James Potter?

I don't hate James by any means, I think he's a fine character and has a lot of potential. But why is the general consensus on James that he was some kind of Saint who reached enlightenment 5 seconds post SWM and never bothered anyone ever again?

I get I'm being a bit flippant, but it's genuinely really confusing to me. Everytime someone says anything negative or critical of him, especially in an offline context, someone goes "oh, but he changed! He grew up! It says so in the books!"

The people who talk up James in the books are His best friends, his headmaster, and people who would have only known him from the war effort/post martyrdom. And more importantly, they're almost always talking to a preteen orphan about his murdered father who died at 21. His father died before he could rent a car. I feel like even if he killed puppies on the weekend, people would have talked him up to Harry.

I don't know. I have no doubt that James grew up and became a better person and volunteered at soup kitchens and all that. But why is that the default assumption instead of, like. That he was just a dude who did good stuff and bad stuff.

If this isn't okay to post, please tell me! I just thought this would be the place to like, ask.