Truth in Television: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:
Once in a while, a TV show does something that actually happens in [[Real Life]]. Don't worry, it never lasts, and they soon slip back into their [[Strictly Formula|old habits]]. Rarely, other shows pick up on this, and you then get a recurring [[Trope]] that accurately reflects the real world. Listed below, for your convenience, are some examples of those.
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When it's the exact opposite, you've got a bad case of [[Reality Is Unrealistic]]. If people fall for it, it's because [[TV Never Lies]].
Technically, these [[
The Bastard Spawn of these two [[
There's a Sliding Scale of
Another way of saying the above is that a great many things happen on television that have happened at least once to someone in the world. The reason they become [[
And that's pretty much how television works. So please, before adding anything to the list below or describing any existing [[
Also, just because something may be definitely and entirely
For example, [[The Mentally Disturbed]] - [[Captain Obvious|mentally ill people do exist]] in [[Real Life]] and therefore the trope belongs on this index. That said, real life mental illness (at least once you include the milder illnesses and degrees of it) is so common that having a list of mentally ill people would overwhelm the entire wiki, and some people would find being listed as examples of mental illness or instability very insulting.
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=== Tropes
== A-C ==
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* [[Casting Couch]]: [[Real Life]] examples abound from film to fashion and music (where it's more common now). Somewhat subverted in that unlike in fiction, where complying may well benefit the victim, in reality, the victim may very well get nowhere at all for his or her trouble, or end up destroying his or her career doing this for real. Of course, there's also porn staged around the idea with fully willing participants...
* [[Casual Kink]]: In some places far, far more than others. If you're in such a place, you probably either are very aware of it, or don't even recognize it as unusual.
* [[The Catfish]]: The [[wikipedia:Wels catfish|"wels catfish"]], also called a "sheatfish". They can be up to 10
* [[CAT Trap]]: If you're suffering from claustrophobia, you don't want to spend too much time in a closed scanner.
* [[Caught with Your Pants Down]]: Because some people [[Your Door Was Open|don't remember to lock the door]], and others are exhibitionists.
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* [[The City Narrows]]: Most large cities have what is euphemistically called a "bad area" or two. The larger the city, the more likely. It probably won't be all alleys, though.
* [[The Chains of Commanding]]: It can be tough to be a political leader, and sometimes political leaders are restricted by politics or the lack of cooperation from others from accomplishing even important or needed goals.
* [[Check Point Starvation]]: There ''are'' no [[Check Point
* [[Cherry Tapping]]: Human beings who die from stinging insects or from something else that in small or ordinary amounts is fairly harmless, but in large numbers is fatal.
* [[Chewbacca Defense]]: If the defense does ''not make sense'', you must acquit. Still a logical fallacy, but it works.
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* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: You ''really'' want an example of this?
* [[Decade Dissonance]]: Compare Hong Kong to the Guangdong province just over the border, or downtown Rio de Janeiro to its slums. Hell, compare ANY inner city to the gleaming, tourist-laden areas.
** There is a tiny island off the coast of Scotland, St. Kilda, where the seas are so choppy and rough, that few people dare try to sail to and from it. People have lived there for centuries. The government sent an expedition there in about 1746 to see whether Bonnie Prince Charlie had taken refuge there after the Battle of Culloden. The locals hadn't heard of Prince Charles Edward
* [[Deep Sleep]]: Some people are definitely heavier sleepers than others, especially if drunk or drugged. The reason fire alarms and loud alarm clocks exist.
* [[Delegation Relay]]: Else known in English as "passing the buck," because no one really wants to do some chores or run some errands.
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* [[Dr. Jerk]]: Because some people in the caring professions enter them for their profit potential or for being "better than" or able to control others, or believe they have an [[Omniscient Morality License]].
* [[Dropped a Bridget On Him]]: [[Downer Ending|Doesn't always end up as funny though.]]
* [[Drowning My Sorrows]]: It doesn't
* [[Drugs Are Bad]]:
* [[Dude, Where's My Reward?]]: Ditto.
* [[Dungeonmaster's Girlfriend]]: Sometimes a significant other or relative of the person running a game does join the game and sometimes they get preferential treatment from the Dungeonmaster, who is supposed to be impartial.
