Coincidentally, Law & Order had an episode tonight (I believe it was a new one) that exemplified AFC at his worst.
Eric works for Bob in a auto body parts garage. Bob runs a website under the false guise of a Marine selling antique maps. Turns out that Bob stole these maps from the library and is making an illegal profit off of them. Profit for what, you say? You guessed it. To buy gifts for his online girlfriend Jenny.
Eric was involved online with Jenny also and found out about Bob and her. He drives 600 miles in a car "borrowed" from work to inform Jenny that Bob is a wannabe. Couple of days later, Eric is murdered.
Police later find out that Jenny's mother is posing as Jenny and receiving money and gifts from Bob. When Eric drove up and told her about Bob, Jenny's mother figured her "income" was sabotaged since Eric would expose Bob to Bob's family.
So, who killed Eric? Jenny's mother, posing as Jenny online, tricked Bob into killing Eric. The real crux of AFCism occurs towards the end of the episode. The DA is trying to get Bob to confess that it was Jenny's mother who had tricked him into killing Eric. The way DA gets the confession is by telling Bob that he would be such a warrior, a true knight to Jenny if he helped put the real culprit (Jenny's mother) behind bars. Bob is, of course, excited to be with Jenny forever when he confesses and gets a deal out.
Turns out Jenny was killed by her own mother years ago. The mother was using Jenny's online persona to reel in suckers and have her send gifts and money. Bob is upset when he finds out that his "one and only" has been murdered even though they had never met off-line.
Recap, Eric the AFC drove up 600 miles in a "borrowed" car to save Jenny from Bob the fake. Bob the AFC killed Eric because Jenny told him that she loved him and would be her hero if he committed the murder. Jenny's mother, the gold digger, killed her daughter and used her online persona to get free gifts and money from chumps online. Actually, in one scene, Jenny's mother's neighbor was also an AFC because he is a "sweetheart and a good handyman" who fixes her stoves and ovens. I want to say that the DA was manipulating Bob into a confession when he tells him that Jenny is waiting for her prince and want him to do the "right" thing, blah blah blah. Watch the episode.
Anyway, I thought it was interesting how media portrayed AFCs. I'm willing to bet there are chumps out there who sympathized with Bob (and Eric to some extent) for his blind belief in one-itis and doing the right thing as a "warrior".
Ugh. I almost want Jack McCoy, Jerry Orbach, and Jesse Martin back rounding up gangsters, corporate frauds, and religious extremists.