Incompetence Part 2 - Men in Media

Incompetent men are not displayed in media or novel stories that much mostly because men and women have never considered men being incompetent as a true fact.

The closest example would be the lovable idiot character like Peter from Family Guy and Homer Simpson from the Simpsons or the idiotic man who saves the day but those examples don't truly tell the weight of social constructs or damage incompetent men cause.

Other than that, incompetent men are usually the joke characters in stories. They are generally not taken seriously or everything they do turns into a laughable disaster.

I haven't seen many times where their incompetence becomes a topic for discussion.

Do they have arcs where they improve?

Sure, but most go along the lines of them finding something about them that makes them uniquely important. Which is an interesting way to give them improvement.

One such case that I do like was Sokka from the first Avatar TV series.

Fun fact, he was pretty intelligent.

So his incompetence was a topic of discussion only because of viewpoint. As the character's view of him changed, they relied on him more.

Initially, his sexism and the disparity between him, and the other members of the party made Sokka become increasingly insecure about his lack of usefulness and ability to fight alongside everyone else.

Ang was literally the chosen one character.

His sister was getting increasingly powerful enough to stand up to most bad guys in the series.

Toph was pretty much an earthbending master when they met her.

Sokka had not done much to prove his worth to the team of heros or throughout the story. He was funny and a good heart to the team but that's it.

His sexism came full circle when he was beaten by Suki, a Kyoshi warrior. She was a well-trained warrior.

Sokka desired becoming a leader just like his father, Chief Hakoda. But unlike his father, no one looked up to him as a leader early on due to unproven results.

Then he met Jet, a man who was what Sokka always wanted to be, a leader, cool and generally skilled in combat.

Something Sokka had little proof of accomplishing up to that point.

They were also similar in their past. Their families were both tragically and negatively affected by the fire nation's evil actions.

Sokka lost his mother while Jet lost both of his parents.

But Jet was not as good natured as Sokka and lacked Sokka’s sense of justice. Unfortunately, Jet had gathered a steady disdain and hatred for the fire nation.

It was enough hatred that he desired destroying a earth nation village occupied by fire nation troops. This village was also filled with innocent people but if it meant debilitating the fire nation, Jet felt it was justified.

Sokka was was never swayed by Jet’s words and Sokka thankfully rejected Jet’s offer.

Sokka with the help of his friends stopped Jet from achieving his evil designs. He warned the village and they evacuated it in time.

In that moment, Sokka showed the difference between himself and Jet.

Ethics.

Jet was driven to do anything to defeat the fire nation. He was no different from the monster he wanted to defeat.

Sokka had the same drive but unlike Jet, Sokka harbored strict ethics about what he would do or wouldn't do.

Instilled in him by his upbringing, Sokka would never stoop to such methods to get ahead.

Sokka might feel inadequate when compared to the others but they could still contribute in one way, by doing the right thing.

So how do you stop being incompetent?

Based on my experiences though I have an idea of how to do it.

I'm under the assumption the character or person in question isn't a full retard or has their intelligence way below the average. That one might need more than a simple change of direction.

If you were to create a incompetent character then one way to make them grow throughout the narrative was for them to learn what they shouldn't do.

Have them learn about the stupid mistakes they could make and why they shouldn't make these mistakes.

So the reason behind the incompetence is important, is it ego, a mental deficiency or something else?

In my personal case it was ego, so I deconstructed it.

Show that character’s delusions being destroyed and washed away.

Sokka realized that he needed to find a way to win outside of bravado. He focused more on his intelligence.

That's where he started to seem competent and superior to the other characters on team Avatar.

He also chose to learn sword mastery not only from Master Piandao but also Suki.

He humbled himself, challenged his own sexism, viewpoint of women and decided to learn from Suki, the Kyoshi Warrior that beat him.

Show how they are reforming their idea of what they want to be and who they are currently (something similar to how Zuko from the Avatar was redeemed).

Show their gradual acceptance of their current state of affairs and why their original approach was wrong. Then show them learning the new values and viewpoints they need to get past future obstacles and the main antagonist of their story.

That's how I changed, I had to accept that I was incompetent. It's not that different from how an alcoholic gets on the path to healing.

They admit they are an alcoholic.

So what are you and what do you want to be?