Jean Valjean, from Victor Hugo’s novel and more specifically from Schönberg, Boublil, Natel & Kretzmer’s musical adaptation of Les Misérables, initially but briefly struggles in his manipulative-exploitive belief-behavior system after a prolonged period of unjust imprisonment, but is gallantly able to toggle into his democratic belief-behavior system to protect, serve, and truly value the poor and disenfranchised of 19th century France. [Javert demonstrates a classic autocratic belief-behavior system, the foreman demonstrates a manipulative-exploitive, and Marius Pontmercy demonstrates a resistant belief-behavior system.]

Craig Foster, filmmaker from the Netflix documentary, My Octopus Teacher, beautifully demonstrates the evoluationary power of democratic belief-behavior systems by learning from and connecting with an octopus.

Mulan, based on the Chinese folklore story, The Ballad of Mulan, and more specifically from Disney’s 2020 film, Mulan, is a talented and inspired warrior who becomes a leader by demonstrating her democratic belief-behavior system in the genuine value that she places on her fellow soldiers as well as her ability to effectively problem solve. She also demonstrates her resistant belief-behavior system by combating cultural traditions that do not recognize and value her strengths and abilities.

PK, from Bryce Courtenay’s novel and more specifically from the film, The Power of One, is an English South African boy growing up under apartheid during World War II who demonstrates his democratic belief-behavior system by genuinely valuing and seeking out the knowledge, insights, and experiences of the disenfranchised and advocating for their equal rights to education and freedom. PK also used his resistant belief-behavior system to call out the autocratic-exploitive belief-behavior systems of the hierarchy with his Southland Concerto. He also engages his disengagement-resistant belief-behavior system during his time at boarding school. Doc shared his insight about Democratic-Resistant Belief-Behavior Systems, “To have a brain is not a sin, but to have a brain and not use it, that is a sin,” and as well as his insight about autocratic-exploitive systems, “When it is a person’s job to punish, it’s all they know how to do.” St. John shared his insight about autocratic versus democratic hierarchies, “Any ideology that needs to attack the thing that least threatens it is an ideology that will not outlive its own generation. Inclusion, gentlemen, not exclusion, is the key to survival.” Geel Piet, demonstrating a classic disengagement belief-behavior system as an expert of camouflage, shared his insights about why PK is a democratic leader, “You like inyanga ye Zulu. You cool things down, man. You write the letters for all the tribes, you bring the tobacco for all the tribes…I say to a few people how you treat all the tribes equally, how you not show favoritism for one tribe over another, how you cool things down…”. Manipulative-exploitive belief-behavior system examples include Jaapie Botha and Borman.]

Bob Hodges, from director, Dennis Hopper’s 1988 film, Colors, is a Los Angeles Police Officer and member of a specialized unit tasked to combat gang-related crime, who displays his democratic belief-behavior system to his inexperienced autocratic partner in the hopes of teaching his partner how to respect, value, and collaborate with their subordinates.

Eudoria Holmes, from Nancy Springer’s mystery book series but more specifically from Harry Bradbeer’s film, Enola Holmes, is a brilliant mother who engages her democratic belief-behavior system to create a culture of engagement, innovation, and intellectual growth for her daughter, Enola Holmes, collaboratively guiding Enola to be a great thinker and problem solver. [Mycroft Holmes displays an autocratic belief-behavior system and Sherlock Holmes displays a democratic and sometimes disengagement belief-behavior system]

Eleanor Young, from Kevin Kwan’s book series but more specifically from screenwriter Adele Lim’s film, Crazy Rich Asians, spends much of the film displaying classic autocratic belief-behaviors about what is best for her son and her family and it is only after a heroic mahjong game unfolds that she realizes that she has been harboring unconscious bias and knowledge gaps. [Rachel Chu demonstrates a resistance belief-behavior system.]

Koro, from Witi Ihimaera’s novel and more specifically from Niki Caro’s film, Whale Rider, is a loving grandfather who spends much of the film in his autocratic belief-behavior system about what is best for the leadership of his people and it is only after a heroic act of self-sacrifice that he realizes his own knowledge gaps and unconscious bias. [Paikea Apirana displays a resistance belief-behavior system.]

Gilbert Huph, from Brad Bird and Pixar’s film, The Incredibles, is a supervisor for an insurance company who displays a classic autocratic belief-behavior system by suppressing the intellectual currency of his subordinates. [ Bob Parr, Huph’s subordinate, initially displays a disengagement belief-behavior system but later toggles into his resistant belief-behavior system and eventually extricates himself from the suppressive hierarchy.]

