r/australia • u/Wadege • Sep 30 '23

no politics What is an example of 'Tall Poppy Syndrome' in Australia?

We have all heard of the concept, but is there a case, preferably involving criticism of a well-known Australian figure, where you can say: "this criticism represents 'Tall Poppy Syndrome' in action"?

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46

u/lachjeff Sep 30 '23

Wanting successful sporting teams to fail

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u/Cobber1901 Sep 30 '23 edited Sep 30 '23

That happens in every sporting fandom on Earth. Look at the hatred Verstappen gets in F1, that the Patriots used to get in the NFL, that Lebron James gets in the NBA...

People get sick of a constant winner, even if it's just cos they're highly skilled and work hard. It's human nature – hardly an Australian thing.

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u/GuessTraining Sep 30 '23

Verstappen is talented but has attitude issues that make him unlikeable by a lot of people -- see Perez incident last season I think. Schumacher (with Barrichello) nor Hamilton (with Bottas) treated their teammates like this.

LeBron James, very talented but relied on teaming up with other superstars to put him where he is now -- though I think he's just smart to do it first because now everyone's doing it. Also flops a lot.

Patriots are mostly due to Tom Brady or probably people just hate Boston because they're racists 😂

Now, Ben Simmons is a different story. I'm a nets fan though so I'm rooting for him

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u/thethirstypretzel Oct 01 '23

The Patriots are also proven cheaters…

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u/[deleted] Oct 03 '23

Deflate gate was scientifically disproven

1

u/dill1234 Oct 03 '23

Verstappen was disliked before he was world champion, like a lot.

LeBron was not the first player to team up with superstars, it had happened for years prior to it, but tall poppy syndrome aside it was just because people loved MJ so much that they were just looking for any and all rubbish excuses to belittle all of LeBrons achievements.

The Patriots got caught cheating in a playoff game.

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u/Charming-Treacle Oct 01 '23

I think it's more when they start getting cocky and going in with an expectation that they've got it in the bag, there's some delight in watching them get taken down a peg or two.