...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

Don't Shoot the Message

976 statements
189 feature instances
21 referencing feature instances

Don't Shoot the Message	type	FeatureClass
Don't Shoot the Message	label	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message	page	DontShootTheMessage
Don't Shoot the Message	comment	You partake in a piece of media. Frankly, you find it to be just terrible. The acting is wooden, the plot is boring and unrealistic, the effects are cheap, the soundtrack is annoying, the writing is poor (if not offensive) and the costumes are ugly. Worse yet is the Aesop the show attempts to give: The logic of its arguments is hypocritical, if not nonsensical, its world-view is unnuanced, the characters frequently burst into boring monologues concerning what are almost certainly the author's opinions on the subject, those who disagree with the opinion are dismissed unsatisfactorily, and the general preachiness makes it a chore to get through. And the worst part of all of this? You actually agree with what the work is trying to say. Related to the concept of the Clueless Aesop, Don't Shoot the Message is the phenomenon that results when viewers feel the need to explain that, while they are in agreement with the message attempted by a work, they hate the delivery enough that they still find the work intolerable. Quite often, this is because they consider the message's delivery to be about as subtle as an anvil to the face in a way that drags the whole work down. They might consider the messenger to be Right for the Wrong Reasons, or the message to be too oversimplified or laden with straw. The work is seen as preachy, even to the proverbial choir that is being preached to. The above description gives an extreme hypothetical, but you do not need to think a work is outright terrible to qualify; you merely have to dislike it for any of a hundred reasons unrelated to its Aesop. Such a position should not be seen as particularly incongruous, but it is often assumed that those who dislike a work necessarily disagree with its point of view. Many times, it is indeed the case: If an unpalatable bias is detected in a work, people will steer clear of it. However, the a priori assumption that this is the case is most certainly an invocation of Logical Fallacies — for instance, hating a corny anti-drug PSA does not mean that one supports full legalization. One possible form this could take is a Space Whale Aesop. Contrast this with Strawman Has a Point, when one can't help but agree with the opposite of the work's position, not so much because of one's prior beliefs as because the work did such a bad job of portraying the opposition. This could also lead to a Logic Bomb if your reason for shooting the message is because of the messenger's hypocrisy. Also contrast Hard Truth Aesop, when An Aesop is viewed as valid despite its unpleasantness due to its handling in the work. Compare Stealth Parody, which can differ from this trope only in creator intent, and due to Poe's Law may be confused for each other. If this occurs In-Universe, it's Jerkass Has a Point. See also Not Helping Your Case. Also related to Hitler Ate Sugar, when a viewpoint is criticized on the (fallacious) grounds that someone who held it was a bad apple. Those too eager to avoid this characterization may resort to the No True Scotsman fallacy ("that person isn't a real example of X"). Not to be confused with Shoot the Messenger.
Don't Shoot the Message	fetched	2024-04-16T02:16:56Z
Don't Shoot the Message	parsed	2024-04-16T02:16:56Z
Don't Shoot the Message	processingComment	Dropped link to AccusationFic: Not an Item - FEATURE
Don't Shoot the Message	processingComment	Dropped link to AdaptationalVillainy: Not an Item - FEATURE
Don't Shoot the Message	processingComment	Dropped link to BeYourself: Not an Item - FEATURE
Don't Shoot the Message	processingComment	Dropped link to BlackAndWhiteMorality: Not an Item - FEATURE
Don't Shoot the Message	processingComment	Dropped link to BradPaisley: Not an Item - IGNORE
Don't Shoot the Message	processingComment	Dropped link to BrokenBase: Not an Item - FEATURE
Don't Shoot the Message	processingComment	Dropped link to ButtMonkey: Not an Item - FEATURE
Don't Shoot the Message	processingComment	Dropped link to CentralTheme: Not an Item - FEATURE
Don't Shoot the Message	processingComment	Dropped link to ChristinaAguilera: Not an Item - IGNORE
Don't Shoot the Message	processingComment	Dropped link to ChristmasEpisode: Not an Item - FEATURE
Don't Shoot the Message	processingComment	Dropped link to CluelessAesop: Not an Item - FEATURE
Don't Shoot the Message	processingComment	Dropped link to Dehumanization: Not an Item - FEATURE
Don't Shoot the Message	processingComment	Dropped link to HorribleHollywood: Not an Item - FEATURE
Don't Shoot the Message	processingComment	Dropped link to KeithUrban: Not an Item - IGNORE
Don't Shoot the Message	processingComment	Dropped link to KimbaTheWhiteLion: Not an Item - UNKNOWN
Don't Shoot the Message	processingComment	Dropped link to PayEvilUntoEvil: Not an Item - FEATURE
Don't Shoot the Message	processingComment	Dropped link to SeasonalRot: Not an Item - FEATURE
Don't Shoot the Message	processingComment	Dropped link to StopBeingStereotypical: Not an Item - FEATURE
Don't Shoot the Message	processingComment	Dropped link to StrangledByTheRedString: Not an Item - FEATURE
Don't Shoot the Message	processingComment	Dropped link to SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Not an Item - FEATURE
Don't Shoot the Message	processingComment	Dropped link to TeenIdol: Not an Item - FEATURE
Don't Shoot the Message	processingComment	Dropped link to VengeanceFeelsEmpty: Not an Item - FEATURE
Don't Shoot the Message	processingComment	Dropped link to wangst: Not an Item - FEATURE
Don't Shoot the Message	processingUnknown	KimbaTheWhiteLion
Don't Shoot the Message	isPartOf	DBTropes
Don't Shoot the Message / int_11f42563	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_11f42563	comment	Welcome to Pooh Corner: "Too Smart for Strangers" is an infamous episode because, while it does teach the right messages (not to go with strangers, that people might try to trick kids, and even that dangerous people could be acquaintances as well as strangers), it felt awkward having characters from a franchise like Winnie the Pooh talking about such a dark topic.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_11f42563	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_11f42563	featureConfidence	1.0
Welcome to Pooh Corner	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_11f42563
Don't Shoot the Message / int_1367cea0	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_1367cea0	comment	Worm: Those readers who believe A.I. Is a Crapshoot in Real Life are in the unfortunate situation of having to argue that Dragon — a Ridiculously Humanlike Artificial Intelligence and one of the greatest and purest superheroes in the world — is simply and innocently mistaken about the risks of AI, while Saint — a known thief, mercenary, and killer, who uses his knowledge of Dragon's AI-nature to first steal several of her Mini Mechas and then attempts to kill her outright — has a realistic and accurate appreciation of the dangers. Especially given that Saint doesn't even consider Dragon a person.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_1367cea0	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_1367cea0	featureConfidence	1.0
Worm	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_1367cea0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_1463a028	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_1463a028	comment	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: The point of this series was to show the many ways victims of sex crimes can be mistreated by the criminal justice system and the world in general. The show brought attention to the way institutions and problematic people (including police) intimidate, slut-shame, and victim-blame rape victims into silence, as well as the DNA backlogs that keep easily prosecutible rapists from being brought to justice. Unfortunately, the stories are told from the point of view of protagonists who are Hypocrites and Straw Feminists that habitually abuse their power, enforce laws that don't exist, harass people whose sex lives they disapprove of, defend, and even cover up for guilty criminals if they are young, cute, and female (or at least two out of three), send innocent people to prison, get innocent people killed, have a horrifyingly permissive attitude towards Police Brutality, and are ultimately emblematic of societal problems that are as bad as the ones they rage against.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_1463a028	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_1463a028	featureConfidence	1.0
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_1463a028
Don't Shoot the Message / int_14abfe56	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_14abfe56	comment	Patch Adams: Some of the film's fiercest critics are those who believe in new forms of medical treatment and agree with Patch that patients should be treated as more than sicknesses to be cured and there should be services for those without insurance, but detest the immature way these messages are conveyed.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_14abfe56	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_14abfe56	featureConfidence	1.0
Patch Adams	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_14abfe56
Don't Shoot the Message / int_1520dbc2	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_1520dbc2	comment	Song of the South: For as much as people may find the movie's depictions of post-war race relations distasteful, and as much as Disney would like everyone to forget this movie ever existed, the folk tales shown in the movie are based on real African-American folk stories which would likely otherwise be completely forgotten in history. No matter what anyone thinks of the movie, those stories at least deserve to be remembered.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_1520dbc2	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_1520dbc2	featureConfidence	1.0
Song of the South	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_1520dbc2
Don't Shoot the Message / int_155173c7	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_155173c7	comment	Valley of the Dolls: No one's about to disagree with the rampant abuse of performers in Hollywood, especially in the Golden Age. But maybe a Cliché Storm of Horrible Hollywood tropes with ridiculous overacting and writing akin to the trashiest Soap Opera isn't the best way to get that message across.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_155173c7	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_155173c7	featureConfidence	1.0
Valley of the Dolls	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_155173c7
Don't Shoot the Message / int_15575eee	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_15575eee	comment	Kamen Rider BLACK SUN: Beyond the fact that BLACK SUN conveys its anti-racism message using literal animal men, it also takes place in a setting where the practical solution to the issue is to stop new kaijins from being made, effectively putting an end to kaijins as a species. While this makes sense in universe since kaijins are for the most part humans who've been unwillingly turned into kaijins, it's unable to coexist with the heavy-handed analogies BLACK SUN makes between kaijins and real life civil rights struggles. BLACK SUN aims to deliver a take on surface-level appropriation by the political establishment of the rhetoric and struggles of minority and civil rights groups in a manner without actually doing anything to improve their material conditions, by using Gorgom as an analogy for political movements co-opted by self-serving politicians. However, because the circumstances in the show come about due to a series of contrived character decisions and lore inconsistencies, the show unintentionally frames the Kaijin as responsible for their own oppression.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_15575eee	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_15575eee	featureConfidence	1.0
Kamen Rider BLACK SUN	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_15575eee
Don't Shoot the Message / int_17293dfa	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_17293dfa	comment	Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony: While it is generally agreed that nobody should indulge in entertainment at the expense of people's lives like the final trial points out, the delivery of said message makes it come across as the developers putting every Danganronpa fan (and not just the toxic and entitled fringes of the fanbase) on blast for supposedly enjoying watching a bunch of emotionally vulnerable teenagers kill each other over and over again.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_17293dfa	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_17293dfa	featureConfidence	1.0
Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (Visual Novel)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_17293dfa
Don't Shoot the Message / int_184c6ba5	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_184c6ba5	comment	Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do: A Spider-Man story tackling rape is not inherently a bad idea. The comics have dealt with heavy topics like prejudice, poverty, addiction and abuse in the past. Unfortunately, the execution of this concept did it no favors; between the comic exploiting Felicia's figure for titillation and the retcon of her being a rape survivor feeling rather tacked on, audiences and critics came felt the story undermined its own message.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_184c6ba5	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_184c6ba5	featureConfidence	1.0
Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do (Comic Book)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_184c6ba5
Don't Shoot the Message / int_197c9f98	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_197c9f98	comment	Child Bride: While thereâ€™s no excuse for this lurid exploitation film about it, child marriage laws are in fact a serious issue in the United States to this day, with several states allowing children to be legally married with no minimum age. Many activists are working to get this fixed, for obvious reasons.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_197c9f98	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_197c9f98	featureConfidence	1.0
Child Bride	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_197c9f98
Don't Shoot the Message / int_19b7bfc4	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_19b7bfc4	comment	Breaking Dawn: Many, many anti-abortion activists do not like the book seemingly insisting on Good Girls Avoid Abortion and see it as Unwanted Assistance: the pregnancy in question was literally killing Bella, which is a circumstance many (but not all) anti-abortion advocates are willing to make an exception for.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_19b7bfc4	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_19b7bfc4	featureConfidence	1.0
Breaking Dawn	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_19b7bfc4
Don't Shoot the Message / int_1e533773	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_1e533773	comment	Beauty and the Beast (2017): The general consensus on LeFou's Adaptational Sexuality is that, yes, the time is right for Disney to represent the LGBTQ community — but using the villain's bumbling sidekick probably wasn't the best idea, especially since the payoff is a short blink-and-you'll-miss-it scene.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_1e533773	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_1e533773	featureConfidence	1.0
Beauty and the Beast (2017)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_1e533773
Don't Shoot the Message / int_1f2e31da	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_1f2e31da	comment	Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna: The message of the film seems to be learning to cope with loss and the inevitability of having to adjust to adulthood, and that it's alright to let go of certain things from your childhood if it's actively being destructive or causing problems for you as an adultnote The film portrays Tai and Matt as aimlessly wandering through their last year of the semester without having a clue what they're going to do in life and having some money issues because of it, and using their Digimon as a crutch to keep ignoring that problem, while the Big Bad is the result of a character who tried to grow up too fast and diving deep into a self-destructive obsession with Digimon in order to try and deal with their inability to cope with losing their childhood friend instead of sorting out their own issues. Taken by itself, it isn't necessarily bad. However, the way it ends up being delivered, with needing to Retcon a sudden plot point in order to do it, combined with some unintentional inflammatory comments from the director in interviews thanks to cultural dissonance, ending at the separation with no indication about how the partners will come back outside of Word of God which retroactively makes the Big Bad that was meant to be proven wrong in the right, simultaneously trying to appeal to the very same people the message of this film seems to be trying to shoo away from the franchise while said franchise has largely been relying on Digimon Adventure nostalgia for much of the latter half of The New '10s, on top of releasing another Digimon Adventure adaptation two months later which made many fans think that it is a continuation of Kizuna at first glance and is seemingly geared for nostalgic fans of the series, ending up leaving a very bitter taste in the mouths of those who watch it. This isn't considering the fact that the Digimon Adventure 02 ending is still canon to the series, which clearly shows the adult Digidestined having their Digimon with them, thus making the whole thing a Foregone Conclusion with a dash of Melodrama as we know that the consequences ultimately don't stick in the long run.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_1f2e31da	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_1f2e31da	featureConfidence	1.0
Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_1f2e31da
Don't Shoot the Message / int_1fc2cbe	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_1fc2cbe	comment	So... You're a Cartoonist?: Preston's views on homosexuality, race, and feminism come off as this. While he isn't wrong to oppose hatred of them and say that it's wrong, his methods of doing so come off as hypocritical (calling football fans "gay" for liking a sport with manly men), victimize the group in question to show him saving them (beating up a pervert who had few other characteristics), show a rather poor understanding of the group (attempting to stick up for people of different races, claiming he should be offended), or simply end up shoehorned into the comic. It doesn't help that he sometimes considers engaging in Slut-Shaming of skimpily dressed female characters, attacking their outfits without caring about their characterizations.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_1fc2cbe	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_1fc2cbe	featureConfidence	1.0
So... You're a Cartoonist? (Webcomic)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_1fc2cbe
Don't Shoot the Message / int_21b21f35	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_21b21f35	comment	BoJack Horseman: The series is no stranger to staunchly leftist politics and Hollywood controversies. However, the more overly political episodes "Brrap Brrap Pew Pew", "Thoughts and Prayers", and "Bojack the Feminist" have all earned their share of criticisms from abortion rights activists, gun control advocates and feminists, respectively, for leniency towards facts, trivialization of their causes, unapologetic proselytizing and tendency to drop the matters once they've said their piece about it, all of which are hugely at odds with the rest of the show's nuanced characterization and are considered the most poorly written episodes as a result. "BoJack Hates the Troops": While members of the Armed Forces feeling entitled to special treatment from everyone else is a valid concern, it doesn't quite work as the main takeaway of this episode. The actual conflict is related to the newsmedia exploiting Bojack and Neal McBeal's pettiness and egos for the sake of an extremely time-wasting news story, and the "don't support all troops" secondary message is more a means of establishing the show's perspsctive early on- politically incorrect by conservative standards, progressive and "necessary" by more leftist ones- than a message relevant to Bojack and Hollywoo themselves. If the setting was more general than a showbiz satire, or if it easier allowed for the setting to shift to the Middle East, then it could thoughtfully analyze the role of the military in the world and assess who in the military truly is deserving and undeserving of respect. "Thoughts and Prayers": The episode does bring up plenty of real-life controversies worthy for discussion (movie executives worrying more about their violent movies failing than whether or not they glorify violence, women feeling unsafe because of constant unwanted advances, people being more concerned with their second amendment rights than with people getting killed by guns), and tragically, domestic terrorism and gun control have only gotten worse in the years since the episode's release. However, many felt it was lacking due to the Compressed Vice and excessive strawmanning, and left them feeling less well-informed about gun control and more like they... well, got shot in the face with the message.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_21b21f35	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_21b21f35	featureConfidence	1.0
BoJack Horseman	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_21b21f35
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2275c659	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2275c659	comment	House: "Better Half" was meant to raise awareness on asexuality, but most of its detractors were asexual themselves, hating how it portrayed one character as only being asexual because of a brain tumour and another as only pretending to be asexual.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2275c659	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2275c659	featureConfidence	1.0
House	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_2275c659
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2390a534	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2390a534	comment	Coonskin: The film's use of blackface stereotypes and racist dialogue are very clearly part of the satire on racism it's going for. Plus, not only did Bakshi really do his homework on the subject matter (pulling from both his own experiences with black peers and doing extensive interviews with pedestrians about being black in post-Civil Rights America circa 1975) to ensure that the satire would be accurate, but he also had a mostly-black staff animating the film. Nevertheless, most audiences simply can't look past the racist imagery and the fact that it's a blaxploitation film made by a white filmmaker to see anything of value in it.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2390a534	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2390a534	featureConfidence	1.0
Coonskin	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_2390a534
Don't Shoot the Message / int_24b18d3e	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_24b18d3e	comment	The Dragon's Pizzeria: Having originally been penned as lore for the old script of fangame HoloFunk (itself also a victim of this trope), it is intended to be a tribute to departed hololive talent Mano Aloe. However, its noble intentions and condemnations of the harassment that led to her retirement are undermined by expressing this through a Massive Multiplayer Crossover playing out blatant allegories for Aloe's real-life traumasnote including at least one plot point suspected to have been ripped from semi-confidential information and using said crossovers (plus wanton violence) to resolve them.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_24b18d3e	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_24b18d3e	featureConfidence	1.0
The Dragon's Pizzeria (Fanfic)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_24b18d3e
Don't Shoot the Message / int_25259286	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_25259286	comment	Raya and the Last Dragon: While the moral about the Power of Trust, and how only cooperation between people can lead to harmony, is all good and well, a number of viewers thought the execution left something to be desired, given that it requires the main character to put unerring faith in a person who already betrayed, antagonized, and hurt her for selfish reasons for years, and even set off the near-apocalypse that wiped out all of Raya's people. Raya is given no reason to forgive Namaari, aside from the fact the narrative actively forced them to reconcile, and following this sort of blind, unconditional forgiveness can be very dangerous in reality. Indeed, Sisu's naivety in trusting everyone she meets at face value very nearly gets her killed more than once.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_25259286	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_25259286	featureConfidence	1.0
Raya and the Last Dragon	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_25259286
Don't Shoot the Message / int_261c8d3f	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_261c8d3f	comment	The Simpsons: "Marge, Be Not Proud": The message that shoplifting is wrong and is a slippery slope to something worse is an okay message on its own, but many find it hard to take seriously considering it was Bart who was used as an example; the Simpson who has already done things just as bad as shoplifting in the past and faced no real repercussions for it. Combined with how ham-fisted the message is, it ends up turning what would otherwise be a conventional Aesop episode into an overblown and needless Sadist Episode for many.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_261c8d3f	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_261c8d3f	featureConfidence	1.0
The Simpsons	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_261c8d3f
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2808c3d1	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2808c3d1	comment	The Condemned (2007): Production company hypocrisy and character's sneering aside, Ian's answer against the reporter's Think of the Children!—that people, not broadcasters, should be more vigilant of what kids watch, especially if it's something more controllable by the parents like pay-per-view events—is somewhat accurate.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2808c3d1	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2808c3d1	featureConfidence	1.0
The Condemned (2007)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_2808c3d1
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2827ab2e	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2827ab2e	comment	Justice League: Cry for Justice: Working to actively prevent crime and super villains isn't a bad idea in itself. It's the way the heroes go about it that undermines their point. For example, in the part of the story where Ray Palmer is interrogating Killer Moth on the death of his friend Mike Dante, he threatens to make Moth talk by shrinking, entering Moth's brain and beginning to grow inside his head. Palmer actually begins following through on that threat, and nearly succeeds before Killer Moth tells him about Prometheus. This is a tactic more associated with villainy than anything else; case in point, during Identity Crisis (2004), Palmer's ex murders a friend of theirs, leaving him so emotionally scarred that he went into exile. How does said ex murder Palmer's friend? By shrinking, entering her skull and growing from inside! You read that right, Ray Palmer is torturing Killer Moth using the same method that killed his friend!
