Fridge Brilliance

[Quiver he/him]

A term that comes from TV Tropes (don't click that), but for those of you who are unfamiliar with that time sink...

 

Fridge Brilliance refers to something which, when you think about it, suddenly strikes you as... well, brilliant on the part of the writer. Corrolary tropes include fridge logic (where stuff suddenly makes sense) or fridge horror (where thinking about somethign makes you realize something horrifying about the work which isn't explicitly stated.)

 

As an example, here is one of the TV Trope "Fridge brilliance moments" for Mistborn (with spoilers for the original trilogy).

 

 

 

When Vin is attacking Cett's keep in The Well of Ascension, she takes startling pleasure in assaulting and killing Cett's troops and exercising her Mistborn abilities. Afterward, she has a My God, What Have I Done? moment where she's horrified by how she killed all those men. While she's doing so, she's holding her earring in her hand instead of wearing it. The earring is a Hemalurgic spike, and Vin's satisfaction at such destruction was Ruin's influence over her. When she took the ring out, Preservation's influence over her gave her that sense of horror at what she'd done.

 

Have you guy's ever had any moments like this- things which suddenly make so much sense or change how you view a work? I've had one recently.

 

Men in Black

During the original Men in Black, Jay goes on a targeting range. While everyone else is shooting at all the alien's, he ends up only shooting the dummy of a (human) woman, following it up by explaining how all the "evil aliens" just looked like they were doing their own thing (like one doing pull ups on a lamp post) whereas the old woman was the unlikely threat.

The other candidates are wearing military uniforms. It make's sense that Jay would be chosen over them because the MiB aren't a military group. But that scene shows why; everyone else saw targets to kill (with the assumption that humans are the good guys), whereas Jay just saw different people and tried to assess whole the real threat was. The MiB protect aliens on earth from humans just as much as they protect humans from aliens on earth.

Add to the fact that Jay is a cop, and the only major black character in a white cast (and, from what we see, what appears to be a predominantly white organisation) and the whole thing takes on kind of a new "racial profiling" perspective.

 

Granted, that last part might just be me reading too much into it because of recent history... but still. You guy's ever had "Eureka" moment's like these?

Edited February 19, 2016 by Quiver

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Here's one for Lilo and Stitch, in spoiler tags because of spoilers and because it's quite the tearjerker. 

 

At the beginning of the movie, Lilo is racing through the streets to get to hula practice, which we see has already started without her. She finally arrives after the opening song, "He Mele No Lilo," has finished, prompting the instructor to ask her why she was late. Lilo spills out a breathless story about how every day, she brings a fish named Pudge a peanut butter sandwich, and she's late because the only sandwich filling she and Nani had in the house was tuna, and she can't bring tuna to a fish because, in her words, "I'd be an abomination!" The instructor asks Lilo why she has to bring Pudge a sandwich every day, to which Lilo responds, matter-of-factly, "Pudge controls the weather." 

 

The adults don't laugh. They don't smile. They trade knowing glances. 

 

"You're crazy," says one of Lilo's fellow hula students, and Lilo attacks her. 

 

Later on, Lilo pours out the story of why she and Nani are alone to Stitch: It was night, pouring rain, and her parents were on the road. Their car slipped and fell into a ditch, and they were killed on impact. 

 

The adults at her hula lesson knew full well about Lilo's parents. Her fellow students assumed the story about Pudge was just Lilo being random, but the adults knew that Lilo was trying, in the only way she knew how, to prevent Nani from dying in a similar accident.

 

And, Fridge Brilliance in the title: 

 

The name Lilo means "lost." A stitch is something people make to pull two pieces of fabric together. The title means Lost and Pulled Together.

[Khyrindor he/him]

BoM Spoilers for literally the end:

 

A few seconds before Telsin revealed herself, it clicked in me, and I sat there like, "Well. This isn't going to end well."

 

When the spearhead turned out to be the bands

[Delightful]

Here's one for Lilo and Stitch, in spoiler tags because of spoilers and because it's quite the tearjerker.

