USB-C is an interface that can be used for a variety of different things. There are different "levels" of power delivery, there's thunderbolt, there's DisplayPort-over-USB-C, etc. And for things to work, the devices on both ends of the cable and the cable itself must comply with any given standard.

For example, on some laptops you can't use a USB-C port with thunderbolt for charging the device, nor the port that supports power delivery to connect thunderbolt devices. While using the same physical interface, the ports are not interchangeable. Even if you're connecting everything right, nothing is going to work if the cable you're using isn't specced properly (and trying to figure out the spec of a cable you have, considering they rarely have any labeling, is, definitely, fun).

If anything, USB-C makes everything harder and more convoluted, because instead of using different ports and plugs for different standards, it's now one port for nigh everything under the sun. If you want things to work, nowadays, you have to hunt down cable and port specs to ensure everything is mutually compatible.