Misery Poker: Difference between revisions

In many stories - [[Truth in Television|and often in real life too]] - there's only so much sympathy to go around. So if you arrive to your workplace bemoaning the frankly humiliating first meeting with your in-laws, or the parking ticket you got as a result of an over-talkative cashier and a downright malevolent traffic warden, better take a note of the gripes of your co-workers before you launch into that pent-up tirade. Chances are that if someone has an angst that "trumps" yours, your worries - no matter how valid - become instantly trivial. And the rest of the episode will probably be devoted to you "getting over" yourself in order to be there for your pal. Even you yourself will eventually give a monologue on the importance of not dwelling on your worries because there are people worse off than yourself, and you should count your blessings.

 

 

 

 

 

Also sometimes known as Misery Dicks (i.e., my misery dick is bigger than yours) and Woe-Offs—as well as Oppression Olympics, when it occurs in debates concerning social justice issues.

 

{{examples}}

 

* ''[[Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei]]'' takes this across the line several times, as is its habit. Nami tried to elicit sympathy from her classmates by coming in with a bandaged arm - then Abiru came in with bandages around half her head, her arm in a sling, and her leg in a cast. Then Nami tried to complain about being so poor she had to live in a small apartment and share a room with her parents - then in came Maria, an illegal immigrant who lives with 20 others in a single room, carrying a big bag of garbage and waxing lyrical about Japan's incredible bounty and how much better it was than her home country, where people knowingly eat poisonous mushrooms because there's nothing else. Then Nami tries to get attention by threatening to jump out a window -at which point Nozomu flies down from the roof in a noose and crashes into the wall (he gets better).

* In ''[[Weiss Kreuz]],'' after Tomoe Sakura has one of her kidneys stolen by a [[Mad Scientist]] and becomes the subject of a great deal of prying media attention, she laments what's happened to her and that the surgery has left her unable to run track like she could before. Aya, whose [[Ill Girl|little sister]] and only living family has been in a coma for two years and shows no signs of ever waking, delivers a verbal slap to Sakura in which he roughly points out to her that at least she's still alive and conscious and capable of moving under her own power.

 

== Comic Books ==

"You've got me beat."

"And I thought ''my'' origin story sucked." }}

{{quote|'''Steph:'''"Nobody ever talks about your family, what was your dad like?"

'''Cass:'''"Assassin. David Cain."

* Very nicely averted in [[Fantastic Four]]. After a particularly brutal encounter with Dr. Doom, Reed is left with a painful burn scar covering half his face. After a short while living with it, and acting increasingly irrationally, Ben calls him out on his behavior. During the speech, he tells him that he's noticed that even though he's clearly bothered by it, Reed hasn't complained about the scar once since getting it, at least not in front of Ben. While he has it much worse, as a giant rock-monster, Ben was quick to acknowledge his friend was suffering.

* In ''[[All Fall Down]]'', the Pantheon get together for a game and this is the result. {{spoiler|Phylum wins.}}

 

== Film ==

 

== Literature ==

* In ''Flour Babies'' by Anne Fine, the protagonist is told at the end of the story that hundreds of children go through the same trauma and worse that he went through...and none of them made as much fuss about it as he did. Possibly a [[Lampshade Hanging]] - the author makes it clear that the teacher's being an unsympathetic [[Jerkass]].

* Referenced and then [[Defied Trope|defied]] in the fourth book of [[Bruce Coville]]'s ''[[My Teacher Is an Alien]]'' book series: When Peter hears Susan say "Boy, I miss my family" (as they're traveling with aliens and can't see their families, and she can only have occasional phone calls with them) he thinks ''"At least you have family to miss"'' (due to him thinking that his father couldn't care less about his disappearance) but keeps silent because he doesn't want to get in a game of "Who's the most miserable".

