8 Female TV Characters Who Get Way Too Much Hate
It's like we can't imagine a pair of ovaries being on TV without getting very, very upset.
Female characters in television have come a long way in recent years. No longer are they resigned to being secondary roles, existing only as window dressing or as damsels in need of saving.
Yes, those types of roles are still out there, but there now just as many strong, uniquely-spirited women featured on some of the most critically-beloved series ever created. The problem is that, even though critics may love the show (as well as the idea of a strong woman), they tend to dislike a lot of these complex female roles.
Sometimes it's a case of poor writing, other times questionable casting, but more often than not, we seem to relish the idea of hating the women in our favorite TV shows who "get in the way" of the stories we really want to see.
"Why are they talking so much? When do we get back to more of Don Draper acting like an complete a-hole? Will someone stop these ladies from getting their personalities all over my TV screen??"
There are plenty of annoying or useless male characters in this Golden Age of Television that are more worthy of our hatred and complaints than anyone listed here but, for whatever reason, we don't vocalize our displeasure with them nearly as often. Instead, we direct our hostility toward the very women we should (more often than not) be rooting for.
8. Emily Waltham (Friends)
How would you react if your husband-to-be said his ex-girlfriend's name at the alter? Answering this question honestly should help you determine how much you really hate Emily Waltham. Because that scene, where Ross says the immortal words "I take thee Rachel..." seems to be the point where Emily Waltham became a one-note caricature of the overly demanding wife.
Now, to be certain, just about any character who got in the way of Ross and Rachel being together drew ire from the Friends fanbase, but none of them irked people quite like the cute girl from Shropshire. Not even Mona, who we should all agree here and now was far more irritating and had a much worse accent.
People hate Emily because she freaked out on Ross for still being in love with his stupidly hot ex-girlfriend. Was she perhaps a little over-the-top in her demands that Ross completely cut Rachel out of his life forever? Perhaps. But she's allowed to be excessive because HE SAID THE WRONG NAME AT THE ALTER, YOU FOOLS.