I think trying to bring us close to Diego from the first paragraph works great. The real issue is excusing him from his mistake from the moment it is told. A much more compelling narrative would go something like this: 1. Diego is a decent guy, readers feel sympathetic towards him; 2. Diego fucks up badly, girls are affected by this kind of behavior constantly, readers feel contempt; 3. Consequences for Diego start getting out of hand, even readers who wished him to be punished think “hey, wait a minute, that’s taking it too far.” This arc would fulfill the greater purposes of a) showing how girls suffer from sexual harassment even from decent-looking guys and b) advocating that cancel culture can get out of hand.
I think trying to bring us close to Diego from the first paragraph works great. The real issue is excusing him from his mistake from the moment it is told. A much more compelling narrative would go something like this: 1. Diego is a decent guy, readers feel sympathetic towards him; 2. Diego fucks up badly, girls are affected by this kind of behavior constantly, readers feel contempt; 3. Consequences for Diego start getting out of hand, even readers who wished him to be punished think “hey, wait a minute, that’s taking it too far.” This arc would fulfill the greater purposes of a) showing how girls suffer from sexual harassment even from decent-looking guys and b) advocating that cancel culture can get out of hand.