Some Anvils Need to Be Dropped: Difference between revisions

** [[Honor Before Reason]] is a bad idea when you're in a city with no infrastructure that almost burned to the ground.

* ''[[Legend of Galactic Heroes]]'':

** The story shows us how a young republic who managed to fight toe to toe with its much older, bigger, dictatorial neighbour {{spoiler|ultimately collapses because its citizens elected nationalist politicians}}. On top of that, the narrator, and sometimes even [[Kavorka Man|Poplan, of all people]], spend some time to [[Author Filibuster|hammer it again and again and again]].

** In the case of Nationalism, it's not so much love of country that is rebuked; indeed, many characters on both sides show patriotism to their respective countries and ideologies. Rather, it's on the more hardline, destructive forms which formed part of the reason why the war began in the first place.

** [[Black Summer]]: A lot of people don't like the president, but only a giant prick would actually kill him.

* [[Captain America]] once was used quite often to address social issues. This tends to involve numerous misinformed people being led on by a few evil people against a few unfairly persecuted people, and Cap trying to resolve things.

{{quote| ''"Doesn't matter what the press says. Doesn't matter what the politicians or the mobs say. Doesn't matter if the whole country decides that something wrong is something right. This nation was founded on one principle above all else: the requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the odds or the consequences. When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world - "No, ''you'' move.""''}}

** Another version was done in ''[[What If]]?'' #44, which involved [[Captain America]] being revived 'today' -- or, at least, well after a [[Red Scare|virulently anti-Communist]] version had laid claim to the shield and turned America into a rather unpleasant place to live. The resulting fight between the real [[Captain America]] and the John Birch Society knockoff was immediately followed by Cap delivering a [[What the Hell, Hero?]] to the '''entire country'''.

{{quote| {{spoiler|'''Walker'''}}''':''' I thought -- I thought maybe my story would ''upset'' you. I thought that I might be upsetting some of your theories of the--<br />

'''Einstein:''' Listen to me, my new friend. The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. Someone who can no longer pause to wonder, and stand rapt in awe, is as good as ''dead.'' }}

* ''[[The Punisher|Punisher: Max's]]'' darkest story arc, ''The Slavers'', includes a lot of information -- including a lecture, with slides -- about the sex slave trade.

* The two issues of ''[[Zot]]!'' in which {{spoiler|Terry comes out to herself and Woody pens an editorial about the attack on a young man presumed gay.}}

* There're two important messages in [[Up]], which both tie into one another.<br /><br />The first is 'don't ignore what's really important by clinging to your regrets', which Carl learns when he realizes that [[It's All Junk|his house and the associated memories]] doesn't matter as much as the people in his life right ''now''.<br /><br />The second is that 'life is unfair, but you can't let that ruin your chances at being happy'. Carl never took Ellie to Paradise Falls, Russell never sees his dad again, and Muntz had his reputation destroyed. It's sad, but it's not the end of the world. Carl and Russell instead move on with their lives and find happiness regardless, while Muntz becomes corrupted by his own bitterness.

* ''[[Terminator]] 2'': [[Screw Destiny|There is no fate but what we make for ourselves.]]

* Fritz Lang's ''[[Metropolis (Film)|Metropolis]]'' says "The mediator between the head and the hands must be the heart" about a million times (more in the unabridged version), ending with a shot of Freder (the heart) joining the hands of Joh Frederson (the head) and Grot (the hands). And it's true.

* An in-universe example occurs in ''[[Galaxy Quest (Film)|Galaxy Quest]]'' -- "Never give up! Never surrender!" -- as well as the various anvils dropped by the movie itself. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] at various points by the Thermians.

** ''[[Star Wars]]'' in general is full of [[Stock Aesops]] about good vs. evil, [[The Power of Friendship]] and [[The Power of Love]].

* ''[[The Wave (Film)|The Wave]]'' is all about how one should never assume that [[Day of the Jackboot|fascism]] can "never happen here." It can, and very easily. [[Those Wacky Nazis|The Nazis]] were able to get away with what they did because the people didn't see the warning signs and would rather give up their freedom than risk being cast out of society. The fact that it was based on an actual incident that happened at a California [[High School]] only intensifies this.

* ''[[M (Film)|M]]'' gives us two: It's important that you watch your children and don't let them talk to strangers, and that, quoting the lawyer, "No one has the right to kill a man who is incapable of responsibility for his actions! Not even the state!"

* ''[[Avatar (Film)|Avatar]]'' manages to avoid the [[Science Is Bad]] pitfall usually associated with simple [[Green Aesop]] stories when it is science that can help the planet. The scientists in the film represent the best of humanity, who see the true value of Pandora in its forests that could be used to cure the sick Earth with various biomechanical means derived from the native plants, instead of hoarding the crude [[Unobtanium]], the most obvious resource around. It's the [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|Corrupt Corporate Executives]] who just want to make a big buck and jingoistic soldiers who seek to demonize and destroy the natives who are the actual villains of the story. The movie shows that science can be good or bad for humanity; it just depends on what kind of people use it.

