• Emotion might result in the emergence of three roles: victims, villains and heroes.
• Politicians can frame themselves as heroes and their opponents as villains.
• When you step into this frame, you must deny that you are a villain – this cannot be done without some discomfort.
• Reframing means that you tell a different version of the same reality, in which the division of roles is also different – where you are the hero.

The episode you just watched is about negative emotions – anger and indignation.

However, victims, villains, and heroes can also appear in relation to positive emotions. Suppose you are very enthusiastic about a plan and you are genuinely convinced that it will lead to improved performances. For example a plan to make energy provision more sustainable, or a plan for reorganising your company. That enthusiasm is a positive emotion.

But maybe there are people opposing you, or perhaps there are those who completely disagree with you. The more convinced you are that you are right, the greater the chance you will regard these opponents as villains.

A progressive politician who works on transforming the energy industry from fossil fuels to solar and wind energy, can describe his opponents as villains, the future generation as victims, and himself? As the hero, of course.