a giant pump, so she disguises it as a giant hot dog stand. Dib asks why she didn't think anyone would notice, and Tak explains that the good thing about humans is that if there's anything like food or technology covering it up, they don't notice it; they just see there's food in that building, not that it's 50 feet tall.
* ''[[The Simpsons (
▲** To be fair, the Irkens as a whole seem more technology smart than having common sense, Tak being an exception. Then again, they base their social structure on height and not smarts.
* In ''[[
▲* ''[[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 (Animation)|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.
* On ''[[
* 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.
Line 188 ⟶ 173:
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Cynicism Tropes]]
[[Category:Cosmic Horror
[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]
[[Category:Humans Are Indexed]]
[[Category:Stupidity Tropes]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Tropes of Hats]]
|