Poll Results: True Detective’s Female Characters

By Reuben Levine | May 29, 2015

The first season of True Detective encountered some trouble with its female characters. There were claims of misogyny, and it’s safe to say that it marred the overall reception to the season. Recent interviews with Rachel McAdams and Abigail Spencer point to the opposite for True Detective season two.

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Last week we put a poll together asking our readers how they felt about True Detective’s female characters. We’ve read a lot about what the critics thought, but with season two right around the corner we figured it was about time to find out how the fans felt about the whole issue.

The results were very intersecting.

People were split when it came to introducing stronger female characters in True Detective season two. It turns out that, of the fans that responded to the poll, almost none were “offended” by the characters in True Detective season one and were only for stronger characters if it organically fit the story. That’s not the sort of battle-cry for stronger and more fleshed-out characters that we expected.

The most interesting part of the results, however, came in the form of a negative. Of sorts. An overwhelming majority of people voted for “Nic Pizzolatto should write how he wants.” Indicating that Pizzolatto shouldn’t cave to critics and should do whatever he feels is right.

And that’s not necessarily the wrong answer.

Of the small pool of True Detective fans that voted, the vast majority were for letting Pizzolatto write the show however he saw fit. Such a path may or may not include strong female characters. This was an interesting exercise, to say the least.

The second season of True Detective begins on June 21st.

Next: Did Vince Vaughn and Taylor Kitsch not get along on True Detective?

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