Who is the most annoying character?
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profundity — 9 years ago(June 03, 2016 04:14 PM)
Claire was fine to me. Lauren Ambrose portrayed her well in my mind. That said
I hate Ruth so much that I almost cannot re-watch the show. She is a doddering, judgmental (but plays it off well), hypocritical hag that should have been killed off by the end of season 1. Every other episode she would half say something and then wait to be coerced into spitting out the other half of whatever ignorant thing was about to spew out of her mouth.
Brenda was pretty heinous as well but for some reason while I was actively judging her I was also cheering for her. I wished her well even though she rubbed me the wrong way. I think it was just Rachel Griffiths plays a psycho bitch in many things I had seen before so I couldn't see past her other roles.
David could be way too melodramatic and Nate acted a bit too nonchalant but I guess that's why the worked so well together on screen.
The screwed up characters are the reason the show works though, everyone is flawed and some severely so. -
NinetyPercentGravity — 9 years ago(June 03, 2016 05:14 PM)
Funny you should mention Claire, because I consider her my favorite character. Now in terms of major characters that annoy me, I'd have to go with Rico or Keith.
And it's not even that they were necessarily annoying, as much as they were just poorly developed. The show never seemed interesting in fleshing out and complicating the two of them in the way that it explored the Fishers, or Brenda. While other characters were certainly more grating at times, I was able to appreciate their missteps as signs of simply being human and appreciated the nature of their flaws.
While Keith and Rico were not exempt from that type of sympathy, I personally did not feel it to the extent that I applied it to seemingly more difficult characters like Brenda or Ruth. I never got the impression that they were able to hold their own as individual characters, I often felt as though that their main purpose as characters was to accentuate and support the rest of the cast's storylines
For me it just comes down to being multifaceted and multilayered, and I always felt as though Keith and Rico were just afterthoughts, set dressings, and whatever individual plotlines they were given were just attempts to seemingly keep them involved in the story. I just never got the impression that anyone in that writers room was genuinely interested in developing those characters, and as a result I found it hard to appreciate them and their faults on a more internal level. -
asktheages — 9 years ago(June 04, 2016 11:49 PM)
I think Rico should have been fleshed out more, and his storylines are generally not that interesting. But with Keith I think it's more of a problem with the actor unfortunately, who is just very one-note we learn quite a bit about him I think (though we could know more), his anger and his relationship with his father and sister, etc. But the actor, while not bad, seemed to always be in the same "frustrated/angry" mode.
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ToastedCheese — 1 year ago(October 30, 2024 09:01 AM)
But the actor, while not bad, seemed to always be in the same "frustrated/angry" mode.
I'd say that is deliberate. Keith had an abusive father and it ****ed up his sister and while Keith tried to act as though he took it all on the chin and gave the excuse it was just his parents own generational conditioning, being gay as well as black made him feel tightly wound up. That's why I'd say he was drawn to David, who was more of a mediating presence in his life. David arced up when he had too and did it well.
Norman! What did you put in my tea? -
jpencil333 — 3 years ago(September 27, 2022 06:34 PM)
cant believe this is one of the only posts on this thread that mentions Ruth. She couldn't possibly be any worse. Just unbelievably annoying, naggy, needy, constantly in distress…etc. I'm surprised so many people say Nate and Keith, I think they're pretty normal and unproblematic characters lmao. I am only on episode 8 of season 4 but unless some drastic character development happens, its Ruth by a thousand miles. I feel that one major theme of the show is that everyone is/can be hateable at times and I definitely think thats true hahaha.
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cpoet — 9 years ago(June 04, 2016 07:31 AM)
Since I'm 15 years older than the last time I started watching this, you'd think I'd relate more to Ruth, but she is annoying the crap out of me. Ordinarily I appreciate women struggling to find agency and I can see they're trying to make her multi-level with the sexual exploring and search for personal validation, but what a self-involved whiner! When Nate's going in to have his brain surgery, she's nattering on about why didn't you tell ME, don't you love ME, I would have behaved differently to you all these months, I've been excluded and deprived, ME, ME, ME. It's hard to blame her children for sidelining her in their lives.
