As an example of what i mean, it's been joked about for a while that arthur, the protagonist of the video game red dead redemption 2, is unreasonably "woke" "Progressive" and leftist, or in one word, marxist, for a man of his background, during that time. We are talking about an outlaw in the late 1800s who virtue signals about how he's friends with everyone of every race, drops everything he's doing to help a black doctor who got his wagon stolen while mumbling to himself about how unjust it all is, helps a feminist rally, etc. American krogan made a fantastic video on it that i believe is still on youtube, a great takedown of what is widely talked about as one of the "Greatest video games ever" if you wish to see more.
Now most people on the actual right have correctly called this out and the fact that it is obviously just a case of the writers self inserting and introducing their own 21st century political views into the character. Yet the answer to that from enjoyers of the game and leftists is that the leader of the outlaw gang taught them to be cultural marxist "progressives", colorblind feminists, etc because that is the leader's ideology.
It is like they cannot view the message from beyond the game's scope, and they think this character is a real person and a product of his environment, not a work of fiction and a vehicle for the writer's views and opinions. What causes this?
It's been a theme for a long time. Look at King Leopold 2, he said he was going to aid africa and use his wealth to do it. Then he enslaved the congo and forced them to farm sugar, and those who didn't meet the quota would have their hands chopped off. 20 million people died in the process. But the Europeans thought him to be a saint, and were amazed at how "lucky" he got with the sugar trade. This scam is at minimum centuries old.
Having said that. There's studies showing that 85% of the population has no inner monologue, thus making them all NPC's. You have to look no further than that.