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2827ab2e	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2827ab2e	featureConfidence	1.0
Justice League: Cry for Justice (Comic Book)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_2827ab2e
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2a8943c0	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2a8943c0	comment	Miraculous Ladybug: In "Weredad", Cat Noir comes back to the bakery to apologize after Tom gets Akumatized over his rejection of Marinette, but Sabine reassures him that he doesn't have to be ashamed of how he feels, regardless of how Tom chose to react to it. While the advice and who it's given to are fine, the scene has attracted criticism for creating a massive Double Standard considering the treatment of Marinette/Ladybug in previous seasons, especially in the episodes where she rejected Cat Noir and wasn't given any such support.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2a8943c0	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2a8943c0	featureConfidence	1.0
Miraculous Ladybug	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_2a8943c0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2b82b95f	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2b82b95f	comment	iCarly: "iMeet Fred": It's very possible this episode was meant to be a satire of fandom culture, taking the idea of somebody being flamed for not liking something popular and greatly exaggerating it. However, many felt, even if this was the intended message, that the treatment Freddie gets for simply stating he didn't find Fred amusing was far more mean-spirited than it was funny, not helped by Fred's divisive status in real life (compared to the nearly godlike portrayal he gets in the episode) making many sympathize with Freddie all the more.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2b82b95f	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2b82b95f	featureConfidence	1.0
iCarly	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_2b82b95f
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2bfed3dc	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2bfed3dc	comment	They/Them (2022): While the anti-conversion therapy and pro-inclusivity message isn't bad on its own, a number of critics have lambasted that the message is pushed so hard that the film forgets it's supposed to be a horror movie at times.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2bfed3dc	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2bfed3dc	featureConfidence	1.0
They/Them (2022)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_2bfed3dc
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2c040c3a	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2c040c3a	comment	Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory: The film admittedly has a good message on not being greedy, which applies to both Tom and Jerry, as well as the Willy Wonka characters. However, with how everything is set up, it's rather clunky and muddled.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2c040c3a	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2c040c3a	featureConfidence	1.0
Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_2c040c3a
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2d58eeb2	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2d58eeb2	comment	Captive Prince ultimately has an anti-slavery message, with both Damen and Laurent coming to realize how immoral and damaging slavery is by the end. This is despite Damen growing up in a society where it's considered normal, and despite Laurent having originally justified it as part of his revenge mission. However, certain readers feel this is undermined by the fact that around two-thirds of the first book are dedicated to graphically depicting sexual slavery and other abuses, to the point where it can feel exploitative. Not to mention, of course, the positive depiction of a romance between a slave and his abusive master. Some find that the sequels are better in this regard.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2d58eeb2	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2d58eeb2	featureConfidence	1.0
Captive Prince	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_2d58eeb2
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2de35bcc	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2de35bcc	comment	"We Are the World": Even Saturday Night Live admitted that while the 2010 remake was underwhelming, it was still well-intentioned. The tribute to Michael Jackson mere months after his death was also appreciated by many.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2de35bcc	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2de35bcc	featureConfidence	1.0
We Are the World (Music)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_2de35bcc
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2ec27115	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2ec27115	comment	Teen Titans Go!: Despite its poor execution and unintentionally insulting attitude towards fans of Young Justice (2010), the message of "Let's Get Serious" that "Darker and Edgier doesn't mean it's better" isn't bad in itself. It's the fact that it was delivered in the form of yet another shallow Take That, Critics! that makes the message fall flat, coming across instead as being "silliness is the superior form of entertainment" instead of focusing on the quality of the content. "The Return of Slade" had a message that warns against viewing things through rose-colored glasses and seeing them for something they never were. It is an obvious Take That! towards the fanbase that prefers the original, especially with the Bait-and-Switch with the supposed Slade showdown that was never shown, and has Beast Boy and Cyborg make a clown Darker and Edgier after being disappointed that it was more childish than they remembered; this ends up warping everything around them, including the episode of Pretty Pretty Pegasus Raven is watching. Indeed, this could have worked as a Take That! towards detractors who seemingly ignore that the original Teen Titans was on the younger and sillier side of the scale of modern era action cartoons, but was ultimately too overly generalistic and heavy-handed. Thankfully, "Classic Titans", a Super Friends spoof, did a much better job executing the message that "not all cartoons age well". "Teen Titans Roar!" tried to defend ThunderCats Roar after fans reacted negatively to the initial trailer of the show. What could have been a good message about not judging something before it's released was hurt by Raven, used to represent one of the show's critics, pointing out that shows aimed at kids don't have to be terrible and kids are smarter than people give them credit for, a common criticism leveled at Teen Titans Go!. Starfire, who is defending ThunderCats Roar, doesn't actually give any kind of rebuttal. The episode ending by saying ThunderCats Roar is the true successor to ThunderCats (1985) and openly insulting people who think otherwise, while including a Take That! towards Thunder Cats 2011, undermines its own message about judging things and instead feels more like the show is once again giving its tiresome and obtuse message that "people who don't like silly cartoons are stupid."
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2ec27115	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2ec27115	featureConfidence	1.0
Teen Titans Go!	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_2ec27115
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2f3aa7ef	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2f3aa7ef	comment	My Little Pony: My Little Pony Tales: "Shop Talk" aims to teach that spreading false rumors is wrong, but motivation by revenge and blackmail is the only way it can be stopped. My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: One of the reasons Season 8 is the most contentious is fans badly wanted to agree with its Central Theme of teaching friendship and overcoming racial prejudice. But doing so through the School of Friendship supposedly contradicted the original premise of the series that friendship couldn't be learned in classesnote while it's a common misconception that such was stated◊, Twilight still failed to learn it in school and no explanation is given how the School of Friendship would be different, the Mane Six's teacher role put them at their worst to the point the lessons learned about friendship were in spite of them, and giving the Obstructive Bureaucrat racist opposing the message numerous, unintentionally valid, arguments against it. "Yakity Sax": Many fans like the Aesop of being supportive of friends hobbies even if you don't enjoy them. But they disparage the episode's handling of it by making Pinkie's hobby being unhealthily obsessive, and causing tangible annoyance/harm to the point they would be completely justified in making her stop, and their wrongness in stopping her being due to ignoring numerous alternatives (which would've invalidated the message) and just saying she was bad.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2f3aa7ef	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_2f3aa7ef	featureConfidence	1.0
My Little Pony (Franchise)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_2f3aa7ef
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3077b472	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3077b472	comment	Rat Queens was originally acclaimed for its mostly-female, ass-kicking cast, but its reputation never recovered from the scandal over the original artist, and co-creator, Roc Upchurch abusing his wife, and conflicting reports regarding writer/co-creator Kurtis Wiebe's level of knowledge of this, and willingness to continue working with him afterwards.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3077b472	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3077b472	featureConfidence	1.0
Rat Queens (Comic Book)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_3077b472
Don't Shoot the Message / int_30f3c938	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_30f3c938	comment	Volcano: Well, sure, racial tension in a crisis is going to make things worse and working together is a good moral. But using a popcorn action movie with those themes feeling very tacked on probably wasn't the best way to go about it.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_30f3c938	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_30f3c938	featureConfidence	1.0
Volcano	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_30f3c938
Don't Shoot the Message / int_32a8f072	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_32a8f072	comment	Legion of Super-Heroes (2020): Bendis's attempt to make the Legion look more racially inclusive was one of the few things people pointed to when telling others to give his Legion a try as previous versions were historically mostly white humanoids. But that defense quickly worked against Bendis when it became obvious none of the examples of Race Lift were thought out in advance, to the point of making this comic look even more racist by accident and Bendis's efforts clearly being seen as nothing but performative.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_32a8f072	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_32a8f072	featureConfidence	1.0
Legion of Super-Heroes (2020) (Comic Book)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_32a8f072
Don't Shoot the Message / int_35c619e2	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_35c619e2	comment	Green Arrow: "What Goes Up..." from volume five carries a genuinely sweet message regarding the struggles of transgender people, showing that it's important to let other people live in the way that they believe they should live and the importance of not forcing societal norms on other people. All of this is undone by the fact that out of all the metaphors they could have possibly used, they chose to use people who believe themselves to actually be robots, which circles everything the comic has to say straight back around into offensive territory.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_35c619e2	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_35c619e2	featureConfidence	1.0
Green Arrow (Comic Book)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_35c619e2
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3729373e	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3729373e	comment	Detroit: Become Human: The most common criticism of the game's social commentary. Make no mistake, the game is not at all subtle about denouncing hateful ideologies such as racism, bigotry, and violent extremism, which it achieves by using using androids as an Allegory for real-life oppressed minorities. Nevertheless a lot of its critics contend that while the intent is noble enough, the imagery used to make its point is so heavyhanded and haphazardly applied (with some accusing the game of lazily appropriating minority struggles as window dressing) as to undermine its own message.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3729373e	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3729373e	featureConfidence	1.0
Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_3729373e
Don't Shoot the Message / int_37434b90	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_37434b90	comment	What Women Want: A common sentiment about the film is that the idea is great and so is the sentiment behind it — a sexist, toxically masculine man who thinks he's a suave womanizer gets the power to hear the thoughts of women, realizes that the women in his life actually kind of hate him, and he learns to see things from a woman's perspective and becomes a better person who treats them nicer. It's the execution that is lacking.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_37434b90	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_37434b90	featureConfidence	1.0
What Women Want	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_37434b90
Don't Shoot the Message / int_37f1c1bb	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_37f1c1bb	comment	My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (IDW): The 2014 Equestria Girls Holiday Special is anything but subtle about the seriousness and dangers of cyber-bullying, which should be for the best. But those picking it up expecting a fluffy Christmas Episode weren't in the mood for something so grave, to say nothing of the resulting execution. Issues 34-37: The author posted a tweet comparing Radiant Hope and Twilight Sparkle implying the former was a stronger character for dealing with their friend turning evil and the guilt of blaming themselves for that and the ensuing tragedy, something Twilight never faced. Many fans, even those who wanted to agree liking Radiant Hope for being such a Deconstruction of the series themes and Twilight's character, were not happy seeing it as propping up Radiant Hope after failing to depict those aspect in the comic by ignoring/devaluing Twilight's accomplishments.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_37f1c1bb	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_37f1c1bb	featureConfidence	1.0
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (IDW) (Comic Book)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_37f1c1bb
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3932a05b	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3932a05b	comment	The Magic Flute: The opera rightfully calls out the Queen and Monostatos for â€” respectively â€” their manipulative and predatory behavior. However, it also unfortunately connects said behavior to â€” respectively, again â€” the characters' gender and race, pushing it squarely into the Values Dissonance category.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3932a05b	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3932a05b	featureConfidence	1.0
The Magic Flute (Theatre)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_3932a05b
Don't Shoot the Message / int_399eb663	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_399eb663	comment	Tall Girl: Yes, people have been bullied for their height before (including lead actress Ava Michelle), so the intended message isn't a bad one. However, the movie undermines it through a combination of wangst and Hollywood Homely (specifically, a few students making the age-old "How's the weather up there?" joke and Jodie saying her life is harder than that of anyone watching the movie because she wears big shoes). The sequel attempts to correct for this by having a teacher parrot the same criticisms echoed by a lot of reviews, allowing Jodie to defend herself by stating that she's not minimizing other problems, but that her feelings are no less valid just because others have it worse. This is a good message however it may fall rather flat considering the line in question does explicitly portray being a tall girl as the worst thing imaginable.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_399eb663	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_399eb663	featureConfidence	1.0
Tall Girl	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_399eb663
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3aabfec3	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3aabfec3	comment	Captain Planet and the Planeteers: Most actual environmentalists do not hold the show in particularly high regard, whether due to its frequently poor research, unintentionally bungling its messages about otherwise very important real problems, or its simplistic and cartoonish portrayal of the villains obfuscating the actual systemic forces doing harm to the environment in real life. Even considering all of that, a show attempting to teach kids that protecting the environment is a good thing and trying to at least broach serious and complex topics in a simple manner for six-year-olds to grasp, then teach them basic things to do to feel like they have some control at a young age is at least well-intentioned.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3aabfec3	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3aabfec3	featureConfidence	1.0
Captain Planet and the Planeteers	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_3aabfec3
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3bd88d54	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3bd88d54	comment	You People: Many viewers felt that while the film's ultimate messages about finding common ground with different groups and accepting your children's life choices were good Aesops, the execution left much to be desired.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3bd88d54	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3bd88d54	featureConfidence	1.0
You People	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_3bd88d54
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3bdb63bc	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3bdb63bc	comment	Operation Chromite: Even for right-wing Korean publications and those who view Douglas MacArthur positively, they didn't like the movie for its two-dimensional characters and reducing MacArthur as a flat white savior character.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3bdb63bc	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3bdb63bc	featureConfidence	1.0
Operation Chromite	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_3bdb63bc
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3c046724	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3c046724	comment	Holy Terror: Even people who agree with or at the very least arenâ€™t against Millerâ€™s beliefs have a very hard time liking this comic due to the terrible art, dialogue, and pacing.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3c046724	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3c046724	featureConfidence	1.0
Holy Terror (Comic Book)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_3c046724
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3d513f8	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3d513f8	comment	Jimquisition: Some of Jim's detractors feel this way about them. They agree with their complaints about video game companies engaging in anti-consumer practices and appreciate that they are bringing awareness to these issues... but feel that their videos, while informative, do little to actually help fix the issues faced in the gaming community, especially with Jim's condescending attitude and lack of constructive criticism. Additional criticism of their content is that Jim pads their videos out by rehashing the same core points that had already been covered in the first ninety seconds of their videos, creating an Anvilicious tone, or that the videos don't offer much new for people already invested and informed in gaming issues, causing Jim's videos to feel like cases of preaching to the choir.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3d513f8	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3d513f8	featureConfidence	1.0
Jimquisition (Web Video)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_3d513f8
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3e1b9608	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3e1b9608	comment	The Mists of Avalon: Some of the book's central themes and messages, such as the harm caused by religious intolerance and misogyny, are worth discussing, but some readers find that the story can get excessively preachy and heavy-handed about it, and even hypocritical in some instances (e.g. pretty much every Christian in the book is portrayed unsympathetically but the Avalonians also do some things the average reader would find pretty shady or extreme and the narrative never judges them in the same way). The messages around sexual freedom being preferable to sexual repression are also not bad in theory, but some readers find the execution of this theme questionable at best, considering that some of the Avalonians seem to think that being sexually liberated means harmful and non-consensual sexual practices are acceptable in some circumstances too, and that those who refuse to accept them are being bigoted (which gets especially disturbing considering what we now know about the author's personal life).
