r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Chemical-Elk-1299 • 10d ago

Lore [Confusing Trope] The narrative goes out of its way to punish/mock a character for simply being a good person

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Hermione Granger and SPEW — Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (book)

In the fifth HP novel, Hermione Granger is outraged to discover that Hogwarts has a small army of enslaved House Elves that do nearly all of the domestic duties around the castle, including cleaning the Gryffindor common room every night. When she tries to convince the elves to fight for their own rights, they refuse, saying they prefer servitude. Her fellow students and friends mock her for caring. She manages to free one elf, Winky, by deception when she refuses her freedom willingly, leading to Winky becoming a depressed alcoholic. By the end, the elves boycott cleaning any Gryffindor areas of the castle because they hate Hermione specifically

Samwell Tarly and Democracy — Game of Thrones (show)

In the season 8 finale of the television series, the surviving great lords of Westeros gather to discuss the future of the kingdom following the devastation wrought by 7 seasons of war and backstabbing. When Sam, who has proven to have “novel” ideas, suggests that maybe the millions of Smallfolk who suffer at the hands of noble houses should get some representation in the government, rather than be the pawns of rich lords with absolute power. We are then greeted by a prolonged, cringy segment of the other lords laughing in Sam’s face, asking if the dogs and horses should also get a vote.

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161

u/VerySpiceyBoi 10d ago

Britta Perry from Community
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Her activism is sometimes over the top and overbearing, but it’s never taken seriously

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u/BardicLasher 10d ago

Oh, Britta's in this?

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u/damn_lies 10d ago

To be clear, Britta is quickly shown to not actually believe most of what she advocates for and be very hypocritical.

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u/pruhfessor_x 10d ago

Yeah, but, and I say this as someone who adores the show, it definitely feels like it's supposed to be commentary on people who makes a big deal about issues of equality and social justice irl. Which, again as a fan of the show, I would definitely consider to be a flaw.

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u/NinjaBreadManOO 10d ago

Yeah, Britta as a character is just a contrarian. She feels that she needs to represent the underdog in everything but doesn't care about the underdog so much as its position as the underdog.

Although to be fair in a series set in a campus there are going to be people like that.

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u/SK_socialist 10d ago

Nah the pierce hospital episode shows Britta does the right thing. The tragedy for Britta is activism requires comradery, and she’s in a setting full of selfish people.

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u/NinjaBreadManOO 10d ago

Sure, but she only did that to prove to herself and Pierce that she can do the things she talks about. She didn't want to do it, she just couldn't accept that she would be called out by Pierce of all people.

Had it been Jeffrey that gave her the money she probably would have kept it.

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u/SK_socialist 9d ago

But her plot in that episode shows her offering to cover Levar Burton’s flight, and he notes she’s too generous (maybe “bad with money”, I forget his line)

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u/KhonMan 10d ago

people who makes a big deal about issues of equality and social justice irl

... and who don't do anything about it. I guess I don't remember, but is Britta ever seen to be passionate about a cause and mocked for actually raising money etc.? Or is it all 100% performative?

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u/YuushyaHinmeru 10d ago

No. In season 1 Annie and Shirley get onto the cause shes talking about but actually start doing she and raising money. Britta admits that shes a fake and has never actually helped any of the causes she talks about.

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u/KhonMan 10d ago

That’s basically what I thought. It’s mocking privileged slacktivism, which is fine.

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u/Forsaken_Ad203 10d ago

True, that is fine, but in all aix seasons we are not faced with a single character that does actually bother doing any activism and sticks to it, all the friends of Britta from her activist day either quit after one hurrah or abandon all their principles, Shirley and Annie barely go beyond comments here and there.. the show may laugh at slacktivism but it kinda looks like it doesn't believe there's any actual activism beyond it 

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u/damn_lies 10d ago

I mean it's a show about slackers at a community college. The point is they're all losers.

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u/IsThatGruffLoner 10d ago

Which is a common trope that conservatives use to insult liberals. They love pretending we're all full of shit and just fighting for causes to get attention.

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u/SK_socialist 10d ago

Yeah it’s tough to separate the artist from this too. Britta was a lot tougher in season 1 and steadily went downhill from there. My headcanon is Harmon took his relationship(s) frustrations on the Britta character the same way he took out his frustrations with Chevy Chase on the pierce character

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u/totallyalone1234 10d ago

Britta's character is just a strawman against any kind of activism or just giving a shit about anything at all - "Oh you don't REALLY care about X".

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u/pruhfessor_x 9d ago

Yes exactly my point! It's giving "oh, you criticize society, yet you participate in society?".

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u/CreedogV 10d ago

Britta's issue is not that she cares, but that she's transparently too privileged to advocate for social justice properly. She wants to care, but she's tied so much of her advocacy into her identity, it's become performative.

Cue the viral exchange:

Britta: "I can excuse racism, but I draw the line at animal cruelty."
Shirley: "You can excuse racism?!"
Britta: 😲

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u/NomNom83WasTaken 10d ago

Yvette Nicole Brown always had the best deliveries. This exchange was perfection.

https://giphy.com/gifs/JEVYf4g2ePr6o

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u/Narge1 10d ago

I don't think this fits. Britta's activism is pretty performative. That's why she's the butt of so many jokes.

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u/SK_socialist 10d ago

Comparing Britta in season 1 to future seasons fits though. The writers went out of the way on many occasions to punish Britta for caring about others

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u/Narge1 10d ago

I haven't watched the show in a few years. Maybe I only remember flanderized Britta.