Do we judge characters too harshly?

I haven't people-watched for many years (this used to be favourite pasttime of mine). Last week we took the kids for a day out at Siam Park, a waterpark fashioned after Sun City's Valley of the Waves. So, the boys are now old enough to go about on their own, and I pulled up a deck chair at a bend along the river rapids... this is a long river/canal that snakes around the water park with various features at different intervals.

I enjoyed a couple of the water rides, but a large portion on my day was spent watching couples come by on their double-tubes and I was amazed at the different reactions. On the bend, spa-like jets bubbled from beneath. Reactions varied from giggles to squeals of 'Oh, God, this is divine' to shouts of 'Ugh, what's that!' and then those few with total bland expressions who didn't react whatsoever.

The flow of water on the bend pushed the tubes into the rocks. Usually, on the double-tubes, the women sit in front with their guys behind them. Some girls pulled their legs in, squealing, content to let the guy guide them to safety. Others took charge and kicked out a foot to push themselves away from the rocks. Some guys took the initiative, paddling furiously to steer clear of the rocks. Other guys were dozing, jerked awake at the last minute (by their other half's squeals) and helped out. Yet others did absolutely nothing. And some of the girls did nothing as well, and the tube went crashing into the rocks.

Fiction is fiction, yet it's supposed to reflect reallity to a certain extent, especially where characterisation is concerned. And all this people-gazing brought home to me that there are so many different personalities in the world, and yes, some of them really are too stupid to live.

And so, maybe, there is a place out there for all kinds of heros and heroines and not just the kick-ass, take charge, independant ones.