In most movies, they show you somebody who is perfect looks-wise, and skills-wise, and the movie doesn't give you a choice.
The thing with 'The West Wing' is that the fantasy was legitimately better than the reality - these were smarter, better people than their real-life counterparts, working together at a better White House than the one we had.
We writers of series fiction tend to idealize ourselves in our characters, giving them attributes we wish we possessed and ever more interesting lives.
Heroes in books should be so much better than heroes got up for the world's common wear and tear.
I feel this way about a lot of movies, that the characters are idealized versions of people. For better or worse, I am as fascinated with human flaws as anything.
Sophocles said he drew men as they ought to be, and Euripides as they were.
Now, everyone in movies is always rich, and they're always beautiful and graceful-looking.
Aren't most romance heros, or heros in fiction of any kind, generally superior to real men? Same goes for heroines and real women.
Romantic heroes and heroines are a bit different from the sort of people we run into every day.
We have characters in Western television shows who are in full health with shiny hair and shiny teeth, and they go about their lives having minor problems.