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* [[Emergency Weapon]]: Every half-decent army gives its soldiers at least knives for backup, and even the ones that don't still have their soldiers equipped with hands.
** It's the countries that take soldiers hands away you really have to watch out for.
* [[Empty Cop Threat]]: Even if the cops can't ''actually'' charge the suspect with obstruction of justice, they can still ''threaten'' to do
* [[The European Carry All]]: Just check out this "[http://www.hottopic.com/hottopic/store/product.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302024102&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442133688 one leg pant]", or as most people would call it, a skirt.
", or as most people would call it, a skirt. -->
* [[Even Evil Has Standards]]: There are real situations that keep from someone becoming a [[Complete Monster]], even if they had crossed the [[Moral Event Horizon|
** This is mostly seen in prison system where prisoners have standards and those who had violated them don’t last too long. Many oppressive regimes also have standards within their countries on what kind of brutality is too much, even for the government.
* [[Even Nerds Have Standards]]: Nerds either have very low standards, or [[Extraverted Nerd|very high standards]].
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* [[Evil Versus Evil]]: Power-hungry dictators (the closest Real Life equivalent of evil) often fight each other in their selfish quest for power. Hitler and Stalin could be an example of this form. Organized criminals fighting amongst each other creates another form: the drug cartel mafia wars in Mexico, gang wars elsewhere.
* [[Exalted Torturer]]: Due to [[Values Dissonance]], at various points in various societies, [[Real Life]] torturers have been excused and even glorified, as has torture itself. No examples may be given to avoid the obvious [[Flame War]], but it has happened.
* [[Explosive Overclocking]]: In memory of all those who turned their CPUs into grilled silicon after overclocking them to 6
* [[Extreme Graphical Representation]]: [http://lainos.sourceforge.net LainOS] is a FreeBSD-based operating system whose goal is to recreate the extreme graphical pizazz of the computers from ''[[Serial Experiments Lain]]''.
** [http://compiz.org/ Compiz] is a window manager presently included with many Linux distributions. If you want, you can overload it with plugins so that your windows wobble like Jello when they move, your desktop is on the surface of a cube (with sharks inside), windows shuffle and dodge around one another when you switch between them, inactive windows go translucent and gain a mirror sheen, and a trail of fire follows your mouse around. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJB9Yum3S9M&feature=PlayList&p=6AD5E5D6B2DEA293&index=0&playnext=1 Here are some videos of it.]
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* [[Fatal Flaw]]: <s>Lots of people</s> ''Everyone'' will have one. Some have more than one.
* [[Fat Cat]]: Some cats really are overweight.
* [[Fat Bastard]], [[Fat Idiot]], and [[Fat Slob]]: Definitely NOT
* [[Fence Painting]]: Arranged by recruiters for militaries, fraternities, and sororities.
* [[Feuding Families]]: The Hatfields and the McCoys in the US; the MacGregors and the Campbells in Scotland; the Italian mafia families in New York and Sicily (with a couple in New Orleans).
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* [[Foreign Queasine]]: There's a whole show based around it called ''Bizarre Foods'' on the Travel Channel. And while most of it is in Asia, there are episodes that take place in North America, believe it or not. Anyone for fried nutria on a stick?
* [[Forgets to Eat]]: Every gamer has done this. This can also be applied to workaholics.
* [[419 Scam]]:
** The name actually comes from the section of the Nigerian criminal code pertaining to wire fraud, so it's also [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]].
* [[Freeze Sneeze]]: Cold really does make some people sneeze.
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* [[Idle Rich]]: Because for some people, being rich ''is'' their life's accomplishment. Aversions, however, do exist.
* [[If It Tastes Bad, It Must Be Good for You]]: Several good foods are actually quite bitter or almost disgustingly bland.
* [[I Just Shot Marvin in the Face]]: Every 12 seconds, a kid accidentally fires a gun and hurts someone.
* [[I Know Karate]]: Because some people do, indeed, know karate and other martial arts.