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3e1b9608	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3e1b9608	featureConfidence	1.0
The Mists of Avalon	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_3e1b9608
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3f633fb4	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3f633fb4	comment	Cracked: Some readers argue that the site's increasingly large number of preachy, poorly researched articles do more harm than good to the causes they purport to help, a sentiment that became increasingly noted in the comment sections of these articles.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3f633fb4	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3f633fb4	featureConfidence	1.0
Cracked (Website)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_3f633fb4
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3f6951a	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3f6951a	comment	Super Size Me: The general message about how major fast food companies do not have the best interest of customers at heart and target young kids as customers is not a bad one but it gets lost amid Spurlock's questionable tactics for proving his point, Spurlock omitting key information note Such as Spurlock being a vegan prior to the experiment or his history of alcoholism. that would impact the results of the experiment, and the fact that many of the interesting elements are ignored to focus more on the shock value of the experiment.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3f6951a	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_3f6951a	featureConfidence	1.0
Super Size Me	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_3f6951a
Don't Shoot the Message / int_40f118dc	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_40f118dc	comment	I Spit on Your Grave: The film's detractors argue that while the message is certainly an important one, the execution is flawed; it's been argued that apart from Jennifer's gang-rape being presented in an excessively graphic and downright voyeuristic manner, the film doesn't actually have much else to say on the subject apart from "And That's Terrible," and at times even seems to villainize her for fighting back (most notably via the tagline on the poster) while also reveling in the same cruelty it tries to condemn.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_40f118dc	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_40f118dc	featureConfidence	1.0
I Spit on Your Grave	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_40f118dc
Don't Shoot the Message / int_4346b828	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_4346b828	comment	Alfie's Home: Many readers do agree with its message on child molestation being a serious issue, but the execution comes off as homophobic, with the idea that being molested makes you gay and/or being gay means you were molested.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_4346b828	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_4346b828	featureConfidence	1.0
Alfie's Home	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_4346b828
Don't Shoot the Message / int_44729e26	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_44729e26	comment	Richard Jewell: As some have pointed out, the film's valid statements about the dangers of spreading false information about someone are a bit undercut by how the movie falsely portrays Kathy Scruggs as sleeping with an FBI agent and getting information from him for her stories.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_44729e26	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_44729e26	featureConfidence	1.0
Richard Jewell	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_44729e26
Don't Shoot the Message / int_44cbfcea	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_44cbfcea	comment	Escape from Tomorrow: While there are many reasons to criticize Disney in real life, many reviewers including Jenny Nicholson and Some Jerk with a Camera find the film's take on the subject far too abstract and tactless to hold any weight.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_44cbfcea	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_44cbfcea	featureConfidence	1.0
Escape from Tomorrow	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_44cbfcea
Don't Shoot the Message / int_458869d2	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_458869d2	comment	Amazing Cow Heroes: Even Vegans are going to find the simplistic way the story touches upon not eating beef all that persuasive for giving up beef eating.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_458869d2	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_458869d2	featureConfidence	1.0
Amazing Cow Heroes (Comic Book)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_458869d2
Don't Shoot the Message / int_45c2d751	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_45c2d751	comment	On Deadly Ground: The film's environmental message and criticism of the damage done by major companies and how they undermine any efforts to make cleaner energy a reasonable alternative is not a bad one. It just suffers due to Forrest's actions being totally over the top and the film coming across as a monument to Seagal's ego.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_45c2d751	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_45c2d751	featureConfidence	1.0
On Deadly Ground	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_45c2d751
Don't Shoot the Message / int_4810cdb9	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_4810cdb9	comment	Phat Girlz: The moral that you shouldn't be ashamed of your body is a good one, but this film's presentation of said moral is undermined by a number of factors. Firstly, the film does not address the fact that unhealthy eating and poor dieting is still bad for you, regardless of your size. Secondly, almost every skinny girl in the film is portrayed as a jerk, which makes it come off as hypocritical as it suggests that body positivity only applies to larger women and that simply being thin makes you a bad person. Thirdly, it 's been noted that only plus-sized women get portrayed as Beautiful All Along; the male love interests are depicted as more conventionally-attractive with toned bodies and six-packs.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_4810cdb9	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_4810cdb9	featureConfidence	1.0
Phat Girlz	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_4810cdb9
Don't Shoot the Message / int_48ed41c8	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_48ed41c8	comment	Pocahontas: Disney's attempt at making a tolerance/anti-war Aesop fell flat with certain audiences who noted the historical inaccuracies or the fact that said Aesop was built on a blatant false equivalency, with the most notable one being that they attempted to create a Mirroring Factions narrative between the Powhatan Nation and the British by downplaying the core of the issue as just simply being different from one another, and that they pushed John Smith as a Token Good Teammate to lighten the image of the invaders.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_48ed41c8	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_48ed41c8	featureConfidence	1.0
Pocahontas	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_48ed41c8
Don't Shoot the Message / int_49cb0175	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_49cb0175	comment	Ralph Breaks the Internet: The scene where Ralph reads mean comments about him was likely meant to be a commentary on cyberbullying. This is not necessarily a bad thing to tackle, but it falls hilariously flat since the commenters do not know he is a sentient being, making their behavior not so much bullying as getting ridiculously worked up over a video game meme... not that this doesn't actually happen on the Internet, though.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_49cb0175	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_49cb0175	featureConfidence	1.0
Ralph Breaks the Internet	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_49cb0175
Don't Shoot the Message / int_4cbe0995	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_4cbe0995	comment	Ring of Terror: College hazing can be a real problem, and in the decades since the movie was made some people have died as a result of hazing in ways far more disturbing than dying of fright in a mausoleum.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_4cbe0995	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_4cbe0995	featureConfidence	1.0
Ring of Terror	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_4cbe0995
Don't Shoot the Message / int_4e7bc558	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_4e7bc558	comment	Infinity Train: Blossoming Trail: Later in the story, it begins deconstructing the Accusation Fic tropes by pointing out how things aren't so black and white, Disproportionate Retribution is not acceptable, and those who subscribe to the idea are going to be called out on it. This is a decent message...unless Parker is involved. He acts much the same way as the protagonist of an Accusation Fic: blames everybody, sees things as black and white, and believes only in justice with extreme prejudice. However, instead of being called out, people keep praising him over how he knew Chloe better than anyone else while doing little to nothing to curb his violent tendencies. Even when he gets his just desserts after the Unown incident, the narrative still coddles him by giving him many moments where he acts like he did nothing wrong, culminating in a courtroom scene where he devolves into Shaming the Mob, all while acting like he's the better man in the situation. There is a gem of truth in the idea that focusing too much on one part of the Pokemon world, the Pokemon themselves, can neglect the idea of human interactions and the wider world itself. It is a world of both humans and Pokemon after all. Chloe and the story of Blossoming Trail is interested in raising this point, the problem is that it fails to truly demonstrate the idea. Not only are many of the human characters involved genuinely growing thanks to their interactions with Pokemon, but many of the human interactions they are said to be missing out on due to obsession are genuinely negative (such as Goh's school) or accidentally written as such (as would be the case with Trip and Parker), making the message come off as tone deaf at best and bending over backwards to support Chloe's views at worst. Goh himself, who is arguably the most set up to explore this, is also less effective than he might have been by the story starting twenty-eight episodes into the series, by which point Goh has started to work away from a possible obsession to the point of missing out on other things already, meaning the story's best candidate for this concept had already started to improve on his own. The possible counter-message, that being too obsessed with the human half of the Pokemon world is just as bad and that people need balance between the two, which could be easily fulfilled by Chloe or Parker, is also poorly, if at all, explored.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_4e7bc558	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_4e7bc558	featureConfidence	1.0
Infinity Train: Blossoming Trail (Fanfic)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_4e7bc558
Don't Shoot the Message / int_5312349d	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_5312349d	comment	Jesus Camp: Many conservative Christian viewers took pains to point out that they considered Fischer's rhetoric and methods way over the top.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_5312349d	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_5312349d	featureConfidence	1.0
Jesus Camp	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_5312349d
Don't Shoot the Message / int_53a10f4c	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_53a10f4c	comment	The Twilight Zone (2019): "Not All Men" was supposed to show hypermasculinity from a woman's perspective but it's shown in such a black-and-white, overexaggerated way that people felt more insulted than enlightened. The episode portrays sexism and misogyny as just part of male nature that only needs an excuse to come out.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_53a10f4c	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_53a10f4c	featureConfidence	1.0
The Twilight Zone (2019)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_53a10f4c
Don't Shoot the Message / int_5625be8a	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_5625be8a	comment	An American Carol: The film is intended as a parody of documentarian Michael Moore, but even Moore's fiercest critics were put off by this portrayal, noting that while many hate his methods and character, they have some level of respect for his views. In fact, much of Moore's criticism comes from people who agree with his core positions yet dislike the inaccuracies in his documentaries, including Nathan Rabin.note As such, Rabin thought They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_5625be8a	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_5625be8a	featureConfidence	1.0
An American Carol	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_5625be8a
Don't Shoot the Message / int_56442898	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_56442898	comment	Even after any goodwill towards Kricfalusi was killed with the statutory rape scandal in 2018 and the nuclear disaster that was Cans Without Labels in 2019, it's believed that the blog is legitimately a good resource for aspiring artists to find instruction and inspiration, but that John's own opinions and self-congratulating merits should be taken with a heaping pile of salt.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_56442898	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_56442898	featureConfidence	1.0
Cans Without Labels	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_56442898
Don't Shoot the Message / int_5676324b	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_5676324b	comment	Bill Nye Saves the World: One of the biggest issues many take with the show is how much it botches the messages it tries to push. Most infamous is when it tries to preach pro-LGBTQ+ morals, where any good statements it has it ends up getting lost in a plethora of nonsense with no scientific bearing and confusing muddled messages. The speech about how people need to stop pushing Eastern holistic medicine over actual scientific medicine, which is a perfectly good message, but it falls apart when it's couched in "Just because white people are stupid enough to fall for it doesn't mean you should take advantage of their stupidity" sentiments.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_5676324b	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_5676324b	featureConfidence	1.0
Bill Nye Saves the World	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_5676324b
Don't Shoot the Message / int_56faeeb3	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_56faeeb3	comment	The Red Pill: While the Men's Rights Movement is more controversial than feminism, and the film's production values have been criticised, there are also grievances and Double Standards experienced by men.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_56faeeb3	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_56faeeb3	featureConfidence	1.0
The Red Pill	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_56faeeb3
Don't Shoot the Message / int_578be4e1	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_578be4e1	comment	The Irregular at Magic High School: Well, let's just say that it's not a good idea to have both "talent is not the most important thing in life" and the message that very talented characters were just mistakenly equated with "real" losers. And after that, we have a Brotherâ€“Sister Incest portrayed as One True Love with a literal message that "your sister is for you the perfect Love Interest, which your parents have created for you", or "devotion in love means a willingness to be a servant to your beloved". This obviously was not implied by the author, but the series still suffers from this.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_578be4e1	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_578be4e1	featureConfidence	1.0
The Irregular at Magic High School	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_578be4e1
Don't Shoot the Message / int_58907201	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_58907201	comment	Sinfest: It's not that the Sisterhood stuff about feminism, subtle misogyny baked into the fabric of society, or the ways in which pornography and sex work often feed into them are completely meritless. It's that the presentation (and the way it completely took over the comic) is so unsubtle, self-righteous, meandering, and often so lacking in genuine humor that it turned away even sympathetic ears, before being an unreconstructed SWERF and TERF led the artist into a swing to the hard right that alienated even them.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_58907201	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_58907201	featureConfidence	1.0
Sinfest (Webcomic)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_58907201
Don't Shoot the Message / int_5921531b	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_5921531b	comment	Persona 4: Many of Yosuke's views on gender roles and sexuality don't endear him to Western audiences. Given that he consistently suffers Laser-Guided Karma it's likely that the writers meant for Yosuke's attitude to be a character flaw that he largely overcomes by the end of the game. Unfortunately, players don't really see him grow out of this trait.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_5921531b	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_5921531b	featureConfidence	1.0
Persona 4 (Video Game)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_5921531b
Don't Shoot the Message / int_59593dcd	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_59593dcd	comment	Snuff: This line theoretically supports gay and lesbian rights, but it manages to be very unkind, and the fact that the gel being described is one of the book's villains only worsens the effect.note This is actually a pretty good verbal description of literary lesbian couples in the early 20th century, and may well be a direct reference to Virginia Woolf and her great love Vita Sackville-West.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_59593dcd	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_59593dcd	featureConfidence	1.0
Snuff	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_59593dcd
Don't Shoot the Message / int_59896121	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_59896121	comment	mother! (2017): Many reviewers, especially female critics, take pains to note that they understand the feminist message Aronofsky is pushing but find the Gorn, Wangst and pretentious biblical symbolism to all undermine the effectiveness of the message and make the film an unpleasant slog, especially for actual survivors of abuse. As with most movies like this, the question is raised of whether it's worth using such trauma-inducing or otherwise disturbing material without any meaningful catharsis at the end.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_59896121	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_59896121	featureConfidence	1.0
mother! (2017)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_59896121
Don't Shoot the Message / int_5a16d46b	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_5a16d46b	comment	Feed (2002): Even if some readers agreed with the messages Anderson sends that New Media Are Evil, some people may feel that Anderson made his point roughly half way through the novel and that part 3 and 4 just drags on and on.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_5a16d46b	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_5a16d46b	featureConfidence	1.0
Feed (2002)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_5a16d46b
Don't Shoot the Message / int_5cad8158	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_5cad8158	comment	Lizzie McGuire: "Inner Beauty": Sure, eating disorders among teenagers are indeed worthy topics to examine, and the show actually goes against convention by showing Miranda's being caused by severe anxiety rather than poor body image. But it's still a Compressed Vice that's gone after the credits roll, not really examining how eating disorders can affect people for years.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_5cad8158	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_5cad8158	featureConfidence	1.0
Lizzie McGuire	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_5cad8158
Don't Shoot the Message / int_5fcd5340	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_5fcd5340	comment	Candela Obscura: While many Critters agree that addressing and discussing the history of problematic tropes in the Cosmic Horror genre is important, some take issue with how much of the core rulebook's page count is dedicated to this, at the expense of leaving the gameplay rules underdeveloped. Some feel the rulebook focuses more on how not to play the game than how to play it. Many players also noted that the Actual Playsnotegranted, these were filmed before the rulebook was finalized don't always follow this advice, for example the guide calls roleplaying insanity unethical while the cast of the show did it during their own games. The rules are also have no problem encouraging gamifying and roleplaying physical disabilities.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_5fcd5340	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_5fcd5340	featureConfidence	1.0
Candela Obscura (Tabletop Game)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_5fcd5340
Don't Shoot the Message / int_60a9e4fb	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_60a9e4fb	comment	The Mysterious Mr. Enter: A lot of animation enthusiasts feel this way about his takes on animation; with the consensus among them being that while he does come off as hyperbolic and confrontational a lot of the time, he does bring up some very valid points about the stuff he reviews.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_60a9e4fb	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_60a9e4fb	featureConfidence	1.0
The Mysterious Mr. Enter (Web Video)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_60a9e4fb
Don't Shoot the Message / int_615a3895	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_615a3895	comment	My Little Pony Tales: "Shop Talk" aims to teach that spreading false rumors is wrong, but motivation by revenge and blackmail is the only way it can be stopped.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_615a3895	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_615a3895	featureConfidence	1.0
My Little Pony Tales	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_615a3895
Don't Shoot the Message / int_615c5032	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_615c5032	comment	Maleficent: Even detractors of the movie would argue that themes of female empowerment, rape culture, the importance of finding one's own family, and the difference between fantasy and reality are worth exploring. But the film's heavy use of the Woman Scorned trope, Tall Poppy Syndrome for every character except Maleficent and the misaimed deconstructions undermine some of those messages.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_615c5032	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_615c5032	featureConfidence	1.0
Maleficent	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_615c5032
Don't Shoot the Message / int_6276800c	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_6276800c	comment	The Nostalgia Critic: Most people agree completely with his hatred of Horrible Hollywood, copyright watchdogs, and executives thinking that kids are dumb. The problem comes from the overly preachy speeches regarding all this, the straw characters, and the fact that he never stops talking about it.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_6276800c	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_6276800c	featureConfidence	1.0
