The Outsider Knows Best

What it is

A privileged outsider enters a community, masters its ways, and becomes its greatest champion or leader. The community apparently couldn't save itself without the outsider's help.

How to spot it

The plot contains ALL of: (1) an outsider entering an unfamiliar community, (2) the outsider rapidly mastering local customs or skills, (3) the outsider becoming the community's leader, savior, or most effective defender.

• The outsider learns local ways faster or better than natives
• The community defers to the newcomer's leadership
• The outsider's emotional arc takes priority over the community's story
• The community was failing or oppressed before the outsider arrived
• The outsider fights other outsiders on behalf of the adopted community

Classic examples

Avatar (Jake Sully), Dances with Wolves, The Last Samurai, The Blind Side, The Help