On the third day of the HBO binge, I've found all of them annoying at one point or anotherjust like real-life people, I suppose. Claire is a basic egocentric disaffected teenage girl, but someone will often slap her down for that snotty attitude, so that's okay.
I think I was largely sympathetic to Rico the first time around and now he seems like a macho jerk with a morally superior attitude. He's been most likable in his scenes with Nate Sr.
I'm much more tolerant of Brenda since I read in the Trivia section they might have cast Juliette Lewis in the role. That would have been difficult, for me.
Nathaniel Sr. seems like the only person you'd really want to be friends with. And I could be pretty happy out there with Kathy Bates and Patricia Clarkson at Topanga Canyon! -
hnt_dnl — 9 years ago(June 05, 2016 12:29 AM)
I guess they all could be annoying at times, but then I think that's the point. It would be fake if they were all 100% likable all the time. But the ones that stood out to me at times were:
Ruth-her snapping at people got a bit tiresome
Rico-self-righteous and hypocritical
Brenda-too needy -
the_zookeeper — 9 years ago(June 05, 2016 06:57 AM)
This thread intrigues me a great deal. Great topic, Mafila.
My answer is Brenda's parents, both of them. My reasoning is this:
There are many annoying characters, but every one that has annoying traits had traits that counterbalanced them. Claire, Ruth, Rico all of them loved fiercely and would sacrifice time and effort to help someone else if pushed.
But Brenda's parents were just bad people. They sacrificed the mental and emotional well-being of their own children for profit and recognition. They were complete narcissists, as their children were not really people in their eyes who deserved privacy and respect.
As a parent, these two annoyed me to a great end. Well, maybe Mafila, it wasn't annoyance, but actually unease. But either way, when I saw those two on the screen and saw how they ruined two intelligent and talented human beingstheir own kidsI got a bit sick inside.
I would tear the insides out of anyone who hurt my kids, and so their prostituting Brenda's brilliance seemed like a violation of a particularly nasty kind.
The gene pool could use a little chlorine -
IcySpoon — 9 years ago(June 05, 2016 05:07 PM)
Taylor was an annoying little girl but it was clear she was truly a product of her environment. Her mother was a selfish drug addict, who was rarely present for her, even using her daughters urine for weekly drug screenings. She was also in the middle of battling family members: mother, uncle and grandparents - ALL toxic people. She really never had a chance. But yes! She was horrible! The actress did a good job-it's not easy (especially for a kid) to portray someone so unlikeable. Her language-especially the homophobic comments were terrible!
"Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it." Norman Maclean -
daverindone — 9 years ago(June 16, 2016 04:33 AM)
Even that was a bit of stretch because anyone who has ever taken a urine test knows it's done under very secure environments. Seinfeld did it for laughs (Elaine using Jerry's Mom), but that was a comedy. I didn't mind Taylor because, like you said, she was brought up under very bad circumstances. She reminded me of all the urban kids I'd know in 4th grade as they were generally bratty, had no filter, but were fun to hang with and have on your side.
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writergal88 — 9 years ago(June 05, 2016 09:57 AM)
Nate is probably the worst. He is incredibly selfish and egotistical. His emotional outbursts are, in some ways, worse than Ruth's because whenever he has one he is usually blaming someone else for his problems. Brenda's analysis of him in the last few episodes is pretty spot on. Nate is constantly looking for someone to make him feel better about himself. And if the person can't, or simply stops, he leaves and moves on to the next. Shifting from one relationship or fling to the next, searching for happiness, but incapable of finding it because he is miserable. His frequent mood swings, condescending speeches, and self-indulgent nature are all off-putting.
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ToastedCheese — 1 year ago(October 30, 2024 09:04 AM)
Brenda has Nate down to a tee and Nate is a hypocrite. He thinks he's god gift, be he also understands others and connects with their pain. That is why I'd say he was attracted to Brenda.
Norman! What did you put in my tea?