Jennifer "Jenny" Diane Schecter is a fictional character from the American Showtime television drama series The L Word, played by Mia Kirshner. Jenny debuted on-screen during the pilot episode and remained until the series' final episode. Jenny became well documented in the media for her outlandish plots. Jenny was created by series creator Ilene Chaiken, based on herself as a younger woman living in the lesbian community. Chaiken implemented a series of changes to the character, one of which being the inclusion of a sexual abuse story line and self-harm, which some critics observed as being attempts to make her likable in the LGBTQ community. One storyline that gained mainstream attention was adopting a homeless dog, only to have it put down for personal gain. Other story lines include stripping, writing novels, coming out, directing a film, affairs, and her possible murder. The final season is based around the lead-up to her death, during which Jenny made herself extremely unpopular with her friends, who became suspects.
Jenny's character was unpopular with both fans and critics throughout the entire series because of her frequent narcissistic tendencies, her prima donna ways, her egotistical attitude, irresponsibility, frequent self-pity, and selfish persona. She has also been labeled a "love to hate" character. The majority of critics have been intrigued by her "polarising personality" and branded it as one of the main reasons to watch the series. New York magazine gave a large amount of praise to Jenny and on one occasion stated: "Jenny Schecter is The L Word, and the death of her is the death of the show." Kirshner received critical praise for her portrayal of the character. Kirshner has stated she loved playing Jenny because she felt like a brand new character during each season. She has also stated that it is difficult for people to like the character as she can be "very despicable" and even the LGBTQ community does not like her because of her "duplicity and confusion".
Character creation and casting Series creator Ilene Chaiken created Jennifer. She based her on her own past experiences of coming out and dealing with the everyday life in the lesbian community as a younger woman.Porter 2006, p.229. Like Jenny, Chaiken had befriended a group of lesbians who ran a cafe and had her first sexual encounter with a female. Actress Mia Kirshner was cast in the role. Chaiken admitted she had been searching for the right actress to play Jennifer "for a long time". Kirshner auditioned via video tape, Chaiken recalled that upon viewing it she thought Kirshner was "stunning". She thought Kirshner had "riveting beauty that is unlike anyone else's, and she was so deep and intense."
Kirshner would often express her concern that she was not challenged enough or not making Jennifer as "deep enough" as she could be. Chaiken said it was these qualities that made Kirshner "the bravest and boldest of actors" and branded her "utterly fearless" in her approach to Jenny.
Character development
Characterization Throughout her duration on the series, Jenny went on a journey from the very first episode, which portrayed her as a selfish egotist; many observers have perceived her as a narcissist, and even as a borderline sociopath. This latter assessment was based early on around her recurrent lying, and the fact she seems to excuse her own cheating in the first few seasons as a corollary of empowerment and as research for her book: which features an experimentalist female character who is evidently herself. Kirshner has described Jenny as mostly being duplicitous and confused. Jenny often acted "utterly impulsive". Kirshner said it is very hard for people in the series and the viewers to like Jenny because she is "a very despicable character who lies, cheats, behaves and treats other people horribly for no reason, and is extremely selfish, self-indulgent and so terribly truthful... and she does not hesitate to hide any of it." Jenny is also shown to be very hypocritical. She cheated on Tim and even kissed a woman in front of him for the gratification of Tim's friends, not caring that it hurt him. On the other hand, she expected Tim to be faithful to her and even after they broke up, gave him grief for starting a new relationship. She expects instant forgiveness and absolution for the wrong she does to others, but when wrong (real or imagined) is done to her, she will hold a vindictive grudge and make every attempt to torment the person long after they tried to make amends, even taking haughty, sadistic glee in doing so.
Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe described Jenny stating: "Dreary, confused, introverted narcissist [...] downcast, secretive, almost Goth in her black moodiness, she is the epitome of an unhappy egotist. She is so consumed with the ups and downs of her own depression and self-loathing, she just doesn't have the energy to look outward. Her misery is her mirror, and she's forever gazing into it." New York Magazine describe Jenny as a capricious yet obnoxious type of character adding that she can be patronizing. They also observe her as looking "fabulous, fun, and sexy but her downfall is her annoying side." Diane Shipley of The Guardian branded Jenny a "whiny egomaniac". Lesbian magazine Curve brands Jenny a "narcissistic navel-gazer".
