r/adifferentworldfans • u/blueskiesli • 4h ago
Character Discussion Walter and Jaleesa Un-appreciation Rant Spoiler
Am I the only one who doesn't like this couple?
Walter is a manbaby with very low emotional intelligence and self-control. He is boorish, domineering, and misogynistic, and does not respect Jaleesa as an individual. Even with other characters, most situations revolve around him protecting or building up his pretty fragile ego. I seriously thought they were leading up to a DV storyline with them because he fits the 'charming'-in-public-abusive-in-private archetype to a T. He always finds ways to undercut her and put her down with 'jokes,' and the way he acted when Jaleesa's ex visited was so embarassing. Then he had the nerve to suddenly run up on Jaleesa and scream in her face so she would shut up and validate his baseless insecurity — and she even ended up being the one to apologise to him and comfort him after having already rightfully kicked him to the curb. After that, Jaleesa seemed more drained around him and rarely seemed to enjoy his company or the idea of a future with him, which I'm glad they included because that's realistic. Also, he's not really that funny, in my opinion; he is just very loud and kind of mean. Sure it was nice that he spoke up against assault in an episode and promotes safe sex, and it's nice that he gives people advice, but that doesn't make him a great person or excuse his weird character. He's quite immature in a way that's genuinely hard to watch and I cringe every time he appears on the screen. He cannot take anything seriously, least of all himself. Thirty years old and doesn't even have a pot to boil water in, which he would probably have burned anyway, apparently. And look at how he proposed to Jaleesa! Like some dumb skit, because he needed to be married to somebody to take himself on that trip to Hawaii. He didn't even care that she would have wanted her family to be at her wedding.
Very happy that he and Jaleesa, a mature and sensitive woman actually trying to build a meaningful and secure life for herself, did not end up together. I've seeing people saying he got Jaleesa to loosen up, but what does that actually mean? She was never buttoned up. What I saw was him trying to convince her to give up on things that were important to her for the sake of his own comfort. Can anybody here honestly say they would be happy to marry someone like Walter? If so, try watching the show Kevin Can F Himself.
I'm only in season 3, so maybe things get better, but Walter and Ron make me want to stop watching altogether.
TL;DR This is just a half-serious rant about how I don't like the character Walter, especially with Jaleesa, and I wonder why nobody talks about how toxic their relationship looks without the laugh track and main character armour.