MovieChat Forums > 30 Rock (2006) Discussion > Anyone Else Can't Stand Jenna?

Anyone Else Can't Stand Jenna?


I can't stand her. I don't find a single thing endearing about her. Good characters are supposed to have several sides but its hard for me to see anything more than her just being shallow and selfish. And she's very dumb. Its not funny. 30 Rock does a great job at being a very "smart" show and to have a "dumb blonde character" just seems sort of beneath them. I love the show, but I have to stop myself from fastforwarding when she's on screen.

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[deleted]

She is by far the most self-absorbed, selfish character on the show and I can understand why people don't like her. I think the only thing that makes me like her tbh is that she's played by Jane Krakowski, I feel like it's purely Jane that gives Jenna any likability at all lol.



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Just because YOU don't like something doesn't mean it is empirically not good.-Tina Fey

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As someone else stated here: it's PARODY.

Nuff said.

I love her, not cuz I'd wanna be friends w/ her in real life, but cuz she's a trainwreck you can't keep your eyes off of.

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I know its a parody. But to me, its just not funny. I love the show. But whenever her character is on there, I want to turn it off.

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But see that's the point of her character. She's more than just the dumb blonde, she's the fading, insecure "starlet" who wants to be the dumb blonde that every man desires.

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-And I think it's FASCINATING--it's AWESOME, to see a balls-out riff on all the crazy, stupid starlets out there!

I'm sorry to get political, but it's ABOUT TIME! Yeah.

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well i always felt like 30 rock's style was to be over the top without being vulgar or offensive. You are supposed to think characters are extremes of what they represent. Liz is a slob, jenna is vain, tracy is stupid, Pete is pitiful, Jack is ruthless, Kennith is passive/a doormat lol, etc.

if one of those extremes bothers you personally, thats a personal problem lol. Maybe you identify jenna with someone who has been or is still in your life and it bothers you to think of them lol.

Black Rectangle

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[deleted]

Yeah, I don't like her either.
She's simply not funny.

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Well, Tina wrote her in as a necessary foil for Liz, so Jenna served an important narrative function. But I never got into the character either. The writers rarely came up with really imaginative plot arcs for the character. Also, Krakowski didn't really find a way to be organically funny with the character until about Season 4. She was playing Jenna with icy technical precision, but didn't really seem to have the heart of the character in hand.

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ME! I hate her, and now is following me in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

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ANYONE ELSE; OR: AM I THE ONLY ONE

Your film gods: Lee Van Cleef and Laura Gemser
http://tinyurl.com/pa4ud44

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I know, she truly is shallow and selfish but for some reason I can't not like her. I mean, 50% of my love for her come from her being played by Jane Krakowski, but I don't know I just can really relate to her character, not that I'd those horrible things she does in the show, but I really relate to her insecurity and thirst for attention, as terrible as it sounds. She's probably my favorite character ever and the character I releate the most (alngside Elsa from Frozen).

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I love her. I don't think she is one dimensional at all. There have been several instances where she's shown herself to be a better friend to Liz than Liz is to her. She genuinely thought Liz was too good for Dennis and that she should break up with him. And then was genuinely annoyed when she got back together with him. Because she cared about Liz. She was there for her when she thought she was pregnant. She was part of the plan to get her back in life after the breakup with Carol. She was the one who got her an in for that condo she was going to buy. She genuinely cares about Liz whereas Liz just wants Jenna not to be upset because that would be a hassle. She has also been a good friend to Kenneth. She is the only reason he was able to go to the Olympics (she did his application for him). She originally helped him audition for the page program with good intentions (although it went awry). She helped him get his page jacket back. She has also been there for Tracy on several occasions.

She's also a hard worker. She can throw fits and be a pain but, unlike Tracy, when it's go time she is always there, always knows her lines, and is always ready. She can be doing three projects and it won't interfere with her being there for every single show for TGS.

And she isn't stupid. She's self-absorbed. And chasing youth makes her do dumb things. But she's shown herself to be the most savvy fairly often. She realized when it was time to stop playing younger than her age and start playing OLDER than her age. She knew what would work for her on America's Kids Got Talent. She advised Jack on the benefits of being the older one when he was with Pizzarina Sbarro. She knew when to start marketing herself to the only crowd that still buys music. She already owned several properties when Liz realized she should buy one (financial advice Jack gave her that Jenna already knew). She was a good producer. She's shown herself to be savvier than Liz quite often. But she tries to hide it because brains aren't sexy (from her POV). Now, she's uneducated, doesn't read the paper/watch the news but that isn't the same as stupid.



I don't want to profile but most ghosts are white.

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It doesn't hurt that Jane Krakowski is sssmmmmmooooooin'!

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