Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
213,561
edits
m (Mass update links) |
No edit summary |
||
(24 intermediate revisions by 8 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}{{Needs Image}}
{{quote|''"It's like a blind spot. It's something you don't see, or can't see, or your brain doesn't let you see because it assumes that it's [[Trope Namer|Somebody. Else's. Problem]]."''
|'''Ford Prefect''', ''Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' (though this is actually describing a [[Perception Filter]])}}
Does somebody need a million dollars to pay off a loan shark? Is he bleeding to death on the street? Will a nuclear war start if he doesn't get the launch codes? [[Torture Cellar|Has he found out that young girls are vanishing into a house where the windows are coated with human blood]]? Whatever it is, he begs people for
Sadly, this trope is often [[Truth in Television]]. People have died while an entire neighborhood watched and listened to them scream for help. When asked why they didn't call 911, most reply that they figured someone else would<ref>This is called the [[w:Bystander effect|Bystander Effect]]</ref>. Sometimes this is used to demonstrate [[
It can be one of the reasons why the heroes are [[The Only One]] group dealing with a problem, [[With This Herring|even if they don't have the adequate resources for it]]. It can also explain [[Chronic Hero Syndrome|why they often grow to think that they must personally deal with everything]].
May overlap with [[City of Weirdos]]. Compare [[Adults Are Useless]] and [[Police Are Useless]], where people of authority are cursed with this. See also [[Dying Like Animals]]. Contrast [[Samaritan Syndrome]], wherein people in authority ''aren't'' cursed with this and it drives them nuts, and [[Who Will Bell the Cat?]], where they are deeply concerned until the onus is put on them. If someone with this view is pushing it onto others, it becomes [[Not Your Problem]] as well.
Note that the trope namer, the Somebody Else's Problem field from the third ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to
{{noreallife|avert the trope and tell the police, not us.}}
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* In ''[[Code Geass]]'': "My mother is dead!" "Old news, what of it?" {{spoiler|This dialogue took place between a boy and his father. Just days after it happened.}}
** Justified in that {{spoiler|acting this way was part of the father's really bastardy [[
* Ichigo Kurosaki attempts this in ''[[Bleach]]'', but [[Can't Stay Normal]] and [[Chronic Hero Syndrome]] get the better of him and eventually he's stabbing bad guys with the best of shonen heroes.
** What's odd is he's been able to see ghosts (called Pluses in ''[[Bleach]]'') and cares for them, but when [[Call to Adventure|The Call]] finds him, he takes his new powers, saves his family, and then tries to hand it right back. To be fair, it's probably a heroic case of [[Not What I Signed
* Kanako Oora in ''[[Sayonara, Zetsubou
* If it doesn't involve his [[Morality Pet|little brother Mokuba]], his company KaibaCorp, his position as a duelist, defeating Yugi Moto, or owning the most powerful cards (particularly ones related to the Blue-Eyes White Dragon), this defines Seto Kaiba of the original ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' to a T.
** But at some point after the series ends, he starts caring enough to devote a significant part of his [[Fiction 500|vast fortune]] into creating Duel Academia, a school intended to deal with all the magical consequences of Duel Monsters. Thus setting the stage for ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]''.
* Invoked by [[Big Bad|Fate]] in ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'', when he tries to convince Negi not to interfere with his plans to destroy the Magic World. His argument was basically "This isn't your world, it's just a fantasy, and you really shouldn't interfere in it's affairs." This is before Negi discovers {{spoiler|[[The High Queen|who his mother is]].}}
* ''[[Pokémon Special]]'': During their encounter at Fortree, Ruby states to Sapphire that he has no intention of helping defend Hoenn from Teams Magma and Aqua - his reasons being that [A] he's only in it for the Contests and [B] he isn't Hoenn born and raised. [[What the Hell, Hero?|Cue the fireworks.]]
* ''[[Ah!
* ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'': "I don't know, and I have no opinion."
* ''[[Madoka Magica]]'': Kyuubey only cares about things related to his mission, and is perfectly willing to {{spoiler|let the earth get destroyed}}.
