Title Confusion: Difference between revisions

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[[Viewers are Morons|Casual viewers]] just can't be bothered to pay the kind of attention it takes to interpret the meaning of a show's title, even if this effort is small. This can lead to some unusual and mistaken notions about key facets of the show.

Often contributes to instances of [[~~Cowboy~~ ~~Bebop~~ ~~at His Computer~~]], including the trope's namesake incident. For confusion regarding our own [[Word Salad Title]]s, see [[I Thought It Meant]]. Specific [[Sub-Trope|Sub Tropes]] include:

Often contributes to instances of [[Media Research Failure]], including the trope's namesake incident. For confusion regarding our own [[Word Salad Title]]s, see [[I Thought It Meant]]. Specific [[Sub-Trope|Sub Tropes]] include:

* [[I Am Not Shazam]]: The work's title is mistaken for the protagonist's name.

* [[Iconic Character Forgotten Title]]: The protagonist's name is mistaken for the work's title.

* [[Iconic Character, Forgotten Title]]: The protagonist's name is mistaken for the work's title.

* [[Protagonist Title Fallacy]]: Which character the title refers to is clear, but that character is mistaken for the protagonist.

* [[The "The" Title Confusion]]: When nobody is quite sure if a work's title begins with a "the".

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* The "cheeky angel" in ''[[Tenshi na Konamaiki]]'' is Megumi, not the mischievous spirit who transformed Megumi into a girl.

* A promotional press conference early in its run revealed that at least one reporter thought that the ''[[3rd Rock from the Sun]]'' was where its aliens were ''from'', rather than where they were ''visiting''... likewise the continuity announcers on [[Sky 1]], where the series premiered in the UK.

* Charles Schulz was allegedly very annoyed by fans who wrote to him under the assumption that "[[Peanuts]]" was the name of one of the characters - in the early days, he often got letters saying "[[~~Cowboy~~ ~~Bebop~~ ~~at His Computer~~|I love your new strip with Peanuts and his dog!]]" (The name of the comic strip was not his; it was an example of [[Executive Meddling]]. The original title, "Li'l Folks", was too similar to another strip of the time.) To get around this, the Sunday strips were, for a long while, subtitled "featuring Good Ol' Charlie Brown," although the subtitle has recently been dropped, presumably because nowdays the only person who ''wouldn't'' know who Charlie Brown was would be living under a rock.

* Charles Schulz was allegedly very annoyed by fans who wrote to him under the assumption that "[[Peanuts]]" was the name of one of the characters - in the early days, he often got letters saying "[[Media Research Failure|I love your new strip with Peanuts and his dog!]]" (The name of the comic strip was not his; it was an example of [[Executive Meddling]]. The original title, "Li'l Folks", was too similar to another strip of the time.) To get around this, the Sunday strips were, for a long while, subtitled "featuring Good Ol' Charlie Brown," although the subtitle has recently been dropped, presumably because nowdays the only person who ''wouldn't'' know who Charlie Brown was would be living under a rock.

** Though in Brazil, the strip title ("Minduim", from ''amendoim'', "Peanut") was turned into Charlie Brown's nickname.

* Non-fiction example: The biologist Richard Dawkins has often remarked about how many of his critics do not seem to have read his books past the title page. ''The Selfish Gene'' in particular is a magnet for this, with people assuming that he claims that ''people'' should behave in a selfish manner, that human selfishness has some kind of genetic cause, or even that genes have emotional states comparable to selfishness in humans. There's actually been quite a bit of philosophical argument about whether or not the book itself bears this out.

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[[Category:Title Tropes]]

[[Category:~~Title Confusion~~]]

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