Hi there Robyn! I’ve been binging the Madeleine/Sherry arc and I see a lot of comments that have cusses towards Mads. I’m sorta hurt by them because it must be pretty difficult to cultivate every character. Do these kinds of comments affect you in any way? You don’t have to answer this- I feel like it’s offensive and a little controversial.
HMMM I think this’ll probably be a long answer with a lot of parts to address, so I’m sorry in advance!
In general, I don’t think it’s my right to dictate what readers should feel, since everyone approaches the story with different views and experiences. I did work hard on Madeleine’s story, but I try not to internalize attacks on the characters– 99% of the time they’re not attacks against me!
That being said, Gourmet Hound is about people reacting to loss: Lucy reacts with fear of losing more; Graham reacts with despair and isolation; Olive reacts with self-doubt and a mistrust in others; Heath reacts with denial, and refused to acknowledge the problem.
Madeleine reacts with anger, and that’s a difficult emotion to watch. I knew she would be a polarizing character (and there’s a lot to be said about the way a man’s sadness is more palatable than a woman’s anger, and how quick we are to jump in with “Bitch” and “She needs to chill” as a response), so even if it isn’t fun to read comments that berate and degrade her, I was prepared. She is ruthless, stubborn, rude, and frustrating–and even after her whole story unfolds, I know many readers will still find her wholly unsympathetic. Readers who empathize with Graham and his experiences will definitely have a harder time sympathizing with Madeleine.
And I think that’s okay! It’s okay not to equally like every character in a series, it’s okay for unlikable characters to exist, and it’s okay to acknowledge that you have biases that will make it impossible to like certain characters.
I don’t want to justify all of Madeleine’s actions, because sometimes she went too far. Ultimately, however, I hope people who have reacted to loss with anger find comfort in Madeleine’s story–in the same way that I hope people who have reacted with fear, despair, mistrust, and denial found comfort in Lucy, Graham, Olive, and Heath’s stories.
tl;dr It’s alright if people have vehemently negative reactions to Madeleine! Everyone approaches stories with different backgrounds, and hating a character isn’t necessarily a failing of the the readers’ empathy OR the story
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