The Nostalgia Critic (Web Video)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_6276800c
Don't Shoot the Message / int_64347e57	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_64347e57	comment	13 Reasons Why: A lot of people acknowledge that the show's creators are well-intentioned in trying to bring awareness to serious issues affecting teenagers like suicide, mental illness, sexual assault and many others, but that the execution can at times come across as melodramatic, exploitative and/or nonsensical. While the tackling of some subjects, such as rape culture, has been praised, other subjects are presented in an overly-simplistic or problematic manner.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_64347e57	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_64347e57	featureConfidence	1.0
13 Reasons Why	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_64347e57
Don't Shoot the Message / int_64f8faea	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_64f8faea	comment	Tomorrowland: A lot of viewers agree with the movie's message of aspiring to an optimistic future, but dislike the actual story, and its implications regarding humanity's ability to improve itself as a whole. It's discussed pretty thoroughly here.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_64f8faea	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_64f8faea	featureConfidence	1.0
Tomorrowland	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_64f8faea
Don't Shoot the Message / int_65bab15	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_65bab15	comment	Don't Worry Darling: There are a few semi-explicit sex scenes between Alice and Jack, with particular focus on Alice's pleasure. Olivia Wilde stated in promotional interviews she felt these were important to include, as many sex scenes in films tend to ignore or gloss over depictions of female pleasure, focusing more on the men and objectifying the women. However, lots of viewers felt that these scenes were unnecessary and undermined the themes the movie was trying to discuss; given that the central theme is about men dominating women and focusing on themselves at the expense of women's well-being, sex scenes of this nature can seem ill-fitting, not to mention The Reveal that Jack forced Alice into a simulation and had her brainwashed into being his adoring housewife sends them straight into unpleasant Questionable Consent territory. Wilde's intention with the sex scenes isn't bad in theory, but several reviews pointed out that this movie wasn't the right place for it. Notably, Florence Pugh expressed her opinion that the discussion around the film put too much emphasis on the sex scenes over the actual plot.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_65bab15	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_65bab15	featureConfidence	1.0
Don't Worry Darling	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_65bab15
Don't Shoot the Message / int_6662bb5f	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_6662bb5f	comment	Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: The 'Theo wants to join the basketball team but the principal won't let him' subplot does touch on the discrimination faced by trans athletes whenever they want to play on the team for their true gender. But not only does it ignore the nuance and fail to examine the reasons behind this debate, the opposition is presented as a strawman and the Aesop is arguably broken by having Sabrina use her powers to get Theo onto the team.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_6662bb5f	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_6662bb5f	featureConfidence	1.0
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_6662bb5f
Don't Shoot the Message / int_668ec3fd	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_668ec3fd	comment	The Life of David Gale: Regarded as one of the most egregious examples of this trope in the history of film. The message that the death penalty is wrong isn't necessarily a bad one, but the execution is botched by David Gale and his co-conspirators blatantly cheating the system to "prove" that an innocent person could be executed. Roger Ebert noted in his review of the film that the movie's central characters go so ridiculously far to show that their position is right that you can't help but be disgusted with them.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_668ec3fd	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_668ec3fd	featureConfidence	1.0
The Life of David Gale	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_668ec3fd
Don't Shoot the Message / int_67ce5a04	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_67ce5a04	comment	Fire Emblem Fates: Nintendo and Intelligent Systems tried to be more inclusive by making the Avatar the first bisexual Fire Emblem Lord. That said, there's only one Gay Option per gender, and those options are a sadist, and a stalker whose obsession is so great that it transcends death, space and time. And that's not even getting into Soleil, a bisexual character whose "bi" part seems to only exist for fanservice and comedy (at least in Japan), and who is also quite the stalker herself.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_67ce5a04	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_67ce5a04	featureConfidence	1.0
Fire Emblem Fates (Video Game)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_67ce5a04
Don't Shoot the Message / int_69ef92d4	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_69ef92d4	comment	Save the Pearls: Victoria Foyt claimed the books were intended to have an anti-racism message, conveyed via a Persecution Flip. This isn't an inherently bad idea, but many agree that this series really drops the ball with this, with its messages coming across as ham-fisted at best and offensive at worst.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_69ef92d4	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_69ef92d4	featureConfidence	1.0
Save the Pearls	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_69ef92d4
Don't Shoot the Message / int_6afce7a4	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_6afce7a4	comment	The Umbrella Academy (2019): The scene between Allison and Luther in Season 3 in which she rumors him into wanting to have sex with her, leading to the two of them kissing until she breaks it off because he becomes too rough. People tend to agree that this casts her in a dark, villainous light, but viewers are unimpressed with how the show handled the aftermath of the incident. Allison committing sexual assault and attempting rape could have been a reprehensible example of her darkening personality, but the incident is barely mentioned afterwards. Luther only confronts her about it once, she gives a half-assed apology later, Luther doesn't tell anyone else about itâ€”not even Sloane, despite the two of them pulling away from their respective familiesâ€”and no one else ever finds out about it. Meanwhile, her other actions such as provoking the Sparrows, fighting racists in bars, and murdering Harlan are discussed far more often and with far more weight. Likewise, the assault could have been explored through Luther's trauma and growing isolation from the Umbrellas, but he just brushes it off and even later tells Viktor to make nice with Allison because he's angry at her for killing Harlan. And on top of the way the show handled it, some people think that sexual assault is far too heavy of a topic for a show as (relatively) light-hearted and silly as The Umbrella Academy to cover at all.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_6afce7a4	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_6afce7a4	featureConfidence	1.0
The Umbrella Academy (2019)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_6afce7a4
Don't Shoot the Message / int_6cb2d709	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_6cb2d709	comment	Harry Potter: Since around the late 2010s or so, the series has gotten quite a bit of criticism for the ways in which its anti-racist messages (and general egalitarian sentiment) are often badly undermined by its story and world-building—with most of those criticisms coming from fans who agree with the messages, and genuinely wish that they were implemented more effectively. Some of the most common points of criticism include the S.P.E.W. subplot in the fourth book (which was ostensibly intended to teach a lesson about well-meaning but misinformed political activism, but came across more like a defense of slavery to many readers), and the characters' unquestioning support for keeping the Wizarding World separate from the Muggle world at all costs (which reads to many fans like a sympathetic depiction of racial segregation) and the second-class citizen status of many intelligent nonhuman races in the series. To say nothing of the classist implications of setting the entire series in an invitation-only private boarding school, which largely go unexamined.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_6cb2d709	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_6cb2d709	featureConfidence	1.0
Harry Potter (Franchise)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_6cb2d709
Don't Shoot the Message / int_6d3e21bb	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_6d3e21bb	comment	Cool Cat Saves the Kids: While anti-bullying PSAs are important considering school bullying is a problem in and of itself, the film has so many flaws that make it completely fall flat. Those flaws being that it's too absolutely corny to take seriously, the Broken Aesop (especially taking Derek Savage's real-life antics into consideration), and its overall quality. For example, it actually makes the typical excuses for bullying, portraying them as the victims of society. It's not like bullies will become your friends if you just say the right things. The movie also makes broad generalizations about why kids bully each other and portray bullies as Card Carrying Villains who you can spot just by looking at them.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_6d3e21bb	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_6d3e21bb	featureConfidence	1.0
Cool Cat Saves the Kids	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_6d3e21bb
Don't Shoot the Message / int_6ed09d93	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_6ed09d93	comment	Big Mouth: While the show might be crass to many people, it raises several valid and important points and has many solid aesops regarding themes such as body-positivity, consent, growing up, etc. To say nothing of the Planned Parenthood episode, which was instantly controversial.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_6ed09d93	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_6ed09d93	featureConfidence	1.0
Big Mouth	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_6ed09d93
Don't Shoot the Message / int_70b7f8	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_70b7f8	comment	The Nightly Show: Some viewers don't like the fact that Larry wears his opinion on his sleeve much more than either Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert generally did, making the show often come off as operating on a very aggressive case of Black-and-White Morality (no pun intended), even if they agree with a lot of what he's saying.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_70b7f8	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_70b7f8	featureConfidence	1.0
The Nightly Show	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_70b7f8
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7251cf08	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7251cf08	comment	I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry: A film where two straight guys get married for insurance reasons, leading to them being subjected to homophobia they were once guilty of. Let's just say that the anti-homophobia message is the kindest thing many gay viewers had to say about this movie. GLAAD actually was criticized for its positive review.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7251cf08	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7251cf08	featureConfidence	1.0
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_7251cf08
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7254e6ab	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7254e6ab	comment	The Cosmonaut Variety Hour: In Marcus's Why I Don't Like JoJo's Bizarre Adventure video rant, a lot of people agree with Marcus that certain franchises, no matter how popular they are, aren't everyone's cup of tea and fans shouldn't try to force it on them. The problem that many of them have, however, is that his rant makes him sound abrasive and condescending, not helped by the fact that several of his criticisms are glaring misconceptions which makes his grievances come off as bad faith.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7254e6ab	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7254e6ab	featureConfidence	1.0
The Cosmonaut Variety Hour (Web Video)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_7254e6ab
Don't Shoot the Message / int_746814ae	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_746814ae	comment	Arthur: The Aesop against bullying in "So Funny I Forgot to Laugh", especially the message of how teasing can go too far and that a "Just Joking" Justification is not an appropriate apology, is a good lesson for the show to have. However, the reason why this episode is widely disliked is due to how there were several characters going against their usual personalities in order to deliver this message, which makes the lesson come off as awkward.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_746814ae	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_746814ae	featureConfidence	1.0
Arthur	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_746814ae
Don't Shoot the Message / int_75622e41	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_75622e41	comment	X-Men: The X-Men and mutants have long been used to represent real-world persecuted minority groups, and their conflicts with the public are plain allegories for racism, homophobia, and other forms of bigotry. Although the franchise has been praised for tackling this sort of subject matter, it has also commonly been pointed out they make a somewhat poor comparison because mutants really are extremely different from regular humans and their powers often manifest in very dangerous ways that make them a tremendous threat to others or even themselves at times; not just villains, but even heroic characters who struggle to control their powers, often making it seem like the mutant haters are justified in being afraid of mutants. Especially because there are a large number of genuinely evil mutants who have used their powers to cause massive destruction and kill countless innocent people.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_75622e41	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_75622e41	featureConfidence	1.0
X-Men (Franchise)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_75622e41
Don't Shoot the Message / int_761db20d	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_761db20d	comment	Whale Wars: Though eco-terrorism is arguably not the best way of stopping it, whale poaching itself is a serious problem that menaces the very survival of several species.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_761db20d	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_761db20d	featureConfidence	1.0
Whale Wars	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_761db20d
Don't Shoot the Message / int_76c51259	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_76c51259	comment	Yogi's Ark Lark: Let's face it, the Green Aesop is a very good way to live. But due to its preachy status and general divisive Hanna-Barbera issues, sometimes this trope crops up.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_76c51259	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_76c51259	featureConfidence	1.0
Yogi's Ark Lark	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_76c51259
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7832b74c	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7832b74c	comment	Steven Universe: A common focal point amongst the show's detractors. While many people would agree that the series' main messageâ€”violence is not the answer and pacifism is always an optionâ€”is a deeply meaningful one, there's a rather large Broken Base over how the message is presented. To detractors, Steven managing to redeem some of his enemies by having a heart-to-heart with them is plausible enoughâ€¦but when he starts redeeming all of them, up to the point where he manages to redeem the Diamonds, who are shown to be A Nazi by Any Other Name Galactic Conquerors, it just feels ridiculous. This unfortunately makes the message come across less as "always try to make peace with the enemy if you can" and more as "the enemy will absolutely redeem themselves if you just talk it out". It's probably safe to say that in Real Life, this has not proven to be the case, as sometimes there will be people that are simply beyond reasoning with, no matter how hard one may try. Even a few fans will admit that the message could have been better presented as a result. "Rocknaldo": Many review websites praised the episode for its message about problematic allyships in minority groups. However, many fans disliked the episode for its Anvilicious delivery, and not being a very fun or enjoyable episode to watch. The episode still has some important morals, like "Don't act like you have authority over a group you don't belong to" and "You shouldn't support something just to boost your own ego." Most importantly, it shows that people who are willing to overcome bigoted tendencies still can't change overnight, and while some never do, other just progress slowly.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7832b74c	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7832b74c	featureConfidence	1.0
Steven Universe	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_7832b74c
Don't Shoot the Message / int_788e3668	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_788e3668	comment	Music (2021): Viewers agree that portraying both non-verbal autism and having the autistic character be female (as most representations are male) are worthy concepts for a movie - but such a patronizing and stereotypical story was not the best place to do it.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_788e3668	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_788e3668	featureConfidence	1.0
Music (2021)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_788e3668
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7a5f881a	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7a5f881a	comment	The Da Vinci Code: Whatever one's opinion on the subject matter is, highlighting how the church has historically persecuted and punished women and covered up much of its dirty laundry are topics worthy of mainstream discussion.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7a5f881a	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7a5f881a	featureConfidence	1.0
TheDaVinciCode	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_7a5f881a
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7c31cde4	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7c31cde4	comment	Blonde: Several critics and general viewers have noted that the film wants to criticize and deconstruct the abuse, excessive sexualization and exploitation Norma Jeane Mortensen (and numerous women like her) went through in Hollywood, which is certainly not a bad thing, but that the execution is flawed; it's been argued that beyond graphically depicting Norma Jeane suffering one occurrence of trauma and degradation after another, the film doesn't have much else to say on the subject (which also tends to reduce Norma Jeane herself to being a helpless victim), and at times even feels like it indulges in the same exploitation of Norma Jeane it tries to condemn.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7c31cde4	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7c31cde4	featureConfidence	1.0
Blonde	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_7c31cde4
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7c8386f4	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7c8386f4	comment	Bright: The general message of the film is that racism is bad. However, numerous viewers and critics found its handling of that message to be sloppy at best and offensive at worst. Commonly criticisms include the fact that both Fantastic Racism and historical racism exist in Bright's world, which makes little sense. Another point of contention for some critics is that the racism toward orcs (culturally equated to African-Americans, Jews, and Mexicans) are both based on Sins of the Father that the race committed and can't live it down, with an unwillingness by other races to forgive them. This is seen as insulting towards real-life races who were historically oppressed through little fault of their own, especially since the Elves (used as an allegory for the powerful elite) seemingly did nothing wrong aside from being Upper Class Twits.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7c8386f4	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7c8386f4	featureConfidence	1.0
Bright	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_7c8386f4
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7cf5a07	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7cf5a07	comment	The Flash (2014): Even feminists thought the way "#feminism" was portrayed in "Girls Night Out" was forced due to its overuse and cheesy tone. They have been also critical on it especially on claims of the series mishandling female friendships.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7cf5a07	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7cf5a07	featureConfidence	1.0
The Flash (2014)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_7cf5a07
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7e67ad4f	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7e67ad4f	comment	Cuties: While most agree with the film's intended message against sexualizing minors, they can't help but feel the film grossly muddled the message by filming the dance scenes with the child actresses in an overly sexual light.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7e67ad4f	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7e67ad4f	featureConfidence	1.0
Cuties	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_7e67ad4f
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7ee99a29	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7ee99a29	comment	TektonTV: While Holding makes decent points here and there to support Christianity and Godâ€™s existence as a whole (such as explaining the problems of false dichotomy as well as association fallacy), many viewers and critics point out how the execution often gets lost in his blind contempt for atheists, and usually depicting the worst possible members of atheism and secularism doesnâ€™t exactly help his case in the grand scheme of things.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7ee99a29	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7ee99a29	featureConfidence	1.0
TektonTV (Web Animation)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_7ee99a29
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7f9dbbcf	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7f9dbbcf	comment	Far Cry 5: The fact that the only ending with a somewhat positive outcome is the secret ending wherein the player doesn't try to arrest Joseph Seed and instead leaves the compound to get reinforcements from the national guard. While the story was supposed to show the importance of procedure and how bad an idea it is to fight crime on your own, many players instead misinterpreted the story as "You're better off surrendering to a dictator and should leave well enough alone."
