Perfectionists

Perfectionists By Arie Anderson Perfectionists are people who work for things to be perfect, perfectly straight, perfectly clean, perfectly behaved, or even perfectly complex. These picky people, who can be incredibly meticulous of the world around them, may at times even become upset at imperfections. However, they are not always at fault. Rather, they may be victims. Even with the discomforting reactions that perfectionists may have towards flaws in the world around, they are not to blame, and can turn these reactions into hard work that benefits society, and therefore should not be considered a negative influence on the community, despite various faulty examples in today’s media.  Perfectionists can be recognized by their preciseness towards a certain aspect in their life. For example, this aspect could be the neatness of their living space, the complexity of their jobs, the image they uphold, and so on and so forth. Monk, a character of the popular television show //Monk//, is a prime example. In the original [|title sequence] of the series, this nit-picky detective is shown straightening random objects, taking a brown suit out of a closet filled with the exact same brown suits, and even coming back into his house to flip an umbrella that was hanging up in the opposite direction of the two next to it. As further elaboration on [|his odd tendencies], in the newer [|title sequence] he is shown stepping around all the cracks on a cobblestone street. In one episode the viewer is allowed to see how far [|his perfectionism] goes when he takes a jug of orange juice out of the fridge and realizes that someone has taken a just a sip out of it, for he is so finicky about the little things that he remembered how much it weighed before. His tendencies are displayed as obnoxious and abnormal, and therefore very commonly known, so commonly that a criminal places a bomb inside a crooked frame, planning for it to kill Monk because he knows the detective will want to straighten it.  Many people see these habits as huge flaws in the person, but a pet peeve towards perfection has no connection to being a bad person. Although often considered very odd and rather annoying at times, Monk’s perfectionist inclinations help him solve many difficult cases. His meticulousness gives him the ability to see the small details that are often missed by the other detectives. For example, in one episode Monk is disgusted when the man he is talking to spits out the candy he just put in his mouth. That location later becomes a crime scene, and a woman is found with the candy on her shoe. Monk’s perfectionism allows him to recognize the candy, and the woman is found guilty. In another episode a very faint stain left from someone sloppily wiping up a spilled drink leads him to the discovery that the victim of the most recent crime was poisoned. And the orange juice mentioned earlier? He finds the cap later in the season, recognizing it by the rips on its edges. The desire to have perfection in cleanliness and neatness helps Monk catch the bad guys and help society, just as it helps real perfectionists like myself.  Sometimes perfectionists do become upset when imperfections occur. They might become depressed or angry. For example, in the story __Horton Hears A Who__, the villain, the Sour Kangaroo, is a perfectionist. Everything must run smoothly in the Jungle of Nool, and nothing can be out of line. When things do get out of line, the consequences are very sinister. In the story she gets upset because Horton is trying to make people believe that there is a world on a little speck of dust he has placed on a clover. Well this isn’t right at all, so what does she do? She [|locks him in a cage and tries to boil the speck]. Then, after she has been proved wrong, she walks and sulks.  The famous detective Sherlock Holmes is another excellent example of this. His perfectionist aspect is that he must always have a splendidly complex case to challenge his incredibly genius mind. When there is nothing to stimulate his impressive thinking skills, [|he becomes very depressed]. He becomes a drug addict at times, and uses cocaine as a way to busy himself during these boring times. Sherlock Holmes also begins to [|use his observation skills against other people]. Without effort he notices many little details that give away the very things people try to hide, and because of this many people hate him. Alcohol is also another means he uses to pass the time. However, these depressed times bring out the best in him when a complex case comes around, for they make him more willing and more focused towards his detective career.  Although it can’t be denied that imperfections in the intricateness of cases do cause very negative reactions in Sherlock Holmes, these emotions are not necessarily his fault. Is Sherlock Holmes really to blame for the fact that he is an absolute genius, or that he needs complicated cases to keep him feeling like life means anything? What about Cinderella, who is a perfectionist in her cleaning because her stepmother demands very high standards of her? Cinderella gets upset when her chores aren’t finished, and stressed. For example, although usually very kind and good tempered, she [|scolds the cat], Lucifer, when he makes a mess by playing in ashes. However, she does not scold him because she wants to be upset; she scolds him because she knows that she [|will be punished] for messes. She reacts negatively out of fear, but therefore works harder on her chores and works harder to find what little happiness she can. Perfectionists may have rather inferior reactions to defects in the aspects the like pristine, but one must keep in mind that they may have underlying reasons for their distress. Even so, these feelings have the potential to make the person work harder and produce more positive results.  As you can see, perfectionists do help society. Monk and Sherlock Holmes are both famous detectives, and despite any negative feelings directed their way, they do solve crimes and prevent more from happening. Cinderella’s story ends with her being very happily married to a lonely prince. Even with their perfectionist ways and the negative ideas that are associated with them, these people still do good, and therefore do not deserve the hostile glare set upon them.

Citations:


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