Why Did You Make Me Hit You?: Difference between revisions

Line 6:

Picture the scene: A mother is arguing with her teenage daughter. The cause might be trivial; maybe the kid was late coming home, or she wants to go to university in a different state when her mother would rather she stays close by. Usually, the mother wins these arguments, if only by virtue of [[You Are Grounded]]. But her daughter's not backing down this time, and she's refusing to be sent to her room. She may actually have the upper hand, and is making a reasonable, intelligent argument, justifying her actions and likely managing to get the audience on her side. The argument escalates until the mother realizes that she can't win this one, or the daughter makes a comment that hits a little too close to home.

[[Armor Piercing Slap|SLAP!]]

[[Armor-Piercing Slap|SLAP!]]

Quick as a flash, the mother's hand slams across her daughter's cheek. There's a pause while the girl registers that she's been hurt.

Line 12:

And that's when mother plays her trump card. Before her daughter can get over the shock, before she can get angry and start fighting back... her mother bursts into tears. Normally, the person who now sports a bright red hand print across her face will begin apologizing profusely or start crying as well, usually hugging the one that just hit her. Somehow, the ''victim'' is now convinced that ''she'' was to blame... and the slapper "wins" the argument by default.

The victim of [[Why Did You Make Me Hit You]] can be anyone, but the two most common characters who are subject to being the victim are close relative or friend, usually a child or surrogate child, or a romantic partner/spouse. Thanks to the [[Double Standard]], if a ''man'' should employ this trope, it's a given that not only is domestic violence on the horizon, it's mixed in with [[Manipulative Bastard]] traits too. For example, the violent husband who knows how to play on his wife's soft-heartedness. These characters are almost invariably written as [[Kick the Dog|pure evil]]. In the case of a woman slapping her boyfriend, the chances are that the trope will be recognized as an emotionally manipulative ploy, but it's much less likely to be a sign of a [[Domestic Abuse]] plot; if it's a daughter or friend being slapped, the attacker will probably get away with it, they will reconcile and everything will have been forgotten two scenes later; however, as the signs and symptoms of emotional abuse are becoming more publicized (and stories of emotionally abusive women are featured more often in [[Real Life]] news stories) this portrayal is beginning to change.

The victim of [[Why Did You Make Me Hit You?]] can be anyone, but the two most common characters who are subject to being the victim are close relative or friend, usually a child or surrogate child, or a romantic partner/spouse. Thanks to the [[Double Standard]], if a ''man'' should employ this trope, it's a given that not only is domestic violence on the horizon, it's mixed in with [[Manipulative Bastard]] traits too. For example, the violent husband who knows how to play on his wife's soft-heartedness. These characters are almost invariably written as [[Kick the Dog|pure evil]]. In the case of a woman slapping her boyfriend, the chances are that the trope will be recognized as an emotionally manipulative ploy, but it's much less likely to be a sign of a [[Domestic Abuse]] plot; if it's a daughter or friend being slapped, the attacker will probably get away with it, they will reconcile and everything will have been forgotten two scenes later; however, as the signs and symptoms of emotional abuse are becoming more publicized (and stories of emotionally abusive women are featured more often in [[Real Life]] news stories) this portrayal is beginning to change.

Occasionally this is a one-off event that isn't indicative of an abusive relationship, just an argument gone bad, or just [[Played for Laughs]], especially if the person hit isn't very hurt or recovers immediately. The character who does the hitting won't have done it before, and probably won't do it again. In the case of children, particularly if the child has worried the parents, it will be seen as a natural reaction toward the scare, a result of combined worry, anger, and relief.

Line 18:

It's also pretty much a given in any show between the [[Stalker With a Crush]] or [[Yandere]] and the object of their very twisted "affection".

Compare [[Sorry I Fell On Your Fist]] (from the victim's side) or [[Armor Piercing Slap]] (for cases when the hitter usually does NOT burst into tears) and [[Get a Hold of Yourself Man]] (in which the hitter really did have no choice but to hit the hitee, due to the latter being a hysterical mess).

Compare [[Sorry I Fell On Your Fist]] (from the victim's side) or [[Armor-Piercing Slap]] (for cases when the hitter usually does NOT burst into tears) and [[Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!]] (in which the hitter really did have no choice but to hit the hitee, due to the latter being a hysterical mess).