Cinemusings

THE WOMAN IN THE STORY: WRITING MEMORABLE FEMALE CHARACTERS
Written by Felix Vasquez Jr.

Though I'm not a screenwriter I am a writer currently at work on his second book and it's very interesting and thrilling to read books such as author Helen Jacey's "The Woman in the Story" that helps me learn more about constructing and understanding the female mystique and the forms of the feminine persona that could ultimately decide the direction of the story the writer is penning and reflect upon the writer's sensibilities. Helen Jacey explicitly states that whether or not the writer is the enlightened male or a strong female feminist, how a woman is depicted will explain the writer's ultimate views of the female persona and that regardless of how equality has presented itself in society, writing men and women is a vastly different task. While some writers may think that borders on stifling the creative process by pigeon holing the male and female in to a certain category that can always be flexed (i.e. Ellen Ripley was originally written as a man), I do agree to an extent with Jacey that the man and woman individual are immensely different in terms of personality, attitude and overall demeanor. Positing the book as something of a text book, Jacey breaks down the attitudes of feminism endowed in female protagonists, as well as themes of the feminism among many notable movies like "Chloe" and "Juno," as well as otherwise multi-layered familial relationship present with female protagonists and antagonists.

As well she also measures the male individual to the female noting the differences and distinct challenge each will face in the duration of the story the writer will expand upon in their screenplay. Meanwhile she also sets down a questionnaire and challenge to the readers to focus in on asking them to re-think their female characters and ask them what purposes they serve to the narrative in the end. Are they just obligatory? Would the story be any different with a man instead of a female? And what challenge would they face that would be unique in the end. While the book does influence its readers to work on and extrapolate on their female characters, Jacey also asks the writers to think why they need a female protagonist in the first place, citing that sometimes it is wholly unnecessary, especially when there isn't anything completely new to accomplish. Jacey dissects the female role in many films and applies that to the elements of bringing together a competent screenplay with female protagonists and makes for an engrossing guide book to anyone looking for insight in to the female psyche hoping to strive for something new and original instead of harping on the same doldrums we've seen in hundreds of films before.

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