Thomas Perry, from Tom Schulman’s film, Dead Poets Society, is a classically autocratic father who forces his son, Neil, to conform to his ideas of whom and what Neil should become. Neil eventually extricates himself from his father’s culture of conformity and status quo, the suppressive hierarchy.

Anna Winger and Alexa Karolinski’s film Unorthodox, based on Deborah Feldman's autobiography, is a beautifully poetic example of how easily any hierarchy (or ideology) can toggle into autocratic-manipulative-exploitive belief-behavior systems. [Esty, the protagonist, starts off in her disengagement belief-behavior system and toggles into her resistant belief-behavior system and eventually extricates herself from the suppressive-oppressive hierarchy.]

Tevye, based on Sholem Aleichem’s stories, Joseph Stein’s book, and more specifically from Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick’s musical, Fiddler on the Roof, is a husband and father in a Russian village at the turn of the 20th century, whose three eldest daughters each utilize their resistance belief-behavior system to challenge Tevye’s autocratic belief-behavior system, his interpretation of and devotion to “tradition.”

Katherine Newbury, from Mindy Kaling’s film, Late Night, starts out as a classically autocratic supervisor, berating her staff, “The show is bad, I don’t know why, and I think it is your fault.”  She later recognizes that she has been harboring knowledge gaps and unconscious bias and toggles into her democratic belief-behavior system to share, “This is my fault. You were too scared to tell me what you really think, and I think I was too scared to hear the truth… Nothing is off limits…I swear I will not scream at you…I want someone who doesn’t think in exactly the same way as everyone else in the goddam room.”

Kaa, the python, from Rudyard Kipling’s writings but more specifically from Justin Marks’ film, The Jungle Book, is a classic example of a manipulative belief-behavior system as she aligns with Mowgli to share the truth about his past in an attempt to use him for her own personal gain. [Baloo represents a democratic belief-behavior system, Akela represents an autocratic belief-behavior system (we do it this way because this is how it has always been done), King Louie represents an exploitive belief-behavior system, and Mowgli represents the subordinate.]

Mary Louise Wright, inspired by Liane Moriarty’s novel and more specifically from David E. Kelley’s HBO series, Big Little Lies, is the mother of a deceased son who utilizes her manipulative belief-behavior system to align with her daughter-in-law around their shared goals of caring for family but her underlying motivation is personal gain. [Perry Wright demonstrates a manipulative-exploitive belief-behavior system. Celeste Wright demonstrates a disengagement-resistant belief-behavior system.]

Jack Berger and Aleksandr Petrovsky, inspired by Candace Bushnell's book series and more specifically from Darren Star’s HBO Sex and the City series, are both characters who align with the protagonist, Carrie Bradshaw, based on similar interests: Berger and Bradshaw are both writers and Petrovsky and Bradshaw share sexual chemistry. However, both men’s manipulative belief-behavior systems are uncovered when they demand her subservience and devotion in order for them to feel validated and important.

Stefan, from Linda Woolverton and Disney’s fairy tale film, Maleficent, is a peasant boy who befriends and cultivates a relationship with Maleficent but his manipulative-exploitive belief-behavior system is uncovered by his desire for individual power. [Maleficent generally represents a disengagement-resistant belief-behavior system]

The Kim family, from Bong Joon-ho and Han Jin-won’s film, Parasite, is a family suffering disenfranchisement who utilizes their manipulative-exploitive belief-behavior systems to try to gain resources and move up in the social hierarchy. The Kim family aligns with the Park Family (manipulative) and then exploits Geun-sae and Moon-gwang.

John Paul ("JP") Williams, from Sharon Horgan, Dave Finkel, and Brett Baer’s Bad Sisters series, is the epitome of a manipulative-exploitive belief-behavior system demonstrated by his abuse and exploitation of his wife, her sisters, and nearly anyone who befriends his wife and her sisters.

Mitchell Wilson, from Jennifer Mathieu’s novel and more specifically from Tamara Chestna, Dylan Meyer, and Amy Poehler’s film, Moxie, is the captain of the high school football team who spends the entire film toggling in his exploitive belief-behavior system, harassing, bullying and exploiting his classmates. [Vivian Carter, on the other hand, ranked as ‘most obedient’ by her exploitive classmate, starts off in her disengagement belief-behavior system by counseling a classmate who is being bullied, “If you keep your head down, he’ll move on and bother somebody else.” However, she then toggles into her resistance belief-behavior system and stands up to confess, “Speaking in front of people is my worst nightmare. I’m not brave. I’m not fierce, like some of my friends…I hate that we are shoved aside. That we are dismissed, ranked, assaulted. And I mean, nobody does anything about it. You know? Nobody listens to us. And that is why I walk out today. That is why I’m standing up here, yelling at all of you. It’s why I started Moxie.”]

