I’m hooked on competency porn. I wish our leaders were too

April 4, 2026 — 9:30am

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Isn’t it brilliant when you encounter a truly competent person? An efficient nurse, council worker, banker, bureaucrat, baker. Someone who gets stuff done and, by doing so, quietly and regularly improves the lives of people around them.

Competence is a rarely trumpeted, often under-rated virtue, which is a shame.

In fact, the pleasure of watching people who are really good at their jobs, who move through the world with efficiency, precision and skill – on screen as well as in real life – is so strong that it has earned a name: competency porn. Think of Dr Rabinavitch in The Pitt. Or Legally Blonde’s Elle Woods crushing a witness. Keanu Reeves playing John Wick. Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote. Dulcie Collins in Deadloch. The journalists in Spotlight. Sherlock Homes identifying a murderer through a speck of dust on a shoe, or a twitch of an eyelid.

Then there are TikTokers folding fitted sheets, organising cupboards, vacuuming.

It’s not just individuals, either, but smooth-running, capable teams. TVTropes described it as: “The thrill of watching bright, talented people plan, banter, and work together to solve problems. It’s not just ‘characters being good at a thing’ … but specifically about using cleverness and hard work.”

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© The Age