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7f9dbbcf	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_7f9dbbcf	featureConfidence	1.0
Far Cry 5 (Video Game)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_7f9dbbcf
Don't Shoot the Message / int_80942169	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_80942169	comment	Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide: The "Class Clown" episode delivers the message that trying to be amusing and entertain others can work to lighten tension in certain situations, including school. Not an untrue message, but the episode botches things by seemingly encouraging the viewer to continue this even if it gets them sent to detention. That said, the message itself does hold some merit, even if the episode jumbles it a bit.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_80942169	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_80942169	featureConfidence	1.0
Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_80942169
Don't Shoot the Message / int_816ca16a	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_816ca16a	comment	Enough: Most would agree that a woman would have a moral right to claim self-defense to premeditated murder to protect herself and her child from her abusive husband, especially if the husband has enough connections to track down her every move, and can therefore set her up to be defenseless, and unable to get any help from the law. However, the movie undermines this message by totally overdoing the female empowerment/good wife vs. evil husband aspect, such as justifying her breaking into his house and setting him up to be completely defenseless, then giving him a taste of his own medicine before finishing the deed, and happily living ever after (when she had cut the phone line) with no inquiries from the police. There's also the fact that the entire movie takes place from her perspective and we don't get any insight in their marriage or her husband's abusive nature. As such, the film seems more like about the fantasy of an abused woman getting revenge against her male partner, as opposed to a story of self-defense.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_816ca16a	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_816ca16a	featureConfidence	1.0
Enough	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_816ca16a
Don't Shoot the Message / int_846beec3	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_846beec3	comment	Vandread: The anime's message, that societies segregated by gender are ultimately undesirable, is an ultimately good one that most people would be able to get behind. However, its portrayal of the societies of Tarak and Mejere are rather stereotypical of said genders, leading critics to argue that the series is reinforcing stereotypes around said genders and on the subject of Dita, Meia and Jura: three women who grew up in a society where lesbians were the only known form of sexual and romantic attraction have their affections for Hibiki referred to as "forgotten biological instincts", accidentally coming across to some as a Cure Your Gays message.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_846beec3	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_846beec3	featureConfidence	1.0
Vandread	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_846beec3
Don't Shoot the Message / int_86ac48a8	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_86ac48a8	comment	Ben and Arthur: The film argues in favor of same-sex marriage, but don't expect any pro-LGBT organizations to recommend this film on account of its poor quality and sloppy handling of its messages.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_86ac48a8	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_86ac48a8	featureConfidence	1.0
Ben and Arthur	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_86ac48a8
Don't Shoot the Message / int_86c9b24c	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_86c9b24c	comment	God's Not Dead 2: Like the first film, a lot of Christians feel this way about the film. Possibly even more so, as the premise of the first had some potential, but the premise of the sequel is unbelievably stupid. When some Catholic news sites discovered that the writers of the film are Catholic like themselves and not Evangelicals, they gave a scathing review called out the filmmakers' victimhood complex.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_86c9b24c	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_86c9b24c	featureConfidence	1.0
God's Not Dead 2	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_86c9b24c
Don't Shoot the Message / int_8799acd2	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_8799acd2	comment	Assigned Male: The comic is criticized by some trans people who accuse it of horribly botching a moral that they would normally agree with.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_8799acd2	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_8799acd2	featureConfidence	1.0
Assigned Male (Webcomic)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_8799acd2
Don't Shoot the Message / int_891b6f50	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_891b6f50	comment	John K. Stuff: Most readers of his blog do agree with his ideas about pushing for more cartoony animation, but feel the tasteless and extreme way said ideas are presented ends up making it hard to actually agree with him. Most people agree completely with his hatred of Horrible Hollywood and executives calling the shots in cartoons. The problem comes from his fairly obnoxious and incredibly jaded way of presenting it, as well as his complete disloyalty to the rest of the animation industry, resulting in him lumping popular and well-liked studios, cartoons, and creators in with less popular ones. Even after any goodwill towards Kricfalusi was killed with the statutory rape scandal in 2018 and the nuclear disaster that was Cans Without Labels in 2019, it's believed that the blog is legitimately a good resource for aspiring artists to find instruction and inspiration, but that John's own opinions and self-congratulating merits should be taken with a heaping pile of salt.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_891b6f50	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_891b6f50	featureConfidence	1.0
John K. Stuff (Blog)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_891b6f50
Don't Shoot the Message / int_8947e94e	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_8947e94e	comment	Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: On one hand, his sudden tangent on how common homelessness on transgender people (like Alex) followed by his distaste for Valhalla's luau for being "cultural-appropration"-ey seems to come out of nowhere. Some feel this is a bit of an Author Tract and that, while Magnus is totally right about how often transgender teenagers are often homeless, his tone makes him seem almost condescending. On the other hand, some feel that the message about homeless transgender teenagers absolutely needs to be said, or that his sudden mention of Cultural Appropriation was a secret Take That!.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_8947e94e	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_8947e94e	featureConfidence	1.0
Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_8947e94e
Don't Shoot the Message / int_8a3a1edd	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_8a3a1edd	comment	Saved by the Bell: Caffeine addictions can be very real problems for high school students, especially those who are under pressure to overachieve - so "Jessie's Song" does touch on an issue that's worth talking about. Of course, the fountain of Narm and the sloppy writing prevent it from actually landing. Discovering that your favorite celebrity has a drug problem, while the obvious pressure some Teen Idols can be under to maintain a squeaky-clean image, are issues that continue to be relevant. But since the Broken Pedestal is caused by marijuana of all things, that tends to eclipse any point the episode was trying to make.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_8a3a1edd	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_8a3a1edd	featureConfidence	1.0
Saved by the Bell	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_8a3a1edd
Don't Shoot the Message / int_8bd2ee90	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_8bd2ee90	comment	I Am Weasel: "I.R. Plant Life" had a Space Whale Aesop but its message was pretty wholesome; even the smallest of plants should be conserved, even if they're weeds, which thistles are seen as. Not bad for an episode made in 1997 when climate change and conservation were not as big social issues as in The New '10s.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_8bd2ee90	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_8bd2ee90	featureConfidence	1.0
I Am Weasel	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_8bd2ee90
Don't Shoot the Message / int_8e82c366	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_8e82c366	comment	The Real Ghostbusters: "Follow That Hearse" has a Green Aesop, but many people dislike its execution, despite agreeing that helping the environment is important. The episode came across as Anvilicious with Winston's speech about how Humans Are the Real Monsters and the fact that the antagonist was a benevolent Native American deity that had turned into a monster due to exposure to toxic waste, and it didn't really give any advice on how not to pollute, not really defining what "toxic waste" even was.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_8e82c366	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_8e82c366	featureConfidence	1.0
The Real Ghostbusters	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_8e82c366
Don't Shoot the Message / int_8f36f969	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_8f36f969	comment	The Loud House: While "No Such Luck" brings up a valid moral against lying and how it isn't a healthy way to solve a conflict, it isn't saved from how everyone (including the parents) picked up the Idiot Ball and Lincoln was overly punished for it, while ignoring the implications of the family's actions. What is also baffling about the execution of the moral was how the lie was not Lincolnâ€™s to begin with as his sister, Lynn Loud Jr was the one spreading the lies about Lincoln in a tantrum she threw over losing a baseball game that Lincoln attended, yet she was never punished for it. "Brawl in the Family" had a message that a lot of people agreed with — not all conflicts need a third party to help solve, and sometimes you have to leave people who are arguing alone. However, the episode is still unpopular due to Lincoln being a Butt-Monkey as a result of his sisters' quarrel, him inexplicably not knowing how the protocol they made worked despite usually being the Mr. Exposition, and the protocol itself coming off as nonsensical (with, for instance, Lori choosing the bathroom to cool off when she can drive).
Don't Shoot the Message / int_8f36f969	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_8f36f969	featureConfidence	1.0
The Loud House	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_8f36f969
Don't Shoot the Message / int_90dfba1e	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_90dfba1e	comment	Vegan Artbook: Non-vegan readers who read this series would say that the series does bring up important environmental issues, but it's bogged down by propaganda that plagues it with half-truths, misinformation, and obvious biases that favor vegan solutions. It's perhaps no surprise that less radical vegans often point out how bad the whole comic makes the movement look.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_90dfba1e	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_90dfba1e	featureConfidence	1.0
Vegan Artbook (Webcomic)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_90dfba1e
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9180db32	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9180db32	comment	Letterkenny: Wayne's speech in "Kids With Problems" may or may not be an Author Filibuster, but it ain't wrong: basically it boils down to Wayne telling the kids that kids are spending too much time feeling pressured to live up to astronomical expectations to change the world set by social media instead of actually aspiring to truly live their lives.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9180db32	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9180db32	featureConfidence	1.0
Letterkenny	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_9180db32
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9871d4f3	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9871d4f3	comment	Bluey: "Tina" had a message on how parents need to explain rules to their kids, rather than saying things like "Because I said so" or "I'm going to count to three". A lot of viewers in the Periphery Demographic, particularly those who were parents, or who had parents who said things like that, thought this was a good moral and one that needed to be taught more often. However, they often also disliked the episode for being more violent than other episodes and for Bluey and Bingo being uncharacteristically bossy and demanding to their parents Bandit and Chilli, and Bandit and Chilli going along with it.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9871d4f3	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9871d4f3	featureConfidence	1.0
Bluey	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_9871d4f3
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9a27658	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9a27658	comment	Extra Credits: The main point of Stop Normalizing Nazis, that treating Nazis as a normal faction in fun shooter and strategy video games diminishes their reputation as one of the most abhorrent political and military movements in recent human history and makes the audience more receptive to bad faith revisionism downplaying the Third Reich's history of atrocity and disgrace in favor of cooing over their cool uniforms and warmachines, is potentially sound. However the videoâ€™s incredibly poor delivery of said message made it come across as them saying that playing as a Nazi in a video game will turn you into one in real life. Their less than genial response to criticism did not help.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9a27658	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9a27658	featureConfidence	1.0
Extra Credits (Web Animation)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_9a27658
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9a609949	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9a609949	comment	Make Mine Freedom: Considering some details about John Q. Publicâ€™s story and the time in which the cartoon was made, it most likely is defending the mixed economy exemplified by the New Deal, not pure laissez-faire capitalism. This would explain why the cartoon assumes that capitalism and democracy require each other, but it never distinguishes this from the abuses of the Gilded Age. This makes John seem overly naive, and can cause social democrats today to not fully agree with him while still acknowledging that totalitarianism is bad.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9a609949	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9a609949	featureConfidence	1.0
Make Mine Freedom	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_9a609949
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9bb59653	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9bb59653	comment	The Blacklist: Season 5 had an episode that tried to address the wage gapâ€”Samar found out by accident that she was being paid much less than Aram after the people in payroll mixed up their checks, implicitly because "all brown faces look the same" to them. Sexism and racism are both important issues, but the way the episode tries to address them comes across as incredibly clunky and awkwardâ€”the subplot comes out of nowhere, is not at all subtle, necessitates use of the Conflict Ball to work, and is ultimately broken by the fact that Samar and Aram don't even do the same job or work for the same organizationnote Aram is a tech specialist, Samar is a field agent; Aram is thoroughly FBI, Samar is "on loan" from Mossad, which makes comparing their paychecks meaningless. And then there's the fact that the entire plotline turns out to be an excuse for a Samar/Aram Ship Tease moment, and Samar only gets a raise because Aram had feelings for her, not because the FBI wanted to pay its agents fairly. The TL;DR is that workplace racism and sexism do deserve attention, but an awkwardly-placed, nonsensical wage gap storyline that winds up getting played for romance is probably not a great way to do it.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9bb59653	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9bb59653	featureConfidence	1.0
The Blacklist	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_9bb59653
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9d19dec8	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9d19dec8	comment	I Accuse My Parents: A parable about how parents shouldn't get drunk and fight in front of their kids lest they get driven off and seek parental figures elsewhere is not a bad message per se, it's just undercut by Jimmy's idiocy and the general melodrama of the rest of the movie.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9d19dec8	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9d19dec8	featureConfidence	1.0
I Accuse My Parents	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_9d19dec8
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9e0b88d2	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9e0b88d2	comment	Back to the Outback: The film delivers a message of "do not judge a book by its cover" and "inner beauty". However, one criticism from some viewers says this does not work with animals who are legitimately dangerous, humans have every right to be afraid of predators and venomous animals that could harm them anytime, and the moral unfortunately comes off as "it is okay to get close to crocodiles, they just want to help". To add on, all the dangerous animals, especially the main cast, are made to be as cute as possible, which is rather unfitting for a movie with a message about not judging animals by how they look.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9e0b88d2	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9e0b88d2	featureConfidence	1.0
Back to the Outback	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_9e0b88d2
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9e63932d	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9e63932d	comment	Ojamajo Doremi: The main theme is that magic is never as important as interpersonal relationships, which is good, but the questionable evaluations of the actual consequences, the possible alternatives never raised, and the additional justifications made additional weird issues appear.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9e63932d	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9e63932d	featureConfidence	1.0
Ojamajo Doremi	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_9e63932d
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9f9b47ed	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9f9b47ed	comment	Alvan an the Chipmunks 3: The Second Squeakuel: The author wants to show us that rape is bad and it shouldn't be glorified in fanfic. He isn't wrong, it's just that the story itself does not really help his cause.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9f9b47ed	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9f9b47ed	featureConfidence	1.0
Alvan An The Chipmunks 3 The Second Squeakuel / Fan Fic	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_9f9b47ed
