Competency porn

Over the last few weeks, I’ve increasingly heard the term “competency porn” used to describe movies or books. It’s a handy term, but I’m not sure I agree with how it’s been used. I’m going to give a little history of the term, give some examples, and tell you where I disagree with what’s been said online.

Leverage creator John Rogers created the phrase around 2009. He used it to describe an audience’s thrill at seeing (human) characters using specialist and well-developed skills to resolve some difficult situation. The situation might get very tough and evolve in ways the characters don’t expect, but they’re in control and it’s their calm use of their skills that saves the day. There are two main genres of competency porn: medical dramas and gangster/heist dramas.

A good example of medical competency porn is House. The titular character is a very talented (but deeply flawed) human being who uses his exceptional diagnostic skills to save lives. Things are never easy and there are plenty of diagnostic dead ends, but the show’s appeal lies in House’s ability to think through the situation and create opportunities for healing. Although the show mostly focuses on House, it's plain there's a (sometimes reluctant) team behind him.

(Canva)

Perhaps the best example of competency porn is the heist or gangster movie/TV series. In the heist movie, we see a group of highly-skilled (but flawed) individuals come together to overcome a series of challenges to steal something (a good example being Ocean’s Eleven). Of course, there are problems to solve along the way, but they never lose control of the situation and they overcome troubles through inventiveness borne from their skills.  The pleasure lies in watching the interaction between skilled people working together to execute a detailed plan under difficult circumstances.

(Gemini)

Competency porn characters are never “Mary Sue” types, meaning a character who has no character flaws or weaknesses. Famously, House is a seriously flawed individual, and most gangster characters have some weaknesses or problems. 

For me, superheroes can’t be competency porn. Their special powers mean they're super-human and the risk of failure is less. Their powers mean I empathize with them less; I could maybe be a safe cracker if I practiced for years, but there’s no way I could learn to fly, no matter how many buildings I jumped off. For the same reasons, I don’t think Dr Who is competency porn; famously, Dr Who isn’t human and has abilities and knowledge a human doesn’t have. Of course, superheroes always have a little “Mary Sue” tinge too.

By contrast, Law and Order is a great example of competency porn. The characters are human, highly-trained and experienced and they use their abilities to arrest and convict criminals. Almost all the time, they’re in control, and of course, they have personality flaws and weaknesses. 

Controversially, I don’t think Alien is a competency porn movie. The human characters are not in control of the situation and most of them don’t have relevant specialist skills. In fact, it's their ineptness and poor judgement that puts them at risk. There’s not a lot of calmness in the movie either. For the same reasons, horror movies can’t be competency porn.

Star Trek is usually competency porn. The characters are mostly well-trained, highly-skilled, and in control. They have a mission to accomplish, which they do through team work and the use of their complementary skill sets.

The online consensus is that Arthur C. Clarke’s Rendezvous with Rama is competency porn. It fits the definition: the characters are all human with specialist skills and they overcome challenges calmly. But for me, the characters are a little “Mary Sue” and there’s a whiff of super hero about one or two of them. Another problem for me is the pay-off. In the heist movie, the gangsters steal the money, in medical dramas, the doctor cures the patient, and in Law and Order, the criminal goes to jail. But in Rendezvous with Rama, there is no payoff: the crew leave Rama and that’s it. Other than exploration and preventing Rama being bombed, there’s no real sense the characters have achieved anything lasting.

The pleasure in competency porn is seeing a group of highly-skilled and in-control people collectively pull off something that would otherwise seem impossible. They’re not super-human in any way, so we can dream that we too could act as they do and win as they do.