30 Days of The West Wing: Day 18
Here is the meme in case anyone else would like to join in:
Day 1: Favorite Season
Day 2: Favorite Episode
Day 3: Favorite Song Used In An Episode
Day 4: Favorite Female Character
Day 5: Favorite Male Character
Day 6: Favorite Friendship
Day 7: Favorite Romance
Day 8: Least Favorite Female Character
Day 9: Least Favorite Male Character
Day 10: Least Favorite Season
Day 11: Least Favorite Romance
Day 12: Least Favorite Episode
Day 13: Favorite Bartlet that isn't the President
Day 14: Favorite Secret Service Agent
Day 15: Episode You Like That Others Hate
Day 16: Character You Relate To The Most
Day 17: Character Who Didn’t Get Enough Screen Time
Day 18: Character You Like That Others Hate
Day 19: Best President Bartlet-centric Episode
Day 20: Best Leo McGarry-centric Episode
Day 21: Best Toby Ziegler-centric Episode
Day 22: Best C.J. Gregg-centric Episode
Day 23: Best Joshua Lyman-centric Episode
Day 24: Most Harrowing Scene
Day 25: Favorite The West Wing Quote
Day 26: Two Characters You Wanted To Get Together That Never Did
Day 27: Cutest/Most Adorable Moment
Day 28: Character You Love To Hate
Day 29: Episode You Hate That Others Love
Day 30: What You Think Made TWW So Great
Day 18: Character You Like That Others Hate
Okay, this is an easier one. As you may have gathered from earlier days of this meme, I like Donna quite a lot. My partner really dislikes her, so that's one. I like Will, despite his flaws, but I know he's pretty generally dislikable. I like both Matt and Helen Santos, and I think they're often disliked too.
But there's only one character that I know is massively hated by many, that I adore...at least only one I can think of right now, and that's Amy Gardner. I feel like this follows the fact that lots of people dislike Mary-Louise Parker, as well. If you dislike her as an actress, you probably would be more likely to dislike her character. But either way, I love her character.
She is the precursor to Janeane Garafalo's character in later seasons, the character who exists outside the West Wing family and fights to pull them towards more liberal ideas instead of more moderate ones. That by necessity makes her annoying for them, and can make her seem obnoxiously stubborn. But realistically, those of us who want politicians to be more liberal need people exactly like Amy, who are willing to draw people's hate in the service of a good cause. She is a radical extremist, but she gets results that help people.
Additionally, she's strange, and a mix of confident and terrified in relationships. She (possibly because of the actress) seems to be hitting on not only Josh but also the First Lady and Donna at times. She eats ice cream in the winter while wearing a fluffy hat, and makes interpretive balloon animals. She's a pretty terrible girlfriend, no doubt about it...but otherwise very fun to watch.
A lot of the Amy hate comes from fierce Josh/Donna fans, but I love both ships so that's not a problem for me. Fic written by those people sees Amy as shrill, and personally cruel, and I never saw her as either of those things. She's definitely one of those "it's just business, it's not personal" people, and I can understand hating the way she treats Josh because he behaves differently than that with her, creating a he-gets-screwed dynamic...but I never saw evidence that she was shrewish.
Lots of Josh/Amy fic involves her callously breaking his heart within their relationship just because she doesn't care about him, and to me that's totally non-canon. Their problems were always about the blurring of the lines between their work and their lives. Beyond that, they were a bad fit because they both had major issues and their baggage wasn't compatible--but they did love each other. That was the root of why they kept coming back to each other despite their inability to work out their issues. The idea that she would just randomly tire of him and cheat or something makes no sense to me.
The idea that they love/hate each other also never made sense. It's a big leap, to me, from "I can't stand the way you disrespect my work" to "I may want to fuck you but I really can't stand you." Not at all the same. Their affection for each other never faded even when they were broken up; there was nothing distant and cold about them even when they were fighting.
I think that when you see this season 5 scene, it's impossible to not see the affection and connection that can't overcome their issues. That is possibly my favorite scene between them ever, by the way. I linked to it because it's in early season 5, which is difficult to watch, but it should never be overlooked because of that, cuz it is beautiful and strange. :) Like them.
And...an icon!