At the beginning of the movie, Lilo is racing through the streets to get to hula practice, which we see has already started without her. She finally arrives after the opening song, "He Mele No Lilo," has finished, prompting the instructor to ask her why she was late. Lilo spills out a breathless story about how every day, she brings a fish named Pudge a peanut butter sandwich, and she's late because the only sandwich filling she and Nani had in the house was tuna, and she can't bring tuna to a fish because, in her words, "I'd be an abomination!" The instructor asks Lilo why she has to bring Pudge a sandwich every day, to which Lilo responds, matter-of-factly, "Pudge controls the weather."

The adults don't laugh. They don't smile. They trade knowing glances.

"You're crazy," says one of Lilo's fellow hula students, and Lilo attacks her.

Later on, Lilo pours out the story of why she and Nani are alone to Stitch: It was night, pouring rain, and her parents were on the road. Their car slipped and fell into a ditch, and they were killed on impact.

The adults at her hula lesson knew full well about Lilo's parents. Her fellow students assumed the story about Pudge was just Lilo being random, but the adults knew that Lilo was trying, in the only way she knew how, to prevent Nani from dying in a similar accident.

And, Fridge Brilliance in the title:

The name Lilo means "lost." A stitch is something people make to pull two pieces of fabric together. The title means Lost and Pulled Together.

[Quiver he/him]

Arrow spoilers

In season two, Oliver starts to hallucinate about the people who died because of him. He see's visions of Shado and Slade, blaming him for what happened to them. The episode ends with him hallucinating Tommy, who tell's him to get up and be a hero.

It's a nice moment, symbolising Oliver reaching some degree of self-forgiveness for what happened to Tommy.

Except... Vision!Tommy had a beard. Real!Tommy never wore a beard. Why would Oliver make such a huge mistake in how he remembered his best friend?

Then in season 3, we learn magic exists in the Arrowverse.

Oliver didn't hallucinate Tommy. Tommy Merlyn came back to earth as an actual ghost to encourage Oliver and let him forgive himself, so he can become a real hero.

Bonus points:

The episode is titled Three Ghosts, as in the Christmas Carols.

Shadow is the Ghost of Christmas Past, because everything she did happened in the Past.

Slade is the Ghost of Christmas Present because -though Ollie isn't aware of it- Slade is working against Oliver in the Present.

Tommy is the Ghost of Christmas Future. Not only is he about moving forward and letting go, in the future the show will move towards away from normal (Shado) or enhanced (Slade) situations in favor of mystical ones...just like Ghost!Tommy.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

In the first two Kung Fu Panda movies, we're introduced to two different villains: Tai Lung and Shen. By Western standards, they're pretty bad; but they're even worse according to Confucian thought. 

 

Kung Fu Panda: 

 

Tai Lung is a snow leopard who has recently escaped from prison to continue his single-minded quest for the Dragon Scroll, a scroll rumored to grant ultimate power to whoever holds it. According to the same legend, only the prophesied Dragon Warrior is worthy of holding the Dragon Scroll, but Tai Lung is completely convinced he is the Dragon Warrior. This despite Master Oogway, a wise and ancient tortoise, stating in no uncertain terms that Tai Lung is not the Dragon Warrior, even though Master Shifu, Tai Lung's mentor and father figure, believed he was. 

 

Now, to Western audiences, Tai Lung's arrogance comes across as negative, while his willingness to turn on Shifu can be considered a terrible thing at best, a Moral Event Horizon at worst. However, Confucian thought values filial piety, or loyalty to and respect for one's parents and ancestors, meaning that Tai Lung's rebellion against Oogway and later attempt to kill Shifu is fairly blasphemous. Similarly, humility is considered an important and valuable trait, so Tai Lung's arrogance is another severe mark against his character.

 

Kung Fu Panda 2: 

 

Lord Shen, an albino peacock, is brash, arrogant, violent; he committed genocide to preserve what he believed to be his future; and he blames his parents for his own sins. In addition to Tai Lung's wrongdoings, Shen adds violence, a rejection of social harmony, and a lack of moral rectitude (considered an essential trait for a leader); he also refuses to acknowledge the moral rectitude of other leaders. To Western audiences, Shen is a terrible excuse for a person and should be stopped at any cost. But according to Confucianism, Shen is a walking blasphemy.