5. Students
High schoolers, college attenders, even younger: watching almost any film or television show would lead you to think that perhaps all the crazy kids nowadays want to have raging “the parents are away” parties every weekend with copious amounts of beer, want to judge their peers based on what is or isn’t “cool,” want to exist in delightful two-dimensional boxes where you are is defined only by one or two characteristics, probably pertaining to your choice of extracurriculars or wardrobe. I’m not disputing that some people are probably preoccupied with cool, and I’m sure there are plenty of people who are d-bags to their peers, but there are also some environments where people who do different activities and are or aren’t “cool” just allow each other to exist and go about their business without making deals of it. Having some representation of that would rock. Having some more representation of the kids who choose not to go to raging parties but instead stay home and watch movies not because they aren’t invited but just because different people find different things fun would be awesome. Etcetera.
4. Teachers
Same goes. I know there are some teachers who are insufferable. There are some teachers who are jerks and d-bags, who are boring or overly authoritative or just not pleasant to be around, but, you know. Not every teacher. Some teachers just teach because they like to inform students about things, and they’re generally good people. Not always desk-jumping inspirational lecturers, but still good humans.
3. Business professionals
Wow, such a vague category, but you know how you can sometimes get through a movie or a show where you see someone going to work and realize you actually have no idea what they actually do? You just know they go to a building and wear a suit and make money? Sometimes the story isn’t about their professional life, it’s about other things, and in this case, it’s probably okay. You don’t really need the detail, and a lot of people probably do feel like their jobs are soul-crushing and dull and not worth discussing. A lot of jobs are probably dull and not worth discussing. I’m talking about the business professionals who are not-even-quite-supporting-cast, whose entire purpose seems to be to reinforce the soul-crushing nature of the job with their Rah Rah I’m A Businessman (these guys are often written as guys) Watch Me Be A Callous Asshole Who Makes Crude Jokes But It’s Okay Because I Have Money And Success attitude. I’m sure this person does exist. I’m sure this person exists a lot. But it’s a person I’m getting bored of as being the comic relief that everyone either shrugs off or uses as a target for their inevitable Rage Monologue for unrelated reasons. If you rage at this person, rage at them for making inappropriate comments toward their coworkers that everyone seems to think are okay. Rage at them for good reasons. They should exist, if they have to exist, for good reasons. Not just for generic reasons.
2. Anyone who works for the law
And shockingly, not every person who works for the law is either An Attempted Morally Upstanding Do-Gooder With A Dark Past Or Secret or A Corrupt Asshole Who Just Wants To Screw Everyone Over. The majority of them are probably just people doing their job for whatever reason. Not all police officers are idiots, not all lawyers are ambulance chasers, not all judges are ridiculous. I’m sure, again, that there are some idiotic police officers and some ambulance-chasing lawyers and some ridiculous judges, but there are probably also intelligent police officers and humane lawyers and straightforward judges. Oh, and not every politician is a d-bag. Some of them are. A lot of them are, maybe. But, you know, there are some that aren’t.
1. Scientists
I think I alluded to this in my Spider-Man review: you are going to be hard-pressed to find a fictional medium that has a scientist who is not either evil from the get-go or ultimately the victim of their own scientific curiosity. And both can be played interestingly, don’t get me wrong, but I’d love to be able to see one of those transparent three-dimensional computer holograms and not go “well, crap, someone is going to be abused by or abusing science now.”
–your fangirl heroine.
