Assholes: A Theory (2019)

After stumbling upon Philosophy professor Aaron James’s titular book, filmmaker John Walker presents theories centered on the type general society classifies as the “asshole”. In attempting to define the term, James himself comes up with someone who “allows himself special advantages in cooperative life out of an entrenched sense of entitlement that immunizes him against the complaints from other people”. The issues discussed in the film include: the association between narcissism and assholism; the difference between an asshole and a prick or a dick; the prevalence of assholism in men versus women; the asshole culture in Los Angeles and in Canada, the latter known as land of overly polite and unassuming people (with a few individuals, the so-called national sport, and one public sector organization being dissected in the discussion in being contrary to the perception that Canada has a difficult time producing assholes); if being an asshole is a born or learned trait; certain groupings in which asshole behavior seems to be inherent; the effect of electing assholes as leaders of countries, they who usually espouse some sort of populism; the role of the online world, especially tech giants and trolls, in the evolution of assholism; and organizations, especially ones where assholes seem to be dominating figures, taking measures to eliminate assholism in seeing it as a structural problem negatively impacting the organization, including the bottom line. Examples from popular culture are used to highlight these concepts.