Whether it's a good thing for society or not, is another question. Arguably, it's a sign of a much more divided country or world with less consensus about basic values.
A country that can't condemn Walter White or Tony Soprano could have real problems (though long before HBO and AMC, Hollywood took an ambivalent view of mobsters).
Bill's question about why the complexity or ambivalence or nuance isn't reflected in today's politics is also a good one to mull over.
It could be that Bill Gates's thinking is flawed, though: stage drama and film fifty years ago weren't bad at portraying a complex world. Playwrights in the 50 and movie makers in the 70s were no slouches.
Today's teledramas may be better than the television Bill grew up with simply because TV is where the talent went when live theater declined and movies surrendered to the influence of video games.
Simple. The Left's overwhelming use of Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals #5: "Ridicule is man's most potent weapon."
Exhibit #1: All conservative arguments are met with the charge of racism.
If all your opponent is ever going to do is call you names, it's hard to raise the dialogue to a higher plane.