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9ffb36e2	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9ffb36e2	comment	Frosty Returns: While the importance of protecting the environment is a good message, the problem with this special was how heavy-handed and one-sided it made the message.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9ffb36e2	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_9ffb36e2	featureConfidence	1.0
Frosty Returns	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_9ffb36e2
Don't Shoot the Message / int_a05d9236	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_a05d9236	comment	Accused (2023): Ava's impassioned speech in "Ava's Story" is a very touching and poignant testimony to the value of not denying deaf people their identities, and of hearing par11ents needing to accept their deaf children rather than force their ideals on them. The problem, however, is that not only does this message ring hypocritical since Ava was trying to force her ideals on Lucie, but it has nothing to do with the actual case, which is about the fact Ava kidnapped an infant just because she disagreed with their parents' intentions about treating her. From a legal standpoint, the question of giving a cochlear implant to an infant is irrelevant to the kidnapping and child endangerment charges Ava was facing, and Ava ultimately receiving no punishment for either due to her speech convincing the parents to withdraw the charges should in itself not have mattered to the trial outcome, since it was a state case being tried; the case only got thrown out because the judge was sympathetic to Ava.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_a05d9236	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_a05d9236	featureConfidence	1.0
Accused (2023)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_a05d9236
Don't Shoot the Message / int_a35bddd4	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_a35bddd4	comment	UrinatingTree: In "Buffalo: The Duality Of Franchise", he proclaims that calling him sexist doesn't change the fact that Kim Pegula has no qualifications that would justify her appointment (by her husband Terry) to the post of team president for the Buffalo Sabres.note she is also president of the Bills, by way of her post as president of their joint holding company, Pegula Sports & Entertainment; however, the Bills front office and coaching staff seem to have much greater autonomy dating back to around the beginning of 2018
Don't Shoot the Message / int_a35bddd4	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_a35bddd4	featureConfidence	1.0
UrinatingTree (Web Video)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_a35bddd4
Don't Shoot the Message / int_a37a8978	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_a37a8978	comment	Six: The Musical: It's not uncommon for fans to have many, many criticisms on how Six handles its characters and delivers its themes, yet love the show anyway.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_a37a8978	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_a37a8978	featureConfidence	1.0
Six: The Musical (Theatre)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_a37a8978
Don't Shoot the Message / int_a3c14f85	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_a3c14f85	comment	Don't Look Up: While they agree with the message of the film, more than a few critics and audiences were not amused by the movie's incredibly blunt and over-the-top take on human avarice and willful ignorance.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_a3c14f85	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_a3c14f85	featureConfidence	1.0
Don't Look Up	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_a3c14f85
Don't Shoot the Message / int_a8729c90	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_a8729c90	comment	The Fairly OddParents!: "Christmas Every Day": The ending, where all children from different backgrounds, as well as different countries, all working together to help Timmy, could be seen as some sort of diversity message, which is needed today. It still falters, though, because they're all stated as celebrating Christmas, which many cultures in the world don't. "It's a Wishful Life": While the aesop about how you should do good deeds for the sake of them and not for appreciation isn't necessarily a bad message, the fact that the lack of appreciation Timmy receives stems from pure pettiness and blowing stuff out of proportion sort of makes the aesop feel hollow. In addition, it's also disliked for the "Better if Not Born" Plot.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_a8729c90	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_a8729c90	featureConfidence	1.0
The Fairly OddParents!	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_a8729c90
Don't Shoot the Message / int_a993be1f	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_a993be1f	comment	Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords: Regardless of whether Kreia was right about her creepy theological musings or not, this game effectively demonstrates how conflicts between "good" and "evil" invariably leave devastation in their wake not matter who wins. Throughout this game the player sees worlds scarred and destroyed by the battles between the Jedi and their enemies, and encounter countless people driven from their homes by the wars consuming the galaxy. The Black-and-White Morality of Jedi and their enemies becomes less clear when one sees how much damage is caused by both sides, even when the "good" side triumphs, while the actions of the Jedi Council and Master Atris show that even those calling themselves good can easily end up doing just as much harm as the villains they fight against. However, the game's detractors argue the good points of the game are hurt by its at times-condescending tone. Even lead writer Chris Avellone has said of the game in hindsight that he came on too strong.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_a993be1f	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_a993be1f	featureConfidence	1.0
Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (Video Game)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_a993be1f
Don't Shoot the Message / int_a9f552d1	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_a9f552d1	comment	Unplanned: The film's commentary on the US healthcare system being driven by profits at the expense of people's well-being is actually worth discussing given it's a serious problem; trouble is, this movie's method of depicting this issue falls flat because it uses Planned Parenthood, which in reality is a non-profit organisation.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_a9f552d1	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_a9f552d1	featureConfidence	1.0
Unplanned	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_a9f552d1
Don't Shoot the Message / int_abb4ae8b	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_abb4ae8b	comment	Cattle Decapitation: The message against homophobia and transphobia in â€œForced Gender Reassignmentâ€� was much appreciated. However, the incredibly graphic gory violence in the music video undoubtedly distracted many viewers from the message.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_abb4ae8b	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_abb4ae8b	featureConfidence	1.0
Cattle Decapitation (Music)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_abb4ae8b
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ac64e9dc	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ac64e9dc	comment	The Last of Us Part II: Even many people who agreed with the gameâ€™s anti-violence and anti-revenge messages were critical of the gameâ€™s handling of things like Joelâ€™s death and Ellie choosing to spare Abby at the end of the game due to feeling that they were contrived and poorly written.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ac64e9dc	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ac64e9dc	featureConfidence	1.0
The Last of Us Part II (Video Game)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_ac64e9dc
Don't Shoot the Message / int_af01083	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_af01083	comment	Jesus, Bro!: Brad Jones has made it clear that the object of parody here is Christian propaganda films, not the religion itself. Didn't stop the Dove Foundation from rating it zero doves regardless.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_af01083	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_af01083	featureConfidence	1.0
Jesus, Bro!	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_af01083
Don't Shoot the Message / int_b0fc9724	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_b0fc9724	comment	Saturday Night Live: The Try Guys sketch from the episode 48x02 was supposed to mock the amount of attention the Ned Fulmer cheating scandal received from mainstream news given the other world events that were happening during the time (the approaching midterm elections in the US, the Russia-Ukraine war, etc.) as well as The Try Guys video series having a relatively niche audience compared to most popular media. However, because the show inaccurately depicted the scandal as a simple extramarital affair rather than the serious case of workplace misconduct that it was, this led to the show generating criticism for seemingly downplaying the ongoing issue of sexual misconduct in the workplace and the sketch's intended message being lost in the controversy.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_b0fc9724	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_b0fc9724	featureConfidence	1.0
Saturday Night Live	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_b0fc9724
Don't Shoot the Message / int_b30ae4db	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_b30ae4db	comment	Game of Thrones: Many would agree with the final message of Daenerys' character arc, which amounts to, "people who do bad things to people who you both think deserve it will eventually disagree with you on who deserves it and start doing bad things to people who you consider innocents, so think carefully before you praise a Well-Intentioned Extremist." It's therefore especially annoying for them that that message, instead of emerging organically and over time, seemed in many viewers' opinions to have been crammed into two and a half episode at the very tail end of the show by script writers who seemed to just want to get the whole thing over with. That said, other commentators argue that the message was, in fact, there all along, but Dany's fanbase were either engaging in Draco in Leather Pants or simply didn't catch some subtler implications in earlier seasons that she wasn't really supposed to be the heroine: her earlier malign actions were largely directed against Asshole Victims. For that matter, apparently there was also supposed to be a Central Theme of "most people are neither wholly good nor wholly bad, but they get cast as heroes or villains by history based mostly on what makes for the most satisfying narrative." That would been a very timely message for our polarised, self-righteous age! So it's too bad that that one got lost sometime after the first couple of seasons, after which we got a whole bunch of seasons where good guys and bad guys were usually easy to tell apart, only for the message to get dutifully spelled out at the last minute. Sandor's last words to Arya about Vengeance Feels Empty and how it will lead to her destruction is a good message overall. Too bad neither of them apply this message to Sandor, who pointlessly dies in a revenge mission against his brother. Arya doesn't even think to point out to Sandor that he doesn't have to die either, or that he has people who actually care about him.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_b30ae4db	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_b30ae4db	featureConfidence	1.0
Game of Thrones	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_b30ae4db
Don't Shoot the Message / int_b396dab6	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_b396dab6	comment	Mallard Fillmore: To some politically-moderate readers, Tinsley's viewpoints are on occasion quite reasonable, but his method of delivery distorts them so horribly that they despise the strip anyway.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_b396dab6	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_b396dab6	featureConfidence	1.0
Mallard Fillmore (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_b396dab6
Don't Shoot the Message / int_b61693a1	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_b61693a1	comment	Infinity Train: Blossomverse: Most stories in this verse will have a sub commentary talking about how Chloe being normal is nothing to be ashamed of, with a Be Yourself Aesop on top of that. The problem comes from the fact that, in most of these stories, the Chloe in question will eventually forgo being a normal girl in order to become "Chloe of the Vermillion", which is almost always as far away from being normal as you can imagine. Female focus is a common idea in the series, and one that is not unwarranted due to Chloe's lack of major character status, especially when Blossoming Trail was originally written. However, the fact that much of this focus comes at the expense of Goh, who is often written in unflattering ways that are not canonical and to a lesser extent Ash (who only escapes this due to a combination of co-writer intervention and his tendency to not be rendered mentally fragile like Goh) taints the goal with a bad aftertaste. In fact, the majority of male characters in the series are nearly always portrayed as far worse than their canon counterparts for the sake of making Chloe look like the innocent victim when she herself is anything but. Infinity Train: Blossoming Trail: Later in the story, it begins deconstructing the Accusation Fic tropes by pointing out how things aren't so black and white, Disproportionate Retribution is not acceptable, and those who subscribe to the idea are going to be called out on it. This is a decent message...unless Parker is involved. He acts much the same way as the protagonist of an Accusation Fic: blames everybody, sees things as black and white, and believes only in justice with extreme prejudice. However, instead of being called out, people keep praising him over how he knew Chloe better than anyone else while doing little to nothing to curb his violent tendencies. Even when he gets his just desserts after the Unown incident, the narrative still coddles him by giving him many moments where he acts like he did nothing wrong, culminating in a courtroom scene where he devolves into Shaming the Mob, all while acting like he's the better man in the situation. There is a gem of truth in the idea that focusing too much on one part of the Pokemon world, the Pokemon themselves, can neglect the idea of human interactions and the wider world itself. It is a world of both humans and Pokemon after all. Chloe and the story of Blossoming Trail is interested in raising this point, the problem is that it fails to truly demonstrate the idea. Not only are many of the human characters involved genuinely growing thanks to their interactions with Pokemon, but many of the human interactions they are said to be missing out on due to obsession are genuinely negative (such as Goh's school) or accidentally written as such (as would be the case with Trip and Parker), making the message come off as tone deaf at best and bending over backwards to support Chloe's views at worst. Goh himself, who is arguably the most set up to explore this, is also less effective than he might have been by the story starting twenty-eight episodes into the series, by which point Goh has started to work away from a possible obsession to the point of missing out on other things already, meaning the story's best candidate for this concept had already started to improve on his own. The possible counter-message, that being too obsessed with the human half of the Pokemon world is just as bad and that people need balance between the two, which could be easily fulfilled by Chloe or Parker, is also poorly, if at all, explored. Infinity Train: Seeker of Crocus: Later down in Act 2 and by the end of Act 1, the story tries to make a message about how human relationships are important, and that in order to make them work, communication and empathy are required from both sides. This is a pretty good message...that ends up falling flat when considering the context: Vermillion City, the location that gets the most focus in the story, is filled with horrible people, ranging from bullies who'd destroy someone in order to get a Pokemon, to adults that could care less about what happens as long as it isn't their problem. This is all without specifically noting when the story explores Chloe's own developments in this regard, as while certainly meant to show how Chloe has improved over time, focusing on her pre-development parts, tend to pain a picture of someone who is just as horrible as the bullies and adults mentioned above, and at times it is only the narrative, and not Chloe's actions and behaviors themselves, that communicate any progress in communication and empathy. These expansions also focus a lot on a Chloe who tends to display her worst traits in the Blossomverse, which further muddle the message as these developments are framed with large amounts of the very same traits that make Chloe divisive in the first place.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_b61693a1	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_b61693a1	featureConfidence	1.0
Infinity Train: Blossomverse (Fanfic)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_b61693a1
Don't Shoot the Message / int_b8c3cc30	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_b8c3cc30	comment	Despite its poor execution and unintentionally insulting attitude towards fans of Young Justice (2010), the message of "Let's Get Serious" that "Darker and Edgier doesn't mean it's better" isn't bad in itself. It's the fact that it was delivered in the form of yet another shallow Take That, Critics! that makes the message fall flat, coming across instead as being "silliness is the superior form of entertainment" instead of focusing on the quality of the content.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_b8c3cc30	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_b8c3cc30	featureConfidence	1.0
Young Justice (2010)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_b8c3cc30
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ba28e44b	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ba28e44b	comment	Karen: While many people do agree with the movieâ€™s message, the movieâ€™s poor quality and lack of subtlety bungle it to the point where some critics said they wouldâ€™ve mistaken it for a Stealth Parody in favor of the Karen if it werenâ€™t made by a black director for a black network.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ba28e44b	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ba28e44b	featureConfidence	1.0
Karen	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_ba28e44b
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ba6cc3a1	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ba6cc3a1	comment	Granblue Fantasy: Ladiva is a Transgender celebrity whom everyone respectfully refers to as female with no question, and is referred to as such by the story as well; which is set in a setting type that was historically heteronormative in real life and has been in fiction even now; and is in a game made in an infamously-heteronormative culture. However, an argument is often made about her design furthering the stereotype of transgender women being crossdressers or just overly effeminate men, due to her masculine, muscular physique and mannerisms as well as her voice, as well as her canonical disinterest to make herself "pass" for a woman. Whether she is considered good representation of transgender people with a unique story and design that deviates from common tropes of other transgender characters, or a well-intentioned but still offensive caricature of transgender people is a common topic of arguments, much in the same way Poison is.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ba6cc3a1	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ba6cc3a1	featureConfidence	1.0
