Jerk with a Heart of Gold/Real Life: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

[[File:oscarcat_1556.png|frame|[http://www.cracked.com/article_18963_6-cats-more-badass-than-you-and-most-superheroes_p2.html He's not very friendly, except when you need a friendly cat most.]]]

 

* Perhaps [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PxI3efVVeI#t=3m16s Oscar the cat] might be an example of this. He's said to be unfriendly to patients, except when they don't have long to live (he seems to always know) in which case he cuddles up to them. It's as though the cat not only knows said patients are about to die but uses its cuddling to have people die happy... and reserves his cuddling for that particular purpose.

* Israelis stereotypically have this as their defining characteristic. It is known in Hebrew as "tzabar", and the English equivalent is Sabra. [[The Other Wiki]] states that this is named after the Indian Fig Opuntia cactus, which is "a tenacious, thorny desert plant with a thick hide that conceals a sweet, softer interior".

* Clarinetist and bandleader Benny Goodman was rumoured to be a [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]]. Many performers described him as being difficult to work with, due to his arrogance and perfectionism. But he secretly funded college educations for some of the musicians who worked under him. And if you said anything bad about his band members, you were in trouble.

* American Apparel founder Dov Charny is said to be a wholly unpleasant man, and a lech on top of that, having been sued for sexual harassment several times. He's also one of the clothing industry's most passionate activists against sweatshops.

* A lot of people who are autistic, or even just socially awkward, may occasionally seem mean, uncaring, or condescending, but that doesn't mean that they are. A lot of them are really great people, who just don't know how to socialize properly, so they end up acting in ways that can seem mean.

** One book in fact claimed that socially awkward people might be better understood by thinking of them as foreigners in their own country.

* Many individuals are distrusting, paranoid, and suspicious of people they don't know, and will not be the slightest bit friendly to most. Yet, this is just a survival instinct to deal with a world where things like hardened criminals, scams, and other terrible things happen. And when it comes down to it, they don't hate people in general, and in fact, can be quite caring and loyal to those who can get on their good sides.

* Jack Dee puts on a very surly and humourless act for his comedic work. When out of his work, he's still deadpan but frequently promotes many good causes, often on his Twitter page he will retweet a lot of good links (missing people notices, charity links, important news articles related to it, etc.).

* Similarly, [[Eminem]] is known for his extremely violent and often misogynistic lyrics, but he cleaned up his drug problems (twice, which might make it better or worse) and is [[Papa Wolf|extremely protective of his daughters.]]

* Buddy Rich, drummer extraordinaire, had a temper that could fly off the handle at any moment and there are several tapes of his yelling at his bandmates for next-to-nothing. According to one of his friends, Buddy had a soft heart and his favorite song was [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|"Being Green"]] by Kermit the Frog.