There is an Art Behind Writing a Woman in a Movie
The Male Gaze is a concept used to describe the way in which media depicts women from a masculine-oriented perspective. While many claim this to be a so-called "feminist theory," this term has been used across all forms of media to point out inaccuracies in the way women are portrayed, especially in movies. Often, films that objectify women or have an inherent power imbalance embedded in their female roles find themselves criticized with this concept. The Female Gaze has arisen from the previous concept, in which it portrays women more emotionally, exploring complexities of their characters in greater depth. With such concepts being thrown around in the movie-making industry, it brings up the understandable question of how women should be written in movies. It may seem pointless to ask this, since why would it be any different than writing a man, but the truth is it really is different.
For centuries, women have been treated poorly, unjustly, and outright differently than men, and that is a plain fact. In media portrayals, this can apply in the same way, as it's often easy to spot the discrepancies between male and female characters. While sometimes the purpose of the movie lies in showing the struggles a female lead faces, in other movies there is just an odd sense of gender inequality. Movies' themes and ideas revolve around the director's choice, so it gets complex when you consider why a director chooses to do this with their female characters. Most of the time the answer is plain misogyny, but other times they try to embed the idea that women are objects that can be controlled through their films. In order to appeal to a greater, more prevalent male audience, many movies sexualize, objectify, and wrongfully discriminate against female characters. Even if the woman in the movie is the lead role in the film, her character can feel lifeless and dull in the hands of the wrong director.
Countless times, the excuse for such portrayals of women is plain bad writing, or "thinking too deep into it," but in reality it really is that deep. In order to represent your story, plot, and movie correctly, it is essential to be able to write good characters, and that includes female characters too.
When it comes to writing for a woman in a movie, you must be able to understand her emotional depth in the film. Just like anyone else, women experience complexities in their lives and have depth as individuals as any man would. The woman does not exist as an embodiment of sex appeal; she
exists to be understood and follow her chosen narrative in life. For example, in the movie Lady Bird, the lead female role, Lady Bird, is a teenage girl who is experiencing coming-of-age issues with herself and her mother. Lady Bird is a girl who is strong-willed and confident, but also struggles with her sense of place in the world, feeling bound by expectations from her mother. In this way, Greta Gerwig, the director of this movie, develops a female character who is emotionally complex, whom many women can relate to from their own teenage experience. Lady Bird experiences a conflicted sense of self regarding romantic relationships as well, which I found to be very relatable to how it feels to explore young love. Fascinatingly, this movie is critiqued for Lady Bird being bratty and selfish, which I find to be ironic considering it is about a girl who is trying to find herself. However, is what makes people dislike her another point about what people expect from women? This is something to think about.
Another valuable idea to keep in mind when writing a female character is avoiding the typical stereotypes women fall into. Personally, when watching a movie, I find it annoying and overdone when the women in the movie have to fit a certain stereotype or narrative in the story to have a purpose. The fact that there are notable "types of girls" that you see in a movie in the first place is odd. There are categories I see female roles falling into time and time again, like
the manic-pixie dream girl, the love interest, the "cool girl," the nerd, or a damsel in distress. It is supremely disappointing that directors find that the only way to make their female roles "relevant" is by giving them a category personality and leaving it at that. The reality is, women aren't meant to be categorized into a specific set of stereotypes, but instead lead their own lives with unique places in their storylines. One of my favorite examples of a woman leading their own narrative is Laura Palmer in the famous series Twin Peaks. While her character is meant to come off as the popular "perfect" blonde at her school, the reality of her life is extremely tragic. Laura Palmer experiences extremely gut-wrenching events by "Bob," a mysterious man whose identity nobody knows until it is too late. As well, she deeply despises her existence which conflicts the friends and family that adore her. I could spend hours analyzing Laura's story and never truly understand her, which makes her character so much so more captivating. David Lynch directs this series, and he has made movies like Mulholland drive with other well-done female roles. As a man himself, it is surprisingly rare to find a male director who is able to create deeply complex female characters. He truly shows that he cares to write the women in his movies as he cares for them himself, which is evident through every scene in his movies/series.
At the end of the day, it really comes down to the ability for the director to care to make the women in their movies have purpose as individuals. Directors assume that if they sexualize women on screen, it will cause a massive appeal to a male fan base, but that doesn't end up going far. As society
continues to make movies, and develop in general, we must take note of how we write characters and how that reflects the people who will watch the movies. As a woman, when I can emotionally and psychologically connect with a female role in a movie, it makes me more inclined to enjoy the movie itself. Connection is what humans strive for, and to make characters worthwhile to appear on screen, this must be kept in mind. So, sorry, Ramona Flowers, but women are more than just a manic-pixie dream girl at the end of the day.
Until next time,
Between Scenes (Cassidy)
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