 

== Live Action TV ==

** A rather better handled example also came up in the episode that introduced Michael J. Fox's character Dr. Casey - sure, Dr. Cox may not be the best doctor, Turk may never be the best surgeon, and JD may need a bit more mentoring than most people, but Dr. Casey has severe OCD, and he deals with it gracefully.

* This trope was a big part of choosing the winner on ''[[Queen for a Day]]''; the contestant would get on the TV (originally radio) show and talk about how miserable their life was.

* The ''[[Seinfeld]]'' episode "The Andrea Doria." The owners of a desirable apartment have decided to rent it to someone who survived the sinking of the SS ''Andrea Doria'', because of his sad past—until [[The Chew Toy|George]] comes along and entertains the panel with a [[Call Back|recap of all the banally depressing or humiliating things that have happened to him since the show began]], from being [[Chained to a Bed]] and robbed to having a woman see his penis post-cold-water-shrinkage.

{{quote|'''George:''' ''[speaking to an obviously deeply moved panel]'' In closing, these stories have not been embellished, because they need no embellishment. They are simply, horrifyingly, the story of my life as a [[Loser Protagonist|short, stocky, slow-witted, bald man]]. Thank you. ''[He goes to leave, then turns around.]'' Oh -- [[Skewed Priorities|and my fiancee died from licking toxic envelopes that I picked out.]] ''[The panel bursts into tears.]'' Thanks again. ''[Exit.]''}}

{{quote|''Right...''}}

* One of ''[[The Daily Show]]'''s essential pieces is the [http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-july-28-2004/bootstrap-story "Bootstrap Story"] segment mocking the candidates' milking of their humble origins at the 2004 Democratic National Convention (the one at which [[Barack Obama]] upped the stakes forever by relating that his father was once a goatherd). [[Stephen Colbert]], in turn, tells Jon how hard his father worked mining [[Solid Gold Poop|turds]] in the Appalachians and how grateful he was not to have to [[But You Screw One Goat!|lick goats' balls]] like ''his'' father used to back in the old country.

{{quote|'''Monk:''' I'm ''blind''.

'''Homeless Guy:''' I'm homeless.

'''Homeless Guy:''' ''Pneumonia''. }}

 

== Musicals ==

 

 

== Newspaper Comics ==

* In the [[Dilbert]] book, ''Build A Better Life By Stealing Office Supplies'', Dogbert advises office drones that, if you run late, make sure your excuse trumps the one before you; otherwise, you're the weak link and ripe for discipline.

{{quote|'''Ted:''' Sorry I was late. There was an accident and traffic was backed up for miles.

Wonder Woman: Chivalry is dead. }}

** [[Batman|My]] [[Parental Abandonment|parents]] [[PvP|are]] [[Memetic Mutation|DEEAAAAAAAD!]]

{{quote|RZ: I hate my job.

Gungu: Try taking 16 school hours and working two jobs just to pay for it all.

RZ: Thanks. Now I hate my job, ''and'' I feel like a jerk.

Furato: Hey, RZ! Have you heard of the millions of starving people on Planet S? }}

* ''[[Friendly Hostility]]'': Collin trumped Nadine's record of "time not spoken to parents," but was beaten by Leslie Rudd in the "who had the most negligent/abusive" parents stakes. In the last few months of the comic, some Fox vs. Collin Misery Poker went on, particularly amongst the fandom, with Fox's past injuries to Collin being weighed against Collin's increasingly passive-aggressive, taciturn behaviour.

* A pair of Akril's [[King's Quest]] comic strips feature misery poker. In the first, [http://akril15.deviantart.com/art/The-Most-Troubled-of-Them-All-42351130 Cassima and Rosella are comparing "battle scars;"] but Rosella conceded when Cassima starts talking clean-up detail. In the second, [http://akril15.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=48#/ds9b6w Alexander and Edgar are comparing notes.] Taken from their families at infancy? Check. Almost caused the destruction of their homelands? Check. Went to the underworld and came back? Check.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Sadness Tropes]]