Norman Spencer, from Robert Zemeckis’s film, What Lies Beneath, is a prominent scientific researcher and university faculty member, who toggles into his exploitive belief-behavior system, sacrificing others to protect his potential individual career success.

Liberal graduate students, from Dan Rosen’s film The Last Supper, explore their manipulative-exploitive belief-behavior systems in an attempt to eradicate others’ dysfunctional, autocratic-manipulative-exploitive belief-behavior systems.

Strange Fruit, written by Abel Meeropol [resistant belief-behavior system], is a poem protesting American exploitive belief-behavior systems by exposing the horrific results of that belief-behavior system. Billie Holiday [resistant belief-behavior system] famously and courageously performed, and in 1939 recorded, this song.

Gaston, from Disney’s animated Beauty and the Beast and more specifically from lyricist Howard Ashman’s Mob Song from the film, advertises his exploitive belief-behavior system when he incites a mob, whom he manipulates, to help him kill the Beast: GASTON: The Beast will make off with your children! | MOB: [gasps] | GASTON: He'll come after them in the night! | BELLE: No! | GASTON: We're not safe till his head is mounted on my wall! I say we kill the Beast! | MOB: Kill him!…MOB: We don't like | What we don't understand | In fact it scares us [classic illustration of autocratic belief-behavior system] | And this monster is mysterious at least | Bring your guns | Bring your knives | Save your children and your wives | We'll save our village and our lives | We'll kill the Beast!

Marty Baron, from Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer’s film, Spotlight, is the managing editor of The Boston Globe in 2001 who shares his profound understanding that the source of patterns of human oppression-suppression is often systemic and is engaging his resistance belief-behavior system when he states: “We need to focus on the institution not the individual priests. Practice and policy. Show me the Church manipulated the system so that these guys wouldn’t have to face charges. Show me they put those same priests back into parishes, time and time again. Show me this was systemic, that it came from the top down.”

Rae Ingram, from Charles Williams’s novel but more specifically from Terry Hayes’s film, Dead Calm, is the wife of a Royal Australian Navy officer who takes a sailing trip with her husband to help her process her grief over the loss of their child. Upon rescuing a fellow sailor, she is forced to engage her disengagement belief-behavior system in order to align with the rescued sailor who threatens her safety.

Goodnight Saigon, by Billy Joel, is a song about solidarity when we need to utilize our disengagement belief-behavior systems: “And we held on to each other | Like brother to brother | We promised our mothers we'd write | And we would all go down together | We said we'd all go down together | Yes we would all go down together”

Elphaba, from Stephen Schwartz’s musical Wicked which is based on Gregory Maguire’s novel, highlights her frustration with Glinda’s disengagement belief-behavior system when she sings, “I hope you're happy, too | I hope you're proud how you | Would grovel in submission | To feed your own ambition.” Elphaba also laments the injustice of having to be in one’s disengagement belief-behavior system in order to survive in an autocratic-exploitive culture and toggles into her resistant belief-behavior system. Defying Gravity beautifully contrasts disengagement and resistant belief-behavior systems.

In the Marvel Studios’ film, Black Panther, based on Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s superhero, there is a wonderfully classic dialogue between King T'Challa of Wakanda and social justice advocate and Wakanda spy, Nakia, where they debate the pros and cons of disengagement (T’Challa) versus resistant (Nakia) belief-behavior systems. NAKIA: I came to support you, and to honor your father. But I can't stay. It's just ... I found my calling out there. I've seen too many in need just to turn a blind eye. I can't be happy here knowing that there's people out there who have nothing. T'CHALLA: What would you have Wakanda do about it? NAKIA: Share what we have. We could provide aid and access to technology and refuge to those who need it ... other countries do it, we do it better. T' CHALLA: We are not like these other countries, Nakia. If the world found out what we truly are, and what we possess -- we could lose our way of life. NAKIA: Wakanda is strong enough to help others and protect ourselves at the same time.

