After It's a Wonderful Life with the family, of course.
Watching John McClane again this year with the sociosexual hierarchy in mind, it's pretty obvious why this guy appeals to us. He loves his family, he's imperfect, he stands up to the bad guys and gets things done when they need doing. He's an everyman kind of a character, with a little extra wisecracking to make him likeable.
You might think "this guy has to be an Alpha - look at how he manages to face everyone down and conquer!"
But you'd be wrong.
Holly's boss Joseph Takagi is an Alpha:
Hans Gruber is an Alpha:
But John McClane?
Delta.
He's a normal guy. He's tough, but he's loyal. He's a hero when he has to be.
Yet his interactions with his career-chasing wife are cringeworthy. He's given her lots of leeway and she's left him, even going back to her maiden name - and he comes in to town for Christmas to see his kids, even berating himself for arguing with her after she's changed her name and acted like a bitch.
He's a good guy, though. A decent, normal guy. And when things get serious, he steps into the breach and risks his life for his wife and a group of strangers.
Deltas build civilizations and keep them together. If John McClane had been an Alpha there would be no Die Hard. Instead, he would have stayed in New York and kept a few female gymnasts on speed dial while working his way to the top of his department. Frumpy old Holly wouldn't even be in the picture.
And then who would've been there to say all those corporate stooges and drop Alan Rickman off a tower?
This guy?
#itsokaytobeadelta
Finally, this guy is definitely a gamma:
Alpha posturing without the Alpha goods.
12 comments:
Would you try the same analysis with another movie--perhaps Casablanca? Thanks.
I watched this last Christmas just for the nostalgia... Very interesting to watch post-red pill. It's kind of half and half with the jewiness and propaganda. On one hand, the white male delta is the hero, yet his wife walks all over him. Also, the super scary Aryan villians that look like members of a hair metal band, and the completely gratuitous mention of Takagi having been in a WW2 internment camp... Sad that it's still heads and tails above the shit they put out today.
I wouldn't classify the last guy as Gamma.
Beta, more likely. Alpha, possibly.
He negotiates "million dollar deals" for a multi-national corporation. He knows how to B/S comfortably and how to not tell too much during negotiations (telling Gruber they were old buddies with no mention of Holly).
He lost out, in the end. That's life. To put it another way, chicks flake on Alphas. Alphas just move on with the "next" mindset.
I think a Gamma would've never put himself in any real danger when faced with armed men. They'd proclaim the "real hero" is the guy who chooses not to lower to their level or some rationalization. Nah, he put his onions in the pot and swung for the fences.
I think the rest are solid. Nits to pick, but solid.
Holy mixed metaphor. onions...baseball...
Movie suggestion? The Godfather. Now, that can produce some interesting characters. Heck, any of the classics.
Rocky.
Rocky is a delta.
Paulie is a Gamma
Micky is a delta.
Apollo is an Alpha
Gazo (I think that's the mobster's name) Beta/Delta but situational Alpha
"Yet his interactions with his career-chasing wife are cringeworthy"
I suspect that's more or less typical for blue-pilled Deltas.
@Anchorman
Sure, Gammas are cowardly, but they do still put themselves in dangerous situations if they're too full of themselves to realize they're in one. I get the impression he really thought he was in absolutely no danger from Gruber's "Eurotrash". The result of his intervention indicates to me that he may have been boasting about his negotiating skills, just a little bit.
Apollo and Clubber Lang are alphas. So are Apollo's kid and Tommy Gunn. They do what needs to be done without apologies and relishing in it. Ivan Drago? Beta in an alpha body. He's basically a robot of the Soviets, not to mention his wife is a domineering bitch. Rocky's kid is a beta, although that might be too generous. Too pampered and protected by Adrian, which Rocky allows.
Not related, but hilarious nonetheless. A 29 year old woman arrested for causing $300k worth of damage to her date's art collection while drunk. She apparently got belligerent and he tried to get her on an Uber and she hid around his house and spilled wine all over some of his paintings, among them some Warhols.
In all fairness, he should have seen it coming. That face and the fact she's a 29 year old single woman. Dead giveaway.
http://www.cbs7.com/content/news/Police-Woman-ruined-300K-worth-of-art-on-date-with-lawyer-467009923.html
VFM,
Fair enough. I just get the sense the "secret king" trait would play out moreso in danger. But I see your point.
That Holly eventually leaves Mcclane despite all his heroics shows he's better off without her anyway. She was already showing her wear and tear by the first movie, imagine what she looks like now.
I would say Al Powell is also a Delta.
Is BW's David Addison from Moonlighting alpha at first but drops to delta later in the series as he gets more serious in his relationship with Maddie Hayes?
The traditional American hero was an everyman who rose to the occasion. It follows from the national mythos. Sad that we've lost this.
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