# You don't like the main character's love interest **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 19, 2011, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-like-the-main-characters-love-interest/586018 "2011-06-19T07:36:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-like-the-main-characters-love-interest/586018/61 "2011-06-22T23:19:49Z")
I liked “Bridget Jone’s Diary” but would have enjoyed it more if I didn’t hate both leading males. Jeez, talk about being in between a rock and a hard place. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-like-the-main-characters-love-interest/586018/62 "2011-06-24T02:18:14Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I liked “Bridget Jone’s Diary” but would have enjoyed it more if I didn’t hate both leading males. Jeez, talk about being in between a rock and a hard place. That’s kind of how I felt about the men Carrie pursued in **Sex & The City** , but I didn’t actually watch two seasons of that, so… You know, I meant to mention **The Vampire Diaries**. I take it from reading plot summaries of the books we’re supposed to think that Stefan is right for her. I don’t know if the books are really different, or we’re supposed to feel that way about show!Stefan too, and I just don’t. I’d much rather see Elena with Damon. You know, the less emo/more evil of the two brothers. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-like-the-main-characters-love-interest/586018/63 "2011-06-24T05:34:49Z")
I love Kaylee from Firefly but she turned into such a judgmental bitch whenever she was around Simon. I’m sure she’s great in the sack but I can see why Simon wasn’t exactly enthusiastically chasing her. Tara on BTVS was about as exciting as a wet sock. Willow should have gotten together with Xander. Speaking of the X-Man, Anya was annoying as hell as his girlfriend. I was glad when Buffy pinned her to the wall with a big honking sword. I didn’t like any of Alan or Denny’s love interests on Boston Legal. John Connor in T:SCC has a gorgeous cyborg that is loyal to him, has no sense of modesty or shame, a kinky wardrobe and the ability to beg realistically. So what does he do? He dates Riley, a gal so annoying she got kicked out of the future. Also on T:SCC, what in the world was Derek doing with Jesse? I hated her from the start and I really hope he shot her. ---
**Author:** ![Smitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Smitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smitty)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-like-the-main-characters-love-interest/586018/64 "2011-06-24T17:59:19Z")
Tim “The Toolman” Taylor’s wife on **Home Improvement**. What a whiny, spoiled, ball-breaking bitch! I despised her. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-like-the-main-characters-love-interest/586018/65 "2011-06-24T18:49:44Z")
Hmm. I was going to post re Spenser/Susan, but that’s already covered. Going back a bit, but in the Inspector Lynley mysteries by Elizabeth George – _Both_ Lady Helen (Lynley’s love) AND Deborah (love of Lynley’s sidekick) are too irritating to endure. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-like-the-main-characters-love-interest/586018/66 "2011-06-24T19:53:50Z")
> [@Smitty](#): > > Tim “The Toolman” Taylor’s wife on **Home Improvement**. What a whiny, spoiled, ball-breaking bitch! I despised her. Not meaning a major hijack here, but in what way was she “ball-breaking”? That term annoys me sometimes, because it seems like it’s used in a lot of cases as a synonym for “strong, opinionated woman who doesn’t let the man/men in her life walk all over her.” Personally, I think Tim’s wife did a remarkably good job of being cool and keeping her sense of humor while still being the only adult in a house full of children (including her husband). ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-like-the-main-characters-love-interest/586018/67 "2011-06-24T20:03:12Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Does anybody, anybody in the world, like Fiona on _Burn Notice_? She stinks up the show like a dead skunk. > [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I absolutely adore Fiona as much as is possible given that she is a fictional character and I a Grinch-hearted bastard. I rather think Michael’s not good enough for her, though. I’m just noticing the thread for the first time, and Fiona was the first name that came to mind (probably because of last night’s season premier). She’s a skeletal lizard. And her character tends to be all over the place (but that’s the writer’s faults). ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-like-the-main-characters-love-interest/586018/68 "2011-06-24T20:04:42Z")
