Stephanie - bad character or just bad casting?

I'm almost sure that Stephanie wasn't meant to be such a dislikable character , but I see a lot of negativity in regards to her and the actress that plays her - even some going as far as to say that Tony was wrong to reject Annette and should've ended up with her instead - even though it's made pretty clear that Tony wants more out of life where Annette is content to make do. And according to her "it's only dancing" when to Tony it's clearly more than that.

So, enter Stephanie, who is supposed to be a kindred spirit sort of figure for Tony. She too wants to make something of herself and uses disco dancing as an escape from her everyday drudgery - okay, so she has a haughty demeanour and a backhanded way of "bettering herself", but I'm fairly certain it was the intention of the film makers to make her a pitiful character, rather than an actively disliked one - especially when it becomes obvious that she isn't as sophisticated as she pretends.

Aside from her snotty attitude, I see a lot of the problems people have with Stephanie include Karen Lynn Gorney's voice and the fact that she isn't that great of a dancer. So my question is: was Stephanie supposed to be an unsympathetic character or would she have been more likeable if she was played by another actress?



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