Flanderization: Coined from the character Ned Flanders from The Simpsons, refers to a character’s traits becoming their defining aspect, resulting in a one-dimensional character. This can happen over time in long-running shows, with a character’s initial quirks becoming exaggerated and dominating their personality.
At first, it just seems like some little quirk, maybe. You joke about it. “Teehee, he/she is proud and just doesn’t like to be wrong!”
After years, though, you realize it’s “they literally cannot perceive themselves as wrong, ever.” Which means any behavior can be excused or waved away. Fast-forward a generation or two down the line and, left unaddressed, you can have generations worth of people left defending outrageous abuse, etc… that stemmed from one little silly “quirk” people initially joked about, but eventually became all-consuming.
FriendOfDeSoto@startrek.website 17 hours ago
I’m not sure I agree with narcissism being on par with flanderization. One is a personality trait, if not a defect, and the other is lazy script writing. I sort of see where you are going with this but I’m not really onboard. Not all parents are narcissists, either.
The other thing is time. We all get set in our ways as we hurl around the sun time and time again. Everybody thinks they are enlightened enough to not become the stubborn weirdo, like mom or dad or the drunk uncle from Thanksgiving dinner. And everybody is wrong. You will too become a predictably dogmatic or a quirky person in one way or another. People will adapt around you. That’s neither narcism nor flanderization. That’s just life.
It is true that narcicists and abusers create an atmosphere, where their outrageous behavior gets ignored or swept under the carpet. I think it’s fair to say though that that involves more manipulation and strategic thinking on behalf of the a-hole. If somebody dismisses the abusive behavior as “that’s just Karen/Bob, they’re like that, you know” than that may present as flanderization on the surface but it’s not from a lack of script being written. The narcicist has succeeded in pulling the wool over their eyes. I guess that’s why bringing these terms together like this rubs me the wrong way.