Some are cool girls for career advancement, some are cool girls simply to survive. Avoid relying on the Bechdel Test too religiously. By signing up you are agreeing to receive emails according to our privacy policy. Don't feel you have to create a stereotypically "good looking" character. Fortunately, falling into this pitfall isn't unavoidable. Imagine their surprise when the two of them found out that their single parents are now dating each other. The cool girl is a myth perpetuated by mostly male writers. Three teenage girls – Cher, Tai, and Dionne – posing together for a photo and smiling. One day, she got into a squabble with Brooke, the leader of the Girl Posse of blondes at her school. The "Cool Girl" trope is not to be confused with the "Manic Pixie Dream Girl" trope. Okay, you've watched the video. This creates extreme discomfort in the women watching and playing these female characters. Check out this video from The Take and let's talk after the jump! You can include characters of different races, genders. The male point of view in writing within the history of the industry has been discussed a lot. The cool girl is one of the guys. To create this article, volunteer authors worked to edit and improve it over time. However, both these portrayals of women are demeaning and dangerous. She is a collection of attributes, a list of someone's favourite things. © 2021 NONETWORK, LLC. Don’t make them always have a witty comeback, because that can be super annoying. 0. And they’re damn sexy while they’re at it, obviously. She's the direct mirror to the male protagonists' likes and dislikes within the world. So here’s the most classic (beaten to death) format of “character development” that mainstream cinema could ever have to offer a female lead. Has she simply seen too many American high school dramas? Or course, you can also have men read over the work. The Fast and the Furious series features this trope in abundance, but it really reaches its apex in the climax to Fast Five. By using our site, you agree to our. These women are usually stripped of their femininity outside of pure looks, which gets to point of emphasis across clearly. Many other factors should be taken into account. But stick with me. The same goes for the development executives reading and considering your projects. If your audience cannot identify with the people on the screen you'll have lost them right away. A cool girl character is often juxtaposed with a traditionally girly female character, who is showcased as uptight, superficial and annoying. Be careful about self-inserts (adding yourself or someone representing you into the story), they can usually end up being a Mary Sue. Subscribe to receive the free PDF! At 53 years old, my natural brown hair has a funky flair to it. You can have your character develop by being an individual. You can implicitly show the character's insecurity or insecurities by having them get defensive about it or by having them feel they have to "prove" something. X If someone in the story says or does something sexist (regardless of the character's gender), have another character call it out. Instead of having the character being "not like other girls", acknowledge that every person is different and shouldn't be held against each other. Instead of having her physical characteristic disappear (for example, having a scar completely vanish is unrealistic), have her accept this part of herself. It doesn't really make sense for a character to have only the same hobbies as their friends - chances are good you have at least a few different interests and hobbies from your friends, even if you share a lot of them. All that is required is to have two named female characters have a conversation with each other about something other than a male. Research source Due to tons of time at the gym and strict vegetarianism, I can still wear a swimsuit with pride. Born Sexy Yesterday: Why Does This Male-Fantasy Trope Need to Go? If you don't know any women, that's a real problem! She is usually used as a catalyst for the male protagonist's change. Give your character a goal or something to aim for. ... and by following this trope, we’ve internalised the characteristics to a point where it becomes a hole that’s difficult to dig out of. [1] wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. Precisely the tropes the LGBTQ community is trying to eliminate. Please consider supporting our work with a contribution to wikiHow. Posted by BlickwinkelYouth March 26, 2020 April 23, 2020 Posted in Gender, Opinion, Society & Culture Tags: Cool Girl, feminism. TV shows like How I Met Your Mother thrive off this kind of writing and casting. Tropes in movies and television can help balance your writing and allow you to control the tone.. ... Sign up for Skillshare: https://skl.sh/thetake67 | She's not like other girls. If so, it is likely she doesn't contribute to the plot in any way. The heroes steal a 10-ton vault by attaching it via steel cables to two souped up Dodge Chargers, then use the cars to tear the vault from the building. It was called out and deconstructed by Gillian Flynn in her book and subsequent movie, Gone Girl. 10 Tropes About Women That Women Should Stop Laughing About. X The Young Adult (YA) genre has been overrun with tropes. As you’ll see from this list, stereotypes can be positive or negative and for protagonists or antagonists. You can have a character who doesn't meet society's beauty standards. Here's a Top 10 list of the most common tropes and how to avoid them. wikiHow is where trusted research and expert knowledge come together. Flynn got the idea of the cool girl from watching the movie, There's Something About Mary. In this monologue, we hear everything that makes up the male fantasy of this kind of character trope. The Cool Girl Trope. Sometimes when you're writing a new screenplay or pilot, you want to develop a character you think takes on the normal tropes or stereotypes. The 'Cool Girl' Trope: Real Life Fantasy, Screenwriting Nightmare. I do this to absorb what works and what didn't work for the people who tried before. Despite being stripped of her femininity, she appears hot without trying. But her very title as a “cool” girl comes entirely from not acting how we expect teenage girls to act – and that forced dichotomy says a lot about how we view young women. [9] Whilst a "Cool Girl" is usually masculine, this is