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21 Of The “Worst Movie Characters We’re Supposed To Sympathize With,” According To Movie Lovers

Recently in a viral thread, redditor u/LuinAelin asked, “Who’s the worst main character we’re supposed to sympathize with?” and movie lovers really came through with some great responses!

So, with that in mind, here are just a few of the most popular responses shared:

1. Grandpa Joe from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)

Paramount Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection

“That lazy prick stayed glued to the bed until his grandson got the golden ticket. Meanwhile, Charlie’s mom is working her tail off supporting the entire family. It was intended to be a wholesome, feel-good moment because poor grandpa finally worked up the energy to get up and spend some time with his grandson on a free trip, but instead it’s irritating.”

—u/DolliMiu

2. Ariel from The Little Mermaid (1989)

(c)Buena Vista Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection

“Listen to your dad, you obstinate little twerp!”

—u/disillusionedXennial

3. Evan Hansen from Dear Evan Hansen (2021)

© Universal Pictures /Courtesy Everett Collection

“He’s a legit monster.”

—u/EricUdy

4. Mark from Rent (2005)

Columbia Pictures / ©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

“I love Rent, but as I get older, the more ridiculous it gets. Mark is a rich kid who has parents that love him, but he runs off to cosplay as someone who is poor to make ‘films’ which are really just him pointing his camera at poor people all day. He doesn’t think he should have to pay rent to Benny because they were friends, and he let them stay for free for a long time, and he thinks that should just last forever? Then, he finally gets a job, but quits, because it was ‘selling out.’ Ugh.”

—u/unibrow4o9

5. Noah from The Notebook (2004)

(c) New Line / courtesy Everett Collection

“That dude: ‘If you don’t go on a date with me, I’ll kill myself!'”

—u/slinger301

6. Cade Yeager from the Transformers franchise

Andrew Cooper/©Paramount Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

“Was Sam a good main character? No. Not at all. But damn, Cade is horrible. In his first, let’s say, 10 minutes on-screen, we learn that he doesn’t pay for his house or his electricity, he doesn’t pay his employee, he is a shit inventor, he’s overly protective of his daughter, and he’s all-around an ass. And he only gets worse.”

—u/RangerPeterF

7. Sierra Burgess from Sierra Burgess Is a Loser (2018)

Aaron Epstein. ©Netflix / courtesy Everett Collection.

“She was a dick.”

—u/Budget-Answer-149

8. All of the nerds from Revenge of the Nerds (1984)

© 20th Century Fox Film Corp. All rights reserved. Courtesy: Everett Collection.

“Yeah, that movie didn’t age well at all.”

—u/IOnlyPostDumb

9. Joel Goodsen from Risky Business (1983)

© WarnerBrothers/ Courtesy Everett Collection

“There’s setup in the beginning that he’s in some business class where they’re supposed to come up with some business idea. Then, his parents go away for the weekend. Cue that famous scene. Tom Cruise, the protagonist and high school student, orders a sex worker. The sex worker turns out to be a man. But that sex worker gives him another number to call, and he finally gets a girl, and they bang. Something happens where Cruise now needs money. He and the sex worker he’s ‘befriended’ decide to start a brothel in his parents’ house. A brothel that caters exclusively to Cruise’s high school friends. They make the money they need and then some. His parents come home none the wiser. We end with Tom Cruise back in the business class failing the assignment because he was busy doing the whole child brothel thing, but it ends with a voiceover where he’s proudly saying how much money he made. Turns out he actually was a businessman!”

—u/MurderDoneRight

10. Jim Preston from Passengers (2016)

Jaimie Trueblood. ©Columbia Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection

“Out of pure selfishness, this dude decides to ruin the bright future of a girl so that she has no other option than to live with him. She’ll never accomplish the great projects she had, she’ll never see any of her loved ones again, she’ll never be able to even talk to another human being besides him, and she will live in this prison for the rest of her days. While the movie hints at the fact that he’s a selfish asshole, it’s largely overbalanced by the idea that ‘a man’s gotta do what he’s gotta do to pursue [his own] happiness.'”

—u/hoaxymore 

11. Ferris Bueller from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)

(c) Paramount / courtesy Everett Collection

“I think a lot of people will disagree, but he dragged his friend Cameron around and made him do a bunch of stuff that Cameron didn’t want to do while he was sick. The first time I watched the movie, I just spent the entire time feeling bad for Cameron.”

