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Debate and Switch: Difference between revisions
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'''Kaz:''' Yeah, except Peyton used girl [[Mons|creatures]], and Crystella used [[Theme Deck|guy creatures]].
'''Sarah:''' Which proves that... girls are better than guys?
'''Everyone:''' ''Hmm...''
|'''[[Chaotic]]''', ''Battle of the Sexes''}}
This is when a show sets up a moral dilemma, then finds a way to [[Cutting the Knot|resolve the plot without actually answering the question]] it set up. Used mostly to avoid giving an [[Anvilicious]] answer to a moral question that is not particularly clear-cut, to avoid alienating the part of the audience that might think you picked the wrong answer, or just to make a happy ending out of what was a morally-complex story. Expect this in works invoking ethnicity and/or gender tropes in ways that might otherwise be blatantly liable to charges of [[Unfortunate Implications]], e.g. relating to [[Mars and Venus Gender Contrast]]. Usually, a '''Debate and Switch''' is pulled in one of the following ways:
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{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* In ''[[Inuyasha]]'', one of the driving points of the narrative is whether or not the eponymous character would use the [[McGuffin|Shikon no Tama]] to turn into a full human (or a full [[Obake|yokai]].) The point is moot since {{spoiler|Kagome destroys the Jewel at the end of the manga. Any wish would be 'wrong'.}}.
** Then again, quite a bit of emphasis is put on the fact that Kagome loves him just as who he is, making it ultimately a "[[Be Yourself]]" aesop.
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* ''[[Monster (manga)|Monster]]'' does this, although it must be noted that the moral ambiguities it toys with have been debated for centuries and probably will continue to be debated for centuries after: Is all life equal? Do some people deserve to die? Is it right to kill a killer? Is evil irredeemable?
* ''[[Fushigiboshi no Futagohime]]'': Fine and Rein find out that Mirlo is in an [[Arranged Marriage]] with a rather undesirable dimwit, and are out to break it up. Reviewer Al1701 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQQ4wqYiE9Y pointed out] that this action seems short-sighted, since the deal for the marriage is in exchange for dimwit's father repairing the Waterdrop Kingdom's cloudmaker. {{spoiler|That is, until the whole [[Arranged Marriage]] turns out to be a big ruse by the Moon Kingdom chancellor. Doesn't stop this from being one of the best eps of the whole series.}}
* In a ''[[Trigun]]'' flashback, we see [[Friend to All Living Things|Vash]] trying to find a way to rescue a fly from a spider's web. His brother [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Knives]] solves the problem by crushing the spider. When Vash protests, he claims it was just practical and that if Vash wanted to rescue all flies, the spider would just starve to death, which is a valid point. Vash and their caretaker just say it's wrong though, and moments later Knives turns into an [[Axe Crazy]] [[Omnicidal Maniac]]. It's a shame, because the series manages to turn Vash's [[The Messiah|goody-two-shoes]] character archetype into a well rounded and interesting [[Deconstruction]]. His opponent, not so much.
** This isn't so much the case in the manga where it's revealed that {{spoiler|Vash and Knives are Plants that humans use for power}} in this context Knives sees the conflict between the spiders and butterfly as inevitable and synonymous to his own.
*** While his motivations become understandable in the manga, his actions are no saner, especially after his early failure backfires so drastically as a consequence of the conditions he's forced humanity into. Later in the manga we encounter a fleet from the evidently-surviving Earth, which incorporates {{spoiler|Plants into the regular crew and officers}}, implying that entire moral debate is now resolvable; they get there just after Knives finishes his descent into [[Omnicidal Maniac]] territory and can no longer be talked to.
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== Film ==
* In the first ''[[X-Men (film)|X-Men]]'' movie, Magneto isn't trying to [[Kill All Humans]]; he wants to turn the leaders of various nations ''into'' mutants. Now that's still ethically highly questionable, but... {{spoiler|oh, never mind, the process is fatal, and he won't believe this. And just to make sure Magneto has a firm grip on the villain ball, his "process" is [[Powered by a Forsaken Child|powered by an unwilling Rogue]]}}.
** Magneto's entire philosophy can be considered an example: In the first film, {{spoiler|he wants to shift humanity's prejudices by converting the world's leaders into mutants.}} By the 2nd film, {{spoiler|he wants to [[Hijacked by Ganon|hijack the bad guy's plan]] and use Dark Cerebro to [[Kill All Humans]]}}; a definite [[Moral Event Horizon]] but one that doesn't diminish his commitment to mutantkind. The 3rd film shows just how far throwing one's lot in with Magneto will get his recruits when many of them are hit with cure darts and Magneto's reaction is to casually dismiss them as expendable "pawns" to be sacrificed in favor of the larger goal.
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* Season 8 of ''[[Smallville]]'' introduced Davis Bloome, [[Super-Powered Evil Side|a.k.a. Doomsday]], who, due to his split personality, discovers he is responsible for the deaths of several people in Metropolis. At one point he is goaded into becoming Doomsday; under the other side's influence, he smothers the person, and Doomsday recedes, allowing him control. Once Clark and Chloe figure out that he's been killing criminals to keep Doomsday at bay, they have to decide if Davis is still a good guy making the most of a horrible situation or a horrible killer. {{spoiler|They seemed to be leaning toward the former, then he gained his freedom and [[Jumping Off the Slippery Slope|promptly hopped off the slope]] by [[Murder the Hypotenuse|killing Jimmy]], cementing him as a bad guy.}}
** Clark in Season 9 was faced with the difficult question of what to do about the Kandorian refugees: should they try to pass as normal humans and live regular lives or acquire their rightful Kryptonian powers? Being normal left them vulnerable to paranoid humans who had no qualms about killing them off but under Major Zod's leadership, the empowered Kandorians were destined to conquer Earth. Clark gives them [[Take a Third Option|a third option]]: {{spoiler|shaking their faith in Zod and using the Book of Rao to send them to another plane of existence where they can make a new start}}.
* ''[[Battlestar Galactica
** ''Battlestar Galactica'' had a recurring theme of [[What Measure Is a Non-Human?]], about whether the Cylons are really "alive" and had souls. But according to ''[[Caprica]]'', the Cylons originated when a human's memories and personality are coded into a digital avatar. So basically, the skinjob Cylons have bodies molecularly indistinguishable from humans, and their minds are essentially human minds, and assuming ''[[Caprica]]'' doesn't end [[Deus Ex Machina|with a massive wave of amnesia]], the BSG characters should know this from history class. So they are as human as anyone else. Why the hell are even they considered [[You Keep Using That Word|robots]] by any criteria except [[Artificial Human|Karel Capek's?]]
*** Well, they're still hulking metal monstrosities. Also, it's it would seem that the fact about uploaded human minds never becomes public knowledge, and it's quite possible that the only ones to know will be dead before the war breaks out.
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