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Revision as of 21:27, 1 November 2013 (view source) m>Import Bot (Import from TV Tropes TVT:Main.ExpectationLowerer 2012-07-01, editor history TVTH:Main.ExpectationLowerer, CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported license)		Latest revision as of 17:24, 24 February 2015 (view source) Gethbot (talk \| contribs) m (clean up)
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Line 4: This trope exists on a sliding scale of scorn; at one end the character simply exists as a flattering contrast to the audience (the [[Idiot Hero]] often fits here). At this end of the spectrum, the audience focuses on the "if ''this'' character can do x, then I certainly can do x!" On the other end of scorn scale is the harder version, where a character that is made pathetic so the audience can feel better about themselves (via [[Gratuitous German\|Schadenfreude]]). [[The Ditz]], a very common trope in [[~~Sit Com\|Sitcoms~~Sitcom]]s, is this (but [[Played for Laughs]]). Arguably an [['''Expectation Lowerer]]''' is an [[Inversion]] of [[Escapist Character]]; Escapist Characters allow you to feel good by giving you an [[Audience Surrogate]] that you can experience awesomeness through. An Expectation Lowerer makes you feel good in the exact opposite way; you ''cannot'' identify with this character and this character, in at least one respect, is worse than you. Not to be confused with [[This Loser Is You]]; where a [[Audience Surrogate\|character you identify with]] is the character that sucks. [[This Loser Is You]] basically flings the audience's faults back into their face whereas an [['''Expectation Lowerer]]''' allows them to distance themselves from their faults. Compare-Contrast the [[Mary Sue]]; a character who (like the [['''Expectation Lowerer]]''') the audience does ''not'' identify with, but due to the character's ''strengths'' rather than ''weaknesses''. Possibly related to [[Friedrich Nietzsche]] and his concept of "Pathos Of Distance" (where one casts that which one does ''not'' identify with as the morally wrong). {{examples~~\|Examples~~}} == Philosophy == * [[Friedrich Nietzsche]] and his aforementioned concept of the "pathos of distance" is arguably related to this. Nietzsche argued that moral concepts came about because societies/groups/cliques defined themselves (and a list of traits they allegedly embodied) as "the good" and hence "the unlike us" became "the bad." * St Thomas Aquinas believed that the righteous in Heaven will be able to observe the torments of the wicked in Hell; the better to enjoy their blessedness. This is probably the harshest demonstration of the second kind of [[Expectation Lowerer]], with gloating and schadenfreude [[Recycled in Space\|on a celestial level]]. == Pornography == * An example of the softer kind of [[Expectation Lowerer]] is Ron Jeremy. Jeremy described his appeal as "if [[Gonk\|that guy]] can get laid, so can I." In short he makes the audience feel more secure in their sex appeal by showing even people uglier than the (assumed) audience can get a lot of sex. * The more modestly endowed Max Hardcore has made similar statements. Making himself easy to hate has left him with few racing to adopt him as a role model. But he does make it look like a more achievable goal than being Ron Jeremy. == [[Live Action Television]] == * Every single guest on ''[[Jerry Springer]]''. * [[Hopeless Auditionees]] on any TV Talent Show (for instance, ''[[American Idol]]''). Line 32: == [[Web Original]] == * This, mixed with [[Bile Fascination]], drives sites like Encyclopedia Dramatica and People of Walmart (among many, many others). Line 40: [[Category:Audience Reactions]] [[Category:Expectation Lowerer]] ~~[[Category:Trope]]~~