Do Aspies Like Rooting For the Underdog

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Do you like rooting for the underdog in movies or in real-life situations? Do you think Aspies do this more than NTs?

Does voting count?
The first time I got to vote for US President, I voted for J. Quinn Brisben and Barbara Garson (Socialist Party USA). Since then it's been Nader twice, Kucinich in the last Democratic primary...I obviously don't have a party affiliation besides (liberal) underdog. Although I did vote for Bill Clinton in 1996.
In fictional situations or personal real-life ones, I always always always side with the underdog. Always.

Of course. I'm all for the minority because I can usually identify with them more.

I do!
And I always have.

I've used an Amiga 4000 until about 5 years ago, when I went Linux and them Mac.
I bought an iPod when they first came out and they weren't that popular yet.
I used Minidisc for years after that.
I stopped watching Family Guy after it was renewed for season 4 and it became 'popular'
I play a CD32 instead of a Genesis (Magadrive) and now I have an Xbox 360 instead of a wii.
I swore of the Catholic church in favour of more deep, spiritual pursuits that are less popular.
I used a quill and inkwell in high school because I didn't want to be just like everybody else!!

I call it my unified theory of obscurity.

I voted for Nader
I collect VCDs
I listen to KPFT Pacificia community radio

Last edited by MADDuck on 06 Jan 2008, 10:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I always root for the underdog. In my first election (2000) I campaigned for Nader but at the last minute decided to vote for a candidate who, I later heard, got something like 4 total votes... one of which was mine!

Depends on the situation.

Almost always. I wouldn't root for the underdog if I thought he was incorrect, (truth and quality take precedent) but I feel a great satisfaction when "the little guy" wins. In some situations I feel like I have a bit of a "true neutral" alignment. I will sometimes deliberately place myself behind the scenes to aid the one who appears to be losing, if I believe the cause worthwhile.

Me too, honesty and the ability to do the job (plus a certain amount of intelligence) and general niceness.

If both people are the same in this regard, the underdog would get voted.

I always root for the underdog, if I believe in their cause.

When it comes to movies and stuff, I rarely do. IMO, I just find the whole underdog thing to be over-rated. I don't always think this, of course, but with most movies, well, yeah...

I TOTALLY root for the underdog in many different situations. I didn't even realize how many until reading this thread. I also campaigned for Nader in 2000 and voted for him in 2 or 3 elections. I have often tried to show a lot of extra kindness to people in work or social situations that most other people look down on. My entire business is now built around rooting for the underdog. I started off selling on eBay, but now support the small alternative sites as much as time and money allow me to do so. I'm currently selling on 9 different sites instead of just on eBay, and have put off developing my own site so that I can support as many different underdog eBay alternatives as I can. The very best selling site around is actually an underdog that many, many people have belittled and bashed ever since it was launched in May 2006. I have earned a few hundred dollars on that site just in the first few days of 2008 alone. Rooting for the underdog can be very rewarding on many different levels.

This is actually linked in a way to the justice issue on the thread with that in the title.

As a general concept - us Aspies have it hard. So we are underdogs in our own way, having to fight adversity to get what we want and/or need.

So we have empathy (yes we DO have it!) with those in a similar position. Of course - if the cause is BS that's another matter, but mostly the bad person is the other party - and usually it's not even a person. It's a company, or worse still the government.

For example (and Australian members will be familiar with this) the greatest underdog of recent times had to be the late Bernie Banton. He fought a big company (James Hardie) for compensation for the asbestos related disease he was afflicted with (and he wasn't the only one) and he won. And just to make sure, the government that was basically against him got thrown out of office on November 24. He died about 48 hours later - a hero.

So the short answer is yes - we do support the underdog. Because we are underdogs ourselves.

I like underdogs, but not as much as I like redeemed villains.

Only coincidentally, if I'm rooting for the better person. I don't like Hollywood movies that take some really strong character/team/position and through plot device, make them the "underdog" and have them win. That's just bogus. Like portraying the farmtown sports team that wins "the big game" or the schmoe that "gets the girl". I don't like those storylines and it's a false premise and all too common.
In real life the "underdog" rarely, if ever, "wins". Rather, the underdog is lucky to live his life at all. People overcome obstacles because they have a support system in place or somebody chips in and helps them.
I can't think of any historical underdogs that really won, as in achieved their ideal of success. Philo T. Farnsworth, inventor of the television, fought RCA in court for years over patents. After 17 years, he finally "won" but the cost was his money, his will to go on and lack of capitalization on the invention. He wasn't able to move forward in mass marketing his television or have any say over what the television did.

Yeah. Or, to translate it into more real-life (as opposed to cartoon) terms, I'm very fond of people who've done something very wrong and reformed. Perhaps because it underscores that you don't have to have always been perfect to lead an ethical life (and sometimes I think the lessons of having done something wrong teach more than having always done things right).

To a certain extent. I will root for the underdog if they are intelligent. I like when the impossible is made possible. The four minute mile, for example, was considered impossible until English medical student Roger Bannister proved otherwise. Now the record for the mile is 3:44, held by Hicham el Guerrouj of Morocco.