Besides Vinnie constantly acting like a cuck, yet not suffering any consequences for it, “Entourage” depicts something else the average male can readily identify with: crab mentality. This concept is based on an interpretation of crab behavior. Apparently, if you dump a few hundred crabs into a barrel, they drag each other down instead of letting a few escape. I haven’t spent any time researching this, but it’s probably a bit of a stretch to assume such long-term planning with crabs in such circumstances, if that kind of behavior even exists. It’s probably all made up.
Anyway, crab mentality is real. It refers to people sabotaging their more successful peers. It’s partly done out of spite, but partly most certainly also an attempt to protect one’s ego. After all, if one of your peers moves way ahead of you, then why couldn’t you do it, too? Leftist dogma says that we’re all the sam, doesn’t it?. Seeing someone doing a lot better than they are is too much for some people to take. Admitting that you suck at something is hard.
I have encountered men, supposed “friends”, who actively tried to sabotage my interactions with women. When calling them out on it, the response was denial, sheepishness, or a defense along the lines of, “But you can meet women so easily anyway, why do you care about that one?” I once had a dipshit classmate in primary school who told me — not ask! — that I should give him one of the apples I brought to school because “you have enough anyway”. So, leftist shitlib attitudes exist in kids and adults alike. Needless to say, any male “friend” who tries to fuck with me won’t remain among my friends for long.
Among weaker-minded males, though, you can observe pretty aggressive behavior. No, I’m not talking about bantering or “locker-room talk”. Instead, sometimes people behave in genuinely shitty ways towards their friends. Plenty of women treat their partner in a pretty shitty way, too. It’s simply an expression of some people’s personality.
“Entourage” glorifies the crab mentality as well. A great example is in season 5, episode 8 (“First-class jerk”), where “Turtle” meets an actress on a plane and hits it off with her. His buddies “Drama” and “E” though ridicule him relentlessly, because he did well with a woman who is well above their league. At one point, Turtle snaps and tells them that he got whacked off on the plane. This causes some trouble down the line as word spreads.
The bigger picture is an issue of boundaries. It seems that the boys in “Entourage” cross each other’s boundaries all the time. Yet, there is never a conflict. In all seriousness, you’d have to be a rather spineless to let some loser like “Drama” make fun of you. In real life, you’d tell him to shut up. If you’re not a cuck, you certainly wouldn’t tolerate other people giving you shit.
“Anyway, crab mentality is real. It refers to people sabotaging their more successful peers.”
Question here:
Is this different in USA?
I’ve never visited the US, but I have heard many times, that success in others is viewed with less envy than here in Europe, almost like people are happy about others succeeding.
On one side, I don’t want to believe this, because people are people and what you explained above about sabotage for ego reasons and others makes total sense.
Then again, I’ve heard it too many times to completely ignore it. Maybe people were referring to Silicon Valley only, or who knows what productive place.
Could someone please share experiences?
I haven’t spent enough time in the US to answer this, but based on my experience, I would say that people are not quite as envious. A not uncommon reaction here in Europe is that people try to downplay other’s achievements. Let’s say you went to an excellent school. You may then hear something like, “Your parents must be rich”, as if it was only a matter of money, or they may claim that whatever you are good at they could also achieve, if they only devoted themselves to it. In the Nordics you may encounter downright hostility if you do a lot better than your peers (personal experience, not something I’m making up).
I can’t say anything about the USA, but south the border (ALL Latin America) the crab mentality is the only mentality. No wonder why hispanics never make it big, and the few, successful ones are ruthlessly derided, hated, and exploited by their fellows.
In my experience you are supported by your peers in America. I’ve never encountered a situation in which someone had something good happen to them and they were derided or elicited outward envy, provided that person didn’t cheat to cause it. On the other hand, I’ve seen real mockery of and anger directed towards those that, for instance, had daddy donate a couple mill to get into [insert name of namebrand university].