Just Ignore It: Difference between revisions

* The movie ''15 Minutes'' is about a pair of foreign terrorists who seek to videotape their murders, give the footage to the news, and become infamous that way. The ad campaign used the line "the only way to stop them... is not to watch."

* Used in the first ''[[Nightmare On Elm Street]]'': the [[Final Girl]] actually turns her back on Freddy Krueger just as he is about to stab her, and he promptly ceases to exist. At least, until the sequel. (Or just the [[Revised Ending]], at that.)

* At the end of ''[[Sphere]]'', in order to get rid of the destructive abilities the namesake Sphere had given them, the protagonists agree to use their power to make themselves forget about the Sphere and all of their activities involving it. In the original novel, at least, this works because the Sphere, by its own admission, didn't ''grant'' them these abilities -- they already had them, but it took the Sphere to make them aware of it so they could use them. Yeah, it's kind of a weird book.

* ''[[Untraceable]]'''s plot revolves around a website with streaming video of murders. The more hits on the website, the faster the victim dies.

== Live Action TV ==

 

** A two part episode of uses a similar weapon: a device that can kill anyone with a single thought. However, being a Vulcan invention, it only works on the aggressive. It is rendered useless when the protagonists stop (conventionally) fighting and empty their minds of aggressive thoughts.

** Something similar was done in another episode involving a group of soldiers that had been genetically engineered and mentally programmed as perfect killing machines: but are not programmed to kill people who don't fight back. If you don't fight then, they can't/won't do anything. The episode ends with them forced in to a stalemate with the government that created them (and wasn't nice enough to UNprogram them afterward) leaving them with the option of "cooperate or everything stays screwed."

* ''[[Scrubs]]'': J.D. realized that the best thing he can do for the sick patient who was turfed to every department in the hospital (and for his fractured relationships) is to do nothing and let things heal themselves. Of course, by "realized," we mean he actually ''forgot'' about the patient entirely, and was told after the fact that his "treatment" was brilliant.<br /><br />For the curious, the patient was not actually suffering from any disease at all, but rather had a high fever that resulted from the rapidly increasing medications he was being given as he was moved from department to department, each department unable to find a problem and giving him generic medication in the hopes of fixing whatever was wrong with him. Since there was no disease, nobody could ''find'' a disease, and kept transferring him to a new department in the hopes that ''they'' could fix him, and he eventually ended up with JD, who cured him by ignoring him, which caused his fever to break when he stopped being stuffed with drugs. Apparently this happens in real life.

* Inverted in the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode "Blink": the monsters for that episode are "quantum locked" meaning that they only exist when not being observed. If you look at them (or if they look at each other) they turn to stone. But if you look away (or blink), you're dead.

{{quote| '''The Doctor''': Don't blink. Blink and you're dead. Don't turn your back. Don't look away. And ''don't blink''. Good luck.}}

* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'': Buffy the vampire slayer has this in bucket-loads. Sunnydale, where the series takes place, is built on top of the hell-mouth and is a focal point for supernatural occurrences and home to numerous demonic creatures. Everyone knows something weird is going on but most people seem to completely ignore the biweekly vampire attacks or the fact that [[The World Is Always Doomed|the world is always in doom]].

 

== Literature ==

* ''[[Discworld]]''

** Additionally, it's well-known on the Disc that putting a blanket over your head repels the bogeyman. This is all fine and good, but Susan takes it a step farther - put the blanket over the ''bogeyman's'' head, and he'll vanish completely.

* In ''~The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy~'', the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal is so stupid that it assumes that if you can't see it, then it can't see you. The best way to escape is to place a towel over your head. It will then get confused and wander away.

* ''[[Sword of Truth]]'' has a variation in a monster called a Screeling. It will chase down and disembowel anything that runs away from it, but calmly walking away as if it isn't there will confuse it for a while, giving you time to escape, or at least put some distance between you and it and come up with a plan.

* In the ''[[Wheel of Time]]'', this is how {{spoiler|Semirhage}} is finally broken.

== Webcomics ==

 

{{quote| '''King Herman:''' I have a very hard time listening to your speech about ignoring the long-term dangers of deforestation... WHILE A BIG RED DEVIL IS WASHING THE WALLS OF YOUR INN WITH BLOOD IN A VILE ORGY OF CARNAGE!!!!<br />

'''Lord Elf:''' ((No one is role playing with the Lord of Dorkness. [...] All he wants to do is make himself the center of attention by killing everyone and eating their soul. Just ''pretend he's not there''.))<br />

* ''[[The Simpsons]]'': A halloween episode included the story "Attack of the 50-Foot Eyesores," about [[Attack of the 50 Foot Whatever|giant advertising mascots]] that come to life and destroy Springfield. As discovered by Lisa and Paul Anka (!), the key to survival is "just don't look." Because any ad that doesn't get attention, quickly vanishes.

{{quote| '''Lisa:''' ''(to the one holdout being distracted by a donut ad)'' Don't make us poke your eyes out, Dad!}}

* ''[[Scooby Doo|What's New, Scooby Doo?]]'': an egotistical computerized house appears as the villain. The only way to make it stop was to completely ignore it, causing it to overheat in its efforts to get attention.

* In the ''[[Justice League]]'' episode "Hawk and Dove," the more passive of the brothers stops Ares's war machine in the end by refusing to fight it. To clarify, the machine was powered by aggression.

* In ''[[The King and I]]'' (the animated film, not the original musical), the heroes' tactic against a giant sea monster that is about to eat the ship is to Whistle a Happy Tune. It works - the monster is just an illusion produced by the bad guy.

{{quote| '''Zelda:''' Wait a minute, Link. We might not need to fight this one... ...in fact, we might not even need you.}}

* In the ''[[South Park]]'' episodes "Cartoon Wars" (Part I and Part II), the people of South Park decide literally to bury their heads in the sand, so as to show Islamists that they have no part in the insult to Muhammad.

* One episode of ''[[Family Guy]]'' had the family using this approach to deal with a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CW_fc7A06E giant squid].