The fabric of pop culture is consistently in flux. The plotlines and characters of television shows take on new meanings as time passes, which can be attributed to increased social and media literacy, as well as audiences getting older and wiser. Consequently, the female characters of several contemporary shows have regained favor with audiences.
Shows like The Office and Friends had large ensemble casts, and there were a few characters that fans had universally hated for years. In retrospect, they only got so much dislike because they unwittingly interfered with a popular romantic ship or just because the main characters of the series demonized them. Upon closer inspection, these female television characters did nothing wrong and didn't deserve the hate.
10 Martha Jones (Doctor Who)
Billie Piper's Rose Tyler was the first companion of the rebooted Doctor Who and a beloved character. Her romance with the Doctor was the beating heart of the initial few seasons, which was why her exit from the show broke plenty of fan hearts. Rose was followed by Martha Jones, a new companion who was powerful and fun but highly disliked.
Martha fell in love with the Doctor, but he did not requite her feelings. Despite this, she remained a faithful and capable companion who helped him out of several binds as they traveled through space and time in the TARDIS. Audiences hated Martha because they missed Rose Tyler and didn't like seeing a new potential love interest for the Doctor.
9 Karen Fillipelli (The Office)
Jim and Pam remain an iconic sitcom couple to date, but there was a time when Jim dated Karen Fillipelli in The Office. Since fans were highly invested in the slow-burn relationship between Jim and Pam, Karen's presence irritated them. Karen was actually a highly supportive and understanding girlfriend to Jim, and he treated her unfairly in the end.
Even Pam tries to be friendly to Karen, except for when she walks on coals in Season 3, Episode 23, "Beach Games," and humiliates her by professing her love for Jim in front of other Dunder Mifflinites. Clearly, Jim and Pam had been inconsiderate of Karen, but viewers ultimately hated on her just because she wasn't Pam.
8 Sansa Stark (Game of Thrones)
A Game of Thrones character who faced the wrath of fans was Sansa Stark, and most of it was unwarranted. She was held to an unfairly high standard that her male counterparts weren't in the fantasy show. As a young girl, she made the mistake of trusting Joffrey and Cersei, which was purely because she was inexperienced and didn't know better.
Fans held her early decisions against her, even when she faced the consequences of her choices. Sansa was incredibly resilient, and it was not easy surviving the assault, abuse, and dehumanization that she faced through eight seasons of Game of Thrones. She deserved more respect than disdain.
7 Janice Hosenstein (Friends)
In hindsight, the only reason why Janice in Friends was ever vilified was because the group of friends disliked her voice. Objectively, there was nothing terribly wrong with her. In reality, Janice Hosenstein was quite a loving woman who never had bad intentions for Chandler, Monica, or any of their pals.
Her feelings for Chandler were genuine, and she never tried to manipulate him in any way. Even when Janice felt that her presence could hurt Monica and his relationship, she left their home willingly. A big indicator that Janice was a good soul was that she couldn't tolerate being with Ross for too long. A nasal voice should not be a reason to hate a perfectly great character.
6 Alice Cooper (Riverdale)
Alice Cooper shared a tense relationship with her daughter Betty, but she was a mother with good intentions from the beginning of Riverdale. She certainly had a penchant for being controlling, but it stemmed from her past experiences of getting pregnant in high school and her protectiveness for her daughters.
Truthfully, Alice was a much better character than people expected. A dive into her past showed that she used to be a part of the Southside Serpents and had an affair with FP Jones. Her aversion to the gang was just a result of her previous hurt. She more than redeemed herself by taking down Edgar Evernever and saving her daughters numerous times.
5 Rachel Berry (Glee)
Glee became popular because it depicted teen tropes that actually worked, but the protagonist of the show was greatly disliked. Rachel Berry was intensely competitive and ambitious, making her a target of much hatred from fellow characters and audiences. It also made people dismiss her other funny and bizarre qualities that made her unique.
Rachel definitely had a mean streak, but the reason why she got flak was because she was a confident woman who knew what she wanted. She was unafraid to reach out for her goals and achieve them, even if it meant annoying some of her friends and associates.
4 Devi Viswanathan (Never Have I Ever)
Never Have I Ever was a landmark show that brought Indian culture into the limelight in the Western context. Unfortunately, Devi Viswanathan got a bad rap from the beginning for her anger and impulsiveness. She could be inconsiderate to her friends, but audiences forgot that Devi had been through life-altering trauma.
The teen had watched her father die in front of her entire school and had even lost the use of her legs because of her grief. She was only in high school, a time when teens were usually not as mature as they would be a few years later. Audiences could have been more forgiving of Devi, who eventually went on to have a fantastic and realistic character arc in Never Have I Ever.
3 Beck (You)
Netflix's dark romance, You made it amply clear that Joe Goldberg was a dangerous young man who was harmful to the women he came into contact with him. Still, he was romanticized greatly, and his first victim, Beck, was made out to be a temptress who led him down the wrong path.
Beck had her flaws, but none of them warranted being murdered. Cheating is something that is, unfortunately, a part of relationship dynamics that a couple has to deal with. Joe could have broken up with her, but he chose to kill her to cover his own tracks. Beck was a victim, and the dislike for her was absurd.
2 Elena Gilbert (The Vampire Diaries)
Elena Gilbert was the beating heart of The Vampire Diaries, which people only realized once she was no longer on the show after Season 6. Kindhearted, empathetic, and loving, Elena was vilified for being too emotional by viewers. The central love triangle was between her, Damon, and Stefan, but the Salvatore brothers never got criticized for their part in the love affair. Elena, however, was deemed cruel and unfeeling for having normal feelings that teens usually do.
As a young woman who had lost all of her family, Elena leaned heavily on her friends, which was also received negatively by certain audiences. Only when she left the show did people recognize that Elena was an irreplaceable part of TVD.
1 Emily Cooper (Emily in Paris)
Emily in Paris continues to be a divisive show for many reasons, but the eponymous Emily got an undue amount of flak. She was a professional who got the opportunity of a lifetime and decided to make the most of it. Her approach to Parisian life may have been cheesy, but that shouldn't elicit extreme reactions from the audience.
In fact, the show took audience feedback constructively and made her more French literate and sensitive after the first season, but it seemed as though viewers had decided to hate her, even if she improved. Ironically, the watchers who disapproved of Emily mainly didn't like that she got to live in a marvelous world full of opportunity. Shows like Emily in Paris aren't made to be realistic: they are pure fantasy, and a suspension of disbelief is required to enjoy them.