Unfortunate Implications/Live-Action TV: Difference between revisions
Unfortunate Implications/Live-Action TV (view source)
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{{trope}}
{{smallcaps|Important Note:}} Just because a work has [[Unfortunate Implications]] does ''not'' mean the author was thinking of it that way. In fact, that's the point of it being ''unfortunate''. So, please, no [[Justifying Edit
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** Compare the original minority members to the colors they were chosen to wear: an African-American as the Black Ranger, and an Asian as the Yellow Ranger. Series developer Tony Oliver admitted when recasting Trini from the Hispanic Audri DuBois to the Asian Thuy Trang after the pilot episode this genuinely never occurred to anyone in production. For the most part, it appears that ''Rangers'' subscribes to color-blind casting, and doesn't really factor in race [[Five-Token Band|outside of making sure multiple ones are represented]]. For what it's worth, Austin St. John (Jason, the original Red Ranger) is of mixed Caucasian, Native American and Asian descent, and reportedly, Walter Jones (who played the original Black Ranger) was initially lined up for the role of Blue until he asked to change because he preferred the Black Ranger's design. He also confirmed (in interviews and on VH1's ''I Love the 90s'') that nobody realized the implications of the casting until after several episodes had been completed.
** ''[[Power Rangers SPD|SPD]]'' introduces Jack and Z, who steal for the homeless. This wouldn't be so bad were they not Black and Hispanic respectively. The only other recurring cast member of color, Charlie, is the leader of the evil A-Squad - which carries double [[Unfortunate Implications]] because she is also the first female Red Ranger in ''Power Rangers''.
** ''[[Power Rangers Turbo|Turbo]]'' marked the first time an African American was a Red Ranger (The designated leader of the team). This wouldn't be much of a big deal except that it was also the only season where the rangers ''lost'' at the end. It didn't help that the Red Ranger was "demoted" in the [[Power Rangers in Space|following season]].<ref>"Demoted" in quotation marks because there was no actual ceremony or rank, he just joined a team led by a pre-existing Red Ranger</ref>
** Within the show itself, the Rangers themselves were never referred as anything other than "[color] Ranger" in ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]''. However, on the official Disney site of the franchise, presumably to distinguish the original team members from later incarnations, they address each Mighty Morphin member as "[color] Power Ranger", leading to such unintentionally racist handles like ''White Power'' Ranger", the "Black Power'' Ranger", and the "Red Power'' Ranger".
** In ''[[Power Rangers Samurai]]'', one of the series' original [[Those Two Guys]], Bulk, reappears, with Skull being replaced by his 15-year-old son Spike. The unfortunate implications come in when you realize that 15 years earlier was ''[[Power Rangers Zeo]]'', when Skull was still in high school. When you factor in the [[Word of God]] (stated by one of the writers) that Skull married the original Pink Ranger... who had left the series the year before ''Zeo'', and sent her boyfriend a [[Dear John (British series)|Dear John]] letter right around the time Spike would have been born, the implication is that one of the comic relief guys got the Pink Ranger pregnant in high school.
* ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' has a number of unfortunate implications in the series.
** The majority of black and Latino characters are criminals, or put in position of being criminals or [[Magical Negro
** Hiro's [[Flanderized]] buffoonishness, particularly the arc in which he mentally reverted to a 10-year-old, plays to some unfortunate stereotypes of Asian men. Ando's initial obsession with porn/Niki did too, but [[Characterization Marches On|that character trait was fortunately phased out pretty early in the series]].
** The majority of empowered humans with abilities they can use to successfully fight off Sylar are male.
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** The opening theme of ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise]]'' falls under this. The montage in said theme was ostensibly supposed to show the "firsts" of human space exploration which would eventually lead to warp. Thing is, all of the scenes used were from the American space program, [[Small Reference Pools|which would ostensibly be more familiar to the American audience]]. This, of course, doesn't take into account the fact that in [[Real Life]] the Soviets were ahead during the earlier stages of the Space Race. Supposedly, when asked why Yuri Gagarin (the first man in space) and other Soviet space heroes weren't seen as important enough to make the title credits, one of the creators suggested that the Soviet space program ''was'' important, because it spurred on the Americans to greatness. It veers right past Unfortunate Implications and into [[Digging Yourself Deeper|Unfortunate Shit Said Outright]].
** ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' pulled the same stunt years earlier. In " Threshold", when talking about the chance to perform a flight first, Janeway proceeds to rattle off all the American firsts in flight and space travel.
** The creators of ''[[Star Trek]]'' always prided themselves on its message against prejudice, both through metaphor and example (the fact that a black woman is on the bridge with Kirk and no one thinks it's unusual). One unanticipated consequence however was that gay fans of the show would take this lesson to heart and call for a gay character on ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' or its spin-offs, or at least have a reference to the fact that homosexuality exists in the Federation. Despite trying to fob fans off with a couple of [[Very Special Episode
** ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Deep Space Nine]]'' did manage to explore this more tastefully in the examples of Trill sexuality. While the current host's pre-joining orientation may take precedence, bisexuality is still shown to be innate in joined Trills: Resuming an old host's relationships is a taboo, but Jadzia's encounter with Lenara Khan and Worf's suspicion of an affair with the girl on Riza show that physical gender remains a non-issue.
** In "The Outcast" a race of mostly asexual/agendered aliens persecutes a woman for having a gender and entering into a heterosexual relationship with Riker. It doesn't help that all the aliens were played by female actors, which makes the episode look uncommonly like a paranoid conservative nightmare about lesbian separatist feminists persecuting straight people. Frakes himself has said the episode, which was supposed to be an allegory of homophobia might have worked a little better if his love interest had been played by a man.
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* The "Fagmalion" episodes from ''[[Will and Grace]]'' in which Will and Jack attempt to turn [[Straight Gay]] Barry into a "proper" homosexual (read [[Flamboyant Gay]]) and end up getting crushes on the finished result. At one point Barry actually calls them out on this and walks out on them, only to come back a couple scenes later, claiming that he'd rather go through it with them than do it alone... [[Aesop Amnesia|and that he wants to look like someone from "Men's Fitness"]].
* ''[[Red Dwarf]]'':
** The makers were worried when they wrote the original pilot script that the character of [[Uncle Tomfoolery|the Cat was racist]]
** It is of note that in the episode "Waiting For God," the ancient cat priest is mostly white, but one hand is black. Like cats Felis sapiens come in all different color combinations.
** In one of the many [[Parallel Universe]] episodes where there are alternate versions of the cast, they were basically going to make everyone opposite (Rimmer is a hero test pilot, Lister is a hard-working engineer, etc.) and so the Cat was going to be a slobby janitor. Then the writers thought of the unfortunate implications and decided it would be better to contrast the Cat's normally selfish nature by making his counterpart a more selfless person. Hence: a priest.
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** The show has four main characters: two white males, one white female, and one black female. Guess which one always gets left off the DVD covers. Go on, guess!
*** Subverted by the Season Four DVD covers, where Gwen appears and Morgana ''doesn't''. In a similar vein, the fact that the entire cast ''except'' Guinevere had been made into action figures is finally sorted when figures of Queen Guinevere were released in late 2010 - however, the simple fact that it took four years for the promotional material to finally start paying attention to the show's only reoccuring black actress is still an [[Unfortunate Implication]].
** There's also a troubling theme of powerful women being both evil and seductive. Thus far, we've had Mary/Helen, Sophia, Morgause, Morgana, Nimueh and Lamia - all beautiful, all magical, and all evil (and most acting on the defensive). There has also been Lady Catrina and Grunhilde, two hideous magical creatures in disguise, who try to use beauty and sex to get what they want (the menfolk are suitably repulsed by this), and the Callieach and the Dochraid: two evil, bloodthirsty hags. Even the unambiguously ''good'' female characters are rife with [[Unfortunate Implications]]: Freya defends herself against an [[Attempted Rape]], is [[Curse
*** Unfortunately, much of this is an inevitable consequence when you're adapting a story which traditionally only featured men in roles of power.