—u/_DirtHour_

12. Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader from the Star Wars franchise

Lucasfilm Ltd. / ©Lucasfilm Ltd./Courtesy Everett Collection

“He slaughters millions of people, but then chose to not kill his son, and suddenly, that’s okay, and he was a good guy and gets into Jedi Heaven. That’s pretty bad.”

—u/Jacket-Okay

13. Severus Snape from the Harry Potter franchise

©Warner Bros. Ent. All rights reserved./Courtesy Everett Collection

“He was essentially a neo-nazi incel who wanted a girl to love him despite running with wizarding Hitler who wanted to commit a holocaust on her kind. When he learned that her son was targeted, he begged for her life alone, not her child or husband whom he wished dead anyway. Then, he bullied her son for seven years and the other child whom he indirectly orphaned and literally every non-Slytherin kid for close to two decades — but all should be forgotten because he said ‘ALWAYS!'”

—u/mrtipbull

14. Albus Dumbledore from the Harry Potter franchise

Murray Close/©Warner Bros./Courtesy Everett Collection

“Dumbledore is the worst for me, because he’s meant to be perceived as just good; there isn’t supposed to be nuance or complexity to his character, but he quite literally raised Harry just to die. Snape begged him to hide James and Lily, they were killed, he abandoned Harry during Order of the Phoenix, he knew about the prophecy and that Harry and Voldemort were connected and took years to tell him. And he also knew Draco was coming to kill him, and let Harry stay and watch. All around, horrible man.”

—u/Connect_Law_5594

15. Wanda Maximoff from the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Jay Maidment /© Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / © Marvel Studios / Courtesy Everett Collection

“This woman was straight-up torturing an entire town just because her boyfriend died. Then, when she eventually realizes that was awful, like six months later, she goes on a multiversal murder spree.”

—u/thejakewhomakes

16. Andy Sachs from The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

© 20th Century Fox Film Corp. All rights reserved, Courtesy: Everett Collection

“She is ungrateful, arrogant, and oblivious. Yet we’re supposed to feel sympathy for her because Miranda is doing her job.”

—u/SleepyLabrador

17. Lightning McQueen from Cars (2006)

(c) Walt Disney / courtesy Everett Collection

“He’s just an absolutely entitled dick. He gets better by the end of the movie, but he reverts back to that rude entitled personality in every subsequent movie.”

—u/real_mygiveup

18. Kevin McCallister from Home Alone (1990)

(c) 20th Century Fox Film Corp. All rights reserved, Courtesy: Everett Collection.

“Hot take, but Kevin could have called the police on the criminals and put up some safe anti-robbery devices to stall Harry and Marv instead of making death traps for them. I think he took home security way too far.”

—u/Alarmed_Koala_1558

19. Joker from Joker (2019)

Niko Tavernise / © Warner Bros. / courtesy Everett Collection

“Fucking Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker. It’s like we’re being forced to celebrate a murderous incel.”

—u/Nyktophilias

20. Bruce Wayne/Batman from the DC Cinematic Universe

© Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection

“Yes, he’s a hero, and he saves lives every day, but he’s also a mentally broken, violent criminal himself. He has the resources to create things like Brother Eye, and train people to become amazing crime fighters in a matter of a year or two. He could invest in private security, start a program to vet and train police officers, support the good politicians, or help the poor, creating a much smaller need for most of them to be criminals to begin with. I do enjoy Batman media, but he’s one fucked up dude.”

—u/dominion1080

And finally:

21. Almost any father from almost any family comedy

© Buena Vista / courtesy Everett Collection

“Scott Calvin from The Santa Clause, Howard Langston from Jingle All the Way, Clark Griswold from the Vacation movies, Fletcher Reede from Liar Liar, Daniel Hillard from Mrs. Doubtfire…they all suck complete ass as fathers, try to make up for years of neglectful behavior to their kids/wife with some kind of half-baked grand gestures, and only ever become halfway decent because of wild circumstances up to and including actual magic! I HATE the way most movie dads are portrayed and often end up celebrated and forgiven by everyone in the end. To top off the shitty portrayal, often (not always), when there’s the ‘other guy’ in these types of movies, they can be pretty rational, stable, and decent father figures but are portrayed as lame and uncool wannabes who get vilified for being down to earth as opposed to the wacky and unpredictable dads.”

—u/RainyDayBirbs

All right, you’ve read their picks, but now it’s your turn! Which ones did they miss? In your humble opinion, who’s the worst character we’re asked to sympathize with in a movie? Share in the comments below!

Some responses were edited for length and/or clarity. H/T: Reddit.