Inkblot Test: Difference between revisions

[[File:InkblotTest.jpg|frame|What do you see? And no, [[Watchmen (comics)|Rorschach]] is not the answer.]]

 

 

 

In some comedic situations, inkblots sometimes will be created spontaneously with a sheet of folded paper and whatever ink or inklike substance might be handy. In ''very'' comedic situations, such a blot will spontaneously form a perfectly clear image of whatever the plot requires the character to be diagnosed as obsessed with.

 

{{examples}}

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* A Rorschach test featured prominently in ''[[Tokyo Mew Mew]] a la mode'' ([[Fanon Discontinuity|yes, we know it doesn't exist]]). The villain started using the regular tests on [[Fan Nickname|Berry Sue]]... er, Berii's classmates, then moved to the "special tests" - blindingly obvious pictures of the [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]]'s namesake items - to mind control them.

** At least in the movie, once Rorschach breaks out of his cell and gets his <s> mask</s> face (which frequently shifts into inkblot patterns) back he asks the doctor: "What do you see?".

* In [[Grant Morrison]]'s graphic novel ''[[Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth]]'', the Joker grabs a set of inkblot cards from a psychiatrist and proceeds to mock the test itself by facetiously claiming to see such things as two angels having sex and a Jewish ventriloquist act. He then attempts to test [[Batman]] who, although he sees a bat as in the below example, claims to see nothing. The Joker retorts, "Not even a cute little long-legged boy in swimming trunks?", an unsubtle [[Ho Yay/Comic Books|reference to Robin]].

* There was an issue of ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes]]'' wherein Brainiac 5 administered an Inkblot Test to Jo Nah. Jo described every inkblot as a picture of him strangling or otherwise committing violence on the person of Brainy. When Brainy became frustrated with this, Jo replied that it wasn't his fault, Brainy was the one with all the pictures of himself being abused.

 

 

== [[Film]] ==

{{quote|'''Newton Crosby, PhD''': Where? Holy shit!

'''Johnny 5''': No shit. Where see shit? }}

** This troper found it strange that somebody as smart as Batman would be dumb enough to actually mention that he sees bats in any painting, and wouldn't know he was looking at a Rorschach.

*** It is incredibly difficult to see the 'inkblot' as being something other than a bat.

* In ''[[Problem Child]]'', the prison psychiatrist is giving a Rorschach test to the Bow Tie Killer, only the "inkblots" are actually bloodstains left by his victims. While the warden is in the room he lies, saying he sees things like butterflies and bunnies hopping across fields. This enrages the warden, and the psychiatrist forces him to leave. Once the warden leaves, the psychiatrist continues the test, and the Bow Tie Killer says he sees blood, and kills the psychiatrist, puts on his clothes and drives out of prison. Why no one was watching what was going on from behind a two-way mirror [[Fridge Logic|is anyone's guess.]]

* In ''Take The Money And Run,'' Woody Allen's character's troubled youth is highlighted when he interprets an inkblot drawing as "Two ostriches making love to a glee club."

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* In ''[[Flowers for Algernon]]'', Charlie is given a Rorschach early on, and to highlight his severe mental retardation (as in the ''Lila'' example above), he can't see anything other than the inkblot. A few weeks later, he's given the test again, and gets angry because he thinks they changed the test on him.

** It's not that he couldn't see the resemblance of the inkblots to anything else, it's just that he misinterpreted the psychiatrist's question as meaning that he was supposed to find some sort of hidden picture. Makes the same point, though.

 

== [[Radio]] ==

"'Dump'... very interesting. Next?"

"A dead flower... [[Broken Bird|a bird with an injured wing]]... ''(incredulously)'' a chainsaw cutting through a wedding cake... an engagement ring that's been run over by a steamroller -- Jared, what are you doing?" }}

 

== [[Stand Up Comedy]] ==

* One episode of ''[[The Addams Family]]'' had Cousin It administer inkblots as part of an intelligence test. He gives a series of odd answers (like a sunset over Phoenix), and the tester is astonished that It "got them all correct". Can't tell if the writers [[Did Not Do the Research]] or [[They Just Didn't Care]].

** Then again, it could just be a joke or an inside reference, as viewers at that time likely wouldn't be too familiar with the Rorschach test.

** To be more accurate, he saw two images of gun violence, "[[Rule of Three|a field]] [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|of pussy willows]]," "a [machine gun] blowing away the pussy willows," and "a duck handcuffing a naked woman."

* On ''[[The Golden Girls]]'', Sophia is taking an inkblot test in an attempt to become a nun. She identifies all the blots as increasingly elaborate religious imagery: an angel, a dove perched upon the throne of God, the Blessed Virgin smiling as she pours love upon the hearts of the righteous, until Dorothy interrupts exasperatedly that the blot is obviously "[[Dynasty|John Forsythe]] lying naked in a pool of honey." The nun administering the test agrees.