== Comic Books ==
* This is a regularly occurring concept in the Marvel and DC universes. Even in places where several super-powered heroes or organizations of heroes coexist, most notably the Marvel Universe's New York City metropolitan area, they tend to let everybody deal with their respective Rogue Gallery, regardless of the possible threat to civilians. This is averted on a fairly regular basis, but is still noticeable.
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Watchmen]]'', the material used to make Rorschach's mask was intended for a dress for [
==
* In ''[[Kyon
Line 43:
* In ''[[Airplane!]]'', fully a third of the gags are set up by contrasting the terrible things happening and the passengers' [[Selective Obliviousness|complete indifference]] to them. Examples include the unconscious bodies of the pilots being dragged through the aisle, a [[Littlest Cancer Patient|little girl]] nearly dying after her IV gets knocked out, and the [[Offscreen Crash]] near the end.
** The passengers in ''[[Airplane!]] II: The Sequel'' react with utter stoicism to being told that the lunar shuttle they're on is off course and being hit by asteroids. Being told they are [[Must Have Caffeine|out of coffee]] induces a full scale riot.
* Seems to be a prominent theme in ''[[Brazil (
* Rick Blaine in ''[[Casablanca]]'' appears this way for a while ("I stick my neck out for nobody"), especially when he seems willing to turn over a resistance leader to the Nazis because he is married to Rick's former lover. Eventually, however, we see that Rick isn't nearly as selfish as he lets on.
* In ''[[The Mummy
* A man on the street frantically screaming "They're here!" only to be ignored / assumed mad in most if not all versions of
* In ''[[Se7en]]'', Somerset tells Mills, "The first thing they teach women in rape prevention is never cry for help. Always yell 'Fire!' Nobody answers to 'Help!' You holler 'Fire!', they come running." After all, "In any major city, minding your own business is a science." Presumably fire is less
* ''[[Big Jake]]'': ''"I haven't interfered in anyone else's business since I was eighteen years old... and it damn near got me killed!"'' He changes his mind when he witnesses a [[Kick the Dog]] moment on the part of one of the goons.
== [[Literature]] ==▼
* In Terry Pratchett's ''[[
▲== Literature ==
* Richard Mayhew's refusal to yield to this trope, when he found Door bleeding on the sidewalk, led him into London Below in ''[[Neverwhere]]''. His fiancee declared it
▲* In Terry Pratchett's ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Making Money|Making Money]]'' Moist von Lipwig notes that people pay more attention to small noises than big ones, because while small noises are immediate and threatening, loud noises are 'everyone's problem, and therefore, not mine'.
▲* Richard Mayhew's refusal to yield to this trope, when he found Door bleeding on the sidewalk, led him into London Below in ''[[Neverwhere]]''. His fiancee declared it [[Somebody Else's Problem]], and so remained in London Above.
** Residents of London Below tend not to be noticed by the Above folks in the first place. Later in the book, his fiance recognzies him for a brief moment, then is unable to even -see- him.
* In the [[Gone (novel)]] series, 90% of the Perdido Beach kids have this attitude. An apartment is burning down with a kid inside? Sam can deal with it. We're running out of food? Sam can find more. The Human Crew is running around trying to kill the mutants? That's the Sam's problem, not ours. Caine and Drake have gotten into the Power Plant and are going to feed uranium to a monster? It's Sam's job to stop them!
* The [[Trope Namer]] is ''[[The
Line 63 ⟶ 62:
* In one episode of ''[[The Young Ones]]'', the characters have stumbled across a time warp and now have a horde of medieval peasants out to kill them. They are terrified, and wonder aloud how they are going to get out of this predicament, when Vyvyan says "Who cares?", and the housemates instantly lose interest in ''their own'' mortal peril. End of episode. Considering they [[They Killed Kenny|die on a near-daily basis...]]
* Malcolm Tucker in ''[[The Thick of It]]'' calls this trope NoMFuP: "Not My Fucking Problem".
