It’s interesting how there are contradictory messages in stories vs life about the society’s idea of an “Outsider” (someone who is different and doesn’t fit the established social roles or categories). In general, the society prefers those who fit into defined social categories / conform to the norms – and rejects those who don’t fit in. And yet, some of the same society’s most powerful stories celebrate the very people who are rejected in real life for being non-compliant or different.

Whether it’s a sci-fi movie alien or an honest employee in a corrupt organisation, we see glimpses of the general distrustful response to ‘outsiders’ in stories, reflected in the attitude of governments or institutions or media/public panic. Like in The Man Who Fell to Earth, the alien’s goal of saving his home planet is shown to be destroyed by addiction, with him ending up among scientists experimenting on him. Such endings convey the society’s initial message: That an Outsider is likely to be perceived as a threat to the majority’s stability, and may get contained or removed.

But then, society also promotes an entirely opposite narrative: such as the stories where the Outsider is a hero and the only one who can save the collective from the system. Like in PK, the alien’s innocent logic is the only tool that can see through the contradictory nature of human beliefs. Or like Good Will Hunting, where the protagonist is a high-coherence mind (a mathematical genius) trapped in a volatile, low-coherence state. The established institutions (the university, the NSA) don’t want to heal him but to use him as a functional asset; and his volatility and his Outsider status work against him. In these stories, the Outsider’s only friends [good] are a few individuals who believe in the Outsider, unlike the large institutions [bad].

So, society seems to be running two contradictory messages at the same time:

1. A “fantasy” message that the system is mostly held back by corruption and only a non-compliant individual can save it.

2. A “real world” message that the system must reject the non-compliant individual to protect the collective.

It seems like the society is conflicted; on one hand it seems to recognize that even an Outsider can be beneficial to the society’s survival, but on the other hand it fears/distrusts such an Outsider’s non-compliance (even if their ‘differences’ can help find new solutions).