* ''[[Melrose Place]]'':
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'''Puck''': Yes, you can. Have another wine cooler. }}
** Then there's when Sue drugs Figgins, strips him, and gets in bed with him (though fully clothed, for what little it matters) in order to take incriminating photos to blackmail his wife with. And it's played entirely for laughs. Just imagine what would've happened [[Double Standard Rape (Female on Male)|if Sue had been a guy and Figgins a woman]].
** In the episode ''Sexy'' , when Rachel and Quinn decide to remain celibate, they are treated as prudish and a joke, and actually called frigid by Holly. This not only insults people who have made the choice to not have sex for whatever reason, but also [[
** Brittany has said that she's slept with almost all the boys at McKinley High, as well as Santana, and yet she still thinks babies come from the stork and believes that Santa Claus exists. As [[Flanderization]] makes her [[Too Dumb to Live|dumber and dumber]], it's getting hard not to view all these sexual relationships as [[Fridge Horror|various people taking advantage of a mentally disabled girl with the mentality and naivete of a young child.]] This becomes especially [[Egregious]] in her relationship with Santana. Santana tells her that it isn't cheating on Artie because "the plumbing is different," and that she must be a lesbian instead of bisexual or even straight but confused, and Brittany believes everything she says. It's begining to look like she lacks the mental capacity to know ''what'' she is, and Santana is just taking advantage of her.
** The show also seems to have a real problem with bisexuality, as Kurt straight up hates on Blaine for even considering being bisexual, and [[Word of God]] claims that one of the two other characters who have expressed bisexual desires, Santana, is really just a lesbian who hasn't admitted it yet.
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* One of the common criticisms of ''[[Dollhouse]]'' is that the show glamorizes rape. While it does show that what's being done is a Bad Thing, it still uses rape-analogy situations for entertainment.
* ''[[Gossip Girl]]'':
** In the pilot, Chuck tries to rape both Serena and Jenny. The assault on Serena [[
** Jack Bass, in the second season, tries to rape Lily. In the third season Chuck is manipulated by him to set up Blair to sleep with Jack in exchange for Chuck's hotel. Not only is Chuck allowing her to prostitute herself, he is also placing her in danger of getting raped according to the majority of viewers.
* Both of the USA network shows featuring a woman as the primary heroic figure (''[[Fairly Legal]]'' and ''[[Covert Affairs]]'') have titles that obliquely refer to sex.
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* Both ''[[8 Simple Rules]]'' and ''Hope & Faith'' try to hammer home the [[Family-Unfriendly Aesop]] that all teenage boys are either hopeless nerds or perverts who can't commit to one woman. Take Kyle cheating on Bridget with Kerry, Kerry losing her virginity to a guy who doesn't call her and turns out to be a jerk, a one episode guy who asks Bridget and Kerry out on dates in the same day, an older man hitting on Bridget at the gym and even Rory kissing a random girl to practice for his girlfriend. Then ''Hope & Faith'' has an episode where Faith invites Sydney's boyfriend around to the house for some private time with Sydney. Except she doesn't say Sydney and he assumes Faith herself wants to sleep with him. A similar situation happens in season 2 when Sydney wants to lose her virginity to a college boy.
* Discussed on the DVD commentary for ''[[Community]]'' episode [[Community/Recap/S1 E23 Modern Warfare|Modern Warfare]]. The episode tries very hard to avoid the viewer being reminded of actual real life school shootings. Also played for laughs in the episode "English as a Second Language", in which Troy (an African-American character for those unaware) discovers he has an undiscovered talent for plumbing, which much to his confusion and annoyance prompts almost everyone around him to try and get him to 'embrace his destiny' by dropping out of school to become a plumber.
* The treatment of fathers in ''[[Beverly Hills, 90210|90210]]'' is shockingly poor. Of the main cast two have fathers who are outright criminals (Navid and Liam), four have fathers who are [[Jerkass
* On ''[[Family Matters]]'', the romance between Urkel and Laura is filled with this. In addition to all the problems that come with the [[Give Geeks a Chance]] trope (namely that a girl only matters because she's beautiful and it's never clear what the would-be couple has in common), the fact that Laura is actually engaged to him at the end of the series gives the message of "If you stalk your dream girl long enough, she'll one day give in!"
