Who do you compare to?
The study of movie, TV or fictional characters helps cement our understanding of type, aids us look deep into different personalities, observe unique reactions to many societal trends and observe the inner most workings of an individual.
Often TV or movie writers will enhance a personality characteristic or idiosyncrasy for effect or exaggerate personality traits to make a point. They often target extreme edges of the continuum to get a laugh, pull at the heart strings or show character foil. TV, reality TV or movies give us excellent examples of type and often the audience knows more about the situation or the characters feelings than the characters in the drama or sit com. Many writers like Julian Fellow or JK Rowling create whole worlds with complex characters intricately drawn.