Discussion YMMV / Dave

As indicated in the "reason for edit" boxes, I've put back the text dealing with the Designated Hero and Protagonist Centered Morality tropes that Tuckerscreator deleted.

Tuckerscreator's view was that they ought to go because, "...it's clear the poster missed something very important: Dave kept up the deception because he thought the VP was mentally ill and therefore ill suited for the job. Once he realized that was not the case and there was no reason for him to stay in charge, he left the job."

I don't see this as a wrong argument. I think it does mitigate what Dave does.

However it is not an argument so decisive that it simply *invalidates* the view that Dave's actions are treated more leniently by the narration of the movie than Alexander's actions are - i.e. that the Protagonist Centered Morality and Designated Hero tropes do apply. For it to be a good idea to delete the whole previous discussion (both my arguments in favour of those tropes applying and the disagreement of Leviticus Wilkes and Charles Phipps), the argument put forward by Tuckers Creator ought to be such a clincher that no reasonable person could continue to contest it.

That is not the case. For instance I could counter-argue that Dave may have left the job of president by the time the movie ends but his changes to policy are still in place. Also while he was willing to leave the presidency *eventually* it was only after falsely holding the job for quite a long period, and when he'd fixed it so he wouldn't be discovered and punished. Even Alexander wasn't planning on being president for life.

I've put what I hope is a fair paraphrase of Tuckers Creator's argument at two points in the YMMV page itself, as indented replies to the restored Protagonist Centered Morality and Designated Hero discussion in the hope that this gives a fair shake to both sides.