Rashomon Style: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

'''Homer''': ''That's not how '''''I''''' remember it!''|''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'', "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo"}}

 

** "Perspectives On Christmas". In this example, the characters' perspectives differed mainly in what they were able to see and how they interpreted certain lines of dialogue (as is the norm for misunderstandings on this show), rather than blatantly skewing things in their favor as in most comedic examples.

** "Shrink Rap", in which both brothers undergo 'couples' counseling and outline the events which have led to their most recent relationship collapse. In general, they have a tendency to present themselves as being a bit more wise, thoughtful, and put-upon than they probably would be in the real situation -- and the other immediately calls them on it. There's also a rather amusing bit where Niles recounts a story Daphne told about a couple who would frequently experience [[The Immodest Orgasm]] right next to her bedroom wall at night, and her over-the-top efforts to show them up, culminating in this exchange:

'''Niles''': ''[Genuinely confused]'' ... [[Covert Pervert|Didn't she]]? }}

* ''[[Everybody Loves Raymond]]'' had an episode in which Raymond and Debra both retold the events of an afternoon. The most notable thing about this, is none of the events were actually changed in either retelling - both characters used the same lines, and the same things happened, albeit with different severity in both (example: In Debra's retelling Ray opens a can of tuna and overreacts to a small amount of spillage - in Ray's, the can almost explodes and he's rather nonchalant about it). The tone used by the characters in each version gives the exact same lines entirely different contexts.

* The ''[[M*A*S*H|Mash]]'' episode "The Novocaine Mutiny" has Hawkeye court-martialed when Frank Burns accuses him of mutiny. While testifying, Frank speaks (and narrates) his version of events, in which he struggles heroically to treat the wounded while the other surgeons mewl and cower. During the scenes accompanying Frank's narrative he is shot in soft-focus, gleaming and white while shots of Hawk and Beej are dingy and unflattering.

** Hawkeye gave his version of events (which more or less, falls in line with the way the characters normally act).

* ''[[Boomtown]]'' was built entirely around this concept, although it was abandoned shortly before cancellation. The hook was you needed everyone's perspective to know what happened, but once you had that there was no argument over what really happened. Boomtown would be better described as objectively following various characters in overlapping timelines rather than showing their subjective perspectives on a single event, as in [[Rashomon]].

* ''[[ER]]'' - "Four Corners" was hyped as being in the style of [[Rashomon]], but ended up being more of a [[Perspective Flip]], as rather than subjective perspectives on one event, the episode followed four separate characters (Kerry, Benton, Greene, and Carter) in separate storylines that happened to overlap at certain points. The different viewpoints were literal -- if Kerry saw something from one angle, Mark saw it from another.

* ''[[Mama's Family|Mamas Family]]'' also had an episode called "Rashomama", where Eunice, Ellen, and Naomi tell three different versions of the same story how Mama got hit on the head with a pot. The [[Framing Device|framing narrative]] takes place in a hospital, and at the end, Vint asks her what went on in the kitchen, and she says, "I've never seen any of you people before in my life!"

* ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' had an episode, ''Tall Tales'' where in Dean's version of events, Sam is much more effeminate, whiny, and much more deserving of his "Captain Empathy" nickname and in Sam's version of events, Dean's sluttiness, massive appetite and stupidity are all exaggerated.

'''Real Sam:''' Right. And that's how it really happened. I don't sound like that, Dean!<br />

'''Dean:''' That's what you sound like to me.<br />

* ''[[Living Single]]'' did this with Kadijah and Regine. This editor forgets what they were arguing about, but Regine's story paints Kadijah (played by Queen Latifah) as a gruff, belicose she-thug, while Kadijah's story makes Regine out to be a snooty [[Rich Bitch]]. Both ladies pretend they themselves were perfectly innocent and agreeable. The one constant in both stories is that Maxine comes over at the end and says, "I'm too lazy to cook for myself, so I'm gonna mooch off you guys." (or something like that).

