If you were writing a script for a film, how would you describe your lead protagonist? Quiet, good-hearted and pensive? Or would they be “blonde, fit and smokin’ hot”? If your lead character isn’t a man, the latter is how Hollywood would want you to describe them, according to a new Twitter account run by Ross Putman called “femscriptintros”.
Putman, who estimates he’s read between 4,000 and 5,000 scripts over the course of his career, is a producer who yesterday (February 10) started tweeting actual intros for actual female leads in actual scripts he gets sent. In every tweet he’s changed the character’s name to JANE, to provide a small dose of anonymity to the sexist scriptwriters he’s holding up for public mockery, but otherwise these character introductions are taken verbatim from scripts. “Apologies if I quote your work”, reads his caustic bio.
If you were already unsure about whether the film industry needs the Bechdel Test – which requires any given film to feature 1. At least two women 2. Who talk to each other 3. About something other than a man – then this exercise should pluck you out of your denial. Take a look below to see some examples of award-winning sexism in the film industry – and if you’re still not seeing it, try getting a sense of what Jane is actually like as a person. That’s not easy, because everything about these characters’ personalities appears to hinge on what they look like…
JANE stands next to it (30's) dressed in a paramedic's uniform – blonde, fit, smokin' hot.
— Ross Putman (@femscriptintros) February 10, 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, a 19 year old Bunny girl – honey-blonde farmland beauty queen.
— Ross Putman (@femscriptintros) February 10, 2016
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
Like draping the Venus De Milo in a burlap dress, Jane’s sensational natural beauty fights through her plain blue Ann Taylor outfit.
— Ross Putman (@femscriptintros) February 10, 2016
A gorgeous woman, JANE, 23, is a little tipsy, dancing naked on her big bed, as adorable as she is sexy. *BONUS PTS FOR BEING THE 1ST LINE
— Ross Putman (@femscriptintros) February 10, 2016
All heads turn to find JANE (28) in the doorway: stunning and trying her best to hide it.
— Ross Putman (@femscriptintros) February 10, 2016
A YOUNG MEXICAN WOMAN sitting on a BUS STOP BENCH. Her name is JANE. She yawns, stretching her pretty face as she struggles to wake up.
— Ross Putman (@femscriptintros) February 10, 2016
JANE is in her mid-30s and attractive, even now with dark semi-circles underlining her closed eyes.
— Ross Putman (@femscriptintros) February 10, 2016
Behind a steamy shower door is the indistinguishable but sexy silhouette of JANE showering.
— Ross Putman (@femscriptintros) February 10, 2016
His wife JANE is making dinner and watching CNN on a small TV. She was model pretty once, but living an actual life has taken its toll.
— 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
She turns and we see her face for the first time. This is the very beautiful, very troubled JANE.
— Ross Putman (@femscriptintros) February 10, 2016
Though drop-dead beautiful, JANE (40) has the appearance of someone whose confidence has been shaken. She is a raw, sexual force, impeded.
— Ross Putman (@femscriptintros) February 10, 2016
Mashable reached out to Putnam for comment, and he explained his decision to start the Twitter account, writing, “Women are first and foremost described as ‘beautiful’, ‘attractive’, or — my personal blow-my-brains-out-favorite, ‘stunning’. They’re always ‘stunning’ in a certain dress or ‘stunning’ despite being covered in dirt because they’re a paleontologist—or whatever. I plan on posting every one that I read, and there are plenty that aren’t offensive, but honestly, most of them have some element—subtle or overt—that plays into latent objectification.”
He also added, “Changing the names to JANE for me…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.”