Film and television isn’t a stranger to complicated female characters. We’ve seen hit after hit involving complicated female characters, but the public seems intent on demonizing them. Or, in other cases, pretending as if these women don’t exist.
Some Examples of Complex Female Characters
This article would be disingenuous if I didn’t mention the poster child of female demonization — Skyler White. In the critically acclaimed show Breaking Bad, Skyler — played by Anna Gunn — is the wife of Bryan Cranston’s Walter White. Following his cancer diagnosis and subsequent downfall into drug production and trafficking, Skyler becomes an unwilling accomplice to her husband’s drug empire. She’s a housewife with two kids, one disabled and one incredibly young, and she struggles with adjusting to the man she once loved becoming a drug lord.
Put any woman in her shoes, that’s a hellish environment to live through. So why do people hate her so much?
She’s annoying because she rightfully criticizes Walter’s foray into the seedy drug ring of Albuquerque? She’s annoying because she’s a hypocrite — like most of the human population — and therefore, is unredeemable? She’s annoying because she challenges the misogynistic overtones of Walter’s view on everything around him. Breaking Bad is from Walter’s perspective. If he’s a woman-hating rapist bum husband — which he is — then he’s going to hate the one woman that’s seen him at his best and worst. That’s why she’s depicted as a nuisance to Walter. But that’s not all she is.
Let’s pivot to a more recent example. Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers premiered in April of 2025. It centers on the messy, volatile relationship between three tennis players — Mike Faist’s Art Donaldson, Josh O’Connor’s Patrick Zweig, and Zendaya’s Tashi Duncan. The movie is about the three of them together, but scores of viewers chose to focus on the relationship between Art and Patrick — completely excluding the lynchpin to their romance, Tashi.
The only reason Art and Patrick confront their unspoken tension is because of Tashi. The only reason Art does so well in tennis is because of Tashi. The only reason Patrick and Art somewhat reconcile at the end of the movie is because of Tashi.
Tashi is a tennis prodigy whose dream was forcibly taken away via injury. To her, Art and Patrick are living the life that was stolen from her by their messiness in college. It is not out of this world to be furious at those men for as long as she was. The popular phrase, Art loved Tashi, Patrick loved Art, and Tashi loved tennis was fundamentally untrue. All three of them loved tennis and Tashi clearly loved the two of them — that’s how the plot of the movie came to be. That phrasing only serves to discount complicated female characters and further the misogyny — really, misogynoir — that branded the audience reception of Challengers.
Why Does This Matter?
Women in media aren’t allowed to be flawed humans like their male counterparts. Skyler White isn’t allowed to be understandably upset as her husband puts their family in danger. Tashi Duncan isn’t allowed to be resentful for a life-changing injury that she feels was not her fault. Neither of the characters are allowed to feel anything lest they be vilified or erased completely from their own narrative.
This leeches into regular, everyday human interaction as well. Historically, women were to be seen and not heard. As people engage with complex female characters — and react to them like this — that historical attitude is placed onto the character. It then demolishes decades of feminism that has fought for women to express their emotions and flaws.
I’ll pose it like this: if a real-world woman went to a fan who vilified female characters like this, would they be awarded the same amount of empathy as a fictional male character?
Walter White is allowed to be complex, flawed, and emotionally volatile. He’s allowed to beat up kids mocking his disabled son because he was justified to do so. There is a justification attached to his actions — he can cook meth and pocket inordinate amounts of cash for his family because he has cancer, it’s justified! On platforms like Reddit, fan forums, and other fandom spaces, fans often criticize Skyler; she’s branded a hypocrite. Skyler can’t be angry with her husband for cooking drugs and use the money from it. It doesn’t matter that she’s trying to keep their family together. It’s hypocritical and she’s an annoying, nagging, bitch-wife.
On the fandom side of TikTok, Challengers fans criticized Tashi the most out of the three main characters. She was branded as someone who didn’t deserve the male leads because of her actions and personality. Tashi was someone who got between the love story of Art and Patrick, not someone involved in the same story. Art is allowed to torpedo a relationship that isn’t his because he’s jealous. Patrick is allowed to follow an old flame and an ex-best friend to various tournaments because he misses them. It’s all justified. Tashi, however, can’t be angry that an argument stoked by those two men threw her off her game and caused her to never play tennis again. It doesn’t matter that she’s been relegated to a coaching position and has to be solely known as Art’s wife. She’s just holding a grudge and she’s a demeaning, resentful, bitch-wife.
What’s Wrong With the Bitch-Wife or the Ol’ Ball and Chain?
The ramifications from this outpouring negativity have real-world consequences.
Actresses who play these characters are dragged through the mud online with many of them fearing for their lives. Men use these characters as a way to demean women or future partners of theirs. No piece of media is untouched by the demonization of complex women. Famously, The Last of Us 2 got hit with a double-whammy in the hatred of the main protagonists Ellie and Abby. It’s heavily prevalent in anime, even objectively superficial characters like Sakura from the Naruto series are turned into a warning for women. Be more like the submissive and soft-spoken homemaker, don’t be like this opinionated, headstrong woman; it’s more desirable.
The refusal to engage thoughtfully with complex female characters reinforces negative portrayals and expectations of women. When people — who otherwise support women in their everyday life — regurgitate this misogynistic thinking, they’re spreading this harmful rhetoric until it’s, truly, everyone else’s problem.
Enjoy complex female characters more, embrace flawed women.