The Pollyanna: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

A character, usually but not always [[Double Standard|female]], who undergoes various hardships, losing almost everything she holds dear, and yet seems never to lose her sunny disposition. [[Think Happy Thoughts]] may be how she does this.

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* [[Excel Saga (anime)|Excel Excel]], the ultimate oblivious [[Genki Girl]], who will always believe that she is Il Palazzo's favorite minion no matter how violently he rebuffs he, until {{spoiler|Il Palazzo shoots her at the end of episode 23. Although he has shot her before, including with antimateriel weapons, during this episode the [[Toon Physics]] are turned off}}.

* Tohru Honda from ''[[Fruits Basket]]''. In the anime, the other characters [[Extreme Doormat|use her as a doormat]], but she remains eternally perky and eventually wins them over. In the ''manga'', on the other hand, while she acts the same, she's also shown as doing some serious repression.

* Jean from ''[[Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water]]'' is a shoe in for a inventor's competition which he ditches to save Nadia, and not only does his plane crash but he is perpertually on the run and in constant danger. And yet, through it all, he is cheerful and even enthusiastic about the technology from both sides in general. (Only exceptions is when he and Nadia exploring Gargoyle's base, and even reacting in horror to two deaths—one of an escaped fugitive, and another, a crew member.)

** [[Defrosting Ice Queen|It could even be noted, too, that Nadia herself is transformed by his caring, compassionate nature.]]

 

== Comic Books ==

* In volume one of ''[[League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]'', we get the girl that provides our page quote (and who is of course [[Alan Moore]]'s reinterpretation of the [[Trope Namer]]). It should be noted that this scene [[Alternative Character Interpretation|can also be read]] as her simply liking the sex, and not wanting to admit as much (would you?), and using optimism as an excuse for her behaviour.

* [[Shazam|Mary Marvel]] was described as this during her pre-Countdown and Final Crisis portrayals. This was her most obvious comedic trait in the ''Superbuddies'' stories. She is also explicitly called "Pollyanna", causing her to talk about how that's her favorite movie.

* [[Batgirl 2009|Stephanie Brown]], Spoiler, who is also known as the fourth [[Robin]] and later on the third [[Batgirl]]. She has had an emotionally-abusive, villainous father; a drug-addict mother who left her alone during her childhood; a jerkish ex-boyfriend who got her pregnant; a rocky relationship with [[Robin|Tim Drake]], the 3rd Robin; not getting approval from [[Batman]] and the Birds of Prey; getting tortured by Black Mask and her controversial 'death' (retconned later to her just fleeing the country with Leslie Thompkins); then coming back to Gotham only to be rejected again by Tim Drake—it's a wonder how she managed to keep her sunny disposition and not get boggled down with angst. She is notably the most hopeful and lighthearted of all the Batfamily members.

 

 

== Film ==

* ''[[Annie]]'', the 1982 film, when she's in the orphanage ... she just keeps thinking about tomorrow! And her sunny attitude is contagious and transformative.

* An odd subversion in ''[[Cecil B. Demented]]'': Raven is a ''Satanist'', yet remains upbeat and perky, even as her fellow Sprocket Holes are being picked off left and right. If one didn't know better, one might question her grip on reality.

* In ''[[Cannibal! The Musical]]'', this is [[Played for Laughs]] with Swan. When his companions are complaining about having no food and being weary and lost, he suggests building a snowman via cheerful song and demonstration. Even after {{spoiler|one of his annoyed companions shoots him in the head}}, he still has a smile on his face.

* Meghna from ''[[Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na]]'' {{spoiler|turns out to be a deconstruction}}.

* Played for comedy in ''[[Life of Brian]]'', in which a crucified man tells Brian to keep his spirits up and closes out the film with a jaunty musical number, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life."

 

== Literature ==

* Felicité in Flaubert's ''[[Un Coeur Simple]]'' is the perfect picture of the Pollyanna. Friends and relatives die around her right and left and she still puts on a happy face. She drops everything to help anyone who needs it.

