What Were You Thinking?: Difference between revisions

← Older edit

What Were You Thinking? (view source)

Revision as of 07:05, 22 September 2018

296 bytes removed , 5 years ago

Rescuing 1 sources and tagging 0 as dead. #IABot (v2.0beta9)

VisualWikitext

InternetArchiveBot

Bots

38,227

edits

Revision as of 19:37, 2 January 2014 (view source) Looney Toons (talk \| contribs) m (Looney Toons moved page What Were You Thinking to What Were You Thinking?: Adding proper punctuation to page name) ← Older edit		Latest revision as of 07:05, 22 September 2018 (view source) InternetArchiveBot (talk \| contribs) (Rescuing 1 sources and tagging 0 as dead. #IABot (v2.0beta9))
(12 intermediate revisions by 5 users not shown)
Line 1: {{trope}} {{quote\|'''Xander:''' [[What Could Possibly Go Wrong?\|As long as nothing really bad happens between now and then]], [[Tempting Fate\|you'll be fine]].~~<br />~~ '''Buffy:''' Are you crazy? [[You Just Had to Say It\|What did you say that for?]] [[Genre Savvy\|Now something bad is gonna happen.]]~~<br />~~ '''Xander:''' What do you mean? Nothing's gonna happen.~~<br />~~ '''Willow:''' [[Tempting Fate\|Not until some dummy says, "As long as nothing bad happens."]]~~<br />~~ '''Buffy:''' It's the ultimate jinx!~~<br />~~ '''Willow:''' ''What were you thinking?!'' Or were you even thinking at all?~~<br />~~ '''Xander:''' You don't know... Maybe this time it'll be different...\|''[[~~Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)\|~~Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', "School Hard" {{spoiler\|It isn't.}}}} The inevitable question asked when another character's rash plan or reckless behavior results in disaster or near-disaster. Asked upon discovery of the mayhem caused by said recklessness, or after picking up the pieces, and is usually asked by their superior, a concerned parent, or simply a friend or ally. Popular answers include "[[Idiot Ball\|I wasn't]]!", "I don't know!", "[[It Seemed Like a Good Idea At ~~The~~the Time]]!", and "[[I Did What I Had to Do]]." If someone answers "[[For Science!]]!" it's a good bet that he's a lost cause. Can follow a [[My God, What Have I Done?]] for a [[Kick the Dog]] moment. A [[Deal ~~With~~with the Devil]] is almost always followed by this, [[Viewer Stock Phrases\|if only from the audience]]. Not to be confused with [[What the Hell, Hero?]], which has less to do with recklessness and more to do with [[Kick the Dog\|kicking]] or [[Shoot the Dog\|shooting the dog]], though it can overlap. Compare [[What an Idiot!]] and [[What the Hell, Hero?]]. {{examples~~\|Examples:~~}} == Anime and Manga == * In ''[[Saiyuki]]'''s "Kami-sama" arc, Sanzo attempts to break a barrier that he thought was created by will power by shooting at it, on the "rationale" that the bullets are infused with ''his'' will power, and thus the two will cancel out...yeah, no. Instead, the bullets ricochet back and everyone dives for cover, with Hakkai yelling, "What are you DOING, Sanzo??" * These exact words are used in ''[[Ranma ~~One Half~~½]]'' when the Tendos, particularly [[Beware the Nice Ones\|Kasumi]], [[What the Hell, Hero?\|call Genma out]] for taking his son to the cursed training ground of Jusenkyo. To the annoyance of some readers, though, this is only in the very first chapter of the manga, and nobody so much as raises an eyebrow when Genma later reveals he taught Ranma the [[Harmful to Minors\|Nekoken]] because he was too lazy to read the next page, [[Now You Tell Me\|which warned]] that the technique [[Sanity Has Advantages\|invariably drove trainees insane]] and was [[Useless Useful Spell\|too stupid to use, anyway]]. [[Alternate Character Interpretation\|Although]], it's entirely possible that people stopped asking this of him because they realized [[What an Idiot!