* [[I Know Mortal Kombat]]: Because even more people know no martial arts but think they do. The reason Bullshido and the [[What the Fu Are You Doing?]] trope exist.
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* [[Made of Plasticine]]: Human beings can be very weak and die from some of the most unlikely to ordinarily cause death things, but not always - see [[Normally I Would Be Dead Now]] below.
* [[The Mafia]], [[The Mafiya]], [[The Triads and the Tongs]], [[Yakuza]], and other organized crime groups: They are tropes because they exist.
* [[Maligned Mixed Marriage]]: There are hundreds, if noth thousands of examples throughout history of people hating those who marry outside of their race. In fact, at one time in the US, there were laws banning miscegenation.<ref>interracial marriage</ref>
* [[Mama Bear]]: Both the animal and human kind. There are documented cases of mothers rescuing their children from mountain lions and actual bears.
* [[Mama Didn't Raise No Criminal]]: The families of real life criminals do indeed live in this sort of denial sometimes, even when confronted with overwhelming evidence of criminal behavior.
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* [[Mistaken Nationality]]: Far too common simply because many people don't care to learn geography or about nations.
* [[Mister Muffykins]]: Most breeders call the little yappy dogs victims of "small breed syndrome." A lot of it is just plain stupidity on the owner's part.
* [[The Mistress]]: Divorce lawyers and journalists alike make a huge part of their living because this is
* [[Modesty Towel]]: Force of habit and shyness will often lead to this being used even when there is no reason for it. Paranoia can also be a factor, if your room has a window.
* [[Monster Clown]]: [[wikipedia:Coulrophobia|Coulrophobia]]. Also applies to mimes.
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* [[Televisually-Transmitted Disease]]: Strangely, many of the miraculous recoveries you see in medical dramas actually have happened.
* [[That Poor Car]]: Disasters will cause this.
* [[The Password Is Always Swordfish]]: One of the most common passwords is... "password" or "password1" (since now most registrars require letters and numbers). The most common varies in length but is some form of ascending number
* [[There Are No Therapists]]: Teen suicide rates are much higher than they should be, but it's more because they don't WANT to see a therapist for fear of rejection. Also because since they think with their amygdalas, which is the emotional part of their brain, not the logical part.
** Bad experiences with therapy can lead people to ''never seek help again,'' even when it is urgently and severely needed. A bad therapist can be even worse than ''no'' therapist, for this reason.
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* [[Trigger]]: Almost everyone has them in some form. Some far, far more distressing than others. See it's [[Trigger/Useful Notes|Useful Notes]] page for details.
* [[Trigger Happy]]: The reason a lot of shootings (whether by police or civilians) happen. Especially if one feels as if one is in mortal danger, it is an instinct borne of paranoia that can be ''very difficult'' to override.
* [[Troll]]: An undeniable
* [[True Art Is Angsty]]: Angst tends to make art be seen as "more serious." Note that [[Oscar Bait]] is usually angsty.
* [[True Art Is Incomprehensible]]: This is one of those annoying ones that reinforces itself.
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* [[Useful Notes]]: Useful ''because'' they're true.
* [[Utopia Justifies the Means]]: Stalin, Mao, Robespierre, Pol Pot...
** Subjective. It's not clear who really fits this trope and who was just pretending to fit
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* [[Violent Glaswegian]]: Glasgow is the murder capital of Western Europe.
* [[Visual Kei]]: Some artists and fans dress in the style and/or even maintain complete personas offstage.
* [[Virtual Celebrity]]: A few of them are around like [[Vocaloid
* [[Virtual Ghost]]: Programmers working with the band [[X Japan]] made a hologram of a late member (lead guitarist hide) that was both a [[Virtual Celebrity]] and very, very close to this idea. Programmers also did this to bring [[Tupac Shakur]] to Coachella 2012.
* [[Vocal Dissonance]]: Radio DJs, Mike Tyson, [[Steve Blum]], and several others do ''not'' look how you would expect them to based on their voice, and vice versa. This was a very real problem back in the days when "talkie" movies were new, and many actors lost their jobs because their voices were so silly.
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[[Category:Index Index]]
[[Category:Tropes]]
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[[Category:Truth in Television]]
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