Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids: Difference between revisions

Contrast [[Good Is Old-Fashioned]], where idealism is regarded as only for the children's grandparents. The intent is much the same: To imply that the good/idealistic person is unfamiliar with the here and now. The character may say that what they are dealing with is [[Above Good and Evil]], and the idealistic character should not drag in such childish morality.

 

 

Compare and contrast [[Knight in Sour Armor]], who still hold ideals, just not as idealists. A converted holder of '''Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids''' views may turn into a [[Knight in Sour Armour]], keeping to the appearance of cynicism while reluctantly pursuing idealistic goals.

** To expand on it, Nozomu tells his class to write down their "Despairs for the future", essentially the students writing down their "Hopes for the future", what they are aiming at becoming, which Nozomu shoots down by saying "It's hopeless", and then giving them a [[Hannibal Lecture]] on their unrealistic goals... And then [[The Pollyanna|Fuura Kafuka]] shoots HIM down simply by stating that no matter how unrealistic your goal is, as long as you do your best to achieve it "the possibility exists" that you'll succeed.<ref>Trivial note: It's later revealed that Kafuka's "Hopes/Despairs for the future" was to become "God, A Time Traveler, A Pororocian".</ref>

* In the ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' manga both Miles and another Briggs soldier mention this, as when they were Ed's age they thought they could get through life [[Technical Pacifist|without killing anyone either]].

* ''[[Monster (manga)|Monster]]'': Johan, the series's resident [[Complete Monster]] seems to be trying to teach this to Tenma, and toward the end says "The only thing humans are equal in... is death."

* This trope is inverted in ''[[Black Lagoon]]'' when [[Cool Old Guy|Takenaka]], a [[Terrorists Without a Cause|Terrorist Without A Cause]], attempts to interrogate [[The Hero|Rock]] into giving up some info by convincing him that they're [[Not So Different]]. Rock refuses, and asks Takenaka why he keeps fighting for a cause he's already lost. Takenaka explains that he's long since lost any ideals about being able to do anything constructive with his actions, but "keeps preaching" because it's the only thing he finds meaning in doing.

== Comic Books ==

* In [[DC Comics]], Superman once battled the Elite (a pastiche of [[The Authority]]) a pack of super-[[Anti-Hero|anti-heroes]] who routinely killed. It was the Elite's point-of-view that Superman's boy-scout kid-gloves morality was a weakness, and that defeating evil required being just as bad. During their final face-off, Superman appeared to be going all-out, slaughtering his way through the Elite on live TV. But it was a fake-out - he was merely knocking them out in creative ways, trying to illustrate how terrifying superpowered killers can be. Manchester Black, the leader of the Elite, maintained that Superman's idealism was nothing but a facade until his dying day. (When Black realized that Superman ''honestly and sincerely believed and lived up to his ideals'', it was more than Black could take and committed suicide.)

* In one of Marvel Comic's ''[[Thunderbolts]]'' mini-series, Baron Zemo accidentally goes back in time and encounters many of his ancestors via time-jumps, one of whom is in young love with a lady that history says he's not destined to marry. Zemo tells them to their faces that they can dream because they are young, and that the harshness of reality will eventually make them adults.

** Of course he was right all along. He knew he would marry another after all.

* The Comedian's speech at the "Crime Busters" meeting in ''[[Watchmen]]''.

 

{{quote|'''Luke''': So, you got your reward and you're leaving? Is that it?

'''Han''': Well, when you say it that way, I sound like a douche. But yeah, that's what I'm doing. }}

 

 

** Then there's the fact that the people he gave everything to save ended up betraying him and executing him as scapegoat for their own convenience. He claims to mostly got over it, or accepted it to begin with, but it still played a factor.

* From ''[[Jak and Daxter|Jak X]]'':

'''G.T. Blitz''': [[Evil Cannot Comprehend Good|Oh please, the BS meter is really pegging now!]] }}

* In ''[[Devil Survivor]]'', [[Knight in Sour Armor|Keisuke]] winds up playing reluctant mentor to [[Genki Girl|Midori]]; she refuses to listen to his warnings partly because he feels this way. Over time, he grows more desperate to convince her ''and'' more cynical, until {{spoiler|he [[Freak-Out|snaps]] and goes [[Knight Templar]]. This doesn't help convince her that he's ''right'', mind you.}}

* Completely inverted in ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]''. Squall starts off believing that his own cynical, antisocial viewpoints are the correct ones, but as the game progresses and Rinoa and the friends he makes help him both emotionally mature and deal with his mental trauma, he becomes more idealistic.

* [http://www.zeldauniverse.net/articles/zelda-wii-needs-an-anti-hero/ This article] concerning ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' claims that, since ''[[Twilight Princess]]'' went with a realistic art style, Nintendo ought to have made Link more "realistic," namely, by turning him into an antihero. The author's argument hinges in large part on his assertion that people were "[[Fan Dumb|very disappointed]]" with ''Twilight Princess'' because the realistic art style supposedly ought to have been paired with a non-idealistic hero. The article became [[Hilarious in Hindsight]] because, a mere three days later, ''[[Skyward Sword]]'' was revealed with an art style that was decidedly less realistic than the one in ''Twilight Princess'', with a Link who is just as much of a normal hero as both the one in ''Twilight Princess'' and every other Link.

{{quote|'''Roy''': "Drugs are prohibited. Doesn't mean people don't want to take them. Limiting supply doesn't mean that we have limited demand."

'''Cole''': "I understand that. I know that the average joe needs to unwind a little, let his hair down at the end of the week. But morphine? Heroin?"

*** Although given that that happened well before the storyline in question, surely that (and the mindset that led to it) would be one of the things that Joyce had difficultly and painfully moved on from?

* ''[[Girl Genius]]'': [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20101122 Remember when we had that youthful zeal?]