not the defining trait of "Cool Girls". And want to shack up. They may also doubt other women's allegations of rape or violence. Unfollow. The Kick-butt Action Girl – Likes to punch, kick, and be tough We've been helping billions of people around the world continue to learn, adapt, grow, and thrive for over a decade. the most important thing about them. These female characters cope with a despair or a dark and troubled past by becoming as cynical, stoic, and / or badass as possible. Follow. It is used to describe a female character who is "not like other girls" and is usually made to be seen as the "ideal girl". She's a COOL girl. She also will have almost no arc outside of what happens to her love interest. This character exists mainly to emphasize just how laidback and low maintenance the cool girl is. If that's the case, let the character be single. I'm talking about the character who pops off the page and can attract all sorts of actors, depending on the role's execution. But the weird girl? For example, if the character avoids social interaction, this might be because of an insecurity. All Rights Reserved. If we want to make the cool girl a gone girl, we need to write and produce knowing this trope exists and do our best to avoid it. You might want to take a look at How to. Like the "Cool Girl", she does not have a character arc and is merely used as a prop for the male protagonist. Cool girls are often so thinly written that they are unrelatable to anyone watching or force insane fantasies upon viewers that set an impossible standard by which we judge people in real life. Including more female characters means that each character can have imperfections and doesn't have to be good at everything. This trope was confronted in the book and movie Gone Girl. Use "women" when referring to adults, not "girls". Or what about the character of Rachel, in Forgetting Sarah Marshall? You can start off with a character who considers herself to be "not like other girls" before realising having feminine interests are okay. Manic Pixie Dream Girl was a term coined in 2007 by writer Nathan Rabin, who defined it as a character who “exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures.”. As a male screenwriter, I also seek the advice and notes of people outside my purview. I’m not sure exactly when it happened, but lately I’ve begun to feel invisible. Taking Center Stage. This article seeks to explore who she is, what she wants, and why any of it matters. Adding humour can make a character easier to connect with. So here’s the most classic (beaten to death) format of “character development” that mainstream cinema could ever have to offer a female lead. Off-and-on wars ensue, both at home and at school. [5] Young readers have heard 'em all before, and so have the publishers that want to be the first to market with something fresh. This is not to say women don't enjoy beer, or golf, or sports...plenty of entertainment goes out of its way to frame this correctly...but when those same women are only defined by how hot they are at the end of it, like Megan Fox's character in Transformers, you have a problem. Try to make the characters' appearances diverse. While the cool girl trope may seem appealing, because it is so desired by both men and women, the cool girl trope is harmful. To create this article, volunteer authors worked to edit and improve it over time. She is a collection of attributes, a list of someone's favourite things. SaintEvrest subs count. The sexualization of Megan Fox’s character is what led to her leaving the “Transformers” films. Meet the weird girl, the black sheep of female character tropes, and not just because she often dresses in black. The women play certain prop roles just as men do in female dominant movies, and "Cool girls" are quite a realtiy in life and that's not amale invention. Give them their flaws like you would with any other character. Try to avoid forcing a relationship onto a character. Ironically this article seems to be from a very cis hetero male viewpoint of what women and men should be in society. The “Cool Girl” trope makes men mistakenly think, “You’re not like other girls,” is a valid compliment rather than misogynistic and offensive. Yeah, I know, it's a brain twister. And which genres to mash-up? Movies like Bringing Up Baby showed women fulfilling the male fantasy, in an almost manic pixie dream girl sort of way. The ‘Cool’ Teenage Girl. It all started Steph arrived, impressing Locky with her love of burritos. To me the 'cool girl' trope has always been something I could see happening, but the passage in Gone Girl articulated it in a succinct and powerful fashion, and therefore led to more women openly discussing it. Consider the character's fears. It sounds like your character might be relying on the male characters to have interests, which suggests she's underdeveloped. Womanhood is a broad church; call us legion, for we are many. This is not to say that the character can't have any of these traits, but they shouldn't have all of them. For each of the tropes on my list, you could therefore add the statement, “And that’s all we know about her.” That’s what makes it a poorly-written cop-out. 20 Views Share Embed Download. Once upon a time, there were a pack of Cool Loser brunettes, led by a girl named Sam. Such characters are usually, but not always, written by men. Usually the "Cool Girl" doesn't speak her mind as all her thoughts reflect the male's thoughts. Posted by BlickwinkelYouth March 26, 2020 April 23, 2020 Posted in Gender, Opinion, Society & Culture Tags: Cool Girl, feminism. A "Cool Girl" is a female character whose personality is a reflection of their male love interest's. But the "cool girl" ideas has been in film and television since its inception. October 27, 2016 / Gina Tonic. wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. The "Cool Girl" trope is commonly used in fiction. It says that women can’t like both sports and shopping, making the “Cool Girl” just as one-dimensional as the “Girly Girl” or any other female trope. For example, they may be insecure about their weight, scars, birthmarks, race, hair or acne. 10 Tropes About Women That Women Should Stop Laughing About Stereotypes are powerful because they're easy, which is why we see them standing in … biluz . But, the trope has since become so pervasive, the cool girl … You'll Be Able to Record Blackmagic RAW