Sledgehammer Message

''I get it. I get it. I 𝔾𝔼𝕋 𝕀𝕋''

An idea that the story is trying to convey to the audience — let it be through the current plot, a character, or an UnTrash — that makes the theme overbearingly obvious by having it engraved into the audience's skulls. It doesn't always have to be the theme that's a Sledgehammer Message. It could be a temporary topic about what's happening in the story at that very moment, like how somebody is feeling. A Sledgehammer Message can come in many forms like Obvious Symbolism, Emotion Montages (especially negative ones), or Song Breaks. This UnTrash is a very effective tool for Annoying The Audience, though this is not a good thing.

Unsurprisingly enough, playing Sledgehammer Message comes with several downsides. In addition to the aforementioned annoying the audience members, it also has potential to come off as offending. If the creator feels the need to restate the same basic idea, the ones on the receiving end may interpret it as insulting to their intelligence. A Sledgehammer Message that doesn't make its audience feel stupid may make them feel doubtful of its truth. Reiterating a single thought can give off the impression it needs to be almost hypnotized into the audience's minds just so they believe it. The sheer nerve to Pause The Universe and preach can upset or bore the audience. It also detracts the story from its main purpose: being fiction, not an advertisement. It's pretty hard to take a story seriously if its in-your-face messaging bombards you as the character blab about the exact moral of the series of events around them. The Tell, Never Show style of writing can slaughter Suspension Of Disbelief and be a rude reminder that the story is just fiction and not a tale based in a real, living world.