Why do some people like Cersei?

[Salafi Stannis]

I hear people say that they like Cersei, (even read somewhere that she is some kind of epic feminist :bang: ). And I really need to ask, why? Here are some reasons why she sucks:

She ordered the murder of Roberts bastards, even the babies

She finds an excuse for everything Joffrey does, and even thinks sweet little Tommen should be more like Joffrey :bang:

She thinks she is a master at playing the Game of Thrones, despite her gross incompetenc.

She is selfish and cruel and ignores all of her children unless they sit the Iron Throne.

Here are some quotes to back up my point:

From the Game of Thrones wiki: Cersei is willful, cold, ambitious, and cunning in the sense that she is utterly willing to betray anyone who trusts her, or do anything to protect her own. However, she is also arrogant and self-centered to a fault. While she certainly believes herself to be a master strategist, she is extremely impatient, short-sighted, and prone to displays of poor judgment, resulting in her being unskilled at manipulating enemies who openly distrust her. Cersei's own father Tywin stated to her that he distrusts her because she isn't nearly as intelligent as she believes herself to be.This makes for a dangerous combination, as not only is Cersei unintelligent, but she does not even realize her own limitations.....

And, to all those who know all this but say "Oh, well she's a good mother", read this "Cersei's lack of a parental relationship growing up is reflected in how poorly she has served as a mother to her own children. While she certainly dotes on them, she does not possess much in the way of wisdom or advice. She is unable to act as a stable moral instructor to them. She considers herself to be obsessed with the welfare of all of her children. However, she has showered so much attention on Joffrey throughout his life that hypocritically, she really doesn't know her other children very well"

From the ASOIAF wiki: Cersei is willful, ambitious and has a certain low cunning. She is, in her opinion, politically astute and thinks of herself as her father's daughter, and feels slighted when people do not jump to her erratic commands. She resents the customs and conventions put on her because of her gender, but never realizes that people do not come to her or respect her commands because she is an ineffectual leader.... As the series progresses, however, the more power Cersei obtains, the more she proves herself to be incompetent at handling it; although she has spent most of her life scheming to gain power, she seems to have little idea of what to do with it once she has it.

Her quick temper and her easily wounded pride frequently lead her to make rash decisions, and she rarely considers what unintended consequences her actions might have. She lacks the patience for dealing with the tedious yet vital details of administration, and increasingly avoids facing unpleasant facts, surrounding herself with sycophants rather than honest and competent advisers. Ironically, despite her contempt for Robert's hedonistic lifestyle and physical deterioration, she is unconsciously coming to mimic his habit of overindulging in food, alcohol and sex as distractions from the pressures of leadership. Although she shares her father's philosophy of ruling through fear rather than love, she lacks his ability to temper ruthlessness with caution, pragmatism, and sound, objective judgment.

EDIT- Plus she killed Melara Hetherspoon when she was a child because she wanted to marry Jaime.

And she also told Jaime to cut off Arya's hand.

[new djinn]

She's hot and looks good on a horse.

[John Doe]

She's hot and looks good on a horse.

+1

Plus she has a good humour.

[dbunting]

She is hot, blonde, sarcastic, could see her sexually harassing me, likes kinky stuff, did a walk of shame, which in college is called the same thing, just without the shaved head!

[TheLionOfTheRock]

I believe a lot of people can sympathize with the whole "she's only doing it for her children" thing. However, Cersei was a asshole long before Joffrey was concieved, as Oberyn confirms. Also, her treatment of Tommen undermines this. I personally like her because she's the biggest Diva in Westeros and also I hate Margaery Tyrell tbh.

[White Ravens]

I like Cersei in that I like reading her chapters and find them entertaining. I'm doing a combined reread of aFfC and aDwD and I just finished reading the chapter where she meets the High Sparrow for the first time. Cersei herself is a nasty piece of work, but it is so much fun to read her perspective and see just how wrong and off the mark she is on just about everything.

[TheNinjaDC]

She's comedy gold in Feast & Dance.

[JonCon's Red Beard]

I think some might confuse her chapters being fun to read with her being likeable.

[Rhaegal Targaryen]

I found her chapters entertaining,i couldn t stop laughing when she thought that Tommen should be more like Joffrey and seeing her failing miserably at whatever she did.

[El Guapo]

Cersei is a fantastic villain and she is freakin hilarious. Her chapters in AFFC are quite outstanding

[Hattori]

She is just a joy to read about. Its the closest thing to an "Evil Queen" we get on the books, and its just hilarious to watch her self sabotage herself with all her madness and paranoia.

Still, she also has her demons and redeeming qualities in my eyes. She is a woman in a man's world seeking for power and approval, and her only weapon is her body in order to achieve that.

Im still not sure if she really loves her children, or if its more of a narcisistic thing, where she sees her children as an extension of herself, much like she does with Jaime. Either way, its all fascinating

[Hodor's Dragon]

She carried AFFC, which needed some carrying.

[Faint]

She is the most entertaining character, apart from maybe Melisandre.

Also, never conflate someone liking a character with someone empathizing with a character. The two are very different things, as should be obvious.

[Salafi Stannis]

She is the most entertaining character, apart from maybe Melisandre.

Also, never conflate someone liking a character with someone emphasizing with a character. The two are very different things, as should be obvious.

Empathizing

[Rhaegal Targaryen]

She is just a joy to read about. Its the closest thing to an "Evil Queen" we get on the books, and its just hilarious to watch her self sabotage herself with all her madness and paranoia.

Still, she also has her demons and redeeming qualities in my eyes. She is a woman in a man's world seeking for power and approval, and her only weapon is her body in order to achieve that.

Im still not sure if she really loves her children, or if its more of a narcisistic thing, where she sees her children as an extension of herserf, much like she does with Jaime. Either way, its all fascinating

Things Cersei loves

Herself

Herself

Herself

Herself

Jaime She doesn t love him,she just sees him as an extention of herself.

Joffrey Obsession.

Tommen She uses him as a way of getting power.

Myrcella Same goes for Myrcella.

[Faint]

She is certainly a

Empathizing

Well, since you actually corrected to the right word, I trust you got the point.

[Salafi Stannis]

She is certainly a joy to read, but I mean there are people out there who LIKE her as a person, let me show you:

http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/116017-queen-cersei-is-wrongfully-maligned/?hl=maligned

and

http://www.themarysue.com/cersei-lannister-feminist-character/

[King Tyrion I]

She's a Lannister.

I enjoyed reading her chapters in AFfC and ADwD.

I guess down inside she's very afraid, she's very vulnerable. And she wants to be loved.

[ChillyPolly]

However, Cersei was a asshole long before Joffrey was concieved, as Oberyn confirms.

I don't want to defend Cersei, but Oberyn's words are the last thing you should be counting against her. Oberyn came to spread poison and to destroy the Lannisters. His words are poison, intended to have a poisonous affect. And yeah, they might be true. Maybe.

[Hattori]

She is certainly a joy to read, but I mean there are people out there who LIKE her as a character, let me show you:

http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/116017-queen-cersei-is-wrongfully-maligned/?hl=maligned

and

http://www.themarysue.com/cersei-lannister-feminist-character/

A few days ago, someone on this forum said they loved Viserys as a character, and completely understood his actions. It just goes to show the variety of opinions you can have of the characters.