Canadian producer John Walker’s new documentary brings assholes to life
Inspired by Aaron James’s book of the same name, “Assholes: A Theory” explores the origins of a social type that seems to be taking over the world.
Aaron James author of Assholes: A Theory Photo credit: NFB
Assholes: A Theory is now available on the CBC Documentary Channel and is well worth 75 minutes of your time.
I originally wrote about this amazing documentary in 2019 after the National Film Board of Canada asked me to review it. I thought it was truthful, fantastic and deserving of every single award that it won.
This re-release is timely given the behaviour of Luis Rubiales — a true Asshole. Rubiales hugged the entire Spanish women’s soccer team and kissed Jenni Hermoso on the mouth without her consent after the team won the Women’s World Cup in August.
It's also timely given the rise of Asshole politicians like Trump, Balsinaro, as well as our very own Doug and Rob Ford.
Look beyond the title of this documentary which somehow seems to offend Assholes — mainly men in my experience — and watch it!
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Canadian producer, director and cinematographer John Walker was asked by a female friend, “Do you have to be an asshole to become a great filmmaker, artist, architect, whatever?” That was the impetus that sent Walker on a journey to uncover the truth about this repugnant segment of society.
Walker began his investigations by visiting his favourite bookstore, where he discovered Assholes: A Theory written by Aaron James, a surfing enthusiast and philosopher.
James, professor and chair of philosophy at the University of California Irvine, defines an as asshole someone who:
Allows himself special advantages.
Has an entrenched sense of entitlement because they’re rich, smart and/or beautiful.
Immunizes himself against the complaints of other people and refuses to hear them.
While assholes are a worldwide phenomenon, they are overwhelmingly men who fall into a range of often overlapping categories. These include, but are not limited to, assholes who are boorish; smug; drunk; arrogant; sexist; your boss; nice to your face but mumbling behind your back; socially savvy; excessively aggressive drivers; and narcissistic.
A lack of core values and a disrespect for parents are cited as the main ingredients required to create the superlative asshole.
Psychotherapist Suji Gelerman says these narcissists don’t even know other people exist and that makes it impossible for them to process their assholeness.
She notes that women are most often the preferred target of assholes because body image is so easily fraught with self-doubt for women of every age.
The carnage left in their wake goes completely unnoticed by these men who are literally unable to see the damage their behaviour caused. Gelerman says acknowledgement of that carnage is exactly what is needed to eradicate asshole behaviour.
Walker speaks with a myriad of experts including Robert Sutton, professor of management science at the Stanford University School of Engineering and author of The No Asshole Rule. Sutton quantifies the damage done by assholes in terms of taking away individual dignity.
Interspersed throughout the documentary are brief interviews with a variety of young men who proudly self-identify as assholes. Many consciously chose this path because they see it as beneficial to their acquisition of power, wealth and naïve young girls.
University of California professor, Geoffrey Nunberg says assholes ought to know better but repress this information. That differentiates them from pricks, who are perfectly aware of what they are doing, but proceed anyway.
Sherry Lee Benson-Podolchuck was bullied and sexualized while employed as an RCMP Constable. When she complained about her treatment, she became the target of vicious abuse that continues today.
After asking for justice for over two decades, Benson-Podolchuck was vindicated after the re-issue of her 2010 book Women Not Wanted. That’s when over 3,000 women connected with the RCMP launched a $1.1 billion class action suit against the force. That’s also when the federal government appointed the first female to lead the notoriously misogynous and racist national police force.
Aimee Morrison, a professor at the University of Waterloo, believes assholes are akin to toddlers and teenagers who never learn to repress their impulses. Instead, they grow into self-centred, self-serving adults.
Johnathon Gilmore, a U.S. Marine Corps Veteran and Cornell University student, draws from his lived experience to explain the asshole phenomenon.
Gilmore joined a fraternity hoping to recreate the brotherhood he experienced in the army. Instead, he found himself surrounded by the assholes that are part and parcel of both institutions.
According to Gilmour, women are objectified; younger initiates are constantly put down and derided; rape is accepted; and countless by-standers reinforce these bad behaviours with their silence.
Cornell University Law professor Sherry Colb agrees that fraternities are home to bad behaviours that are encouraged, spread and intensified. The only solution is to demolish frats. Unfortunately, generations of older rich white assholes are funding and running these ingrained institutions.
The law department at Cornell has been able to establish a no asshole rule within the department. This way of thinking is slowly infiltrating other American institutions including the asshole-filled financial sector.
The documentary also turns the lens on world leaders who frame decisions around their own needs in order to protect themselves and their supporters while undermining the best interests of their country, or province, as a whole.
Case in point, Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, who purposely fed the perverse desires of selfish Italians and engaged in behaviour that enriched himself. He convinced the Italian people that asshole behaviour is completely acceptable and necessary to in order to achieve success.
The death of the macho man is something we should all celebrate, but it has left a void that James sees assholes just waiting to fill.
That should make the rest of us very afraid.
A version of this article was first published on Raise the Hammer.