* ''[[That 70s Show]]'' did this when Jackie and Hyde were explaining how they got together. In Jackie's version, Hyde is a perfect gentleman, and even calls her "my lady." Hyde's version is...simpler:

'''Hyde:''' It's obvious. }}

** At the end, Donna says mutters that he wonders how the hell all this happened, and the screen blacks out and the words "What really happened" appear. It turns out the two were watching TV together when they started talking and realized they were both bored and lonely...and then they jumped each other.

** In Hank's version, all of them (himself included) are depicted as children doing their usual things, but "age up" to responsible adults when the alarm bell rings. He remembers personally taking care of the cigarette, oven, and tanning lamp before leaving, but then realizes the fire must have been caused by a faulty Alamo beer sign owned by [[Deceased Fall Guy Gambit|the recently-deceased Chet Elderson]]. Though Dale was the one who actually plugged it in, Hank shifts the blame to Chet and convinces the fire chief to just call it an electrical fire so as not to sully his name.

* The ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy|Ed, Edd n Eddy]]'' episode "Once Upon An Ed" featured each of the Eds giving his skewed explanation of how the three of them wound up in Johnny and Plank's bedroom wall. Eddy's is basically a [[Marty Stu]] fanfic where everyone worships and grovels at his feet, Edd's is so precise you can still see the angles and guide lines for the art and has everyone being nicer and smarter than normal, and Ed's is a surreal affair where the Kankers turn into a [[Kaiju|giant monster]] by eating radioactive mashed potatoes and Ed fights them off with superpowers.

* An episode of ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'' had Plankton and Mr. Krabs tell SpongeBob conflicting stories about how they had a falling out over the Krabby Patty secret formula. Both try to make themselves look innocent and the other look rotten. Finally Karen, Plankton's computer/wife shows footage of what actually happened.

* ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' did its own Rashomon, in the sequence in "Bart Gets Hit by a Car" where Bart and Mr. Burns both describe a car accident. Both, however, are exaggerating deliberately in order to get the case on their side - Bart describes Mr. Burns weaving all over, deliberately trying to run him down, and Mr. Burns describes Bart as a madman riding wildly all over the road while he desperately attempts to get out of the way. After he hits Bart, he gets out and has a [[Big No]]. (Bart's story is more factual: Burns did hit Bart accidentally, but showed no remorse and instead became frustrated because [[It's All About Me|now he would be late]].)

* The ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' episode ''The Cutie Mark Chronicles'' essentially becomes a Rashomon-style episode when it turns out that all six of the main cast witnessed the same event. {{spoiler|Rainbow Dash's first Sonic Rainboom, which inspires all six of them to obtain their cutie marks ''at the same time''.}}

* In the ''[[Invader Zim]]'' episode "Mysterious Mysteries of Strange Mystery", Dib and Zim ends up on the title [[Show Within a Show]] to give their viewpoints on a piece of footage by Dib catching Zim and GIR out of costumes on tape, and end up bringing in Gaz and an anonymous bystander called "Stacy" ([[Blatant Lies|who is definitively not GIR with his face blurred by the programme]]) who also give their viewpoints. Dib presents the footage as a dramatic 'human foils alien's sinister ploy' with Gaz as a [[Neutral Female]], Zim's version has Dib being a bully who blackmails Zim with fake footage for his lunch money. Gaz presents the entire scene as Dib and Zim being drooling morons incapable of anything but grunting noises (but most likely presents the real reason why the tape ended prematurely; she kicked Dib in the shin). And "Stacy"... Tells a wonderful tale about a giant squirrel. We'd tell you how it ends, but you wouldn't believe us.

'''"Stacy":''' Me and the squirrel are friends. }}

* The ''[[Arthur (animation)|Arthur]]'' episode "Arthur's Family Feud". Also, "D.W.'s Snowball." The snowball one is especially interesting, because the most outrageous version of events (Buster's story that D.W.'s snowball was stolen by space aliens) actually turns out to be the correct one.