Granblue Fantasy (Video Game)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_ba6cc3a1
Don't Shoot the Message / int_bb8adaef	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_bb8adaef	comment	Threads: Although the film was generally well-received by critics, it also had its share of detractors who took great pains to note that they understood the anti-war message Hines was pushing but found the extremely bleak tone to undermine the effectiveness of the message and make the film an unpleasant slog. As with most movies like this, the question has been raised of whether it's worth using such trauma-inducing or otherwise disturbing material without any meaningful catharsis at the end.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_bb8adaef	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_bb8adaef	featureConfidence	1.0
Threads	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_bb8adaef
Don't Shoot the Message / int_bc848d30	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_bc848d30	comment	SpongeBob SquarePants: "The Abrasive Side"'s message is that while it is okay to say no to people, that's no excuse for you to be rude to them. A good lesson in all, but both Sandy and Mr. Krabs come off as rude at the beginning of the episode through refusing to take no for an answer when SpongeBob says he can't do any favors for them when he and Patrick want to spend the day at Glove World, and through taking advantage of his Extreme Doormat status without caring about his feelings and they are both not called out for it. It's especially bad in Sandy's case considering that she knows better and even tells SpongeBob in the end that he's fine the way he is and doesn't need to change anything about himself. Also, because this episode only shows SpongeBob saying no to his friends through being rude to them due to his Abrasive side, he is never portrayed in the right when he does say no to them.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_bc848d30	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_bc848d30	featureConfidence	1.0
SpongeBob SquarePants	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_bc848d30
Don't Shoot the Message / int_bccaf14c	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_bccaf14c	comment	Infinity Train: Seeker of Crocus: Later down in Act 2 and by the end of Act 1, the story tries to make a message about how human relationships are important, and that in order to make them work, communication and empathy are required from both sides. This is a pretty good message...that ends up falling flat when considering the context: Vermillion City, the location that gets the most focus in the story, is filled with horrible people, ranging from bullies who'd destroy someone in order to get a Pokemon, to adults that could care less about what happens as long as it isn't their problem. This is all without specifically noting when the story explores Chloe's own developments in this regard, as while certainly meant to show how Chloe has improved over time, focusing on her pre-development parts, tend to pain a picture of someone who is just as horrible as the bullies and adults mentioned above, and at times it is only the narrative, and not Chloe's actions and behaviors themselves, that communicate any progress in communication and empathy. These expansions also focus a lot on a Chloe who tends to display her worst traits in the Blossomverse, which further muddle the message as these developments are framed with large amounts of the very same traits that make Chloe divisive in the first place.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_bccaf14c	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_bccaf14c	featureConfidence	1.0
Infinity Train: Seeker of Crocus (Fanfic)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_bccaf14c
Don't Shoot the Message / int_bd811af5	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_bd811af5	comment	Dark Crisis: Young Justice makes a big point about how fans shouldn't let nostalgia blind them to negative aspects about older works, and that they should embrace more diverse characters when they're introduced. Nobody would disagree with that, however what undermines this point is using Young Justice as an example, as the book is generally considered to have been very ahead of its time and still holds up today when it comes to progressive issues, and that the Young Justice fandom as a whole tends to lean left and be in favour of progressive comics. Combined with the miniseries itself being met with criticism for how it writes Cassie and Cissie coming off as deeply sexist, and the handling of Tim's bisexuality being seen as problematic by bisexual readers, it greatly undermines the message it's claiming to push. It's not helped either by using a toxic Straw Fan as the Big Bad, which is seen as mean-spirited at best and is generally not a popular way to preach messages like this even when they do have a point.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_bd811af5	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_bd811af5	featureConfidence	1.0
Dark Crisis (Comic Book)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_bd811af5
Don't Shoot the Message / int_c0869433	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_c0869433	comment	Yogscast: A number of blogs have shown up on Tumblr, critiquing the Yogscast for varying reasons ranging from social justice issues (ProblematicYogscast) to supposedly anti-drama and pro-consumer (YogPetShame). The behaviour from said blogs is the reason for a large Broken Base, since many that agree with the general point of some of these blogs (don't be homophobic/transphobic/racist, disclose properly and keep drama to a minimum, etcetera.) are otherwise put off by their demeanour and/or behaviour, whereas others are behind them fully.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_c0869433	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_c0869433	featureConfidence	1.0
Yogscast (Lets Play)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_c0869433
Don't Shoot the Message / int_c0eadab8	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_c0eadab8	comment	Sonic X: During the campfire scene in Episode 51, Sonic says â€œfriendship is freedomâ€�. Which is in itself a great message, except that he spent the entire episode allowing Chris to kidnap him and drag him far away while delaying his return back to his world.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_c0eadab8	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_c0eadab8	featureConfidence	1.0
Sonic X	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_c0eadab8
Don't Shoot the Message / int_c4282b71	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_c4282b71	comment	My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: One of the reasons Season 8 is the most contentious is fans badly wanted to agree with its Central Theme of teaching friendship and overcoming racial prejudice. But doing so through the School of Friendship supposedly contradicted the original premise of the series that friendship couldn't be learned in classesnote while it's a common misconception that such was stated◊, Twilight still failed to learn it in school and no explanation is given how the School of Friendship would be different, the Mane Six's teacher role put them at their worst to the point the lessons learned about friendship were in spite of them, and giving the Obstructive Bureaucrat racist opposing the message numerous, unintentionally valid, arguments against it. "Yakity Sax": Many fans like the Aesop of being supportive of friends hobbies even if you don't enjoy them. But they disparage the episode's handling of it by making Pinkie's hobby being unhealthily obsessive, and causing tangible annoyance/harm to the point they would be completely justified in making her stop, and their wrongness in stopping her being due to ignoring numerous alternatives (which would've invalidated the message) and just saying she was bad.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_c4282b71	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_c4282b71	featureConfidence	1.0
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_c4282b71
Don't Shoot the Message / int_c43df4d8	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_c43df4d8	comment	Doctor Who: "Orphan 55": Even some who agreed with the environmental message found the episode's delivery of it very off-putting, or ham-fisted at best. This episode is commonly reviled for being so preachy that it's outright Narm.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_c43df4d8	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_c43df4d8	featureConfidence	1.0
Doctor Who	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_c43df4d8
Don't Shoot the Message / int_c48d322f	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_c48d322f	comment	Tricky People: Child safety experts do in fact say that cautioning children about â€œTricky Peopleâ€� is a much more helpful lesson than Too Smart for Strangers, as children should be aware of suspicious behavior, which can come from people they know, as opposed to telling them that every single person they don't know can't be trusted. As for how that message is presented in this show, now...
Don't Shoot the Message / int_c48d322f	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_c48d322f	featureConfidence	1.0
Tricky People	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_c48d322f
Don't Shoot the Message / int_c57319b9	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_c57319b9	comment	Prehistoric Earth: While there are a few points that Luczynski brings up in his retrospective posts that several readers (including Nathanoraptor and A-LionGleek) admittedly consider valid points (to the point that the two aforementioned writers hope to try to avoid repeat instances of some of them in Prehistoric Park Reimagined), the somewhat unnecessarily harsh and borderline childish way in which he voices his grievances (among other things) has rubbed many people the wrong way and made it very difficult to immediately accept as much at face value.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_c57319b9	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_c57319b9	featureConfidence	1.0
Prehistoric Earth / Fan Fic	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_c57319b9
Don't Shoot the Message / int_c5f595e9	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_c5f595e9	comment	Cyber Seduction: His Secret Life: Minors being exposed to porn (usually without additional education around sex and relationships) and porn addiction actually can be very detrimental to a person's well-being and intimate relationships. Even moreso in an age where a lot of parents give even their prepubescent children smartphones with unlimited internet access. Unfortunately, this film's hamfisted, overly-preachy, and narm-filled approach means the subject isn't even remotely dealt with in a nuanced, realistic, or mature way.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_c5f595e9	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_c5f595e9	featureConfidence	1.0
Cyber Seduction: His Secret Life	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_c5f595e9
Don't Shoot the Message / int_c6f38d0c	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_c6f38d0c	comment	The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder: "Juneteenth"'s message about fighting revisionism and speaking the truth is a very good message. Despite this, however, the episode itself takes a number of liberties with people and events in American history, such as having the town founder's history as a slave owner be so completely scrubbed that you can't find it even on the dark web (which is ludicrous in this day and age), taking a black-and-white stance that no slaveowner should ever be admired (even though many of the Founding Fathers happened to own slaves, making them more complex figures), and giving an unjust Historical Villain Upgrade to, of all people, Abraham Lincoln.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_c6f38d0c	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_c6f38d0c	featureConfidence	1.0
The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_c6f38d0c
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ca8aa2a6	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ca8aa2a6	comment	God's Not Dead: Christians criticized the film for being alienating to non-Christians, feeling it would only turn them off to its intended message of accepting Christianity. God's Not Dead 2: Like the first film, a lot of Christians feel this way about the film. Possibly even more so, as the premise of the first had some potential, but the premise of the sequel is unbelievably stupid. When some Catholic news sites discovered that the writers of the film are Catholic like themselves and not Evangelicals, they gave a scathing review called out the filmmakers' victimhood complex.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ca8aa2a6	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ca8aa2a6	featureConfidence	1.0
God's Not Dead	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_ca8aa2a6
Don't Shoot the Message / int_cb10bfdf	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_cb10bfdf	comment	Fat Head: As pointed out by several reviews, most notably this one, whatever good points the film may have had become lost in its condescending tone, Tom Naughton's open hatred of Morgan Spurlock, and several moments of hypocrisy: for example, Naughton accuses Spurlock of engaging in Manipulative Editing, only to do it himself by omitting key bits of information, such as the fact that he increased his exercise level to several times that of the average American, dined at a wide variety of fast food franchises, and selected uncommon food options.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_cb10bfdf	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_cb10bfdf	featureConfidence	1.0
Fat Head	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_cb10bfdf
Don't Shoot the Message / int_cb55536d	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_cb55536d	comment	The Greatest Showman: While "This is Me" has caught on as a huge anthem for any and all marginalized groups, this hasn't saved it from criticism that it's still from a movie where P.T. Barnum's exploitation of otherness is whitewashed into a Be Yourself story.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_cb55536d	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_cb55536d	featureConfidence	1.0
The Greatest Showman	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_cb55536d
Don't Shoot the Message / int_d145590	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_d145590	comment	Beyond Scared Straight: The intended message is spot on — it's a warning to troubled kids about what things will be like if they keep breaking the law, delivered by real prisoners and prison guards. But the way it's being delivered by both the inmates and/or guards can fall flat in reality from how unintentionally silly it might be or because the over-the-top screaming at the kids can distract from the message.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_d145590	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_d145590	featureConfidence	1.0
Beyond Scared Straight	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_d145590
Don't Shoot the Message / int_d14c8c60	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_d14c8c60	comment	Ghostbusters (2016): Suffice it to say, one of the main reasons why detractors hate the movie is because of this trope. Many felt that the feminist message of the movie was over-exaggerated, aggressive, and possibly even misandristic due to the way the male characters are portrayed. Even some feminists didn't like the way the message was handled.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_d14c8c60	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_d14c8c60	featureConfidence	1.0
Ghostbusters (2016)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_d14c8c60
Don't Shoot the Message / int_d202ce96	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_d202ce96	comment	The Pagemaster: The movie contains both a Dare to Be Badass and a "Reading Is Cool" Aesop, which would be fine and dandy if not because it mixes them both up in the process, with the result being a rather puzzling Aesop that "reading (somehow) makes you braver". While this oddity is not without precedent in pop culture (it is actually kind of a trope of J. R. R. Tolkien's works, where unambitious bookworms like Bilbo and Frodo turn out to be the best hero material), it can still be jarring to see it applied to a more realistic setting like this film's live action sequences.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_d202ce96	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_d202ce96	featureConfidence	1.0
The Pagemaster	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_d202ce96
Don't Shoot the Message / int_d212cf4	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_d212cf4	comment	NerdÂ³: After the Yogscast's Kickstarter for their game Yogventures went bust and the group announced their plans to launch "Yogdiscovery" (a series in which they would be paid to promote small games in videos), Dan made a video in which he criticised the plan at length. Many that otherwise agreed with his points (which included disclosure and thought the plan had flaws in terms of how much the Yogscast would be paid) were put off by his demeanour, which they found to be quite whiny and frustrated.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_d212cf4	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_d212cf4	featureConfidence	1.0
NerdÂ³ (Lets Play)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_d212cf4
Don't Shoot the Message / int_d8377180	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_d8377180	comment	Thriller: A Cruel Picture: There's a potentially good female empowerment message, but it's buried under a mountain of gratuitous and exploitative nudity, to say nothing of the horribly homophobic portrayal of the sole lesbian character as a predatory monster. Though to be fair, the director made the film with purely mercenary motives and thus never intended it to carry such a message in the first place.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_d8377180	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_d8377180	featureConfidence	1.0
Thriller: A Cruel Picture	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_d8377180
Don't Shoot the Message / int_d8cf6937	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_d8cf6937	comment	Brimstone: While the film received recognition as feminist, some women accused it of being overcrowded with Straw Misogynists and too primitive in its criticism of Christianity.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_d8cf6937	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_d8cf6937	featureConfidence	1.0
Brimstone	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_d8cf6937
Don't Shoot the Message / int_d9c602eb	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_d9c602eb	comment	South Park: The anti-Playing the Victim Card message in "Splatty Tomato" comes off as rather shoddy to say the least. Not once does anyone admit that their attitude is the reason Heidi and Kyle acted the way they did or do Heidi's friends show Heidi any sympathy for how Cartman abused her after going back to him (which is the reason she turned against them in the first place). While their retribution was overblown (especially Kyle's), neither Kyle or Heidi's friends receive any punishment for borderline bullying them, with only Cartman, Kyle, and Heidi's actions being taken accountable. The message instead can come across as "Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse justifies not giving said people any support for what they've gone through".
