Curly is an interesting character for me, not because he did anything especially interesting (not taking a stand and being complicit with abuse of power is one of the most standard things in the world) but because he makes me think about the level of hatred that I have ended up having for the Curlys vs. the Jimmys of the world.
In abstract, the Jimmys are obviously worse and deserving of more ire, but the level of delusion that they exhibit is so absurd that they stop feeling like real people in a sense, even when they are real people. (I have posted enough about such people in my family and workplace and houseshares to bother giving an example here...)
Meanwhile, it is relatively easy to imagine how one might become a Curly. A Curly is made mostly through inaction vs. absurd action. And the slight action that he deigns to make is aimed at pacifying the biggest threat vs. helping the one in need. The creators of the game asked that we all not only think of how Jimmy reminds us of other people in our lives but also how he reminds us of ourselves, as a cautionary tale. I think that is a good point, not one that I want to neglect, but the more pressing question for me is how Curly reminds me of myself, as a cautionary tale, as someone who is generally conflict avoidant and saw my own management career go off the rails and lead to my subordinate sabotaging and abusing me. Unlike Curly, I quit management early on because I recognised that I lacked the confidence and bravery to carry out discipline when only occupational health was backing me. And I did not want to go higher in management and risk not being able to help a subordinate if another subordinate was abusing them (as I only had the one subordinate, that never got tested, and obviously the sabotage and abuse happening in the game was almost as extreme as it could ever be vs. what I was experiencing; but, like Jimmy in his sabotage and abuse, Curly is extreme in his enabling and can be used to check our behaviour against in a way almost like satire can be used; taking it to absurd lengths to expose the subtler manifestations that we often overlook).
titsay
gracieabrams
yousharknotpass
2087
