Movies/TV shows with an unlikable protagonist

[winb83]

Terrible reach. I know you aren't dumb enough to use this as a serious example, so why do it?

First off, we were talking about people like Tony Soprano and Walter White. As a counter you bring up Fred Flintstone?

Again, you clearly aren't old enough to even remember these shows. I am.

People laughed at Archie Bunker. Because he was an oaf. His character was basically a clown.

And Fred Flintstone and Fred Sanford aren't even in the same ballpark character-wise as Archie, let alone Tony or Walt....so point are you trying to make here?

Fred.

Fred Flinstone was an a$$hole that would lie to his wife, would regularly neglect his marriage for bullshyt, was a lazy schemer that would sleep on the job and didn't really wanna do shyt, was very self centered and selfish. He's also constantly take advantage of his good-natured best friend and get him caught up in BS.

Archie bunker was a misogynist and a racist.

My point is there was a gradual slide to the modern day villain protagonist. There are characters that predate them that aren't necessarily textbook "good people" that fan bases loved. We didn't just wake up one day and go from all goody two-shoes protagonist to Tony Soprano. Back in the 80s sitcoms had protagonist that were kinda a$$holes that people still liked.

You're just moving the goal post. You claim said characters are unlikable because they're bad people. I argue those show's fan bases love those characters thus making the likable characters even if they are bad people. Then you go on some riff about you being much older than me and back in the day nobody liked characters that are bad people which is both completely irrelevant and I proved wrong by displaying earlier characters that were mean, grouchy, racist, or a$$holes that fan bases did like.

I'm not arguing with the point that those characters are bad people. My point is there are actual unlikable characters like Jar Jar Binks the entire fan base doesn't like and there are beloved characters like Walter White that the fan base likes even if they are bad people. The definition of an unlikable character is a character people can't like there are some unlikable characters that weren't intended to be hated and there are some beloved characters that were. The intentions behind the character have nothing to do with how the audience ends up receiving them.

 

[winb83]

Don is a piece of shyt but he's too swagged out to not like. I feel like the character has to be "unlikable" for the majority of the run...he can't just all of a sudden have a heel turn or become annoying. That shyt about Bella from Twilight is probably the most accurate description thus far...she was annoying from JUMP and was pretty much an after thought in regards to why people fukked with the series.

Bella is both a bad person and unlikable. The two traits are not mutually exclusive and even beyond that the author doesn't really intend for Bella to be hated she's just a vehicle for women to self insert themselves into a team Jacob vs team Edward flame war. She just became hated because she has no charm or redeemable traits as a character to save her.

For a character to be unlikable the fan base has to at least find them annoying.