Stereotypes: The Pros And Cons Of Leverage

Leverage was a mildly popular television series airing on the cable channel TNT from 2008 to 2012. The show was created and produced by a plethora of experienced industry executives including Independence Day's Dean Devlin. The adventure-comedy series features a motley crew of former criminals fighting corporate and governmental institutions who take advantage of ordinary citizens. The self-proclaimed Leverage Team use elaborate cons as a form of revenge for their clients while presenting a variety of personalities, moral beliefs, and motivations. Moreover, contrasts between main and recurring characters emphasize individual moral motivations. All of this aids in engaging and retaining the audience.

To begin with, TV screens

As previously detailed, Nate shows he is willing to go to any lengths to pull off a successful con. Nate displays American psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg's sixth stage of moral development–that of universal principles. He has created his own set of moral guidelines, saying that he “picks up where the law leaves off” (The Two-Horse Job): it is his responsibility to find justice for those who cannot do it themselves, even if it means breaking a few laws. He even extends his own moral principles to the rest of the team. He recognizes that he “taught [them] how to help people” (The Beantown Bailout). Sterling, on the other hand, wholly disagrees. He believes if you break the law, for any reason at all, you must to be punished. Sterling predominates Kohlberg's fourth stage: he maintains social order. He upholds the law by obeying the established rules, first as an insurance fraud agent and later as an Interpol agent. Sterling does, nevertheless, sporadically drift into the fifth stage, realizing that sometimes rules and laws existing for the greater good may work against an individual's interests. This variation in moral beliefs sets the stage for a twist in television stereotypes: good and bad people aren't always so easy to