Stealth Insult: Difference between revisions

 

{{examples}}

== Comic Books ==

* In ''[[V for Vendetta]]'', the gangster, Ally is hired by the new police chief, Creedy.

{{quote|Ally: Yer predecessor, Mr Almond wouldna' have had time fer a man like me, a verra superior man, Mr Almond. Now you sir, you're not superior. Quite the reverse, in fact.}}

* In ''[[X-Men]]'' comics, the villain Mojo has an [[The Dragon|android assistant named Major Domo]] who [[Deadpan Snarker| tends do this a lot]]. Indeed, Major Domo is likely the only one of Mojo's henchmen who can get away with insulting his boss, often because Mojo is too preoccupied with something else to notice.

 

* In Disney's ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'', the Sultan insults ''himself'' in a very subtle way. He is wondering why Jasmine can't choose a suitor to marry, then adds 'Her mother wasn't nearly so picky.' It may take the audience a little while to notice the self-deprecation.

* In Disney's ''[[The Jungle Book (Disney film)|The Jungle Book]]'', Bagheera delivers a sharp one when Baloo is trying to make himself look like someone who can be trusted to raise Mowgli (see page quote).

* In Disney's ''[[Beauty and the Beast]]'', Belle casually calls Gaston "primeval". It's only a stealth insult because [[Book Dumb|Gaston]] has no idea what primeval means.

* In Disney's ''[[The Emperor's New Groove|The Emperors New Groove]]'', Kronk remarks that one would think [[Spoiled Brat|Kusco]] would have turned out better, in response to [[Evil Chancellor|Yzma]] stating that she practically raised him. It's not entirely certain if Kronk even ''intended'' this to be an insult, given he's [[Dumb Muscle]].

* In the comedy film ''[[Liar Liar]]'', [[Jim Carrey]]'s character, who has been cursed to tell the truth for one day, is forced to tell his coworkers ''exactly'' what he thinks of them (not very complimentary thoughts, to say the least), but manages to save himself from disaster by [[Sarcastic Confession|affecting a mocking tone of voice]], thus convincing his coworkers that his insults are [[The Roast|only outrageous jokes.]]

* ''[[Time Bandits]]''.

'''Wadsworth:''' You don't need any help from me, sir.

'''Col. Mustard:''' That's right! }}

 

== Literature ==

{{quote|'''Sybill Trelawney''': Everything went pitch black and the next thing I knew, I was being hurled headfirst out of the Room!

'''Harry Potter''': And you didn't see that coming? }}

* ''[[Warrior Cats]]'' is good with these: in the later books of the series, most Gatherings consist almost entirely of the Clans taking jabs at each other in this manner.

{{quote|"I am pleased to hear that you are getting so much use out of a piece of land prey-poor by ThunderClan standards."}}

{{quote|'''Sgt. Colon''': I know something about seaweed, sir.

'''Vetinari''': You do?

{{quote|''The real advantage of being a zombie gamer? No one notices the stench.''}}

 

** Another notable example is ''[[Hamlet]]'', where the titular character made many of these comments, most notably urging his then-girlfriend Ophelia, "[[Get Thee to a Nunnery]]". ("Nunnery" was slang for "brothel" at the time.)

** Hamlet calls Polonius a "Fishmonger". When he was corrected, he responded with regret that Polonius was not so honorable a man. It seems to fit in with Hamlet's "antic disposition," but fishmonger is thought to be period slang for "fleshmonger." In other words, he's saying that Polonius is lower than a pimp.

{{quote|'''The poets''' ''(with mouths crammed full):'' Exquisite! Delicious! }}

* ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire]]'' has both Stanley and Blanche firing these off at one another at certain points. One memorable moment is when they talk about horoscopes, with Blanche under the assumption that Stanley is an Aries (forceful and dynamic) while Stanley scoffs at Blanche's sign being Virgo the Virgin (in which she's the opposite).

 

== Video Games ==

'''Marlene:''' Okay, no talking during the movie. }}

* Probably accidental example: the conclusion of "Abbygate". When ''[[Ctrl+Alt+Del]]'' creator Tim Buckley apologized for "accidentally" plagiarizing another artist's work ([http://forums.somethingawful.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=777097 compare]) the original artist was extremely gracious (him returning from a tropical vacation where he proposed to his girlfriend probably helped) and hoped Buckley's "little webcomic" becomes successful in the future. ''CAD'' [[Webcomics Long Runners|has been running since 2002, is still running as of 2018, and is one of the best-known web comics on the internet]].

 

* [[Acts of Gord]], [http://www.actsofgord.com/Annoy/ Book of Annoyances], [http://www.actsofgord.com/Annoy/chapter03.php Chapter 3];

{{quote|'''Gord:''' I'm sorry, I'm afraid I subscribe to the theory of intellectual osmosis. As such, I must now cease our conversation and move away from you before my intelligence begins to drop. Good day.}}

{{quote|''[[The Prophecy (film)|The Prophecy]]'' featured a pragmatic Lucifer (played by [[The Lord of the Rings|Viggo Mortensen]]) who has the angelic habit of perching atop things like a bird. Satan {{spoiler|saves the main cast from an evil Gabriel, who was on a rampage against mankind. His own selfish motives being "we don't need another hell up there"}}.

* Which is almost repeated in ''[[Constantine]]'', down to the name of {{spoiler|the rebel angel}}. However, ''The Prophecy'' could have been based on or inspired by the ''Hellblazer'' series. }}

 

== Western Animation ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Dialogue]]

[[Category:Insult Tropes]]

[[Category:Oh Great a Snark Index]]