Bernadette Fox, from Maria Semple’s novel but more specifically from Richard Linklater, Holly Gent, and Vince Palmo’s film, Where'd You Go, Bernadette, is a brilliant architect and problem-solver who’s intellectual currency is suppressed by an autocratic culture, forcing her into her disengagement-resistant belief-behavior system. This film poetically illustrates the harm that a suppressive culture has on human quality of life, specifically intellectual growth and development. The film also poetically illustrates “the path of least resistance for subordinates who are repeatedly oppressed is naturally to disengage or even completely extricate themselves from the hierarchy for self-preservation, leaving autocratic supervisors to toil with their own knowledge gaps and risky decisions.” When Bernadette is able to extricate herself from the suppressive culture, she is able to re-engage her democratic belief-behavior system, stimulate her intellect, and truly thrive.

Oskar Schindler, from Thomas Keneally’s novel but more specifically from Steven Spielberg’s film, Schindler’s List, is a factory owner during World War II who engages his disengagement (manipulated collaboration with the Nazis to maintain his factory and Jewish workforce) -resistant (making ineffective weapons in his factory) belief-behavior system to save the lives of more than a thousand Jews from the exploitive belief-behavior system of the Nazi Government.

Andy Dufresne, from Stephen King’s, The Shawshank Redemption, is unjustly imprisoned for the murders of his wife and her lover, and utilizes his disengagement-resistant belief-behavior system to survive until he is able to extricate himself from the autocratic-manipulative-exploitive hierarchy.

Ren McCormack, from Dean Pitchford’s 1984 film, Footloose, demonstrates his resistance belief-behavior system when he attempts to convince the town leadership to overturn an unjust city policy that bans dancing: “…‘David danced before the Lord with all his might, leaping, leaping and dancing before the Lord.’ Leaping and dancing! Ecclesiastes assures us that there is a time to every purpose under heaven. A time to laugh and a time to weep. A time to mourn and there is a time to dance. And there was a time for this law, but not anymore. See, this is our time to dance. It is our way of, of celebrating life. It’s the way it was in the beginning. It’s the way it’s always been. It’s the way it should be now.”

Sean Maguire, from Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s film, Good Will Hunting, is a psychotherapist who brilliantly engages his resistance belief-behavior system to challenge Will Hunting’s autocratic belief-behavior system: “I look at you; I don’t see an intelligent, confident man; I see a cocky, scared shitless kid. But you’re a genius, Will. No one denies that. No one could possibly understand the depths of you. But you presume to know everything about me because you saw a painting of mine and you ripped my fuckin’ life apart. You’re an orphan right? Do you think I’d know the first thing about how hard ! your life has been, how you feel, who you are because I read Oliver Twist? Does that encapsulate you? Personally, I don’t give a shit about all that, because you know what? I can’t learn anything from you I can’t read in some fuckin’ book. Unless you wanna talk about you, who you are. And I’m fascinated. I’m in. But you don’t wanna do that, do you, sport? You’re terrified of what you might say. Your move, chief.”

Stand Up, written by Cynthia Erivo and Joshuah Brian Campbell, and powerfully performed by Cynthia Erivo, is a song describing and honoring Harriet Tubman’s resistant belief-behavior system while at the same time protesting the oppression from exploitive belief-behavior systems. GIDEON BRODESS: Even now, you’re mine. HARRIET TUBMAN: I was never nobody’s property. Ever since your daddy sold my sisters, I prayed for God to make me strong enough to fight. And that’s what I prayed for ever since. I reasoned that there was one or two things I had a right to. Liberty or death. If I couldn’t have one, I’d have the other. You’re going to die right here. On a freezing, blood-soaked battlefield. The moans of a generation of young men, dying around you in agony, for a lost cause. For a vile and wicked idea. For the sin of slavery. Can you hear them? God don’t mean people to own people, Gideon! Our time is near.

This Is Me, written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and powerfully performed by Keala Settle, utilizes the resistant belief-behavior systems of Lettie Lutz (Kaela Settle’s character) and the ensemble to champion the value of a democratic culture where everyone is valued and heard, while at the same time protesting the suppression-oppression from autocratic-exploitive belief-behavior systems.

Nina Simone, poetically and powerfully, utilizes her resistant belief-behavior system to call out and protest the systemic exploitive belief-behavior systems that result in racism, oppression, murder, poetic injustice and inhumanity, in her song, Mississippi Goddamn.

Pink’s Dear Mr. President is a powerful example of a resistance belief-behavior system protesting autocracy. “Dear Mr. President | Come take a walk with me | Let's pretend we're just two people and | You're not better than me | I'd like to ask you some questions if we can speak honestly | What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the street?…How can you say | No child is left behind? | We're not dumb, and we're not blind | They're all sitting in your cells | While you pave the road to hell | What kind of father would take his own daughter's rights away? | And what kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gay?”