We see them in popular films all the time. They’re quirky, down-to-earth, relatable, and oh-so-innocent (well, sometimes they are). But even though we admire these female protagonists for their amazing personalities, the truth is, a lot of them suck at romantic relationships.
We know that it sounds harsh but, if you looked more closely at how they treated their love interests, you’d notice that they were either selfish and inconsiderate or simply apathetic (and some of those fictional boyfriends aren’t so great either). It’s tough to notice these things because the characters are often put on a pedestal. Or rather, they’re seen through the eyes of their partner, who will only see the good things about them and disregard their flaws. But as for us, we can totally see that these ladies are far from perfect (as are we).
See which popular female movie love interests are actually overrated:
17. Sam Baker in 16 Candles
It’s a bummer that her family forgets her birthday. But still, it’s no reason for her to be bitter and rude to the guy who has feelings for her. She’s kind of whiney, and is it just me or is setting your eyes on the popular guy in school super shallow? Like, why is someone that important to you when you hardly know him at all? When she worries that he won’t feel the same way, she acts like it’s the end of the world and that it’s impossible for her to be happy. Um, drastic much?
16. Bridget Jones in Bridget Jones’ Diary
She’s relatable and she makes us laugh, but deep down, we feel like she’s a really horrible person. She’s so paranoid and self-absorbed, and she can be overly critical about the smallest things, like how Mark folds his boxers. Her obsession with getting married and living happily ever after put so much unnecessary pressure on Mark. And the fact that she split up with him and turned to his old nemesis, Daniel, is just cruel.
15. Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games
Katniss is awesome. She had great leadership skills and her bravery and grit were so inspiring throughout the series. But still, she wasn’t the best girlfriend. It’s quite clear from the beginning that she didn’t have much of an interest in Peeta. But after having to pretend to be in love with him for so long, those feelings did become genuine. What breaks our hearts, though, is the fact that Peeta’s love for her always seemed to outweigh what she felt for him. So in a sense, it feels like Katniss just settled to make him happy.
14. Andy in The Devil Wears Prada
We won’t lie – Andy’s boyfriend was the worst. Way, way, way worse than she could ever be. But Andy was no saint either. She applied for a competitive, fast-paced job that she was in no way qualified for and worked in an industry that she wasn’t passionate about. Then, when she wasn’t at work, she spent ninety percent of her time venting to her boyfriend about how stressful and awful it was. It made no sense, but perhaps Nate deserved it anyway because he was an inconsiderate jerk.
13. Evelyn Johnson in Pearl Harbor
Evelyn is such a likable and sweet person, but the way that she reacted to her boyfriend’s apparent “death” in the war was just wrong. She moved on in the worst possible way – by sleeping with the guy’s best friend and even having his baby. So of course, things got super awkward when she realized that her boyfriend was really alive. The whole thing was just sketchy and it makes us really question her character.
12. Juno in Juno
We absolutely love Juno. She’s a sarcastic, charismatic, and rebellious tomboy who couldn’t care less about what people think of her. But when it comes to her relationship with her best friend, Paulie (who’s also the father of her child), she’s just awful. Paulie was so patient and he stuck by Juno like a lovesick puppy, but she always brushed him off. She took his attention for granted, assuming that he would always wait around for her. But it wasn’t until he started pursuing another girl that she totally lost it and revealed how she really felt.
11. Summer in 500 Days of Summer
We should start by saying that both Summer and Tom were at fault here. A lot of the blame lies on Tom for expecting Summer to live up to his unrealistic expectations, and some of it also lies on Summer for continuing to lead him on, even though she knew that he’d fallen hard for her and she couldn’t reciprocate. We get that she only wanted to be happy with him and have fun for a while, but it felt like she was encouraging his obsession with her by playing around with his feelings. And that’s just not cool.
10. Julianne in My Best Friend’s Wedding
We’re made to feel sorry for her because the man she’s in love with is about to marry someone else. And we totally get that this is a painful thing to go through. However, she’s whiny, selfish, and extremely inconsiderate because she tried to sabotage her friend’s wedding. A decent person would’ve just approached their friend and told them how they really felt – without trying to make things worse or coerce the person into choosing them. Rather than thinking about what would make her friend happy, Julianne only focused on herself and what would satisfy her.