* [[Memetic Badass|Jack Bauer]] of [[
{{quote|
'''Jack:''' How good's your intel?
'''Mason:''' ''Very.''
''[Jack walks out]'' }}
* This ''must'' be the reason [[Burn Notice|Michael Westen]] gets away with so ''very '''many''''' illegal acts in the middle of downtown Miami. Unless he wants the police to show up, people will safely ignore him when he sets off explosives, gets involved in car chases, and generally makes a mess of the local real estate. {{spoiler|At least, until we find out that he's being specifically protected by various organizations, purposefully making it so the police barely take notice of his activities.}}
Line 78 ⟶ 77:
* The [[Oingo Boingo]] song [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQy5vKAaTuA "Nothing Bad Ever Happens to Me"] embodies this trope.
* Phil Ochs's song "Outside of a Small Circle of Friends" deals with the political ramifications of this trope.
* Certain tropers sometimes spot a mistake in an entry, but can't be bothered to fix it, considering it... hey, why are you looking at me like that?▼
** Well, sometimes they're afraid of getting caught up in an [[Edit War]]. They might see something so wrong it makes them wanna spit, but they know if they fix it, whoever made the mistake will change it back, and before they know it, they're edit-banned because somebody couldn't admit they were wrong. [[Suspiciously Specific Denial|Not that that's ever happened to me.]]▼
== Video Games ==
* This is the general attitude of most townspeople in video games. It will be [[The End of the World
** And asking you to deliver trinkets to some dude and generally just standing around doing nothing.
* This happens in every single RPG in existence, even when there's a giant meteor hanging in the sky or the last boss is hanging over the earth in a huge purple blob and [[All Up to You|you're the world's only hope.]] Chalk it down to how confident they are in the hero's skills.
** A notable subversion is ''[[
* In the ''[[
** In regards to characters the developers intended to be recruitable to your party, that's really more a case of [[Take Your Time]] mixed with [[Always Close]]. They ''are'' going to go do that in just a little bit, but you "happen" to show up before then.
* ''[[Final Fantasy]] X'' lampshades this with a merchant charging the party when a giant monster is rampaging outside. Even though he acknowledges that he might die soon, he has confidence in the party.
* In ''[[The Legend of Zelda|Zelda]]'' games, the world's gonna be destroyed if the princess isn't rescued, whether she's been kidnapped, turned to stone, or vanished off the face of Hyrule. Since you, Link, are already dealing with it, nobody's worried. It's
** Averted in ''[[The Legend of Zelda:
* Senel Coolidge from ''[[
* This trope is why nobody helps Aeka with the horrible bullying she deals with in ''[[Yume Miru Kusuri]]''. People realize she is suffering, but don't help her for fear that they will become targets. If the player picks her route, Kohei and her get so fed up with this that they {{spoiler|leave school entirely}}.
* [[Badass Bookworm|Soren]] from ''[[Fire Emblem]]: Path of Radiance'' especially. His first response to finding [[Everything's Better
* ''[[The Elder Scrolls
** Semi-averted by ''[[The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim]]'', where people are highly concerned about the dragon attacks, and will help fight any dragons in their area if they're able, but most of the local warriors are busy with the civil war going on, leaving it up to you to look into the dragons.
* Averted in ''[[
* At the end of the ''[[Back to The Future]]'' Telltale games, {{spoiler|three alternate future Martys appear, begging for Marty and Doc's help in saving the future.}} Marty and Doc decide to just ignore them and go for a drive. In their defense, they had just finished a lengthy adventure across time and space, and it's [[Sequel Hook|strongly implied]] they'll get around to dealing with this eventually. Remember, they have a time machine and can deal with this sort of thing whenever they want.