\|it just wouldn't do any damned good.]] * Yuna Roma Seiran gets this from the ORB military officers in ''[[Gundam Seed Destiny]]'', for hiding war criminal Lord Djibril in ORB and denying it, then acting all surprised when ZAFT sees through his obvious lies and invades in full force. Apparently, he thought that since ORB had successfully hidden [[Cool Ship\|the Archangel]] from them two years ago, but not even in anime do politics bend to the [[Rule of Cool]]... * In ''[[Full Metal Panic!]]'', Kaname tends to yell this whenever Sousuke does something insane. More often than not, he proceeds to explain the ridiculously complicated terrorist plot that he foiled to justify his actions. Sometimes the plot is even real. == Comic Books == * From the ''[[Star Wars]]: Clone Wars'' comics, during the battle of Kamino: {{quote\| '''Commander Merai''': What were they ''thinking'', defending a [[Single Biome Planet\|water world]] with ships that can't submerge?}} == Film == * ''[[~~The Goonies (Film)\|~~The Goonies]]''. Stef barks this at Andi when she hits the wrong notes on the musical lock, causing part of the floor to collapse. {{quote\| '''Stef:''' What were you thinking?~~<br />~~ '''Andi:''' I hit the wrong note! I'm not Liberace you know! }} * ''[[The Fast and ~~The Furious (Film)\|The Fast and The~~the Furious]]'': Dominic Toretto asks this of Jesse after he races Johnny Tran for pink slips. * The captain asks ''[[Cool Hand Luke]]'' what he thought defacing parking meters would get him. Luke replies that, being drunk at the time, he probably wasn't thinking. * ''[[Happy Feet]]'': Gloria asks a version of this after she discovers that him singing to her at the mating season is really him lip-synching and letting someone else sing (Mumble can't sing). {{quote\| '''Gloria''': "Mumble, what could you possibly be thinking?"~~<br />~~ '''Mumble''': "I...I don't know what else to do!" }} * In the feature film adaptation of Shane Acker's ''[[~~Nine (Animation)\|~~9]]'', 7 asks 9 this {{spoiler\|after 9 put the talisman into the machine, causing it to wake up and kill 2.}} * In ''[[Oh, God!\|Oh God! You Devil]]'', when Bobby literally finds God near the end of the film, the Almighty agrees to help him out of the predicament he's in, but not without giving Bobby a (for God) gentle rebuke. {{quote\| '''God:''' "You made a [[~~Deal With the Devil\|~~deal with the Devil]]. How dumb could you be?"}} == Literature == Line 52 ⟶ 53: Captain Cragen also said this to Olivia Benson when she gave a reporter confidential information about an investigation involving Anthrax. Fin Tutuola heard this from John Munch and his ex-wife in the episode when he handled a case against his son poorly. * A lot of people screamed this at Mohinder from ''[[Heroes (TV series)\|Heroes]]'' when he {{spoiler\|injected himself with a [[Super Serum]] he'd invented mere hours ago from studying a woman who cries death, while outside in a bad part of town. And also wanted to ''distribute it to the general public'', despite the fact that a remarkable proportion of those with powers kill people a lot or even try to destroy the world}}. * [[Lampshaded]] in ''[[~~Americas Funniest Home Videos\|~~America's Funniest Home Videos]]'' during the Daisy Fuentes season, where she gives a little speech about the three primary audience reactions: "hahahaha", "[[Share the Male Pain\|owwwww...]]" and "what were they thinking?" * ''[[Doctor Phil]]'', anyone? * Used in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', see the page quote. * Used verbatim in ''[[~~Flash Forward 2009~~FlashForward\|Flashforward]]'', regarding Mark Benford's [[What an Idiot!\|actions]] in the last episode. * Used in an episode of [[Everybody Hates Chris]], in which Julius is laid off and has to take care of the house, cooking, and cleaning while Rochelle tries to find a job. After being insulted by Rochelle for most of the episode, Julius makes the mistake of saying that taking care of the house, which Rochelle usually does, isn't that hard. Cue Rochelle, who is known for cursing people out, launching a positively ''horrifying'' hour-long tirade that had Julius cowering in the corner, ending with Rochelle yelling "HAVE YOU ''LOST'' YOUR MIND!??!" * Used in ''[[The League of Gentlemen]]'' when a [[Too Dumb to Live\|minor member of a]] [[Cannibal Tribe\|gentleman's club]] of... [[MacGuffin\|purveyors of Special Stuff]] (which makes even [[I'm a Humanitarian\|human flesh]] seem upstanding and moral) run by [[The Butcher\|Hilary Briss]] decides to bring his wife to a secret meeting: {{quote\| '''Briss''' Right…now we’re all finally convened. As my special customers, you’re no doubt aw…~~<br />~~ Maurice's wife enters~~<br />~~ '''Eunice''' Hiya, I was just parking the car.