* The Jack Polo of [[Clive Barker]]'s short story ''The Yattering and Jack'' is like this because if he displays any negative emotions regardless of what happens to him, he will face eternal damnation. Meanwhile, if the minor demon tormenting him directly attacks him without provocation (rather than merely indirectly torturing him), it's broken the rules that govern it and has to be his servant for the remainder of his life as penalty. {{spoiler|This is actually Jack's goal in the entire exercise, although the Yattering discovers this far too late to avoid it.}}

* In the fourth book of ''[[A Series of Unfortunate Events]]'', the character Phil is a clear Pollyanna. He remains quite upbeat for a guy who is working in a lumbermill, is paid with coupons, and has gum for lunch every day. When his leg is crushed, he says, "Well, this isn't too bad. [[Major Injury Underreaction|My left leg is broken, but at least I'm right-legged.]]" Somebody comments, "Gee, I thought he'd say something more along the lines of 'Aaaaah! My leg! My leg!'" When he shows up in the 9th book and the Baudelairs accidentally cause a spill in the submarine, they expect him to say, "oh nice, we have a swimming pool now!"

* Tiny Tim of ''[[A Christmas Carol]]'' even finds the silver lining in being crippled.

* ''[[One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich]]'' has Kildigs, who keeps his spirits up despite being imprisoned in a gulag.

* Jill Mariner, impulsive heroine of [[P. G. Wodehouse|PG Wodehouse]]'s ''Jill the Reckless'' (alternatively titled ''The Little Warrior'' with reference to her manner of handling life). Her Uncle Chris also qualifies; at one point she quotes ''Candide'', comparing him to Pangloss.

 

* Jane from the [[Britcom]] ''[[Waiting for God]]'' is a mix of this and suffering from [[Stockholm Syndrome]] given her seemingly pathological infatuation with the smarmy weasel Harvey Baines

* Basi from the Nigerian TV show ''[[Basi And Company]]'' is remarkably cheerful for a broke, unemployed (and unemployable) man living in a one-room apartment (which he insists on calling "Basi's Palace"). Basi's landlady wants him out, but he's so sunny that nothing she does, including taking his only mattress, can get him to leave.

* [[Played for Drama]] (of course) on [[Law and Order Special Victims Unit]] where one was a pregnant borderline [[Purity Sue]] that worked as a janitor on the subway without complaint [[Healing Hands|and cured Stabler's cold by merely touching him]] [[Break the Cutie|finally lost it when she was reunited with the father of her baby, a serial rapist who quickly confessed to everything]] [[Stalker with a Crush|and believed they'd live happily ever after.]] Ouch.

* Ted from ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'', whose unwavering (and often irrational) amount of optimism and belief in love and friendship persists through a ridiculous amount of cynicism-inducing crap. Especially true in the field of romance, including a high school girlfriend who abandoned him immediately after tricking him into giving up his virginity for her, a college girlfriend who cheated on him constantly, having to break up with Robin even though he was in love with her, and a fiancee who left him at the altar. Oh, and he fully believed he could make it rain through [[The Power of Love]], and ''succeeded''. When he finally expresses a measure of pessimism in the season 7 premiere, it's a pretty disquieting moment.

 

== Music ==

* [[The Rolling Stones|Jumping Jack Flash]].

* Basically the point of [[Amanda Palmer]]'s "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C17yfGyJjM Oasis]" (warning: NSFW).

* "Float On" by [[Modest Mouse]] seems to be narrated by someone like this:

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t30cX6OGO0U Rain drops keep falling on my head, but that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turning red...]

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlBiLNN1NhQ A certain song] from [[Monty Python]]'s ''[[Life of Brian]]'', later reused for ''[[Spamalot]]'':

* Doris Day claims she feels like one of these in the song "Everybody Loves A Lover." The perky arrangement really drives it home.

 

== Newspaper Comics ==

* Pig of ''[[Pearls Before Swine]]'' always keeps a positive attitude even though he is one of many [[Butt Monkey]]s of Rat's abuse.

* [[Krazy Kat]], aided by [[Selective Obliviousness]].

 

== Professional Wrestling ==

* [[Natalya Neidheart|Natalya]]'s face persona slipped into this territory more than a few times. During her feud with [[Lay Cool]], they started mocking her and claimed she'd inherited her dad's facial hair gene, complete with a photoshopped picture of Natalya with an Anvil beard. Nattie just laughed it off and also shook off all the jibes they got at her family. And when she lost her title to Eve, she teamed with her the very next night on Raw and there was no tension between them whatsoever. Then after she lost her rematch to Eve, she saved her from a backstage attack.

* Jillian Hall counts. Despite virtually everyone on the roster complaining about her [[Hollywood Tone Deaf]] gimmick, every week or so Jillian would be out all smiles ready to sing for the audience again. This is especially glaring when you consider everything her character has gone through - losing her Divas' title two minutes after winning it, being dissed by every single celebrity guest host on Raw (including the Osbournes, Jewel, Wayne Brady), being one-upped by a conniving pair of twins for weeks and being on a losing streak for three years of her career.

