So this week's Top Ten Tuesday topic from The Broke and the Bookish = Best. Topic. Ever. I (Meagan) get to list the Top Ten Mean Girls I've come across in my reading and that I'd just love to punch in the face. Sweet!Let me explain: I'm coming off a brutal two straight weeks on the road for work and have been averaging about 5 hours of sleep a night. What I'd really like is to be put a medically induced coma until I recover, but a good second-best option for relieving stress is griping about people I seriously dislike. And if these people are fictional, so much the better--then there's no need for guilt (:
You may recognize a few characters on this list from one of my previous posts but I'll try and come up with some new characters I love to hate.
1. Hattie - Okay, I'm going to go on a tangent right at the get-go and rant a little bit about the movie version of Ella Enchanted. I LOVED the book and was excited to see it translated to film. But when I went to see the film I was SO angry. I doubt a single person on that project actually read the book. If I had the money a remake of this movie would be high on the list of projects I'd tackle. ANYWAY, in Ella Enchanted the novel, Hattie is the oldest, ugliest, and evilest of Ella's two step sisters and her cruelty literally makes my skin crawl. If I could I'd punch her face AND steal her wig.
2. Darcy Rhone - Something Borrowed was Emily Giffin's first and, in my opinion, best book and is also about to make its debut as a film. In the novel, Darcy is a perfect example of that privileged girl we love to hate. She's the lethal combination of a girl who thinks she's all that and actually does have it all. But she doesn't stop there, she has to have everyone else's all as well. Her selfishness and shallowness are impressive and I'd like nothing better than to knock her down a few pegs.
3. Sarah Reed - Is anyone else seeing a pattern here? Maybe books with truly awful characters are just as much of a draw as intriguing protagonists. Jane Eyre also made another appearance on the big screen with Sally Hawkins making a surprising appearance as this most awful of aunts. I still can't get over the fact that she called Jane to her deathbed just to make sure Jane realized just how much she was hated. What a piece of work!
4. Elizabeth Gilbert - Okay, so Elizabeth represents more of a type that bothers me than how I feel about her character specifically. But whiny women who don't really have anything to whine about drive me crazy. Oh, I'm so rich I can afford to give up all my belongings and live abroad for years my life is so hard. Oh, I'm so gorgeous than men everywhere fall at my feet but nobody can give me what I need. Oh, I'm all about asserting my independence but I'm not complete unless I have a man. Whine. Whine Whine. I may punch her, but only after duct-taping her obnoxious mouth shut (:
5. Scarlett O'Hara - I know, I know. She's an iconic character and everybody loves her. Everybody except me. I didn't like Scarlett from the beginning, but she became irredeemably unlikable when she stole her sister's beau, married him, and then wasn't even sorry when he was killed. I know many (if not most) of you disagree with me on this, but frankly, my dears.... (:
6. Ruth - I know I talk about Never Let Me Go but this is another list where it fits perfectly. Ruth's selfish actions in knowingly keeping Tommy and Kathy apart just so she wouldn't be alone are awful in themselves, but when you add that tragic circumstances of their doomed love and lives their separation seems almost too much to bear. None of the characters deserve their endings, but Ruth more than the others deserves some sort of punishment for her selfishness.
7. Hilly Holbrook - Hilly is a masterful representation of everything that was truly wrong with the South in the '60s. Brutal forces like the KKK were (and unfortunately still are) truly awful institutions but I believe a deeper insidiousness came from the attitudes of the women. Because it was from these women that children learned to judge and hate. Hilly is a small-minded, manipulative bigot who is dangerous because she is socially revered. I literally clapped my hands when I discovered the comeuppance she was handed for her unforgivable attitude.
8. Bella Swan - Sorry, but can't have a hater list without mentioning our favorite obnoxious, shallow, irrelevant heroine.
9. Rebeckah Emerson - Familial betrayal is awful, but most especially in wartime. You may have your differences, but if your actions willfully cause harm to your family, then I have no sympathy at all for your welfare. During the Revolutionary War, Tory Rebeckah goes beyond believing she is right to personally attacking her sister Jemima, and deliberately tries to shame and guilt her. What a gem, right? Some Tories had viable reasons for their support of the British Crown, but she sure doesn't do anything for their image.
10. Dolores Umbridge - It seems like no list is complete without a reference to Harry Potter, and I think she represents the worst of the worst. Never mind you know who's desire to kill Harry, Dolores just wanted to hurt him. And she did it in the most sadistic way possible. Carving his skin with a pen? Really? Somehow I don't think a punch to the face would quite be enough...
