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Good Flaws, Bad Flaws: Difference between revisions
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* [[Drugs Are Bad|Drug addiction]] (except when it leads to violence)
* [[Smoking Is Cool|Tobacco use]] (cigars and cigarettes)
* [[Anything That Moves|Sexual]] [[Really Gets Around|promiscuity]] or [[Rule
** Audiences can be particularly forgiving if some kind of [[Fan Service]] is involved.
* [[Slobs Versus Snobs|Reverse snobbery]]
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* [[The Stoic|Emotional aloofness,]] especially with ''[[Troubled but Cute|Male]]'' [[Love Interests]]
* [[Extreme Doormat|Lack]] of [[Shrinking Violet|self-confidence]]
* [[Stepford Smiler|Holding ridiculously high standards]],<ref>(Take note: this is the most common and perhaps ''the only'' personal flaw ever writen in a resume or job application.)</ref>
* [[Abuse Is Okay When It Is Female On Male|Husband abuse,]] especially the [[Armor
* Being a [[Noble Bigot]] or an [[Innocent Bigot]], especially for [[Fair for Its Day|people who grew up a long time ago]] or [[Noble Bigot
* [[The Ingenue|Immaturity, in women.]]
* A [[Hot
* [[Brilliant but Lazy|Laziness]]
* [[Precision F
* [[Self
'''While a list of flaws that are currently "bad" includes:'''
* [[Race Tropes|Ethnic prejudice]] (unless, of course, the victims of one's prejudice are [[Acceptable Targets]])
** [[Political Correctness Gone Mad|Political Correctness]]
* Sexism: [[Does Not Like Men|misandry]] or [[He
** [[Straw Feminist|Straw Feminism]]
* [[Gay Aesop|Homophobia]] (Except in [[Chick Tract|some]] [[The Fundamentalist|religious]] [[The Moral Substitute|literature]])
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A character who's addicted to alcohol is a helpless victim of an addictive substance. A character who chain-smokes is a rube who doesn't understand the dangers of smoking and ought to die of lung cancer for his foolishness (although, occasionally there are [[Good Smoking, Evil Smoking|sympathetic smokers]]). A character who has sex freely isn't necessarily seen as flawed at all (and provides [[Sex Sells|interesting plot opportunities...]]) while a genuinely racist or homophobic character portrayed in any kind of positive light whatsoever is a rarity these days. (A number of comedians will pretend racist/homophobic viewpoints for laughs, but also insist that they're only kidding. See, however, [[Licensed Sexist]].)
Of course, 60 years ago some of the entries on these lists might have been inverted. And in fact, this is a cyclical trope, constantly changing as artists try to push the envelope and hit that edgy sweet spot of transgressive but not reprehensible (i.e. just edgy enough to make your grandmother mad, but not you; you're in the movie watching demographic).
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One major exception to this trope is this: A character who has a "bad" flaw is allowed to be the hero if the experiences of their journey inspire them to cast off this flaw. If your prejudiced hero learns about other ethnic groups over the course of his journey and, at the end of the book, decides that he can now accept people of different ethnic groups as equal to himself; well, he was an egalitarian all along, just waiting for the right experience to let him grow, wasn't he? (Less idealistic works might have the hero retain his bad habits, but [[Knight in Sour Armor|still strive to do the right thing in spite of himself]].)
Related to [[Once
Feel free to add more examples to the current list, but try to keep it general and widely applicable. Also, feel free to add lists of examples pertaining to other cultures and time periods. Also feel free to add to the list of examples below, but keep in mind that this sort of thing is often played with and changes over time, so there are going to be very few straight examples.
'''Note:''' Please try to keep [[Fantastic Racism
{{examples
== [[Film]] ==
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** Though set in a college ''[[Accepted]]'' is a prime example of this: at their first meeting, before he has any personal reason to dislike them, Bartleby goes out of his way to insult Ambrose and his fraternity. It's portrayed as an underdog sticking it to some rich jerks.
** Of course, the cool kids are often portrayed as doing it out of spontaneous malice, while the uncool kids are often seeking [[Revenge]] for either another prank or some other malicious act, which does introduce a moral difference beside whodunit.
* [[James Bond (
== [[Literature]] ==
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* William Laurence from the ''[[Temeraire]]'' books, is a Napoleonic Era Naval Officer, with the ridiculously high standards expected within that service. He moves to the Aerial Corps, which is a much more laid back affair and allows this to be an excellent hook. In some ways it's possible to consider the Aerial Corps as a pocket 'modern' society within the early 19th Century setting.
* Haymitch from [[The Hunger Games]] is an alcoholic. At the begining, this is presented as just futher proof of his incompetency- until it is revealed that he drinks in order to mask the pain of losing everyone he loves, and failing to protect children in the arena, year after year.
* [[Horatio Hornblower]] is terrified of heights and prone to sea-sickness, a pair of traits one might consider unusual for [[The Captain]] in a series about [[Wooden Ships and Iron Men]]. The sea-sickness is eventually revealed to be something the crew accepts without comment
** Also, he is very emotionally detached and calculating. Played positively, these traits make him a tactical genius and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|very good at cards]], played negatively, and he ends up having a terrible time dealing with other people short of being very manipulative.
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* For sympathetic characters with regular snobbery, you have [[Frasier|Frasier and Niles]], chiefly via [[Character Development]]. Frasier was originally written as a [[Romantic False Lead]] and eventual [[Ensemble Darkhorse]] on [[Cheers]], where the whole [[Slobs Versus Snobs]] angle was very much [[Played Straight]].
** Similarly, Charles Emerson Winchester of ''[[
* Johnathan Quayle Higgins on ''[[Magnum,
* [[House (TV series)|House]] gets away with all kinds of offensive remarks because it's clear he actually hates everyone regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, etc., and just says whatever he thinks will offend his target the most. As Cameron says in one episode to defend him after he says something sexist, "[He's] a misanthrope, not a misogynist."
== [[Real Life]] ==▼
* Even more intractable is the tendency to attempt to psychologically scan a historical subject to see if he ([[Always Male|and it usually is indeed a "he"]]) harbors any sensibilities that are currently abhorrent. This can be tricky for a number of reasons, not least of which is the fact that individuals who weren't particularly political or weren't social critics probably didn't put forth that many substantial opinions. Also, said person may merely be speaking or writing to others who ''do'' harbor those views, and pandering to them. Finally, despite what many seem to believe, irony and sarcasm were not twentieth-century inventions.▼
== [[Video Games]] ==
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* Eric Cartman from ''[[South Park]]'' is a horrible bigot, and is portrayed absolutely unsympathetically. He still has his fans, though.
* The entire list in the article description is practically a laundry list for [[Futurama|Bender B. Rodriguez]]'s entire personality. He gets away with it through [[Refuge in Audacity]] and [[Rule of Funny]], with a good dose of [[Karma Houdini]] to dodge plot-related consequences.
▲== [[Real Life]] ==
▲* Even more intractable is the tendency to attempt to psychologically scan a historical subject to see if he ([[Always Male|and it usually is indeed a "he"]]) harbors any sensibilities that are currently abhorrent. This can be tricky for a number of reasons, not least of which is the fact that individuals who weren't particularly political or weren't social critics probably didn't put forth that many substantial opinions. Also, said person may merely be speaking or writing to others who ''do'' harbor those views, and pandering to them. Finally, despite what many seem to believe, irony and sarcasm were not twentieth-century inventions.
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:This Is Your Index On Drugs]]
[[Category:Race Tropes]]
[[Category:Good Flaws, Bad Flaws]]
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