Thanks for reading. :)
See you tomorrow for Day 19!
Day 1: Favorite Season
Day 2: Favorite Episode
Day 3: Favorite Song Used In An Episode
Day 4: Favorite Female Character
Day 5: Favorite Male Character
Day 6: Favorite Friendship
Day 7: Favorite Romance
Day 8: Least Favorite Female Character
Day 9: Least Favorite Male Character
Day 10: Least Favorite Season
Day 11: Least Favorite Romance
Day 12: Least Favorite Episode
Day 13: Favorite Bartlet that isn't the President
Day 14: Favorite Secret Service Agent
Day 15: Episode You Like That Others Hate
Day 16: Character You Relate To The Most
Day 17: Character Who Didn’t Get Enough Screen Time
Day 18: Character You Like That Others Hate
Day 19: Best President Bartlet-centric Episode
Day 20: Best Leo McGarry-centric Episode
Day 21: Best Toby Ziegler-centric Episode
Day 22: Best C.J. Gregg-centric Episode
Day 23: Best Joshua Lyman-centric Episode
Day 24: Most Harrowing Scene
Day 25: Favorite The West Wing Quote
Day 26: Two Characters You Wanted To Get Together That Never Did
Day 27: Cutest/Most Adorable Moment
Day 28: Character You Love To Hate
Day 29: Episode You Hate That Others Love
Day 30: What You Think Made TWW So Great
Day 18: Character You Like That Others Hate
Okay, this is an easier one. As you may have gathered from earlier days of this meme, I like Donna quite a lot. My partner really dislikes her, so that's one. I like Will, despite his flaws, but I know he's pretty generally dislikable. I like both Matt and Helen Santos, and I think they're often disliked too.
But there's only one character that I know is massively hated by many, that I adore...at least only one I can think of right now, and that's Amy Gardner. I feel like this follows the fact that lots of people dislike Mary-Louise Parker, as well. If you dislike her as an actress, you probably would be more likely to dislike her character. But either way, I love her character.
She is the precursor to Janeane Garafalo's character in later seasons, the character who exists outside the West Wing family and fights to pull them towards more liberal ideas instead of more moderate ones. That by necessity makes her annoying for them, and can make her seem obnoxiously stubborn. But realistically, those of us who want politicians to be more liberal need people exactly like Amy, who are willing to draw people's hate in the service of a good cause. She is a radical extremist, but she gets results that help people.
Additionally, she's strange, and a mix of confident and terrified in relationships. She (possibly because of the actress) seems to be hitting on not only Josh but also the First Lady and Donna at times. She eats ice cream in the winter while wearing a fluffy hat, and makes interpretive balloon animals. She's a pretty terrible girlfriend, no doubt about it...but otherwise very fun to watch.
A lot of the Amy hate comes from fierce Josh/Donna fans, but I love both ships so that's not a problem for me. Fic written by those people sees Amy as shrill, and personally cruel, and I never saw her as either of those things. She's definitely one of those "it's just business, it's not personal" people, and I can understand hating the way she treats Josh because he behaves differently than that with her, creating a he-gets-screwed dynamic...but I never saw evidence that she was shrewish.
Lots of Josh/Amy fic involves her callously breaking his heart within their relationship just because she doesn't care about him, and to me that's totally non-canon. Their problems were always about the blurring of the lines between their work and their lives. Beyond that, they were a bad fit because they both had major issues and their baggage wasn't compatible--but they did love each other. That was the root of why they kept coming back to each other despite their inability to work out their issues. The idea that she would just randomly tire of him and cheat or something makes no sense to me.
The idea that they love/hate each other also never made sense. It's a big leap, to me, from "I can't stand the way you disrespect my work" to "I may want to fuck you but I really can't stand you." Not at all the same. Their affection for each other never faded even when they were broken up; there was nothing distant and cold about them even when they were fighting.
I think that when you see this season 5 scene, it's impossible to not see the affection and connection that can't overcome their issues. That is possibly my favorite scene between them ever, by the way. I linked to it because it's in early season 5, which is difficult to watch, but it should never be overlooked because of that, cuz it is beautiful and strange. :) Like them.
And...an icon!
Thanks for reading. :)
See you tomorrow for Day 19!