> [@Smitty](#): > > Tim “The Toolman” Taylor’s wife on **Home Improvement**. What a whiny, spoiled, ball-breaking bitch! I despised her. Jill Taylor certainly wasn’t a likeable character, but really, she was just filling a role played by countless sitcom wives before her, going at least as far back as Alice Kramden on “the Honeymooners.” Practically EVERY family-oriented sitcom except “I Love Lucy” starts with the assumption that Dad is an idiot, and that everything he touches will end in disaster if his infinitely smarter wife doesn’t prevent that. Ralph Kramden is an idiot who gets in trouble because he doesn’t listen to Alice. Fred Flintstone is an idiot who gets in trouble because he doesn’t listen to Wilma. Herman Munster is an idiot who gets in trouble because he doesn’t listen to Lily. George Jefferson is an idiot who gets in trouble because he doesn’t listen to Weezie. Tim Taylor is an idiot who gets in trouble because he doesn’t listen to Jill. Ray Barone is an idiot who gets in trouble because he doesn’t listen to Debra. Jill Taylor is just carrying on an old tradition. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-like-the-main-characters-love-interest/586018/69 "2011-06-24T20:09:18Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > Going back a bit, but in the Inspector Lynley mysteries by Elizabeth George – _Both_ Lady Helen (Lynley’s love) AND Deborah (love of Lynley’s sidekick) are too irritating to endure. Agreed–I hated them both. I haven’t read them in a while but I remember not being too keen on Simon and Lynley could be a bit annoying himself. The only one I actually could bear to read about was Havers. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-like-the-main-characters-love-interest/586018/70 "2011-06-24T20:24:15Z")
Don Draper and anybody. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-like-the-main-characters-love-interest/586018/71 "2011-06-25T12:47:10Z")
Victor Laslow in “Casablanca”. Paul Henreid knew it too, he didn’t want the role. Quite frankly, Rick ended up being better off with Louis than he would have with Ilsa, who married the duller than cold dishwater resistance hero. People at the time used to rave about Robert Downey Jr as Ally McBeal’s love interest but I never saw the appeal. Probably the most horrible thing about “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” was Kate Capshaw. Why, especially in the first one we got the magnificent Karen Allen. Was Scarlett O’Hara really the absolute belle that every man went gaga for her? ---
**Author:** ![kivrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@kivrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kivrin)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-like-the-main-characters-love-interest/586018/72 "2011-06-25T19:12:36Z")
On **White Collar** , Neal Caffrey’s adored Kate. The most interesting thing about her is that she looks kinda like Elizabeth Burke in coloring and face shape. But Kate has little if any personality and she and Neal have no chemistry. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-like-the-main-characters-love-interest/586018/73 "2011-06-26T23:22:30Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Yeah, you’re right. I remember Dexter saying things like that in the voiceovers. [spoiler]I think the main problem (for me) was that the woman who played Rita was just too good-looking to be believable as the whiny, insecure, beaten-down woman with no apparent options that Rita was. Good-looking, successful men would abound in the life of a woman [that pretty](http://i1-news.softpedia-static.com/images/news2/Julie-Benz-Talks-Rita-s-Death-on-Dexter-Finale-2.jpg), and it just didn’t add up to me that she would be content barely getting by, living in that cramped little house, walking to work and soliciting rides to and from school for her kids from the neighbors because her druggie ex-husband’s car got confiscated by his dealer (not to mention actually being happy to drive that hideous ghetto car that Dexter got for her). Maybe I’m just jaded, but I just can’t help but think that she’d have allowed herself to be snared by a handsome guy with a successful career and plenty of dough long before she’d have wound up like she was…if for no other reason than to provide a good life for her kids. > > Julie Benz, the woman who played Rita, is a good actress though. To me it’s a testament to her acting ability that she was able to pull off the role as well as she did. But I think the reason that so many people disliked her for being so whiny is that on a subliminal level it just didn’t add up that she would be that way. > > Just my .02 though. I know others’ MMV.[/spoiler] I’ve known a few extremely attractive women in real life who’ve ended up in a series of abusive relationships. Being very attractive doesn’t equal getting a good partner. Also, remember her Mum, the bitch? And the hint about the early first marriage? Rita was damaged goods from the get-go. I loved when she, in a shaky voice, told her ex to gtf out of her life. I can see why people didn’t like her though. She did come across as whiny. But a lot of the things she was complaining about were because Dexter was busy killing people and couldn’t tell her about it. > [@Zsofia](#): > > Perhaps she can’t quite get them through her surgically inflated lips? Nah, her lips have always been like that; she was on a TV show called Press Gang when I was a kid. She is way too thin, but what I don’t like about her is that she was in the IRA. She’s supposed to be in her thirties or so, which is the age when being in the IRA meant not fighting for a cause but fighting with a pretended cause. Bombing civilians, halting the peace process; she was