Reactionary Fantasy: Difference between revisions

Best of all is if these shows can [[Viewers are Morons|fool their audiences]] into thinking that they're [[The Man Is Sticking It to the Man|making an edgy political point]] and really cash in on the trend. An awful lot of teenagers thought ''[[The Mod Squad]]'', a show featuring three hip kids hired by the police to narc on their friends was really ''cool''. There are even those who argue that ''[[I Dream of Jeannie]]'' had a proto-feminist sort of sexual liberation to it. But seriously: would ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer|Buffy]]'' or ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess|Xena]]'' have put up with calling a man "master"? <ref>Well, ''[[Buffy]]'' did, because it was his name and all. Then she killed him.</ref>

If it's just for an episode, rather than a series concept, see [[Freaks of the Week]]. If the creators play their cards right (or if no one reads too closely), they may even come to be considered a [[Rule-Abiding Rebel]], praised for being at the vanguard of a social change when they are in fact doing nothing of the kind.

== Anime and Manga ==

* Many [[Anime]] that feature [[Girls Love|girls hugging each other]] in the [[Never Trust a Trailer|trailers]] to attract [[Yuri]] fanboys reveal the supposed girl/girl pairings as [[Bait and Switch Lesbians]].

== Film ==

* The old "road-show" movies of the '30s-through-'60s would try to evade local censorship by setting up outside of town. They would also cover themselves by presenting the "depravity" of their films as an object lesson. Sometimes this would happen only in a "clean-up" reel that would be shown only when local law enforcement sat in.

** Of course, since most 1980s film studio executives were old enough to remember when the [[Hays Code]] was at the height of its power, [[Seinfeld Is Unfunny|simply]] ''[[Seinfeld Is Unfunny|showing]]'' [[Seinfeld Is Unfunny|some kind of subversive behavior might have seemed shocking to them, irrespective of whether or not it was depicted sympathetically]].

* During the reign of the [[Hays Code]] (which coincided with the height of [[The Mafia]]'s power), there were rules that essentially prevented [[Villain Protagonist|villain protagonists]] from winning in the end. So there's a plethora of Gangster movies from the era which are 95% [[Damn, It Feels Good to Be a Gangster!]] followed by the Feds kicking in the door at the end and killing or arresting everyone just to satisfy the censors.

== Literature ==

* The book (not movie) ''[[Logan's Run]]'' told Middle America to worry their heads off: those scary hippies would create a world where an eleven-year-old girl announces that she's sexually "skilled beyond all others", where fourteen is adulthood and everyone dies at twenty-one.

* A common feminist criticism of the ''[[Twilight]]'' series is that it's one of these. [[Rule of Cautious Editing Judgment|Let's leave it]] [[Please No Natter|at that]].

== Live Action Television ==

* ''[[The Mod Squad]]'' told Middle America not to worry: those scary Hippies would sell out just like everyone else and you really didn't have to be afraid of your kids anymore because they'd eventually wind up punching a clock for the Establishment just like you. They guessed right, of course, but nobody knew that at the time.

* Similarly, the ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek the Original Series]]'' episode "The Way to Eden", which teaches that idealistic dreams of a perfectly enlightened and peaceful Elysian society are deadly self-delusion unless framed within socially acceptable norms.

** Chalk it up to [[Gene Roddenberry]] bowing to [[Executive Meddling]]. A few other ''TOS'' episodes, most infamously "The Omega Glory", were reportedly the result of this behind-the-scenes pressure.

** [[Hey, It's That Guy!|Hey]], [[Star Trek (film)|Ensign Sulu]]/[[Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle|Kumar's friend Harold]] is a submissive with a choking fetish ("Love Hurts", 1.20)! While it turns out his preferred form of play has dangerous health consequences, the parents who disowned him for being kinky aren't portrayed sympathetically, and the episode ends with ''House suggesting to the patient's dominatrix a healthier way of humiliating him.''

* Even ''[[Bones]]'' couldn't resist some [[Acceptable Lifestyle Targets]] with the episode ''Death in the Saddle'' where a man is killed by his depraved sexual partner after he told her that he was not going to see her any more. (They were into pony play.) There is even an [[Anvilicious]] speech at the end by Booth stating that [[Good People Have Good Sex]].

* ''[[Bewitched]]'': Samantha could literally have anything she wanted by simply twitching her nose yet she willingly suppressed this power on the demand of a man with whom she tried to live a normal human life of domestic bliss. This despite the fact that the magical world she comes from is a far more interesting and liberated place.

** Given that the show pointed out that not only were witches equally as powerful as warlocks, many were stronger, so liberation was inevitable.

* Five words: [[Lifetime Movie of the Week]]. To sum them up, even under their [[Straw Feminist]] understones and alleged "empowerment" of "distressed women", half of the plots go on condemning whatever thing frightens middle aged suburban housewives.

** And at least half the time, the good men are right. Doesn't matter what about, they're just right. Sometimes to the point of saving the "heroine" and/or doing her thinking for her.