 

== Theatre ==

* ''[[The Most Happy Fella]]'': Herman is a continual victim of bullying, yet he's all smiles—until someone pushes him too far, and he makes a frown and a fist.

 

== Video Games ==

* The conscript of ''[[Command & Conquer]] Red Alert 3'', basically they are the cannon fodder of the Soviet forces, and they are not even good at that since is ridiculously easy to kill them, still they will always salute you with phrases as "I make Premier proud!" and "Haven't we won yet?", now that's to have spirit.

* Imoen, from the ''[[Baldur's Gate]]'' games, especially the second one. Though at times very much vulnerable to [[Break the Cutie]], a few minutes later she would be right back to her old cheerful self. "It's just like old times... well, except for the torture and all."

** Originally it was planned that she would {{spoiler|really be broken and transform into the slayer forcing the protagonist to kill her. If you have Throne of Bhaal, you can download (and install) Ascension to see how she was supposed to suffer the same fate AGAIN, which was only stopped by time issues.}}

* Elanee in ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2]]'' isn't exactly upbeat, but does take an insane amount of her world being shattered and rearranged before her composure finally cracks in the slightest.

* Merrill in ''[[Dragon Age 2]]'' is quite cheerful, to the point of gushing about how exciting it is that someone got mugged right outside her front door after leaving her Dalish clan on very bad terms and relocating to the Kirkwall Alienage.

*** Merrill is a different deconstruction of the same trope; she is so optimistic and foolishly trusting that she will take even demons at their word and make deals with them, believing herself equal to dealing with any possible risk. Unfortunately, {{spoiler|in the end, the unintended consequences of her [[Deal with the Devil]] fall on the people she loves instead, leaving her with a terrible burden of guilt.}}

* Marona in the PS2/Wii game ''[[Phantom Brave]]''. Feared for her ability to summon ghosts, her neighbors all send her hate mail and bilking her pay when they hire her to save them from monsters, and yet she's still unwaveringly kind to them, even though they [[All of the Other Reindeer|treat her like crap]]. [[The Woobie|She cries when she's alone, though.]]

* Tails from [[Sonic the Hedgehog]], especially when taking his back story into account.

 

* Ayu Tsukimiya in ''[[Kanon]]''.

* ''[[AIR]]'''s Kamio Misuzu. The girl knows that if she ever makes any friends they're both going to get sick and possibly die, and yet all she wants to do with her summer is play with a creepy stranger at the beach.

** Ambassador Colias Palaneo is somewhere between the drama and comedic versions. While his [[Stepford Smiler|near-constant grin]] may be fake, he is a genuinely good [[Nice Guy]] who happens to have an amazing tolerance for stress ([[Break the Cutie|of which he goes through a lot during the case he appears in]]).

* Battler of ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]]'' is yet another male example. He steadfastly refuses to acknowledge the existence of witches (or at least refuses to admit that they're causing the murders) in a universe that is not shy in its attempts to break him. As a [[When They Cry]] protagonist, being a [[Determinator]] is a requirement. The universe REALLY pushes it, though.

 

== Web Animation ==

** Marzipan also shades towards this, although [[Beware the Nice Ones|she has her limits]].

 

* Robot 13 from ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' is remarkably easy-going about his own well-being, taking the loss of his arm (and later, {{spoiler|1=the loss of everything [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=223 except his CPU]}}) in stride. On the other hand, he becomes very distraught upon thinking that he hurt his "Mommy", Antimony.

* Joyce of ''Roomies / [[Its Walky]]'' took being a Pollyanna to new levels; Ignoring and/or avoiding anything that would put a dent in her rose-colored worldview (To the point where merely being forced to watch porn could [[Break the Cutie|break her mind]]. The argument could be made that Joyce wasn't a true Pollyanna as much as she was a different flavor of [[Love Freak]].

* Tavros from ''[[Homestuck]]''. His life is pretty horrible all around, since he can't walk, his [[Horned Humanoid|horns]] make it hard for him to sleep, his beloved Lusus (basically a cross between a parent and a pet) dies and the nicest thing anyone has done for him in the comic is {{spoiler|cutting off his legs with a chainsaw so he can get a robotic pair}}. He's pretty happy despite all of this.

** John, just... John.

** Feferi. Not even {{spoiler|being dead}} can diminish her spirit. Her friend Sollux (during one of his [[Mood Swinger|pessimistic phases]]) described her as "so ridiculously optimistic it's kind of sickening".

