Values Resonance - TV Tropes

Not too shabby for something from 1949, eh?

Some moral values just don't age well. The attitudes of our society have changed, or the issue they addressed has become obsolete.

But others — like good wine or fine cheese — only get better with time. Years after the original author and audience have passed, new generations still look at the lessons they taught and say, "Damn straight." Maybe they spoke to problems that were barely even acknowledged by their own generation. Maybe some social issues are just Older Than They Think. Maybe they got lucky. However it happened, what they said has stood the test of time: it is just as meaningful now as it was then.

Even when a work is non-ideological, it can still resonate due to tapping into a style or gimmick that would not become popular for many years. Art historians have pointed out, for example, that paintings in the nonrepresentational or abstract style were created in the 16th century by Italian painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo — a full 300 years before expressionism became fashionable in Western art.

Keep in mind that this is somewhat a subjective trope, as what resonates as an accurate observation for a conservative may not be the same as a liberal, for a woman may not be the same as for a man, for a devoutly religious person may not be the same as an atheist, for a citizen of one country not the same as a citizen of another, and so on, as well as vice-versa. The best advice (as always applicable when one deals with the internet) is to keep an open mind. Likewise, do not assume that merely because it is old that it is accurate.

But while this is somewhat subjective, there is a key guideline that should be borne in mind when considering examples. The key element of this trope is that the value or values presented or portrayed in the example resonate with an audience culturally removed from the originally intended or expected audience. It is not resonance when the values in a work are significant or meaningful to the audience for which the work was originally made; a thing does not resonate with itself. That usually requires that the work is from an earlier time or from a different culture than the audience with whom the work is resonating. There is some flexibility here for certain media or works where the intended audience moves on after only a few years, but even that flexibility is limited, since, just because the audience has moved on, it does not follow that the work is now being consumed by a fundamentally separate culture.

Compare and contrast with Fair for Its Day, where the morals the work presents are kind of off, but compared to other opinions from its age, very forward-thinking. Contrast Unintentional Period Piece, where the setting and narrative fluff of the work ties it to a single time period (though note that it can still overlap with this if the themes are louder than its cultural trappings). Also compare Politically Correct History, which is when modern sentiments are presented in-universe to purposely elicit the same effect. See also Not So Crazy Anymore, when a concept in a work that was originally presented as outlandish/impractical/what-have-you eventually is seen as commonplace in the general culture, and Vindicated by History, where a moral that didn't 'land' at the time is appreciated later.

Note: Examples regarding the resonance between time periods require a 20-year waiting period before they can be added.

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Examples:

• Anime & Manga
• Comic Books
• Comic Strips
• Film
• Literature
• Live-Action TV
• Music
• Theatre
• Video Games
• Western Animation
  • The Simpsons
  • South Park
  • SpongeBob SquarePants
• Other Media
• Real Life

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