When creating a character there are a lot of things to consider, and take into account. You want your character to have personality, motivation, fears, and internal and external conflict – to name a few. You don’t want your character to be a cardboard cutout. Or function merely as a plot device.
In a Hollywood climate full of superheroes, sequels, remakes, and male-centric storylines, strong, flawed and complex female characters are a rare commodity. Hollywood producer Ross Putman recently created a twitter account to share with the world all the distasteful (and unimaginative) ways writers describe female characters in scripts.
Women working within the industry have been protesting gender discrimination for a long time, and moviegoers are constantly disheartened by the lack of strong and dynamic female characters. Putman’s twitter only highlights how pervasive sexism and gender discrimination in the industry actually is, and serves as a hefty reminder that this is an important conversation and one that needs to be had.
In a recent interview with Jezebel, Putman talked about his twitter project and what inspired him to create the account. “Women are almost always, first and foremost, described based on their physical attractiveness. Which is, you know, subjective anyway depending on the person”. Putman explained.
“But there’s a standard of beauty to which you know these writers are referring. The suggestion is that women are only valuable if they’re “beautiful.” It’s not always true, but it’s an underlying current. Beyond that, scripts always make a point of quite distinctly saying when someone ‘isn’t beautiful'”.
For privacy’s sake he has changed every name to Jane, not wanting to shame individual screenwriters but rather highlight that the industry as a whole is in dire need of improvement. He explained that, “Changing the names to JANE for me, while maintaining that focus on systemic issues, also—at least, I think—demonstrates how female characters are often thought about in the same, simplistic and often degrading way. Giving them all the same name, I hope, emphasizes that”. Read some of the tweets below:
JANE, 28, athletic but sexy. A natural beauty. Most days she wears jeans, and she makes them look good.
— Ross Putman (@femscriptintros) February 10, 2016
Across from him, his wife, JANE. Also 40, still a knockout. The soft candlelight makes her beauty glow.
— Ross Putman (@femscriptintros) February 11, 2016
JANE, with lengthy blonde hair, enters. Attractive in an effortless way, she carries an alluring and yet forward charm behind a bold smile.
— Ross Putman (@femscriptintros) February 11, 2016
JANE pours her gorgeous figure into a tight dress, slips into her stiletto-heeled fuck-me shoes, and checks herself in the dresser mirror.
— Ross Putman (@femscriptintros) February 10, 2016
JANE (late 20s) sits hunched over a microscope. She’s attractive, but too much of a professional to care about her appearance.
— Ross Putman (@femscriptintros) February 10, 2016
#Peace.Love.RossPutman