** Oddly enough, Aradia. She starts off as an [[Emotionless Girl]], but when she does regain the ability to feel, she becomes enthusiastically cheerful and smiles almost all the time. Even as her friends fight off killers in their midst, and she faces a near-omnipotent monster, she's convinced that there's no reason to grieve and that everything will turn out fine.

* The titular character in Equinox: Defender of The Horde. He is a silly [[Man Child]] who seems to see the world as a cartoony adventure. But throughout the story he faces death, betrayal, treason, and heartbreak, and while shaken to the bone at times with his experiences, he nonetheless manages to keep his optimistic childishness.

* ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'': Grace suffered years of trauma at the hands of [[Complete Monster|Damien]] before being introduced. Although she reacted as anyone else would when it caught up with her, she has since become the most upbeat, positive character in the comic. However, this is strongly implied to be a facade; she's still a wreck underneath, and it sometimes shows.

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

* In ''[[Human Centipede the Musical]]'', Steve retains his cheerful demeanor even when he wakes up tied to a bed and finds out that he’ll be part of a human centipede.

* What Pollyanna calls "the glad game" and others call "counting their blessings" is a coping mechanism that ''[[Cracked.com]]'''s Felix Clay calls "trivializing adversity" in [http://www.cracked.com/blog/4-ways-we-dont-realize-we-suck-at-coping-with-adversity/ 4 Ways We Don't Realize We Suck at Coping With Adversity].

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* In some instances, ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'' himself.

* Brandon Higsby on ''[[As Told by Ginger]]''. This often makes him the butt of Carl and Hoodsey's jokes.

* ''[[The Oblongs]]''—Living in denial, played for all the black humor the writers can get out of it. Bob Oblong, the limb-less husband and father is the straightest examples of the trope.

* Butters from ''[[South Park]]''. This is actually mildly subverted in his "Very Own" Episode, which depicts his parent's anniversary and their annual trip to the restaurant Bennigan's. His mother asks him to tail the father to see what he is getting her, Butters finds out his dad is gay without realizing it himself (he describes what he saw and his mother puts it together), driving his mother mad, and prompting her to kill him and commit suicide. Both fail, but she doesn't know that the former did. The rest of the episode is the parents pretending that a stranger kidnapped their child, and when Butters shows up and everything is admitted, he is fine, saying "When I have a chipotle blu cheese bacon burger at Bennigan's, I'll forget all about my dad being queer and my mom trying to kill me." "Really?", he is asked by the other kids. "No, I'm lying." (His happy face barely cracks, though.)

** Don't worry, he gets better through [[The Power of Love]].

** Uncle Iroh also counts. His son was killed in a battle he lost, his reputation was destroyed, he lost his rightful place on the throne and was banished from his home, his beloved nephew treats him like dirt, and yet he not only remains patient and cheerful, but is eventually able to help his nephew solve many of his personal problems without even breaking a sweat.

* Binky on ''[[The Fairly OddParents]]'' is pretty cheery for someone who's pretty much the show's biggest [[Butt Monkey]].

* In the [[Animated Adaptation]] of ''[[Where's Waldo]]'', Waldo would gleefully and knowingly walk into perilous adventure with the cheerful demeanor he always wears in the books.

* Like the above comic example Miss Martian as seen in ''[[Young Justice (animation)|Young Justice]]'', only here she is supposedly Martian Manhunter's niece.

* The titular character from Disney's ''[[Cinderella (Disney film)|Cinderella]]''. She puts up with the demanding work her stepmother and stepsisters bullies her to do constantly, all with a cheerful smile and a pleasant attitude. It was only when they tore her dress and destroyed any hopes of her going to the ball that Cinderella [[Break the Cutie|broke down.]]

* The title character of ''[[Scaredy Squirrel]]'' is pretty much this. It takes quite a bit to make him cry but when [[The Woobie|he does cry....]]

* Phineas of ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'', who has near-constant optimism and a can-do attitude. Because of this, he quite literally ''can'' and ''does'' achieve the impossible, [[Once an Episode|every episode]], with the help of his friends and family. That being said, he can occasionally [[Heroic Blue Screen of Death|crack]]...

 

== [[Real Life]] ==

{{quote|'''"I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart."''}}

* In realistic proportions, this is actually method of coping with extreme stress and problems. As any coping methods, it can be used right or wrong way, but if it is honest and right, its actually very good one.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Happiness Tropes]]

[[Category:Idealism Tropes]]

[[Category:All the Tropes Superhero Team]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollyanna, The}}