Sexuality When Jenny is introduced on-screen she arrives in Los Angeles to stay with her boyfriend Tim Haspel (Eric Mabius). Tim is described as the person who makes Jenny "feel the safest in the world".Bolonik 2005, p.18. She soon becomes aware her neighbors Tina Kennard (Laurel Holloman) and Bette Porter (Jennifer Beals) are lesbians. Kirshner said that Jenny becomes intrigued by lesbians and attends their party. Jenny meets Marina Ferrer (Karina Lombard), who senses that Jenny wants some danger in her life. When Marina kisses her, Jenny sees her life going into a tailspin and forces her to reckon with herself. Jenny acknowledges her passion for Marina, but realizes that being unfaithful will ruin "the one stable relationship she's ever had". However, they begin an affair. In the show's companion book "The L Word: Welcome to our planet", they describe Jenny's confusion as leaving her "unmoored". She was alone in battling the heartache, along with facing "an overwhelming identity crisis" in a place that was not yet her home.
Kirshner opined that the situation with Jenny was "not pretty". Jenny loves two people at once. She is the kind of character "who will just grab experiences because of the holes inside her [...] she will leave the casualties in the wake behind her." Kirshner often pushed and encouraged for more truth. She made Jenny's sex scenes "darker, painful, and sometimes not so pretty to watch". Kirshner did not mind portraying sex scenes with other females. She described them as "more fun and easier" and that she genuinely felt there was "nothing to be ashamed of." For her there was a "comfort level that is beautiful". Kirshner had never appeared nude in previous roles, but she requested to go nude as Jenny in certain scenes to add to the reality.
Chaiken decided to keep audiences guessing about Jenny's sexuality. She stated that whilst sexuality can be fluid, that Jenny's sexuality "definitely exists on the edge of fluidity". This was because she had planned to have Jenny romantically involved mostly with females, but with some males too.
Sexual abuse One of Jenny's story lines in season two was her revelation of being sexually abused as a child. The events were portrayed in a series of flashbacks and dream sequences. Yet, this left viewers confused about what actually happened to Jenny. During an interview with LGBTQ monthly magazine The Advocate, Chaiken commented about the story line: "Well we all know it was an incident of sexual abuse. I had not wanted to be more explicit about it than that – one because memory of trauma is very strange. Who knows what happened to Jenny? Jenny doesn't necessarily know herself."
Chaiken also didn't want to portray Jenny's ordeal in an explicit manner, confirming this she said: "I am loath to portray rape as a filmmaker. I think it is really hard to do it without somehow becoming complicit and exploitative. And so as much as it's important to talk about it, I wanted to be vague and not milk it." Chaiken has also admitted that the use of dream sequences involving Jenny were not a successful inclusion, but claimed it was necessary to portray Jenny coming to terms with her abuse. Heather Hogan of AfterEllen criticized the story line because there was no conclusion to it, also stating it was never explored enough, leading everyone to think she was just a jerk.
Transformation Jenny was negatively received amongst TV critics and viewers from the very first episode after she cheated on her boyfriend, Tim, with another woman for no clear reason. This prompted Chaiken to implement a series of changes to Jenny to help make her more likable. Chaiken defended Jenny stating: "I'm well aware of the response to Jenny. I love the character, and I love that people are passionate about her. I know there are a lot of people who just can't stand her. And that's why it's so important to have that character in the mix." Kirshner defended Jenny stating: "Jenny's a very controversial character. I think the great thing about her is the fact that she's so flawed." During season two Jenny is seen coming out, getting her hair cut and becoming best friends with Shane McCutcheon (Katherine Moennig). AfterEllen.com stated that Jenny cutting off her hair was a defining moment in her development because it also symbolized her cutting all of the bad stuff that happened before out of her life. Jenny's transition continued into season three, Chaiken stated: "We find Jenny coming together, I predict this [...] that Jenny will be more likable and accessible to the audience than she has ever been. She's recovering."
In 2009, Chaiken was still confused over Jenny's bad reception, of why it might be she said: "People read into the character that she was a manipulator, self-absorbed, and a trouble maker who puts other people in service of her own neurotic agenda. I think people react so strongly because Jenny is just a mess in the way that so many people are."
Of her character's changes after season five, Kirshner stated: "I think she'll continue to be just like a tumbleweed and a car crash and I'm happy for that, I don't want it to be wrapped up. She'll never be normal and that's just the way it is." Responding to the criticism Jenny has received, Kirshner states: "Well, I agree with what's said about the character for the most part. But again ... it's my job. So, I mean, it's a fun character."
Death