* The TV show ''[[Everybody Hates Chris]]'' despite being very successful actually falls under this trope for the main reason that every important female character is an epic level [[The Scrappy|scrappy.]] Everyone from his [[Annoying Younger Sibling]] and [[Bratty Half-Pint]] younger sister Tanya [[Base Breaker|(although she might be debatable at certain times)]], to his mother Rochelle [[Abuse Is Okay When Its Female On Male|(who fully embraces double standards about the relationships of males and females)]] and her friends who are all stereotypical [[Sassy Black Woman|Sassy Black Women]], to his [[Bitch in Sheep's Clothing|extremely]] [[Crosses the Line Twice|racist]] [[Dude, Not Funny|teacher]] [[Sarcasm Mode|(Because you know, an adult that should set an example and make a positive impact in a student's life choosing to making racial stereotypes to a kid is SO funny)]] easily qualifies for this. It's one thing to be made into a [[Butt Monkey]] by [[Jerkass|Carusso, the school bully]], but it's another thing altogether to be made into a [[Chew Toy]] by people who are supposed to support you. Even if the 1980s weren't as politically correct as we are now, this is one case where [[Meaningful Name]] of the show and [[Fair for Its Day]] don't pass as viable excuses for this. If [[Chris Rock]]'s life was anything like this, it's a great thing he was able to endure it and become so successful.
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* The [[Gay Aesop]] tends to become this. It's all well and good to try and teach people not to be jag-offs to gay people, but this only lasts for one episode, as the [[Suddenly Sexuality|"gay]] [[Shoo Out the New Guy|character"]] tends to get [[Put on a Bus]] or is never shown [[Hide Your Gays|doing anything remotely gay or having a love life]] like the other 99% straight characters on the show. Remember, it's alright to be gay, but do it in the privacy of your own closet.
* ''[[The Walking Dead (TV series)|The Walking Dead]]'' features an episode in which a racist easily beats a black man into submission, while the only other man currently present, an Asian, cowers in fear. It takes the white male sheriff showing up out of nowhere to save all the frightened minorities and women. Ironically, the sheriff delivers an in-story anti-racist aesop after the fact.
* [[Comedy Central]]
* A show called ''Minipops'' was briefly shown on British T.V in the early 80's. The idea of the show was to have adorable toddlers sing along to various pop tunes topping the charts at the time. Unfortunately, many of the performers wore clothes that mimicked the adult singers' rather risque performance costumes and included the original song's provocative lyrics (like ''9 to 5'''s "night time is the right time to make love"). The show was accused of being little more than televised kiddie porn and after a huge amount of critic and public backlash the show was axed. Both the producers and the children who sang the tunes were reportedly stunned by the accusations.
* In ''[[Terra Nova]]'', the colony is quite literally a military dictatorship. The government consists solely of Commander Taylor giving orders and his security forces carrying them out. Not only does he make all political decisions, he acts as judge, jury, and executioner in criminal cases. He doesn't even bother with a trial if he is convinced that the person is guilty. However, this is presented positively, as something close to an ideal state. Jim even says that his handling of criminal cases is much better than the justice system from 2149, in which the accused actually has rights. And don't forget that virtually all the rebel "Sixers" who live outside the compound and don't accept Taylor's authority, are black.
* ''[[Sherlock]]''.
** In spite of otherwise excellent writing, acting and interesting characters, it seems like the show is dedicated to offending any character from outside Europe as a caricature, with Arab men wielding curved swords and wearing traditional garbs and Chinese characters live in Chinatown and work for an ancient crime syndicate, with Chinese antiques or at a Chinese circus.
* ''[[The Soup]]'' often [[
* On a season eleven episode of [[American Idol]], Ryan Seacrest said that African-American contestant Joshua Ledet would be performing a civil rights anthem after the break. Cue to Joshua holding, of all things, a monkey.
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