* One of the lyrics of ''[[
== Visual Novels ==
* This is how Yuuichi treats Mikan when he first finds her in ''[[Wanko To Kurasou]]''. He figures that a dying [[Little Bit Beastly|puppy girl]] lying in the streets is somebody else's problem and leaves it to either get sheltered by someone else or die. [[Jerk
== Web Comics ==
* This happens pretty often in ''[[
* [[Domain Tnemrot]]: Morris assaults an eight-year-old girl in the middle of a crowded ballroom. No one notices. {{spoiler|Then Angel slams his head into a table hard enough to break his nose. Nobody notices ''that'', either.}}
Line 116 ⟶ 109:
== Web Original ==
* The attitude of the general population towards demons in ''[[Becoming a Better Writer|Demonic Symphony]]'', and oh boy does it backfire
* There's
** And a hat that functions as an SEP
* [[
=== Troping Wikis ===
▲* Certain tropers sometimes spot a mistake in an entry, but can't be bothered to fix it, considering it... hey, why are you looking at me like that?
▲** Well, sometimes they're afraid of getting caught up in an [[Edit War]]. They might see something so wrong it makes them wanna spit, but they know if they fix it, whoever made the mistake will change it back, and before they know it, they're edit-banned because somebody couldn't admit they were wrong. [[Suspiciously Specific Denial|Not that that's ever happened to me.]]
== Western Animation ==
* Most characters in ''[[Drawn Together]]'' (considering the prevalent [[Jerkass]]-ness) have done this at one point or another, but Captain Hero, a superhero whose [[Catch Phrase]] is "SAVE YOURSELVES!", is probably the worst offender. His response to [[
{{quote|
* Every character in ''[[Futurama]]'' has decided, at least once, that the current crisis is
** Scruffy the Janitor may be the most blatant offender here: when asked why he didn't fix the boiler, his reply was "schedule conflict" and another flip of his porn magazine. When said boiler was getting ready to go critical ''ten feet away''.
{{quote|
** It was also sort of used when the characters decide they don't care that Earth will be threatened by a giant garbage ball in about a thousand years. Mostly because launching said garbage ball was their method of averting the very same crisis during the present day.
* ''[[Invader Zim]]''
Line 132 ⟶ 129:
** Gaz however plays this straight. While she's one of the few humans who actually knows that Zim's an alien, she could care less. In her defense, she's just aware of Zim's incompetence and sees no need to do anything when he'll eventually screw himself over.
* ''[[The Simpsons]]''. When Lenny and Carl walk past a tank containing radioactive gas that's bursting at the seams, Carl remarks nonchalantly about the tank's imminent failure, to which Lenny quips "Who cares? It's Homer's problem." Considering how over-the-top the dialogue was given the situation, this could even be considered [[Lampshade Hanging]].
{{quote|
** This trope becomes the idea to make Homer's recycling campaign very popular in Springfield by paying the workers more money by dragging everybody else's trash from inside their houses to the trash trucks. Later on, [[It Got Worse|this backfires, horribly, to the point Springfield ends up becoming a huge dump and the city's buildings have to be relocated five miles away.]]
* The Williams Street cartoons for [[Adult Swim]] specialize in this.
** In ''[[
** ''[[Sealab 2021]]'' does this a lot. In the pilot episode, "I, Robot," Quinn is trying to save Sealab from
** In ''[[Space Ghost Coast to Coast]]'', Zorak and Moltar frequently get bored with Space Ghost's show, and decide their jobs on it are
* This is very prevalent in ''[[The Fairly
** In "That Old Black Magic, every [[
** The world gets taken over and heavily modified in every movie (twice in one of them) and the people act accordingly. Timmy usually makes an extravagant wish and somehow either everyone doesn't notice or is too stupid to understand what is happening.
* In ''[[
* ''[[Megas XLR]]'': Coop is the king of this trope. In one instance, he made a horde of rampaging monsters someone else's problem by chucking them into Philadelphia. In another, he blew up part of the moon, causing worldwide climatic change, and his only concern was buying bubblegum ice cream. He's destroyed several planets with (usually) no remorse, and is arguably more of a danger to the universe than the race trying to conquer it.
* ''[[
{{reflist}}
[[Category:
[[Category:Truth in Television]]
[[Category:This Index Is Useless]]
[[Category:
[[Category:
|