on the Nikon Z7 II and Z6 II Next Week, 13 Filmmakers Share the Advice You Need to Direct an Indie Feature, Amazon Prime Video Direct Denies Docs and Shorts a Platform, ‘I Care A Lot’ Director J Blakeson on Breaking the Femme Fatale Mold, All the Things We Learned from the 2021 Writers' Roundtable, Shooting Outside the System with 'Jockey' Director Clint Bentley, Listen to Tarantino and Roger Deakins' Polarizing Discussion about Film Formats. FYI, 'The Cool Girl' trope is alive and well, if the premiere of 'The Bachelor' Australia 2020 is anything to go by. The cool girl trope does not describe a whole person. Annoying voice too. But, the trope has since become so pervasive, the cool girl … All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published. The cool girl started out as a stock character born out of male-authored literature and movies. The Cool Girl trope has been in pop culture for te past several years. Stereotypes are powerful because they're easy, which is why we see them standing in … Such characters may also not complain about casual misogyny and usually are anti-feminist. This means that the ones that do exist have to represent all females, therefore having to be perfect so they don't reflect poorly on women as a whole. The Hottie & the Nottie: Cool girl Hottie is best friends with the nerdy Nottie. Every dollar contributed enables us to keep providing high-quality how-to help to people like you. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 2,195 times. I can understand the desire for every female character to have meaningful roles but I think this article misses the mark in a few ways and is trying too hard to appease a certain demographic, which to me as a writer is the fastest way to kill a good story or character of any sex. They only care about physical appearance. The cool girl trope does not describe a whole person. The "Cool Girl" usually doesn't seem to have any political opinions, in order to not be seen as "problematic". Let's do a deep dive together. Be aware physical strength isn't the only type of strength. It's 100+ pages on what you need to know to make beautiful, inexpensive movies using a DSLR. Get a few women to read your work if you're nervous! She’s a cautionary tale. By Manavi Chauhan. Tag: trope. The Cool Girl Trope, Explained 0. A character can still be feminine whilst being successful. A "Manic Pixie Dream Girl" is an eccentric, bubbly female character with lots of quirks. Either way, the cool girl is more accepted by fans than any other embodiment of woman in sports media. One of the easiest insecurities to include is insecurity about appearance. In reality, every single person on earth has their own interests, even if they do overlap with other people's. They are usually just there for their love interest. If she says she is "not like other girls", give her a reason for being the way she is. Let me know what you think in the comments! Tip: If you are having trouble finding flaws, think of the seven deadly sins: lust, wrath, sloth, gluttony, envy, greed, and pride. The secret is in the tropes. As you're reading, I'm sure your mind immediately is jumping to different portrayals of this kind of character. We all want better film and television on the air. Laid back, interested in dweeby, out of shape guys as much as jocks, and never stresses. Film and TV genres affect who watches your work, how it's classified, and even how it's reviewed. X Sloane, from Ferris Beuller, was all about fulfilling Ferris' fantasies about his big day off. 360p. There are 22 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. But does this fun, junk food-loving hottie actually exist? A Deep Examination of the Final Girl Trope. It is okay to give your character "attractive" flaws such as being clumsy, but don't make that their only flaw. The "Cool Girl" is a trope we've seen overused, subverted, and lampooned. How the scathing "Gone Girl" rant about being the "cool girl" defined the decade “Men actually think this girl exists," protagonist Amy Dunne muses while damning society for the "cool girl… What if both people at the center of the story had to fundamentally work on themselves or just reason with the other person to have a healthy dynamic? So that when Scott wins the girl, it's really cool. This article has been viewed 2,195 times. She eschews “drama” but has no problem joining men in criticizing other women, individually and as a gender. Younger people can be especially impressionable. This does not have to be straight after it happens. If the story is written from a male's perspective it is unlikely it will pass the Bechdel Test, so don't try to force it to pass by creating unnecessary dialogue. Have characters comment on something the character can control, such as her makeup, or her clothes. The "Cool Girl" trope can convince people that there really are females who are exactly the same as a male partner instead of all being individuals. What Does Sony Have Up Its Sleeve for the February Launch? This can add a lot of relatability to them. This article has been viewed 2,195 times. Posted on March 14, 2018 September 6, 2018. I was 19. The more you focus on the development and arcs of the characters at the center, the less they'll feel like stale archetypes with no part of reality. Published on 22 Nov 2020 / In Film & Animation. It is okay to base a character off a real person in fiction, as long as you don't make them an exact double. Character development is an important part of storytelling. If she doesn't learn and grow throughout the story, show it. An easy way to have a character show emotion is through physical reactions. Research source. The cool girl started out as a stock character born out of male-authored literature and movies. This trope is most commonly used by male authors writing about a secondary female character, usually as a love interest for the protagonist. Characters without flaws are usually called Mary Sues. Also, if you're writing a romantic comedy or drama, think about this question: What if your characters had to accommodate one another? An exception to this would be if the character is a transgender male. It transforms women into unrealistic, imaginary objects. When I sit down to write a film or television show I try to watch as many shows or movies in a similar genre. We use cookies to make wikiHow great.
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