9. Vivian in Pretty Woman
It’s so easy to like Vivian, but her development throughout the film is basically every feminist’s nightmare. She relied on a man and his riches to save the day, or rather, to help her become more than just a prostitute – and that’s kind of disturbing. It’s almost like watching a real-life Disney princess movie, where the damsel in distress only finds happiness with her prince charming.
8. Bianca in 10 Things I Hate About You
Bianca was not looking out for her sister when she convinced Cameron to find someone who would date her. She only did it because of her father’s new rule, which was that she wouldn’t be allowed to date until Kat did. And on top of that, she used Cameron to do her bidding and let him think she was interested in him for her personal benefit, knowing full well that she was actually interested in dating Joey. It wasn’t until she realized how shallow he was that she developed an interest in Cameron. SMH.
7. Andie in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
We know that both Benjamin and Andie were far from innocent, because their reasons for pursuing each other were just insane (Ben made a bet that he could make a girl fall for him in 10 days, while Andie was doing a little experiment on how to lose a guy in 10 days). However, Ben was the one who had to put up with most of the drama because Andie was pretty determined to drive him away. We’d say that Ben deserved it because his intentions weren’t good to begin with, but here’s our issue with Andie: she was never aware of Ben’s intentions. She was actually willing to make a man fall for her and then drive him crazy, all for a story. Isn’t that insane??
6. Anna Foster in Chasing Liberty
Okay for those of you who don’t remember this 2004 Mandy Moore classic, it’s basically the story about a U.S. President’s daughter who sneaks away during their trip to Europe to have an adventure of her own. And we totally get that it must be really difficult to be under the constant watchful eye of the Secret Service. HOWEVER, it seems a little more than naive to think that as a young woman who’s the very public relative of one of the most important political figures in the world, having security guards with you at all times is anything less than necessary. Not only that, but she puts motorcycle-riding Brit Ben in quite the sticky legal situation more than once. Quite frankly, Anna’s got some growing up to do — and her selfishness and self-importance when it comes to Ben is cringe-worthy to watch.
5. Jenny in Forrest Gump
Through Forrest Gump’s eyes, Jenny is an angel who can do no wrong. And since the entire film is told from his point of view, we’re made to see her that way too. But it’s hard to ignore the fact that she’s actually selfish, manipulative, and basically heartless. She continued to string the poor guy along and left him hanging whenever she felt like it. And worst of all, she kept their child a secret until she was about to die. Jenny is the definition of cruel.
4. Cher in Clueless
Remember how she tried to seduce Christian and even attempted to get him to sleep with her? She was, ironically, clueless about his homosexuality because she was way too self-absorbed to notice it. Had it not been for her friend telling her that he’s gay, the guy probably would’ve had to endure more sexual advances and uncomfortable flirting until he was forced to fess up.
Plus, she totally sees other humans as her playthings and while she might have relatively innocent intentions, it’s pretty scary how she treats real-life people like dolls.
3. Bella Swan from Twilight
Bella is one of the dullest, most shallow female characters we have ever encountered and we still don’t know what Edward or Jacob see in her. Initially, Edward was intrigued that he couldn’t read her thoughts, but then he developed an unhealthy obsession with this girl who has less personality than a blank sheet of paper. Edward was the one who continually pursued her, stalked her, and protected her until she eventually developed feelings for him too — which is totally gross on his part. But even then, it always seemed like Edward was doing most of the work. Their whole relationship just spells dysfunctional, if you ask us, but Bella totally reveled in the uncertainty.
2. Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries
We know, we know. Mia is just so dorky and relatable and funny… but actually, she’s not that great. There was Michael, the sweetest and most genuine guy who, as she said herself, “saw her when she was invisible.” But in spite of that, she totally ignored him and went after Josh, the shallow jerk who never really liked her in the first place. Sure, she sent Michael a sorry looking apology pizza and ended up choosing him the end, but that was only after she got rejected by Josh and humiliated in front of everyone. Had he continued to put on a show and date Mia, we’re not sure if she would’ve given Michael a real chance.
1. Daisy in The Great Gatsby
Daisy was the apple of Gatsby’s eye and she seemed like an awesome love interest at first. Despite her ignorance, she was gorgeous, sweet, and always cheerful. But it turned out that she never truly loved Gatsby and was only interested in his riches. Such a shame…