~~<br />~~ '''Briss''' Right, Eunice! An unexpected pleasure! Sam, would you like to get Eunice a drink?... Maurice,…do you have a moment?~~<br />~~ Briss leads him to one side~~<br />~~ '''Briss''' Are you out of your [[Precision F -Strike\|fucking]] mind? }} * Pops up in ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'' on occasion, such as Joel to Crow for letting [[Evil Twin\|Timmy]] on board, or (much later) Crow to Mike after he's [[Mike Nelson, Destroyer of Worlds\|just blown us his third planet]]. * Jay Leno famously asked Hugh Grant after the latter's [[No Such Thing Asas Bad Publicity\|sex scandal]]: "What the ''hell'' were you thinking?" ** [[Denis Leary]] said the same thing about Marv Albert's scandal in his stand-up special, ''Lock and Load.'' Line 72 ⟶ 73: * Comes up quite a lot in WWE, either from skits backstage after a loss (or near-loss) because of a tag team partner, or when a commenter wonders what a high-flyer was thinking after attempting a high risk move successfully (or unsuccessfully) and losing the match. * [[Kane (~~Wrestling~~wrestling)\|Kane]] buried [[The Undertaker]]...[[Death Is Cheap\|again]]. He decided to hold a funeral in respect of him...and then [[Alberto Del Rio]] interrupted. Now, given that Alberto has only been on Smackdown for a few months, and Kane is a veteran who ''just took out [[The Undertaker]]'', and that Alberto interrupted his "funeral" just to challenge Kane, the audience, Kane, and pretty much anyone else who may have been watching all exclaimed... {{quote\| --"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?"}} ** ...the funny thing is, Alberto then proceeded to [[Oh Crap\|slap Undertaker's urn]] from [[Paul Bearer]]'s hand, dodge Kane's punch and ''[[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?\|kick him across the face.]]'' * Some fans exclaim this when a promotion has a good angle or rivalry going and then proceeds to screw it up somewhere along the line. WWE tends to get this ''a lot''. For example, dropping the US Title rematch of [[Daniel Bryan]] vs [[Sheamus]] from Wrestlemania 27, considering that they're two of WWE's most consistent workers and could have put on an awesome match. == Music == * Folk singer Christine Lavin's song "What Was I Thinking", originally written in the late 1990s, features such examples as a poor choice of formal dress, hair style, and [[Ripped ~~From~~from the Headlines\|poor choice of White House intern]]. == Newspaper Comics == * ''[[Zits]]'' has Mom convey an expression that says this phrase without using words to react to Jeremy's antics. Likely she doesn't say it because Jeremy will likely react with some quip. {{quote\| '''Mom:''' What were you thinking!~~<br />~~ '''Jeremy:''' Everything's cause-and-effect with you, isn't it. }} Line 91 ⟶ 92: * Take an RPG, any RPG, and one character will inevitably say this to another. ** And most likely, the player was thinking about [[Stupidity Is the Only Option\|why they had to do that to continue.]] * In ''[[Fate/stay ~~Stay Night~~night]]'', Shirou gets this a lot, because what he does tends to get him disemboweled or otherwise grievously harmed while the person he was helping probably would have been okay, or whoever he was trying to save was clearly beyond help. Unusually for this trope, Shirou fully realizes that what he's doing is mind-bogglingly stupid ''even as he's doing it'', [[Honor Before Reason\|but he's so dependent on his "save everyone" philosophy that he refuses to compromise it in any way]], [[Death Seeker\|even if it means his own life.]] == Webcomics == * [http://explosm.net/comics/1582/ This] ''[[Cyanide ~~and~~& Happiness]]'' comic. * [http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003978 Sollux: Fling stars specibus-ward.] == Web Original == * "What were they ''thinking''!?" is one of [[~~The Angry Video Game Nerd (Web Video)\|~~The Angry Video Game Nerd]]'s many [[Catch Phrase\|catchphrases]], used for an asinine flaw with a bad game. * Mike Mozart of [[Jeepers Media]] uses this catchphrase when he comes across a toy with a... [[Freud Was Right\|suggestive]] design flaw. * There is actually an entire blog dedicated to asking this question about old comics. It's even titled [https://web.archive.org/web/20131013144311/http://luchins.com/wwtt/ What Were They Thinking?] * Some editors in [[This Wiki]] tend to use this at times as a reaction... and [[Pothole]] it to this very page. * During [[~~The Cinema Snob (Web Video)\|~~The Cinema Snob]]'s crossover with [[Phelous]]:<ref>Neither has brought anything to review, so Brad is looking at a clothes iron held by Phelan</ref>: {{quote\| '''Phelous:''' Um...clothes...wrinkly...