Often we treat with disdain what others do well that we cannot. We mask our envy with contempt. For example, take two female college students: one an openly studious young woman who is ill at ease with displaying her femininity; the other an academic underachiever who is popular with many of the young men she meets. Each is potentially bright and attractive, but the male-shy, overachiever sees the popular poor student as a hot-blooded airhead and, in return, is seen herself as a frigid bookworm.
As a second example, consider two male college students: One derides the other as unstable or unreliable because he goes to extremes to display his idiosyncrasies, while the eccentric dismisses the other as lacking in imagination and daring because he tries to just be one of the regular guys.
What sets these pairs at odds with each other are exactly those attributes that one has and the other could use. If they could drop their defensive disdain and openly express the admiration implicit in their envy, each could instruct and comfort the other. The secrets they could share might help make each of them a more complete human being.
Caricature must not be confused with character.