I can't stand the "I just smelled a fart" perma-expression on her face. What is it with the smug douche teenage daughter character? Do people enjoy this? Homeland's Dana Brody is another one. Both of them have single-handedly marred seasons of otherwise good television for me.
shareI agree wholeheartedly. I rooted for Matt and Julie from the get-go but, as time passed, Julie became a whiny primadonna. In the last scene of the two in Chicago, she looks like she's ready to throw Matt down a flight of stairs but manages a brief grin before the two head out for class. I can't tell if it was the actress or the writers. Thoughts?
shareI watched the whole series when it first came out, and watched it again over the past couple of months. I didn't like Julie Taylor the first time, but it was worse the second time since it was back to back episodes of her bratty behavior. I can't remember when I hated any character as much as Julie Taylor. She was unlikable in every single way. She was selfish, narcissistic, self-righteous, immature, a jerk to her parents and her sister and to Matt and her friends, she was jealous of her friends and her sister and anyone who got attention over her, she made incredibly stupid decisions, wouldn't listen to anyone's advice, she was entitled, rude, disrespectful, disloyal, and absolutely clueless. The look of disgust on her face when her TA's wife slapped her for sleeping with her husband was infuriating given she knew he was married, which should've been enough for her to not pursue that relationship. She begged to go to college early and then gets bored and disenchanted two seconds after she gets there. She drove her car into a mailbox because she was too immature to handle the crap storm she created. She was ready to waste her parents' money and leave college because she couldn't handle the mistake she made. She had the kindest, most supportive parents on the show and she still turned out to be the worst kid. I would hate to have a daughter like that. She lacked empathy for basically anyone yet acted like she was really sensitive and empathetic. She had no real depth and no real insight into anything or anyone. I haven't watched the actor who played her in anything else because I hated this character so much, but I have to think it may have been partly the blame of the actor and not just the character.
shareGod, I love reading posts that so fully articulate how I feel about something. Agree with this, wholeheartedly. Especially this part:
The look of disgust on her face when her TA's wife slapped her for sleeping with her husband was infuriating given she knew he was marriedshare
I'm generally really sympathetic towards teenager girl characters, but I loathe Julie Taylor. I'm inclined to think the actress plays a major role in making her so unlikeable. Pretty much every line she says (even when the contents of that line are neutral) is said with a whine, which makes it instantly irritating. It could be something like, "I like cheese" and she would say it like, "I like cheese! Nyah!" (and then the who farted facial expression). Even when Matt is suffering, she finds a way to whine around it and make it about her. There was nothing about her presence of the things she said that translated as comforting when his dad died. The way her character stands out as gross is most obvious in season 4, when she's flanked by all these complicated, appealing characters, and mains the same constant whine and perpetual expression. Her parents are both being tortured with their issues, and she's grumping about going to a Habitat for Humanity program. Seriously awful character, awful acting, awful everything.
shareI think Amiee Teegarden did a pretty good job in the last few seasons of the series. Ultimately, this is on the writers. There's nothing wrong with unlikable characters. But Julie is the only character in the main cast that never felt like a person. They used her primarily as a catalyst of drama for her parents and Matt instead of actually developing her individually. So, pretty much all we got to see from her is whininess and stupid decisions and making her parents mad. Because she was mostly a plot device rather than a full-fledged character she was never as interesting as the rest of the ensemble and almost always irritating. However, she did come off pretty likable and intriguing in the scenes between her scenes with Devin. But we didn't get enough of that friendship.
shareThis is spot on. I just finished the series, and realized that at the end of it, I still didn't know who Julie was, other than heterosexual. I think that's part of why Tami taking the job at the end was so important -- because all she had seen of her mother was a willingness to compromise and bend to meet the needs of her husband. I don't think it was obvious she was underdeveloped until Becky and Jess both became so well developed -- then the deficiencies of character were blinding.
shareNice titties, tho!
shareI never understood the hold she had over Matt. If I were him I would have been permanently gone the minute "the Swede" came along.
shareOr when he realized he stayed back for her, but she put literally zero thought about their relationship into her decision of where to go to college. Or when he realized she had an affair with a married man, then ran to him purely to get away from the problem she created.
By the way, these were things he was clearly aware of evidenced by some of the stuff he said, and he still wanted her. Also, both times it never hit home for Julie why Matt had a problem, why he would be upset, or even any understanding that she had did anything wrong. At least when Matt left, while it was selfish not to say goodbye or call Julie and Landry, it was totally understandable. He knew what he did wrong, but as fans we knew why he did it that way.