The stereotype has been kicked to death, dismembered, burned, rebuilt as an effigy and burned again throughout the years.
The stereotype of the evil and incompetent manager who is only interested in ruining the lives of their underlings, who would solve the world's problems if only left alone to do their jobs, is still going strong.
Managers are imbued with more formal power than their reports and as such should be held to a higher standard. Simply passing on pressure and not standing up for your team will never inspire loyalty.
Taylorism and top-down management are culturally embedded in many companies. With software eating the world you have companies who are ill-equipped to deal with other ways of working and do not understand how writing software is fundamentally different than building a house. This all inevitably leads to cultural conflicts.