* A doctor attempts to give Vala one on ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'', but abandons it when she keeps claiming to see abstract concepts like courage in the blots.

* On ''[[Empty Nest]]'' the Lothario Charley finds Carol's inkblots and asks why she has pictures of naked women, (before putting them in his pocket for later.)

'''Servo:''' That means you're a sexual predator. }}

* Parodied and then some in ''[[Scrubs]]'' where Turk asks his marriage counselor if the image hanging above him is one of those psychological inkblot things, because if it is, then Turk sees a duck. Cut to a view of the image, and it's actually a perfectly normal portrait of a duck.

{{quote|I don't have any self-esteem issues...''[sees an inkblot]'' hey, where'd you get this picture of my mom making fun of me?}}

* Parodied in ''[[Spaced]]''; as part of his psychological evaluation to re-enter the Territorial Army, Mike is administered an inkblot test... and identifies everything (including a card that clearly represents two people having sex) as being related to war, killing, guts and / or guns. Except for the last one, which he associates with a butterfly, until the disapproving look he gets from the panel inspires him to amend it to "Butterfly with a ''bomb''!" Needless to say, this demonstration of psychological maladjustment makes him perfect material for the TA, and he is re-admitted.

* [[Heavy Rain]] has Ethan see 4 blots. During each blot, you get to choose what image out of 3 option you choose. The first 3 are innocent, while the last one is all death related options.

* In the tutorial/character creation part of ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]'', inkblots are one of the tests Doc Mitchell gives the player character in order to determine your tag skills, along with a word association test.

* In ''[[Batman: Arkham Asylum]]'' one of the Joker's interview tapes has recieving one of these:

{{quote|'''Joker''': ''"Do you want me to look at the ink blots again? The first one is a kitten I had when I was a child, the second is, hmmm let's see... a dead elephant."''}}

* ''[[Comicstrip/Perry Bible Fellowship|Perry Bible Fellowship]]'' has a [http://pbfcomics.com/?cid=PBF233-Psychoanalyst.jpg twisted take.]

* In ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'', Grace realizes that [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2004-06-20 Mr. Verres had run a series of stealth psychological evaluations on her] with one test involving this.

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

* ''[[Bastard Operator From Hell|BOFH]]'' and his assistant got some ''[[Acceptable Target|analyst]]'' estimating them for ''security'' purpose. Naturally, they [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/11/07/bofh_and_the_government_contract/ could not leave this insult unmocked].

{{quote|And what does this picture remind you of?

[[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Some spilt paint]]? }}

 

* Parodied in ''[[Drawn Together]]'', where a test of this kind is applied to Xandir. All the things he says he sees are homosexual innuendo, but all the "blots" of ink are also figurative representations of those [[Double Entendre]]s.

* Parodied on the ''[[101 Dalmatians|One Hundred and One Dalmatians]]'' cartoon, where a dog "actor" is given such a test. His response is "The destructive power of all mankind" (or something similar); the ink blot looks almost exactly like a ''daisy''.

** In another episode, the titular character sees [[Big Bad]] Zurg in every ink blot, then at the end of the test the administrator of it holds up a picture of a teammate, leading to one of the best lines of the series:

{{quote|'''Buzz:''' That's Mira. She's happy. Cuz we got Zurg's pen.}}

* One episode of ''[[Two Stupid Dogs]]'' has the two dogs doing one. The first few blots are are consistently identified as a ball (Little Dog) and food (Big Dog). The final image of a ball and food stumped them.

* Parodied/[[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] on ''[[Invader Zim]]'':

'''Ms. Bitters:''' Oh you poor, doomed child. }}

* In the pilot episode of ''[[Daria]]'', she is given a test on her first day of school where she's shown a picture of two people and asked what they're discussing. First she tells the school psychologist that she sees "A herd of beautiful ponies, running across the plains." Then she says that the two people are discussing "A herd of beautiful ponies running across the plains."

* An episode of ''[[Beavis and Butthead]]'' had the boys looking at some inkblots and constantly hinting that it looked like a guy masturbating. When shown a photo of a male singer holding a microphone in a suggestive manner, Butt-Head says "Uh...that's like, just a bunch of shapes."

* Used briefly in ''[[Hey Arnold!]]'' during Helga's session with a child psychologist in ''Helga On The Couch''. After seeing Arnold in three inkblots, [[Love Makes You Crazy|she grabs all the papers and frantically throws them out a window.]] Admittedly the ones she sees as Arnold are pretty hard ''not'' to see as Arnold.

* Used in an episode of ''[[Doug]]'' where Skeeter is given one after scoring very high on one of those Myers-Briggs type tests. He is given the option to skip ahead to college, but {{spoiler|chooses not to, because he doesn't fit in with the college crowd, who smoke and aren't fond of his air guitar.}}

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Psychology Tropes]]

[[Category:Crime and Punishment Tropes]]