Current Events > "I didn't tell you in order to protect you"

(+) Yeah! (+)

Hear this in so many TV shows and movies, is it even valid?
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It never protects anyone
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Yea that's a very cliche thing to say

Thats the excuse people use for telling kids the truth about santa clause tbqh

This Black Lightning episode has said it like 3 times already
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That has to be the single most repeated line in Smallville, which just has to have the record for repeating it.
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No it usually fucks them up because mooks attack them anyway and it just makes them have no clue what's going on
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Imagine if you knew somebody who had classified information and he was being pursued because he isn't clear to have this knowledge.

Would you want him to tell you what it is?

YoshitoKikuchi posted...

This Black Lightning episode has said it like 3 times already

I was just gonna say that's a CW staple.
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I fucking hate that trope and I want it to die. Sign of a lazy and/or bad writer.
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I hate the trope where the protagonist does a lot of investigation to find a person, place, or thing, and later on you see their partner gain that same information super easy

like, the lead finds an enemy's hideout after a lot of obstacles, but then someone they work with will get there the same time, talking about how they got the location from a henchman, or something like that
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Having done it before, don't. Always tell them, it's better to know and adapt than not know and be not only blindsided by it but know your friends kept it from you.
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bump
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it's basically the motto of the flash tv show
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pres_madagascar posted...

Having done it before, don't. Always tell them, it's better to know and adapt than not know and be not only blindsided by it but know your friends kept it from you.

This is the part of this trope that I hate the most. They usually gloss over the fact that they'll likely never truly trust them again and they act like the person getting furious about the secret and broken trust like they're absolutely wrong. Even worse, they'll have something major happen to the person who kept the secret so that the other person will forget all about it.
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ThePrinceFish posted...

That has to be the single most repeated line in Smallville, which just has to have the record for repeating it.

The Black List is a good challenger for that record
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YoshitoKikuchi posted...

is it even valid?

As a worn out plot device, yes.
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Every single super hero story ever as well as those shonen stories where they work for a demon slaying, angel slaying, something slaying organization.
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tremain07 posted...

Every single super hero story ever as well as those shonen stories where they work for a demon slaying, angel slaying, something slaying organization.

I'd like to see one subvert this trope.
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Generally it's used when a writer realizes that if his characters communicated it would solve any tension and conflict, so he makes up some B's excuse for them to keep secrets.
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I thought it was more of a "I didn't tell you-you could protect me! I can handle things on my own!"
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But its valid if telling them something would get them killed

Dresden Files leans heavily on that shit in like the first two books, prime reason why that series doesn't become great until book 3.
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vocedelmorte posted...

But its valid if telling them something would get them killed

No it's not.
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hockeybub89 posted...

It never protects anyone

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vocedelmorte posted...

But its valid if telling them something would get them killed

The thing is, that in fiction like 100% of the time when it is used something bad happens as direct result of NOT telling the person.
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Wynters387 posted...

ThePrinceFish posted...

That has to be the single most repeated line in Smallville, which just has to have the record for repeating it.

The Black List is a good challenger for that record

True, but when it is said, it's rarely truthful >_>
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MC_BatCommander posted...

vocedelmorte posted...

But its valid if telling them something would get them killed

The thing is, that in fiction like 100% of the time when it is used something bad happens as direct result of NOT telling the person.

Primary example being when person A finds out about or knows something involving something very personal to person B. Person B learns about it then realizes person A knew all this time. Because most writers are terrible, person B gets rightfully furious about this but it's treated like they're wrong for feeling like that.
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bump
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