Fans of Amazon original series The Man in the High Castle can forgive certain Nazis and members of the Kempeitai for some truly horrendous shit but why can’t they cut the show’s female lead, Juliana Crain, any slack whatsoever? If you’re a fan of the show but haven’t yet finished the second series, note that there are SPOILERS ahead.
The truth is, Juliana’s been getting a lot of hate on social media ever since season 1. I’d call myself a pretty tough critic when it comes to characters but I really didn’t think a lot of the crap this poor woman (real or not) was getting in the socialsphere was deserved at all.
Juliana doesn’t murder people’s loved ones. Juliana doesn’t destroy people’s livelihoods. Juliana’s just going about her business and trying to figure out what really happened to her dead sister, okay? Sure, I get that Obergruppenfuhrer Smith is a family man who will do anything to protect his son from being euthanised because he has “Landouzy-Dejurine syndrome.” I get that Inspector Kido takes his job seriously, is willing to commit Seppuku if he dishonours his superiors, and isn’t a hooker-loving drunk. We’re ALLOWED to feel stabs of sympathy for them here and there- that’s what the writers want- but to insist that Juliana’s the worst out of the entire bunch is insane.
I decided to go searching for answers as to why people dislike her so much on Reddit (It was during the Christmas holidays and I simply NEEDED to discuss the show with someone).
Here, you’ll discover some surprising and not-so-surprising reasons why fans of the show dislike Juliana so much…
A genuine question about Juliana Crain; why does she get so much hate online? I’ve watched both seasons now and don’t understand. Can someone please give me examples of why they don’t like Juliana? You may need to refresh my memory when it comes to some events in Season 1. Thanks in advance! from maninthehighcastle
What to me is frustrating about Juliana is the amount of bullshit situations she (and not only she, Frank and Joe as well) gets into with no discernible logic behind what she is doing and still seems to get her way out of. She should’ve been dead a hundreds of time within the first and second season. Also, she leaves burned ground everywhere she passes, having actually valuable resistance people who try to protect her (no idea what for, except for her pretty face) killed one after another. She is the most selfish character I have ever seen, she ruins everyone’s life in every episode, she never learns from her countless mistakes and never grows up from her naivete and trusting nature the level of which would only be justifiable in somebody half her age. The incompetence and thoughtlessness of her, Joe and Frank are to me an insult to viewers’ intellect and make for characters that are far less likable than the actual show’s villains .
Now if you fail to see it, then perhaps a TV show the kind of “The Big Bang Theory” would be more appropriate to your comprehensive skills. I worry for the future of a feminist movement, if it’s going to have fighters with this level of insight. Because they are going to be the best unaware allies to people who want it to fail.
It’s not the actress, its the writing. The writers use her to move the narrative, but as soon as any tension builds, they let her out. Other characters around her do not act like real people would act. Resistance fighters, with their lives at risk, would not give her an audience with the MIHC just because she demands it. They would not let her live after betraying them and letting a NAZI with their most valuable items (films) go. Repeatedly, people with better judgement tell her no, then aquiesce to her naieve requests for no compelling reason other than she asked a second time. Repeatedly she is in situations that should lead to her death, but magically every time people feel compelled to let her go/escape for no reason that would be logical in the real world. Example, she is working for the Japenese, and one of the other girls SEES her spying and does not urn her in. This girl only knows her from their interview. She has no loyalty to her. There is ZERO chance she would risk her own life to hide this spying. It goes on and on. Frank wanting to run away with her and still loving her despite her actions leading to the death of his sister. Joe hiking with her to find the dead body on the map despite bounty hunter being in town looking for them. The resistance fighter that owns the restaurant letting her live after she gets the bookshop owner killed and his cover exposed. To say “she didn’t kill anyone” is ludicrous. She has a trail of dead bodies behind her, she is just killing them with endlessly bad decisions instead of a gun. Lest we forget about the entire boatload of men blown up by the NAZI’s because Joe had pretty eyes and told her he was a nice NAZI? Her body count is at least in the 20’s already. 20 men on the boat, Frank’s family, the resistance fighters…..We are already close to 30. And, unlike Frank or Joe, who care and weigh death, Juliana is blissfully unaware of her consequences and learns nothing. I stopped watching the show because her character was so annoying. Not going to dive in to season 3. I am done. The writing is horrible.