liliaeth | Bit baffled

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dexter

Bit baffled

I seem to be a bit confused.

Yes, I get that not everyone likes the same characters. Yes I get that I have a habit of liking characters not everyone else does, and that I hate char bashing on a general rule.

In fact, there's very few characters that I genuinely can't stand.

I mean, I know it's not always logical, my utter despise of Alyson Hannigan's acting is probably a huge part of that. but...

Can someone please explain to me, how anyone could ever hate Rita from Dexter?

She wasn't annoying, she was caring, smart, decent, loving. She dared to stand up for herself. She was sweet, but never cutesy and was playd by a damn fine actress.

So please tell me, how could anyone ever think she was annoying? I just don't get it.

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I fall into the category of one of the few, it seems, who actually likes Rita. Still, I know why people don't like her. For example, the fact that she makes Dexter seem more human with her expectation of him is (most times), something I like. I get that this very same characteristic bothers people. They feel that Rita is a hindrance, to Dexter's true nature. It makes sense, so I don't really sweat the fact that people don't like her. If I watched Dexter on a certain day, the way I see her could be totally different from the way I see her now.

Thing is, if Dexter was more like his true nature, then I wouldn't give a damn about Dexter. The whole reason I care about him, is because he's trying to be a better person than his true nature. It's the very conflict between the man he would like to be, that Rita makes him want to be, and the darkness inside of him, that makes him interesting.

Hmm, that's probably where we differ; I actually like Dexter more when he's a killer without remorse. That probably says something about me... 0_0

I don't generally go for bad guys. Bad guys trying to be better, yes, pure simple bad guys... I tend to find them rather boring.

And I didn't mean literally scary. :)

They feel that Rita is a hindrance, to Dexter's true nature

I don't even watch the show (know about it but don't watch it) and I find that a tad... scary.

I mean, I know fandom and so I can see how people come by that view, but another corner of my brain just says "but the 'true' part of him is a sociopathic serial killer! The desire is that he embrace his inner sociopath? ::rueful smile:: Only in fandom..."

My point exactly. If Dexter accepts his true nature, then he becomes 'just another killer'. And there's only so much stories you can tell about a guy killing people.

Again, I don't watch the show, but I would suspect that the sister(?) and the kids(?) still work in this regard, because from a writing stand-point, I think there would have to be some inner conflict.

Exactly, but then you still get the conflict and Dexter fighting his true nature. I loved Rita, but he didn't need her specifically. He just needs someone to keep him from truly embracing his true nature.

Ha! I guess this makes me a little odd because I like Dexter more when he's being a sociopathic serial killer. I actually liked Dexter a little less this season, but Rita more, which doesn't make sense because she's probably more the reason I didn't enjoy the changes in Dexter. 0_0

But under this theory, they should hate Harry, too. Harry certainly tried to hinder Dexter, stopping him from killing an annoying classmate and setting up rules that make it hard for him to kill. If anything, I feel bad for Rita because she's the ultimate deceived woman.

I know. I was using this as an example of why I, myself, could easily not like Rita. There's are other reasons that people might not like Rita, I'm sure.

I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that she's a woman. I've noticed that on a lot of shows, female characters are hated, simply for being allowed to have a meaning to the male characters. To a lot of viewers, esp. female ones, it seems that they can't tolerate it when female characters have an emotional importance to the story and the characters in specific. It's a very annoying form of misogyny which tends to annoy me a lot in fandom. Just look at the hatred against Jo or Ruby in SPN fandom.

I guess I should be happy I haven't yet run into any Deb hatred yet, but then again, that's probably just a matter of time.

I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that she's a woman. I've noticed that on a lot of shows... in SPN fandom.

My thoughts, exactly! I was actually kind of hesitant to "go there," but this is honestly what it seems like for the most part. I've actually had the "You only hate her because she's a woman!" argument thrown at me (indirectly because I don't talk about characters I dislike) because I didn't care for New!Ruby. I actually had a bit of a reverse wank rant over that. -_- Still, Rita is such an awesome character, so I can't explain away all the hatred for her.

I'm surprised there I haven't run into any Deb hatred, too.

I actually do prefer the first Ruby over the second one. She was snarkier for one thing*g*

I don't mind people disliking female characters for specific reasons like say not liking the actors. Anyone who knows me, knows I despise Willow for the specific reason that I think Allyson Hannigan can't act her way out of a paper bag and that her cutesiness annoys the hell out of me, whenever she's onscreen. That and her voice feels like nails on chalkboard to me.

The problem comes when people hate female characters for reasons that would make them love the chars, if they were male.

Now you might have noticed I'm a bit of a Spike fan, and the more I saw of Ruby, the more she reminded me of how Spike was portrayed. With that difference that Spike's path to redemption was real, where as Ruby's was just a fake out to manipulate Sam. Partly because the Buffyverse, despite Joss, is much more hopeful than the SPN verse, and partly because Spike became a lot more popular than Ruby was.

The reason for this, to me, seems to be because Ruby's female. Things that people can forgive or even love in male characters, seem to be seen as capital sins in male ones.

Now don't get me wrong, I love Cas, but I still prefer Katie's Ruby over Mischa's Castiel (esp. the s4 version), yet look at which one gets all the popularity...

Now don't get me wrong, I love Cas, but I still prefer Katie's Ruby over Mischa's Castiel (esp. the s4 version), yet look at which one gets all the popularity...

That's so true. I love Castiel, but I liked him a lot more when he wasn't around all the time. I liked Katie's Ruby 100%.

I liked her just fine until that whole engagement ring escapade. I forgave her but it wasn't easy...

RITA: "No, Dexy, I don't want an engagement ring, you can't afford it."

DEXTER: "Sweet, we'll spend the cash on something remotely useful then."

RITA: *sulk pout brood*

DEB: "Buy her a useless expensive ring, fool, even though she explicitly asked you not to."

DEXTER: *gives Rita useless expensive ring*

RITA: "Oh thank you, Dexter, for buying me a useless expensive thing I explicitly asked you not to!"

DEXTER: *admirably refrains from stabbing her*

Okay, I have to admit that was annoying. As much as I normally like Rita, I did roll my eyes at that one. Normally Rita was a much more direct woman... which is what I always liked about her.

I just blame that one on her being pregnant, she was dealing with hormones.

there seems to be a faction of every fandom that chooses to hate whatever female character is romantically involved with whatever male character they fangirl over -- maybe out of jealousy? maybe because "no one could ever be good enough for ____________"? I'm not sure what deep-seated emotional issues result in this phenomenon, but i've seen it in just about every fandom i've been in

i agree with you about rita, and this is the only explanation i can think of for it :(

I have no idea. Thing is, I like Dexter, because it's one of the few shows with more than one strong woman, where you can actually expect two female characters to have a meaningful conversation or two, three... that does not involve the men they're dating.

She failed to cater to woobie!Dexter's every whim, of course. /sarcasm

Exactly, I've heard her called manipulative, I mean seriously, if anyone is manipulative it's Dexter.

Rita just asks Dex what any woman would want of the man she married. Some honesty, some respect, being a partner, sharing the responsibilities. She doesn't ask for anything out of the ordinary.

In fact, she's a lot more supportive and tollerant than most women would ever be.

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