Jenny Schecter - Reception

Reception

In the book Blood Moon's GT Gay and Lesbian Film, Darwin Porter brands Jenny "one of the most annoying, needy characters on television" and calls her a "lost damaged soul". Fellow cast member Leisha Hailey has commented that Jenny is at her best when she is spiraling out of control. Hillary Frey of The New York Observer opined that Jenny provided "voyeuristic pleasure" for straight females in season one. She said she believed Jenny's confusion to whom she should be with was plausible. Also adding the fact she gradually became self-obsessed – yet still conveyed the "thrill and pleasure of a fresh sexual experience", while portraying the sadness.

Jenny was criticized by Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe for her narcissistic tendencies. Kera Bolonik of New York magazine stated that "Jenny-bashing" became a spectator sport from her inception. She also described Jenny's development as going through different stages stating: "Season 1: Selfish Jenny, Season 2: Victimized Jenny, Season 3: Heartless Jenny, Season 4: Vindictive Jenny, Season 5: Bitchy and narcissistic Jenny, Season 6: Dead Jenny." New York magazine later praised Jenny stating: "We don't condone Jenny's narcissism, her prima-donna-ness, or her questionable writing skills. But she is highly entertaining — and more important, her polarizing personality exposes the people around her." In 2009 by the time season six was on air, the magazine claimed that Jenny was one step away from a Lesbian backlash, joking: "If only she would sing an acoustic version of the show's ear-melting theme song intermittently during the next episode to ensure that the entire Sapphic nation hits the streets bearing torches and pitchforks, all calling her name."

New York magazine also describe the series and how Jenny took on the whole character traits of the show: "Like Jenny, The L Word was, at any given moment, capricious, obnoxious, patronizing, fabulous, fun, sexy, non sequitur, overreaching, under-reaching, annoying, and yes, unforgettable. Not one other character besides Jenny embodied the whole character of the show." British lesbian magazine Diva call Jenny "the girl we love to hate." They also opined that "poor old Jenny didn't have much going for her from the start." That after her failed romances with Tim and Marina, she "got all pretentious" when she became an author. They also branded her the most hated lesbian character since Joan Ferguson (Maggie Kirkpatrick) on Prisoner: Cell Block H, credited most of the hatred upscaling when she had her dog put down and praised Kirshner for rising to the challenge of playing her.

Jennifer Thomas of Pioneer Press compiled a list of 12 of the best TV characters of 2009; Jenny was number 7 on her list and stated: "Jenny is a rare combination of destruction, self-destruction, naivety and insanity. You can't help but want to strangle her, but then she goes all needy and fragile." She also claimed that the season finale was a let-down, but Jenny would have been happy that even in death she was the center of attention and meddling in her friends lives.

Thomas has also said: "Jenny has always been a complex, and fascinating character, who you occasionally want to slap and shake. (Or, in the case of the dog, just, well, murder her.) Without her, though, the show wouldn't be half as interesting. Just when you think you've seen every bit of crazy Jenny can dish out, she digs deep and finds some new neuroticism. She's fragile, but she's steel-spined when it comes to accepting responsibility for the havoc she wreaks in her life and everyone else's."

Matthew Gilbert of the Boston Globe compiled his list of most annoying TV characters. Jenny came second on the list and he stated: "Wow. The gods of narcissism blessed Jenny bigtime. She was just too, too self-centered. She sucked the life out of everyone who crossed her path." He also opined that Kirshner's portrayal of Jenny's "vanity and chameleon-like qualities" was perhaps too convincing. He perceived scriptwriters as eventually understanding the "profundity of Jenny's annoying effect", and decided to escalate it. Gilbert concluded that in early seasons, when writers wanted the audience's sympathy with Jenny's journey of self-realization, he "wanted her to leave The Planet for good."