Pre-Code Hollywood refers to the era in the American film industry between the introduction of sound in the late 1920s and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code (usually labeled, albeit inaccurately after 1934, as the “Hays Code”) censorship guidelines. Although the Code was adopted in 1930, oversight was poor and it did not become rigorously enforced until July 1, 1934. Before that date, movie content was restricted more by local laws, negotiations between the Studio Relations Committee (SRC) and the major studios, and popular opinion than strict adherence to the Hays Code, which was often ignored by Hollywood filmmakers.
As a result, films in the late 1920s and early 1930s included sexual innuendo, miscegenation, profanity, illegal drug use, promiscuity, prostitution, infidelity, abortion, intense violence and homosexuality.
do authors cry when they kill the best characters or
| Me: | I like this character |
| Character: | *dies* |
No one likes to read about a character who is paper-thin. Unfortunately, in literature, some authors have a bad habit of giving their male characters complete back stories and rich personalities but limiting their female characters to a list of tropes and stereotypes.
According to the Internet, there’s a list of very specific traits that a female character needs to be strong. This list includes:
- She can never cry.
- She can’t be feminine.
- She has to be completely emotionless.
- She can’t rely on anyone.
- She can never fall in love.
If you notice, these are all character traits that are often associated with male characters. Men don’t cry, they don’t show emotions, they don’t need help. Men are associated with being big and strong and masculine, while women are associated with being small and weak and feminine (These are what the kids these days call ‘gender roles.’) Men are strong and women are weak, and the only way to make a strong female character is to make her more manly.
This is bullshit.
So here’s the thing. Your female character doesn’t have to fall into these stereotypes to be considered strong. She can wear dresses and have a boyfriend and cry and still be strong. So here’s a better list of what you need to have a strong female character:
- She must change and grow over time.
That’s it. Nothing else matters. When reading a novel, we as readers want a character who is like a real person, and real people change over time. What we don’t want is to read about the stoic badass spy who stops the bad guys and walks away, taking nothing from her experience and the novel ends exactly the way she started.
Your female characters can be feminine, they can be masculine, or they can be anything in between—it seriously does not matter. If someone tries to tell you your character is weak because of her opinion on the color pink, go ahead and punch that person in the face.
Magic Magic starring Emily Browning, Michael Cera and Juno Temple
Feeling protected is very seductive.
Secret Beyond the Door… (1947)
My favorite moment this movie: Celia, two mexicans and KNIFE.
I’d seen fights before - nightclub brawls, a fist-fight over a cigarette girl. When one man was knocked down, the fight was over. But this was different: A woman and two men who may have known her an hour or less fighting for her with naked knives. Death was in that street…(c)
The Tempest (2010)
