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Tony McCann's avatar

Good read, I enjoyed that and many of your points resonate. These people are not geniuses and seem to be seeking a shortcut to seeming to be, which others recognise. Perhaps an entire field of research in there!

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Eliot Barrass's avatar

Were there really no a**holes (or a**eholes) in the 90s?

(PS. There needs to be a self-help group for British people in 2024 still watching American dramedies from the 90s/00s. I don't know if it's a good or bad thing, but I am still a huge fan of Ed. Remember Ed? He was the bowling-alley lawyer).

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Adam Drummond's avatar

Ben Sisko arguably commits war crimes on at least two occasions but calling him an asshole is stepping way over the line

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Blakeley Nixon's avatar

You poison one Marquis planet...

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Alex Potts's avatar

The thing is - in real life, assholes do succeed! Frequently!

Should fiction lie to people that the good guys always win?

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Eliot Barrass's avatar

Is the difference that assholes on TV are interesting in their assholery? Assholes in real life are just assholes.

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David Perlmutter's avatar

Fascinating. I generally prefer nice people as fictional leads and bad people as villains, so I avoided the shows mentioned here like the plague. If nicer figures are coming back, it's a much needed 180 on the part of the industry.

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