In an interview with the LA Times in 1994, Robin Wright offered her interpretation of Jenny. “She’s a lost soul who finds herself, but she is not a tragic figure, at least not more than any other girl going through her 20s and that catharsis,” the “House of Cards” star said. “Maybe the difference is that we get to see her through every transformation over 30 years in a movie, as opposed to a therapy session.”

I’ve meditated on and tried so hard to understand Wright’s point of view, but I just can’t brush off Jenny’s life as one that is typical for any other 20-something-year-old girl who’s been through what she has experienced. I don’t believe Wright truly considered the sadness in how Jenny’s upbringing and the sexual abuse she suffers at the hands of her own father as an innocent little girl (played by Hanna R. Hall ) shapes the poor decisions she makes as an adult that ultimately leads to her early demise. Jenny’s life, by definition, is a Shakespearean tragedy.

I understand it’s common for people to enter adulthood with baggage and simply not be ready for the world. Some enroll in college, and switch majors every semester only to realize school just isn’t for them. They drop out and idle through society hoping to find that one thing that truly ignite that spark within them. Some experiment with drugs. They may also explore their sexuality before they find their true loves. In that regard, Jenny is no different as we see her jump from being a “Playboy” model, to nude nightclub folk singer, to anti-war activist and ally of the Black Panther and the hippie counterculture movements.