Don't Shoot the Message / int_d9c602eb	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_d9c602eb	featureConfidence	1.0
South Park	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_d9c602eb
Don't Shoot the Message / int_dfbbbea3	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_dfbbbea3	comment	Black Christmas (2019): Even the biggest critics of the movie have pointed out that the themes of the movie (rape culture, toxic masculinity, male privilege, etc.) are worth talking about and that even the original 1974 film had serious political and social commentary. And it counts for something that the feminism the movie portrays isn't wholly sex negative. The problem they had was its execution, the unsympathetic, stereotypical main leads, and how it felt like it was a social message with a movie attached to it.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_dfbbbea3	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_dfbbbea3	featureConfidence	1.0
Black Christmas (2019)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_dfbbbea3
Don't Shoot the Message / int_e1bcc914	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_e1bcc914	comment	A Wrinkle in Time (2018): Diversity and female empowerment certainly are good themes to tackle, and neither of them is totally alien to the source material, even if the execution and fidelity to the text might be up for debate.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_e1bcc914	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_e1bcc914	featureConfidence	1.0
A Wrinkle in Time (2018)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_e1bcc914
Don't Shoot the Message / int_e2fe4d1b	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_e2fe4d1b	comment	G N'R Lies: "One in a Million" fell victim to this. Axl Rose wanted to include a song that criticized bigotry, but when it came out, it was he who was accused of bigotry because it wasn't sufficiently clear that the song was meant as the Villain Song of a Sub-Par Supremacist.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_e2fe4d1b	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_e2fe4d1b	featureConfidence	1.0
G N'R Lies (Music)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_e2fe4d1b
Don't Shoot the Message / int_e3510360	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_e3510360	comment	Children VS Wizards: The film is massively pro-Orthodox Christianity, but not even Orthodox Russians like this movie. As BadComedian puts it, the movie unites everyone of every nationality in hatred of it, Russian or otherwise.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_e3510360	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_e3510360	featureConfidence	1.0
Children VS Wizards	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_e3510360
Don't Shoot the Message / int_e4032728	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_e4032728	comment	Quest for Camelot: Having Garrett remain blind in the finale does send a good message about living with disability...but the fact that this is a fantasy setting where Excalibur's World-Healing Wave can literally separate conjoined dragons... It would be one thing if, perhaps, Garrett was blind from birth. But he tells Kayley he was blinded in an accident. Making the above with splitting apart conjoined from birth dragons but not curing his blindness even stranger.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_e4032728	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_e4032728	featureConfidence	1.0
Quest for Camelot	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_e4032728
Don't Shoot the Message / int_e4d9b4d0	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_e4d9b4d0	comment	HoloFunk - Pre-6.0: This old script and lore bible for hololive fangame HoloFunk was at least two things that players were able to appreciate: a tribute to retired talent Mano Aloe that condemns those responsible for spurring her retirement, and an attempt at building a Gateway Series to connect the Hololive and Friday Night Funkin' fandoms together by means of crossover. However, several factors served to greatly undermine these messages, including the lore's blatant favoritism of non-Hololive characters, its desire to put Aloe and many of the other Hololive girls through the wringer again before making things better (not helped by credible accusations of the process being allegorical), and the story itself generally not making any sense in the long term. All of this was further exacerbated with the publishing of sidestory The Dragon's Pizzeria, which committed enough of its own missteps to get its own example.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_e4d9b4d0	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_e4d9b4d0	featureConfidence	1.0
HoloFunk - Pre-6.0 (Video Game)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_e4d9b4d0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_e6a28dac	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_e6a28dac	comment	Heroes in Crisis: Fans have agreed Tom King wanting to do a serious story about superheroes and PTSD was admirable. The problem is, the story he's given them is just another Crisis Crossover involving multiple beloved characters getting killed for shock value or having their backstories and characterizations ruined for plot convenience, while the living characters take turns holding the Idiot Ball.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_e6a28dac	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_e6a28dac	featureConfidence	1.0
Heroes in Crisis (Comic Book)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_e6a28dac
Don't Shoot the Message / int_e6b693f8	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_e6b693f8	comment	It: Stephen King has defended the scene of the prepubescent sex train in a sewer by questioning critics why they were fine with the gruesome and brutal child murders but children having consensual sex with each other (in technical, not legal terms) is not okay. While there are those who would agree that the censorship and social attitudes of extreme violence versus basic human sexuality are grossly uneven, you'd have some trouble trying to defend your view with a prepubescent sex train in a sewer.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_e6b693f8	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_e6b693f8	featureConfidence	1.0
It	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_e6b693f8
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ea04bc18	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ea04bc18	comment	Nemesis Series: Some of the books' critics accused the writing of being too exaggerated with its "transphobia is bad" message, saying that the transphobic characters are so over the top that it comes across more as a War On Straw. Author April Daniels responded that a lot of what the transphobic characters say is pretty much lifted wholesale from things said by real-life transphobes.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ea04bc18	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ea04bc18	featureConfidence	1.0
Nemesis Series	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_ea04bc18
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ea311e44	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ea311e44	comment	The Ant Bully: Working together regardless of differences is quite a valid Aesop, but more than a few reviewers pointed out how Lucas was taught to conform to the point of not being an individual. Negative reviews went as far as to compare the movie to communist propaganda or a Hezbollah training video. Others have also taken issue at how Lucas is the only character who is fleshed out, informed and goes through a redemption arc about understanding the other, whereas Beals and the bully don't get it and are instead bullied back or crippled for life.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ea311e44	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ea311e44	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ant Bully	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_ea311e44
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ea4f62db	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ea4f62db	comment	Family Guy: For a time, Brian's liberal atheist viewpoints and his need to constantly preach them to characters/the audience (most notoriously in "Not All Dogs Go To Heaven") were taken to such levels that it even began to annoy the show's Democratic viewer base, many of whom agreed with the general message but thought the execution simply made him look bad. "The D in Apartment 23": A problem many had with the episode is that, during Brian's rant while Shaming the Mob, he made a very valid call out on internet culture and Twitter, it's just the episode itself fails to execute it in a meaningful way. People can be quick to freak out over a tweet and call someone a racist or "cancel" them rather than focus on more legitimate issues, while acting like a single tweet defines a person's moral character. Except whereas real cases of this have the tweet be spawned from ignorance, not racism, Brian knew his tweet was racist but posted it anyway. Then he figured people just can't take a joke when it was reacted to negatively. Also most of the vitriol comes from online, not in reality like an actual lynch mob. "The Trump Guy": This episode has been widely lambasted by many viewers and critics who share the creatorsâ€™ dislike and criticisms towards Donald Trump and would have otherwise agreed with their statements about his presidency. There are several problems many of them have, like how the show relies on easy, lazy, surface-level jokes that poke fun at Trump, jokes that were already getting old and were done better by other comedians; or that the episode doesnâ€™t add anything new or insightful to criticize Trumpâ€™s presidency; or how it plays Trump's sexual assault allegations for laughs when he harasses and attempts to rape Meg, which many viewers did not find funny because of its sensitive subject matter. "Coma Guy": The messages "You can do anything to atone but you won't always be forgiven" and "Forgiveness isn't always worth it because people can still hold grudges and play the victim, even when it's not in their best interests. So move on before they exploit you further or before you feed their ego even more by grovelling for forgiveness" are rare but true lessons in life. However, Peter's request was incredibly simple and disproportionate as he only asked his family to compliment Timothy Olyphant on his Netflix show, Santa Clarita Diet, in order to atone for trying to kill him. A task they found grueling and impossible so they just cut him out of their lives and move away instead since Lois knew Peter would never forgive them for taking him off life support. "Not All Dogs Go to Heaven": The intended morals of this episode ("Fundamentalism and willful ignorance in religion can be dangerous" and "Sometimes religion doesn't have all the answers to mankind's unanswered questions") are fairly good ones. But sadly, due to how the episode plays out, the message comes across more as "Believing in God is a waste of time, especially if you're from a family that treats you like crap and your life sucks," and "Atheists know what they're talking about when they say that there is no God and no reason to follow religion." Ultimately, the moral falls flat as Brian comes across as a massive jerk, basically saying Meg not living up to her perception of beauty proves God doesn't exist.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ea4f62db	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ea4f62db	featureConfidence	1.0
Family Guy	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_ea4f62db
Don't Shoot the Message / int_eb3f3551	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_eb3f3551	comment	Mass Effect: Andromeda: The general consensus about Gil's baby subplot was that while the idea of a male-male romance leading to them becoming dads is good on its own, the handling was extremely poor.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_eb3f3551	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_eb3f3551	featureConfidence	1.0
Mass Effect: Andromeda (Video Game)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_eb3f3551
Don't Shoot the Message / int_eb79848f	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_eb79848f	comment	Eve: The Awakening: Even some people who rant endlessly about the book will admit that it has some very important lessons for young people, that are much needed in a post-Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey world (that is, sans its black-and-white portrayal of people in general).
Don't Shoot the Message / int_eb79848f	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_eb79848f	featureConfidence	1.0
Eve: The Awakening	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_eb79848f
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ef337a8b	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ef337a8b	comment	DarkMatter2525's condemnation of circular reasoning, discussing the dangers of extremism, and critiques on the flaws of organized religion are sound, but they tend to get lost in his infamous anti-religious sentiments. Most often is when he discusses the flaws of organized religion and believing in God, he will mention how both systems of belief are easy to corrupt and both potentially employ flawed reasoning, like letting subjective views influence objective fact. The problem is his arguments are often presented in a manner that can be easily interpreted as hostile to religion, using strawmen to support his arguments and making mean-spirited jokes at the expense of religious believers. This also tends to make him look like a hypocrite, criticizing those who let emotions influence their logic while he lets his own emotions influence his logic.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ef337a8b	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ef337a8b	featureConfidence	1.0
DarkMatter2525 (Web Animation)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_ef337a8b
Don't Shoot the Message / int_efb7802b	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_efb7802b	comment	Cool Cat Fights Coronavirus: Most of its detractors agree with the fact that stopping COVID is necessary, but dislike the film due to its Broken Aesop (among other things, Cool Cat doesn't wear a mask despite saying to wear one), its use of Artistic License â€“ Medicine, and the Villain Song being hard to take seriously.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_efb7802b	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_efb7802b	featureConfidence	1.0
Cool Cat Fights Coronavirus	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_efb7802b
Don't Shoot the Message / int_f1c1d87a	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_f1c1d87a	comment	Manhunt: The game has vital social commentary about the media's morbid obsession with violence and criticizes its own audience for using video games as a sadistic power fantasy and a form of escapism. Rockstar even goes as far as to use Piggsy as an allegory for human savagery and the glorification of violence to say their audience is as inhuman as Piggsy if they enjoy violence this much and over-indulge in these kinds of media. Ironically enough, the game famously garnered controversy for being too violent and the message of the game went over their heads.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_f1c1d87a	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_f1c1d87a	featureConfidence	1.0
Manhunt (Video Game)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_f1c1d87a
Don't Shoot the Message / int_f3d3a91c	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_f3d3a91c	comment	She-Hulk: Attorney at Law: Several viewers find themselves agreeing that the workplace can be discriminatory towards women, but feel the show either bungles its messaging either because they find the Medium Awareness undermines any drama, or find it difficult to get invested in Jen's struggles.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_f3d3a91c	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_f3d3a91c	featureConfidence	1.0
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_f3d3a91c
Don't Shoot the Message / int_f59e218	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_f59e218	comment	Rock: It's Your Decision: Many Christians who feel that more people should be with the religion see this movie and feel this is not the way to do it.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_f59e218	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_f59e218	featureConfidence	1.0
Rock: It's Your Decision	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_f59e218
Don't Shoot the Message / int_f7310ecc	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_f7310ecc	comment	Fatal Attractions (2010): While the show does have some pretty flagrant Double Standard for reptiles and a questionable tone, many exotic animal experts think the message of responsible pet ownership is an admirable one.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_f7310ecc	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_f7310ecc	featureConfidence	1.0
Fatal Attractions (2010)	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_f7310ecc
Don't Shoot the Message / int_f81101f2	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_f81101f2	comment	PokÃ©mon: The Original Series: "Challenge of the Samurai": Taking responsibility for one's own actions is a very important lesson for kids to learn early on when growing up. Too bad it's muddled by the fact that it genuinely wasn't Ash's fault that the cast got hunted all over Viridian Forest by a Beedrill swarm, despite what the episode tries to tell you. "The Path to the PokÃ©mon League": It seems the episode wants the viewer to know that there are multiple ways to lovingly raise a PokÃ©mon, with intense training just being one of many methods. Since it clearly works both in the anime and in the games and is a good metaphor for how grueling training for sports can be, it's certainly not a bad lesson in theory. But the execution was... lacking, to say the least. Ash's ultimate loss in the Indigo League was meant to show that being a scrappy underdog/the protagonist alone doesn't mean you will win, as a contrast to the 'underdog victories' that were running rampant at that time. However, the unfair circumstances that led up to it,note He was kidnapped by Team Rocket and the escape attempt meant his PokÃ©mon were exhausted by the time he reached the arena, forcing him to fall back on his supremely unreliable Charizard who pulled Screw This, I'm Outta Here rather than fight. combined with Ash going on to lose every official league tournament he entered in subsequent seasons until Alola diminished the message.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_f81101f2	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_f81101f2	featureConfidence	1.0
Pokémon: The Original Series	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_f81101f2
Don't Shoot the Message / int_f8896fed	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_f8896fed	comment	The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time: According to the author, he wrote this book to get people to understand people who think differently. The problem is, in this book, besides the fact that Christopher's autism was portrayed in a very stereotypical fashion, he was also portrayed as someone who insults everyone around him (including his disabled classmates) while praising his own intelligence, and at worst threatened people with a Swiss Army Knife on two separate occasions. It also didn't help that Christopher is oblivious to any verbal abuse thrown by almost every other character unchallenged, even by his own parents.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_f8896fed	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_f8896fed	featureConfidence	1.0
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_f8896fed
Don't Shoot the Message / int_fa85cc4f	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_fa85cc4f	comment	OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes: "Let's Not Be Skeletons" is not only criticized for its lack of subtlety on the subject of gun usage, but also because the remotes don't kill their victims, but rather turn them into animate skeletons and treating it with the simplicity of a manageable new problem rather than a long running one that is difficult to clean up. Thus, some fans who support gun control dislike the episode.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_fa85cc4f	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_fa85cc4f	featureConfidence	1.0
OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_fa85cc4f
Don't Shoot the Message / int_fdbace96	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_fdbace96	comment	Gravity Falls: "The Last Mabelcorn": Fans generally agree that Mabel's lesson—that others' opinions do not define who you are—is a good and important message. However, many fans have criticized the execution of the Aesop, arguing that the lesson Mabel learns probably would have been better suited to almost anyone else in the cast. Dipper, for example, has horrible insecurities and caring about others' opinions has been really detrimental to him over the series—in fact, it's been the motivator behind most of his poorest decisions. Mabel, on the other hand, rarely listens to others' opinions and the only times she ever learns from her mistakes is after she's faced the consequences of not valuing others' opinions and finally opened herself up to truly listening to others. To those who take this view, an aesop about not taking others' criticisms too seriously seems to reinforce Mabel's flaws rather than help fix them. "Roadside Attraction": An aesop against pick-up artistry focused on teaching its audience not to toy with others' emotions and to respect emotional commitments is a great aesop. So to many viewers, it probably would've been nice if they'd actually showed anyone behaving like a pick-up artist, instead of shaming the most socially anxious member of the cast for trying to become more comfortable socializing with girls. "Weirdmageddon, Part 2: Escape from Reality": We all will need to face challenging circumstances in life as things change, and if we hide away in our bubbles and echo chambers and refuse to accept reality, we won't grow enough to meet the moment. That said, the episode's aesop about rejecting escapism probably would work better if Mabel's solution to her escapism wasn't pressuring those around her into sacrificing their own interests to change the reality she faces into one she likes more. After the airing of "Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future", many viewers agreed that Ford was wrong for calling Dipper's and Mabel's relationship "suffocating," and older viewers online also tended to agree that accepting Ford's offer to move to Gravity Falls and become his apprentice would come with some major downsides and problems that need to, at the very least, be addressed—such as whether Ford can actually be trusted to be a good guardian, considering he sees no problem with asking the child in question to take on life-threatening responsibilities at the age of twelve-going-on-thirteen. However, after this episode, many viewers also had a problem with the fact that, rather than addressing the valid potential problems with Ford's offer, the show instead put Dipper under an exceptional amount of emotional pressure until he gave up the offer while under duress. Further, the show never acknowledges the valid problems with the offer outside of how it would negatively affect Mabel (and Dipper's relationship with her); because Mabel was essentially being held hostage over it, consideration for Mabel was forcibly prioritized over Dipper himself—so many saw it as Dipper technically making the right choice, but for unhealthy, upsetting, and unfair reasons. Despite a significant portion of the audience going into the episode agreeing that Ford's offer is not the best thing for Dipper, the way the show basically emotionally blackmailed Dipper into changing his mind about it discomforted many viewers, added credence to Ford's "suffocating" comment among the fanbase, and made the episode's resolution land on an extremely divisive note. On the other hand, it should be noted that Dipper, in the midst of convincing Mabel that she needs to go back to reality, realizes that he himself was hiding from the reality of facing high school through the apprenticeship, suggesting that he gave up the apprenticeship for his own sake as well.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_fdbace96	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_fdbace96	featureConfidence	1.0
Gravity Falls	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_fdbace96
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ffb43795	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ffb43795	comment	Cobra Kai: While most fans agree that the Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse message about Tory's behavior is a good one, it's debatable of whether Sam is the right character to deliver it. Her privileged upbringing makes the line come off as Innocently Insensitive at best and classism at worse. It doesn't help that Sam doesn't appear to know about Tory's financial issues, seeing she met Tory as Aisha's guest at the beach club. Notably, when Miguel, who is also from a poor working-class background and knows about Tory's struggles, delivers the message to Tory in Season 3, it is a bit more effective.
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ffb43795	featureApplicability	1.0
Don't Shoot the Message / int_ffb43795	featureConfidence	1.0
Cobra Kai	hasFeature	Don't Shoot the Message / int_ffb43795

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

Don't Shoot the Message	processingCategory2	Audience Reactions
Don't Shoot the Message	processingCategory2	Index Backfire
Don't Shoot the Message	processingCategory2	Index Failure
Chick Tracts (Comic Book) / int_2f1bddff	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Equestria Ninja Girls Ninja Racers (Fanfic) / int_2f1bddff	type	Don't Shoot the Message
O.J.: Made in America / int_2f1bddff	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Outbound Flight / int_2f1bddff	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Rothul	seeAlso	Don't Shoot the Message
¡Alarma! (Music) / int_2f1bddff	type	Don't Shoot the Message
BryanFischer	seeAlso	Don't Shoot the Message
Sweeten That Aesop / Sugar Wiki / int_2f1bddff	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Monster Sanctuary (Video Game) / int_2f1bddff	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Dorkly Originals (Web Animation) / int_2f1bddff	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Crash Thompson (Web Video) / int_2f1bddff	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Cynical Reviews (Web Video) / int_2f1bddff	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Drew Gooden (Web Video) / int_2f1bddff	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Munecat (Web Video) / int_2f1bddff	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Sarah Z (Web Video) / int_2f1bddff	type	Don't Shoot the Message
The Rap Critic (Web Video) / int_2f1bddff	type	Don't Shoot the Message
The Rock Critic (Web Video) / int_2f1bddff	type	Don't Shoot the Message
Tiny Meat Gang (Web Video) / int_2f1bddff	type	Don't Shoot the Message

Copyright of DBTropes.org wrapper 2009-2013 DFKI Knowledge Management. Imprint. - Thanks to Bakken&Baeck for hosting. Contact.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.