a terrorist. I could never get past that. > [@Infovore](#): > > Yeah, I liked Ron less as a person as the books went on, but I liked him fine as a character. I think he was very well written–a lot of his assholishness was a product of his upbringing (Mrs. Weasley was very nice, but very old-fashioned and judgmental, plus living in the shadow of several older brothers he constantly had to compete with), the fact that he was in love with Hermione but too socially inept (or maybe he was just a teenage boy) to let her know it in the proper way, and he hung around with probably the most famous person in the wizarding world (who he was constantly worrying was going to sweep Hermione off her feet before he could make a move). Ron had a big inferiority complex, and in his case it manifested itself in stubbornness and occasional asshole behavior. In other words, he was realistically written. I liked that. Still wanted to punch him in the face a few times, though 🙂 I know a lot of people like the way Mrs Weasley went all bad-ass and said 'not my daughter! when fighting Bellatrix, but it was pretty much another kick in the teeth for Ron. It wasn’t only in his imagination that he was second-best. ☹ > [@kivrin](#): > > On **White Collar** , Neal Caffrey’s adored Kate. The most interesting thing about her is that she looks kinda like Elizabeth Burke in coloring and face shape. But Kate has little if any personality and she and Neal have no chemistry. Isn’t she a MacGuffin? ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-like-the-main-characters-love-interest/586018/74 "2011-06-27T01:07:10Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > II didn’t like any of Alan or Denny’s love interests on Boston Legal. Alan and Denny _were_ each other’s love interest! If I recall correctly, this was explicitly stated – in a completely heterosexual way, which is a change, for once. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Woodhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Miss\_Woodhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Woodhouse)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-like-the-main-characters-love-interest/586018/75 "2011-06-27T03:04:38Z")
I hated the love interest so much in a recent fantasy novel it ruined not only that book for me but the previous two books where the character was most emphatically not the love interest. The book, _Spy Glass_ was not too bad until the last 50 pages or so when it became obvious that the main character did in fact have a very creepy case of Stockholm’s syndrome and was going to end up with the character who kidnapped and tortured her for days on more than on occasion in previous books as was involved with the kidnapping and death of her sister as well as the cause of her losing her little bit of magic. That book made me so mad. What a waste of time. ---
**Author:** ![Musky\_Moon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90db22/32.png) [@Musky\_Moon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musky_Moon)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-like-the-main-characters-love-interest/586018/76 "2011-06-27T11:23:25Z")
I never got Peter Parker’s thing for Mary Jane. For me, the only good pairing for Spiderman was Black Cat. But, if I remember correctly, those were his black suit days and he was a much more interesting character back then. ---
**Author:** ![Ura-Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/51bf81/32.png) [@Ura-Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ura-Maru)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-like-the-main-characters-love-interest/586018/77 "2011-06-28T01:08:44Z")
What was wrong with MJ? She was self-reliant enough not to need him around all the time, assertive enough not let him get lost in his Spider-Man obligations, and self-confidant enough not feel threatened or marginalized by the fact she was married to a super hero. (The movies fucked THAT part up completely) I’m told she turned into a bland supermodel later, though. – Admittedly, Black Cat had a better costume. But really, Black Cat has a better costume than anyone. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-like-the-main-characters-love-interest/586018/78 "2011-06-28T01:13:34Z")
Miss Scarlett! I know your character predates gaydar by about a century, but seriously: Ashley Wilkes? ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-like-the-main-characters-love-interest/586018/79 "2011-06-29T19:25:23Z")
Sophie Devereaux and Nate Ford in Leverage. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-like-the-main-characters-love-interest/586018/80 "2011-06-29T19:30:36Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > I agree - although that very blandness meant I’d forgotten about him until you just mentioned him. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen every episode of “Daria” and I still don’t remember who Tom is. I’ve never liked Winnie Cooper on “The Wonder Years.” Or Betty from “Archie” comics. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-like-the-main-characters-love-interest/586018.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-like-the-main-characters-love-interest/586018.md?page=5)