tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6849264837887138009.post6754440276029909119..comments2023-09-16T09:12:10.902-07:00Comments on Stage Directions: How To Write WomenAshley Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11476511843705173867noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6849264837887138009.post-5899752262340451342013-05-29T07:14:48.162-07:002013-05-29T07:14:48.162-07:00Great thoughts Mike! Great thoughts Mike! Ashley Griffinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11476511843705173867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6849264837887138009.post-70412325278551521312013-05-29T06:58:14.162-07:002013-05-29T06:58:14.162-07:00Great stuff. I love that you brought up the topic ...Great stuff. I love that you brought up the topic of relatable characters in The Wizard of Oz. I think it's a testimony to the author and filmmakers that I relate primarily to Dorothy (because she's the protagonist and the human character most like myself) but also to her companions and the wizard. As a kid, I put myself in Dorothy's shoes (twice!) during her journey. But I ask of myself the same questions her new friends ask of themselves in their moments of doubt. Do I have courage? Do I have heart? Did I use my brain? Like many "Out of the Bottle" magic stories, those characters had inside themselves what they were searching for the whole time.<br /><br />Many screenwriters write the supporting females as damsels in distress even if they don't realize it. Because the damsels don't have to literally be in distress. They have to be reactionary instead of proactive to qualify. That's really the characteristic of the damsel in distress. It's great when females have full character arcs. But since it's not always appropriate for every character to have a full arc, simply making females proactive-- that's a huge step forward. I think of Elizabeth Swan in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl as one of my favorite well rounded female characters on film.<br /><br />I'm constantly amazed at how often making a female character a sexual object is mistaken for female empowerment. Like you pointed out-- let's make her sexy and badass and give her a weapon. That's not empowerment, that's fetish. If she has doubts about the responsibilities of great power, like Peter Parker, that's actually empowerment. If she can't find the safety on the Glock 22, that's probably gender bias and stereotyping. I think you hit the nail on the head with the character designs: conflict, apparent contradiction, insecurities, etc. And as for the reverse engineering when writing characters of our opposite gender, I think we forget than men and women have most of the same internal struggles even though we don't necessarily behave the same way in similar circumstances.Mike Rinaldihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05822785079245085926noreply@blogger.com