Bad Guys Gone Good: Our Favorite TV Villains Who Turned Over a New Leaf
By Sundi Rose
Photo: The CW
Valencia Perez – Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is highly adept at using satire to examine contemporary issues, and to point out the unfair gender politics that exist in our society. The show uses Valencia as a vehicle to do just this.
Viewed as the protagonist, Rebecca’s, main competition for a man, Valencia is demonized and mocked. Rebecca positions her as the enemy, since she has Josh, and audiences aren’t supposed to see that Rebecca is really the bad guy, trying to steal her man.
Painted as a vapid, shallow, high-maintenance dummy, Valencia is a dumping ground for all of Rebecca’s insecurities about why Josh doesn’t like her. Lucky for us, this is a super smart show, and Valencia eventually gets rounded out as full realized character.
Rebecca eventually winds up “stealing” Josh away, and at this point we see Valencia as a actual human with real feelings. Her insecurities about being left before her wedding make her seem vulnerable and approachable. Whereas, before, we were only meant to see her as Rebecca’s competition.
The show even brings the two women together as friends briefly, before Rebecca runs off with Josh again. During this time, we get to see Valencia as the smart, capable, strong woman she was all along. We just couldn’t see it while she was being overshadowed by her boyfriend.