Lies to Children: Difference between revisions

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'''Dad:''' No, but the truth is more complicated.|''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]''}}

When things are strange and complicated, people like to explain them by analogy. Sometimes, this analogy is actually not all that accurate; for instance, atoms are usually described as a proton-neutron nucleus with electrons orbiting it like planets round a star, but doesn't actually resemble the solar system at all. However, it is still useful because it gives the listeners a simple concept they can grasp, while a more accurate explanation would confuse them or simply go over their heads. Once they've learned the analogy, they can continue to more complex topics that will eventually lead to the truth of the ~~situation -- or~~ to another, more complicated set of [[Lies to Children]].

When things are strange and complicated, people like to explain them by analogy. Sometimes, this analogy is actually not all that accurate; for instance, atoms are usually described as a proton-neutron nucleus with electrons orbiting it like planets round a star, but doesn't actually resemble the solar system at all. However, it is still useful because it gives the listeners a simple concept they can grasp, while a more accurate explanation would confuse them or simply go over their heads. Once they've learned the analogy, they can continue to more complex topics that will eventually lead to the truth of the situation—or to another, more complicated set of '''Lies to Children'''.

This is, of course, likely to [[Analogy Backfire|backfire]] if the listener takes the analogy too literally.

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== [[Comic Books]] ==

* In ''[[Runaways]]'', Gert [[~~Lampshade|lampshades~~]] the fact that their parents never told them they were [[Super Villain|supervillains]] by listing all of the things parents lie to their children about: Santa, The Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and ''[[Hollywood Atheist|God]].''

* In ''[[Runaways]]'', Gert [[lampshade]]s the fact that their parents never told them they were [[Super Villain|supervillains]] by listing all of the things parents lie to their children about: Santa, The Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and ''[[Hollywood Atheist|God]].''

== [[Film]] ==

* ''[[The Addams Family|Addams Family Values]]''. One of the jokes has normal children telling the Addams kids about the ~~stork--Wednesday~~ responds by explaining where babies ''really'' come from.

* ''[[The Addams Family|Addams Family Values]]''. One of the jokes has normal children telling the Addams kids about the stork—Wednesday responds by explaining where babies ''really'' come from.

* In ''[[Miracle on 34th Street]]'', Mrs. Walker is trying to avoid this with her daughter, Susan, by telling her the truth about everything, in this case the reality about Santa Claus. The argument the movie makes is that kids can become rather bland and lack imagination if this is all they are taught.

* In ''[[Ink]]'', the soul of a little girl, Emma, is kidnapped, leaving her body in a coma. A Storyteller, captured while trying to rescue her, tries to explain what is happening and make the girl less afraid. "You still look like a little girl, but as soon as you came into this world, you started turning into a lioness." Emma replies, "You're full of it."

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* In the [[Judy Blume]] book ''Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself'', Sally asks her mother how babies are made. Her mother mumbles something about how the husband plants a seed in the wife; ten-year-old Sally wants more details, so Mrs. Freedman buys her a book about it. Later on, her unmarried teenage neighbour gets pregnant and Sally asks how that's possible, since the book told her sex was something only married people did.

* Merlin Athrawes in [[David Weber]]'s ''[[Safehold]]'' series possesses enhanced abilities ''far'' beyond the human norm because he is a machine known as a PICA. However, the residents of the planet Safehold are trapped in anti-technology [[Medieval Stasis]] and lack the foundation to understand this. Merlin explains his capabilities by comparing them to those attributed to legendary heroes called ''seijin'' ([[Bilingual Bonus|Japanese for "holy men"]]). In particular, his access to high tech surveillance allowing Merlin to spy on just about anyone, anywhere, are explained as visions that allow him to see the present, but neither past nor future.

* ''Great Lies To Tell Small Kids'' by Andy Riley is partly this, and partly just [[~~Troll|trolling~~]] your children or younger relations: "Wine makes Mummy clever!" "Slugs are snails that couldn't pay the mortgage".

* ''Great Lies To Tell Small Kids'' by Andy Riley is partly this, and partly just [[troll]]ing your children or younger relations: "Wine makes Mummy clever!" "Slugs are snails that couldn't pay the mortgage".

== Newspaper Comics ==