Current Events > Does anyone else hate the jerkass genius trope.

(+) Yeah! (+)

I am not sure if it really has a name. But it is like super smart people, but they are really big assholes. And the show wants us to like them.

For example Dr. House and Dr. Cox . Sheldon from Big Bang, Dr. Bones.

Like it is still bad when these people are the bad guys, but I can take that. However the people listed above are the people the show wants to cheer , and I just hate these types of characters. Most smart people don't lack empathy for others.


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Its better than the quirky and awkward genius trope
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CE built their personalities around these kind of tropes, its sad really since generally theyre only similar in the sense that they are incredibly sheltered and come from the side of town where all the jokes are clean and filtered through.

Too passive for me honestly, I would never be that way

cjsdowg posted...

I am not sure if it really has a name. But it is like super smart people, but they are really big assholes. And the show wants us to like them.

For example Dr. House and Dr. Cox . Sheldon from Big Bang, Dr. Bones.

Like it is still bad when these people are the bad guys, but I can take that. However the people listed above are the people the show wants to cheer , and I just hate these types of characters. Most smart people don't lack empathy for others.

And those that do lack empathy still fake it.


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I agree TC. I get if they are no nonsense and dont like to waste time dicking around but to make being a unlikeable asshole their main personality trait isn't doing them any favors.

Its better than the "Im an asshole for the sole purpose of showing change by being nicer later in the story"

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JimiHendrix posted...

CE built their personalities around these kind of tropes, its sad really since generally theyre only similar in the sense that they are incredibly sheltered and come from the side of town where all the jokes are clean and filtered through.

Too passive for me honestly, I would never be that way

You know I was thinking about this too. Not CE (lol) but people in general. They see themselves in these jerks. The cool guy who can win every fight and out smart the everyone and be jerk to those around them. But in real life no one puts up with those people. Dr. Cox and House would both be fired. Sheldon would not have great friends who puts up with him and girl that looks like Blossom. Bones..well yeah she was so unlikable they sent to the basement lol. So that works .

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Whats funnier is in stories we explore why theyre actually really smart but in real life people will see them for maybe a few minutes and find them to be assholes and never care to explore deeper, if theyre smart or not.

Irl being nice goes farther than being an ass, even if your smart. I mean lets hope your smarts nets you a good job because it wont help in relationships.

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cjsdowg posted...

The cool guy who can win every fight and out smart the everyone

This is alright if you can own it and have proven you can have some grace to it.. or at least be that way for the right reasons

such as dumping on the following fools:

@Shezarr
@DJquackquack
@16-BITTER
@theotherCEman

but what you cannot do is think of yourself as morally superior to another person

which is where the group of people I just mentioned completely fail at doing, its different to shit on a shithead but building up superiority complexes on GameFAQS is totally a Sheldon thing

Dr. Cox is a top tier Scrubs character so no

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Im a genius at morality.

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It makes sense though. People don't usually tolerate asshole behavior unless the person is really smart and capable.

RedJackson really trying to lose all his accounts today

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MC_BatCommander posted...

Dr. Cox is a top tier Scrubs character so no

This. Dr. Cox shouldnt be lumped in with these other characters.

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YookaLaylee posted...

Its better than the quirky and awkward genius trope

Hard fucking disagree with this. I like when super-smart characters are balanced out by being goofy fuckers. It's got way more variety than the jerkass archetype.

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LostForest posted...

Hard fucking disagree with this. I like when super-smart characters are balanced out by being goofy fuckers. It's got way more variety than the jerkass archetype.

Not really. It feels like every time that they have a female character who is supposed to be extremely smart or a hacker they make her really quirky and it feels like theyre all the same person. I just find it really boring
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YookaLaylee posted...

Not really. It feels like every time that they have a female character who is supposed to be extremely smart or a hacker they make her really quirky and it feels like theyre all the same person. I just find it really boring

It is better then those normal Super quirky girls who are not super smart or anything else. Just has her quirk. The Queen of this is freaking Jessica Day from New Girl.

Biggest Meh for me is a Jessica Day from New Girl. I love all of the other characters Cece,Winston, Nick, and the rest besides Coach even the cat. But Jessica is just horrible. Nick should have gotten with Ki


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I think Sherlock Holmes was the main basis for the "Insufferable Genius" trope, although in the original stories he wasn't too over the top, nothing like Dr. House or Sherlock the BBC series at least.

I can confirm though when I was getting my engineering degree (and working w/ engineers professionally), it is very common for us to be socially awkward and overanalyze things like the characters on Big Bang Theory (minus Sheldon, who takes it to infinity)

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