* ''[[Night]]'' by Elie Wiesel: The Holocaust happened, and we have to come to terms with that. It was a dark mark on human history that should never be repeated. Real human beings with feelings were slaughtered for no reason other than their heritage. Genocide is bad. It cannot happen again.

* Margaret Atwood's ''[[The Handmaids Tale|The Handmaid's Tale]]'' -- a sci-fi fable about patriarchal society and religious fundamentalism -- is about as subtle as a high-velocity cinder block, but has a highly influential and important message.

* [[Empire (Literature)|Empire]], by [[Orson Scott Card]], is not the least bit subtle about the problems of the current political system in the United States. The bad guys aren't "the Democrats" or "the Republicans." It's not the right or the left, it's a few people ''at the top'' on both sides, with extremist views, who could pull everyone else along with them into a second civil war. (And the unanswered question posed by the ending is even creepier...)

** ''[[Ender's Game]]'' also rejects subtlety and symbolism, and is all the better for it.

'''Capt. Picard:''' I don't think that's a little harsh, I think that's the truth. But that's a truth that we have obscured behind a... comfortable, easy euphemism: ''Property''. But that's not the issue at all - is it? }}

** "Muse" is basically a plea for understanding from the writers of the oft-criticized series ''[[Star Trek Voyager]]'', showing how they're pulled between the desire to create meaningful works of art, the need to satisfy those paying their wages, and the demands of the audience for action and romance - all told through the point-of-view of a struggling poet on a primitive world trying to create a play from the logs of a crashed Voyager shuttlecraft.

*** Hell, Nichols entire ''character'' is an Anvil That Needed To Be Dropped, since it was so uncommon at the time for both women and black people to be portrayed on television in roles with authority. Her character inspired [[Whoopi Goldberg]] and [[Levar Burton]] into acting.

* [[M*A*S*H (TV)|M*A*S*H]] might have been a simple dark comedy/dramedy set in the Korean War if not for the fact that the show ran during the Vietnam War. Alan Alda and the other producers said that they never wanted the show to be a contemporary commentary, but they wanted it to be about all wars, how it is supposed to be a miserable experience. The Vietnam conflict only made the feelings stronger.

** In "Theatricality", no matter how much one (gay) person is being annoying, homophobia is never justified. Also, please parents wake up because it is also your job not to let it slide, no matter what it costs you.

** "On My Way" showed exactly what kinds of pain can drive somebody to suicide and how much it hurts everybody around them.

* ''[[Dragnet]]'' became more erratic in quality and heavy-handed in execution as the years went by, but it often had strong [[Aesop|aesops]] worth recalling:

** In the 1968 episode [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0565654/ The Big Departure], Friday and Gannon deliver a grand speech to the young anarchists about just how much they have gotten from the society they grew up in, and how much it protects them, and how difficult it would be to recreate what they have from nothing.

{{quote| '''Grey''': Yeah, you're right, I am Defective. I'm just a person named Grey. You couldn't even change the destiny of a regular boy like me. This is the destiny that I've chosen... To live together with the people of this world!<br />

{{spoiler|'''Albert'''}}: Is that what the "other me" would have said...? Goodbye, ultimate Defective! You can have your gentle peace... and leisurely rot in it! }}

** Additionally, from FE 9: Every country has their own political problems and social squabbing, but abuse, hatred, slavery, and genocide of people from other nations is never, ''never'' right. And trying to stop it can, and should, be a powerful unifying force between these differing nations.

* ''[[Yume Miru Kusuri|A Drug That Makes You Dream]]'': Bullying may be bad, but [[Somebody Else's Problem|complacency]] is equally bad. Your loved ones and friends are more reliable than your "conventional" social circle. Ostracizing people who are different through no fault of their own is fucked up. Don't be afraid of love, either to love someone or be loved in return. Compared to those, the game's drug aesop ("the fruits of escapism are fleeting and dangerous") is surprisingly subtle.

** The theme of sticking to your ideals is especially prevalent, since his mentors (previous avatars), his friends, and pretty much everyone else in the story told him to {{spoiler|kill Ozai}}, but instead he stuck with what he thought was right and it worked out for the best.

** "It's okay if you've made mistakes - it's never too late to do the right thing", as shown with Zuko's {{spoiler|[[Heel Face Turn]]}}, ''especially'' after it had been subverted (he had made the wrong choice) in the season 2 finale.

{{quote| '''Zuko''': ''Growing up, we were taught that the Fire Nation was the greatest civilization in history and somehow, the war was our way of sharing our greatness with the rest of the world. What an amazing lie that was! The people of the world are terrified by the Fire Nation! They don’t see our greatness - they hate us! And we deserve it. We’ve created an era of fear in the world. And if we don’t want the world to destroy itself, we need to replace it with an era of peace and kindness.''}}

** Also, the show isn't a one-shot Anvilicious allegory that's tailor made to hammer in a bunch of talking points about the current political situation, The Fire Nation is Britain, Rome, Nazi Germany, and (especially) Imperial Japan. ATLA is believable precisely because it follows broad themes that run throughout history rather than the current zeitgeist.

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