Prostitutes are heroic.
Feel free to snicker and scoff and disagree, but think about it. Pretty Woman, Risky Business, Taxi Driver, Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo. What do these have in common? The streetwalker is who the audience identifies the most with, the one who people sympathize with. This is clearly a manipulation on the part of the screenwriters, but why has there not yet been a movie (at least that I have heard of) that depicts prostitutes in a degrading light?
I think there are 5 main reasons why Hollywood chooses to highlight the life of a hooker:
1. Making the prostitute the protagonist (or at least a central character) allows for a potential sex scene. (Sex sells, duh.)
2. Hookers typically resort to their profession because they fall on hard times. Sadly, this creates an excellent dynamic for a drama.
3. There is still a stigma about prostitutes. Prostitutes = controversial.
Controversial = more press. More press = more audience. More
audience = more ca$h money. More ca$h money = more prostitutes. You get the idea.
4. The whole Pretty Woman Situation (prostitute is hired by a rich man but they fall in love and are consequently torn by their morals and emotions) is so cute. Too bad Gary Marshall totally capitalized on that Cinderella story. That could have been a sub genre right there.
5. You cannot help but think, "Man, I'm glad I'm not in that situation." Witnessing prostitution appeals to our pathos, which is the most basic formula for an engaging narrative.Dallas totally applies to these principles. Her and Ringo's love is met with
hope and optimism. Her taking care of Lucy's baby is regarded as noble and responsible. Although Stagecoach is recongnized for its innovative
cinematic elements, I like to consider it the grandfather of prostitute movies. So how about a big hand to Claire Trevor in her role as Dallas for paving the way for the Julia Roberts's and Jodie Foster's of our generation.
6 comments:
Even though i didn't see the movie, i definitely agree with the fact that prostitutes in movies is a good choice. Especially the really gross old ones that creep on people. You rock.
Anniessa: I know we're not supposed to just say "I agree" about people's blogs, but in this case I really do agree with everything your saying about how in Hollywood, prostitutes=hero. I also like your little list. Very insightful. Nice job. haha
If John Ford managed to make you think that hard about prostitutes, then he clearly did an excellent job in crafting his characters. I think the reason that there aren't more movies about evil prostitutes is that they would be morally-wrong on multiple levels versus just one (being a prostitute). I found your post to be hilarious and I wish more people would have as much fun with these assignments as you do.
Nice blog post. I agree with some movies which allow the prostitutes to be the heroes, but I love how you have your reasons of how Hollywood sells sex.
Anniessa-
This blog post was very insightful. It's so true the prostitute always ends up being the hero of many stories. I've never really thought about prostitutes an in-depth as you have. haha but that's fine. I thought your list was very well thought out. Super job!
I totally agree with you! If you watch once upon a time in the west, the character of Jill is also a prostitute, and a heroine at that! Well, i guess she doesn't do to much to be a heroine but she's the prettiest lady i have ever seen in my life! And i, too, always think of pretty woman, when the topic of prostitutes being heroines comes up, pretty woman is one of my favorite classic movies (classic in my book). Julia roberts DEFFINATELY portrays a heroine. You just can't debate that.
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