~~<br />~~ '''Cinema Snob:''' Doesn't look to terribly b-~~<br />~~ ''He reaches out and touches the plugged in iron''~~<br />~~ '''Cinema Snob:''' OW! [[Atomic F -Bomb\|FFFUCK!]]~~<br />~~ '''Phelous:''' ...did you think would happen? }} == Western Animation == * Spoofed in the ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]'' episode "Cry Ed", where, after Ed drops a ''house'' on Eddy in response to Eddy's scheme to get himself injured and gain sympathy, the following exchange occurs: {{quote\| '''Edd''': Ed! What in heaven's name were you ''thinking''?!~~<br />~~ '''Ed''': Absolutely nothing, Double-Dee. }} * ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'': Zuko frequently hears this from his uncle- "Of all the foolish things you've done in your sixteen years, Prince Zuko, this is the most foolish!", "You never think these things through!" In response to short-sighted things such as when he went through a great deal of life-threatening dangers to get the Avatar and would have died if Aang's friends hadn't come and decided to [[Save the Villain]]. * Parodied in an episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' {{quote\| '''Marge:''' This is the worst thing you've ever done!~~<br />~~ '''Homer:''' You've said that so often the words have lost all meaning. }} ** Apu gets an even more spectacular one: {{quote\| '''Skinner:''' Now I... I finally have time to do what I've always wanted: write the great American novel. Mine is about [[Jurassic Park\|a futuristic amusement park where dinosaurs are brought to life through advanced cloning techniques.]] I call it "[[A Boy and His X\|Billy and the Cloneasaurus]]."~~<br />~~ '''Apu:''' Oh, you have got to be kidding sir. First you think of an idea that has already been done. Then you give it [[Fail O'Suckyname\|a title that nobody could possibly like]]. Didn't you think this through... (timeskip fade) ... it was on the bestseller list for eighteen months! Every magazine cover had... (timeskip fade) ... one of the most popular movies of all time, sir! ''What were you thinking?'' (pause) I mean, thank you, come again. }} * ''[[~~Fosters~~Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends]]'', "Mac Daddy": Bloo says this about Mac having apparently conjured up "Cheese". Mac's response: "Exactly, I wasn't thinking." ** "World Wide Wabbit" has Frankie ask this to Bloo when he starts a website base don Herriman's embarassing "funny bunny" video that got ''20 million hits.'' {{quote\| '''Bloo:''' I just thought it was funny.}} * ''[[The Spectacular Spider-Man]]'s'' Norman Osborn solidifies his [[Genre Savvy]] credentials by asking {{spoiler\|his son Harry this when he learned he had injected himself with the Green Goblin serum.}} * [[Transformers Animated]]: Megatron kidnaps [[Genius Ditz\|Bulkhead]] to complete his space bridge, and Bulkhead is so sick of people assuming he can't do anything that he makes it work. When Professor Sumdac calls him on this, Bulkhead points out that Sumdac was the guy who ''rebuilt Megatron'' (although he had no idea about the evil tyrant thing). * [[Donkey Kong Country\|Cranky Kong]] asks this of Donkey Kong when he learns that DK has given the [[MacGuffin\|Crystal Coconut]] to [[Big Bad\|King K.Rool]], being told to give up everything to know everything; {{quote\| '''DK:''' I wanted to know all the secrets...~~<br />~~ '''Cranky:''' So you gave the Crystal Coconut to King K. Rool!? What were you thinking!? }} ---- [[TV Tropes Ruined Your Life\|You Let TV Tropes Ruin Your Life]]? '''''[[Self -Demonstrating Article\|What Were You Thinking?!!!!!!]]''''' {{reflist}} [[Category:Stock Phrases]] [[Category:~~What Were You Thinking~~{{PAGENAME}}]] [[Category:~~Trope~~This Index Asked You a Question]]