We hate to love them: the morally gray character

In many stories it seems as though people gravitate less to the main character or hero of the story and more to the morally gray, more questionable character. This is seen in the “Thor” franchise with many adoring Loki or how people love Tyrion Lannister from “Game of Thrones.” But why does this happen? These are characters who plot murders and perform acts that not only put them in harm's way but others as well. The Netflix original “Ginny and Georgia” perfectly embodies all the reasons we love these questionable character types. 

Right off the bat we are shown that Georgia, the main character and mother of two, has compromised morals. We watch her poison her husband after getting a little too handsy with her teenage daughter Ginny one morning. As the story progresses, we come to learn in-depth about her wrongdoings, including embezzlement, murder, and even taking credit cards out in both of her children’s names. On the surface this should be a character that puts us on alert, yet Georgia lulls us into adornment just as she does to those in the town of Wellsbury after moving there.

Characters like Georgia are funny, charismatic and more often than not, attractive. It’s how morally gray characters entice us. They make you feel special and you, in turn, can’t help but gravitate towards them. Georgia, more specifically, is a great example of the femme fatale trope but unlike other depictions, the writers, Sarah Lampert, Debra J. Fisher and Brianna Belser, created a story from the femme fatale’s perspective. 

The writers push this idea that Georgia does all of these immoral acts out of love, fear and survival. By doing this, they humanize Georgia, which allows the audience to do two things: see themselves through Georgia’s lens but also experience the ride or die love that Georgia gives to those in her inner circle. This is a powerful method because whether we want to admit it or not, the character that’s willing to set the whole world on fire for you is much more compelling than the good guy who’d sacrifice you to save the world. 

Naturally she is a character that you root for to succeed but inevitably end up yelling at through the TV astonished by her continuance to make the wrong choice. We see this in season two when she kills Cynthia’s husband, Tom, and when she continues to deceive Paul when all she has to do is be honest. 

Georgia is a powerful symbol for the humanized morally gray character or femme fatale. She’s someone who comes from nothing and manages to claw her way to every desired possibility. It only makes sense that people enjoy her presence in each episode; I know I do.