10 TV Characters That Didn't Deserve The Hate
5. Betty Draper - Mad Men
Not that dissimilar to Lois is Mad Men's Betty Draper (January Jones), who despite her once-husband Don's (Jon Hamm) regular philandering, substance abuse, and generally pretty awful parenting, caught the brunt of fans' ire throughout the period drama's run.
Betty is obviously written to be icy and standoffish to a point, but while many fans will simply write her off as childish and sulky, her demeanour is far more complex than simply being a bitchy foil to her whiskey-chugging hubby.
It's important to consider Betty within the context of the time: a woman clearly depressed at her general lack of purpose outside of her place as a homemaker.
She's not the best mother, but in her own way she's a prisoner of her time, and very, very pissed off about it. She's certainly no worse than Don, whose bed-hopping and general absenteeism is so regularly swept under the rug by his cheerleaders.
By the end of Mad Men, with Betty's days numbered by lung cancer, there were those who still couldn't bring themselves to feel even a morsel of sympathy or basic pity for her. For shame.