AS I SIT HERE in my writer's garret, finishing my third novel, HARTFORD
1944, I had an epiphany. Why is it that a disproportionate number of young girls
depicted in movies are either orphans or come from a dysfunction one parent
family? Often times if the girl does
have parents, they are decidedly absent or neglectful. This seems to be a common
theme in literature and movies. Good story-telling always involves conflict, and a child without parents is perhaps every child's worst fear. The plot device allows the girl to venture into the dangerous world and have adventures and develop traits
of self-reliance and bravery without the comfort (or hindrance) of parental supervision.
The literary formula seems almost universal and unavoidable
and is true for boys as well as girls. However with the boys, the trend less often
depicts them forming a bond with a “mother” figure. The girls by contrast invariably
seem to end up befriending some curmudgeonly man whose motives are usually purely altruistic
and platonic. They say there are only seven basic stories you can tell, and the tale of the young girl who
comes of age under the wing of a “father” figure appears to be a standard formula.
In my first novel TESSA CLAIBORNE,
The year is 1878, and Tessa’s father is dead and her mother sells her daughter into indentured servitude. Thirteen-year-old Tessa flees the London textile mills and disguises herself as a boy and joins the
army. She has all sorts of unsupervised
adventures in South Africa .
In HARTFORD
1944 Janie McConaughey enjoys both parents, not withstanding, she escapes
parental authority by running away and joining the circus where she makes
friends with a clown Walter who serves as her parental father figure and mentor.
Here's my list of young girl orphan movies, I compiled to make my point. The list is intended to be neither comprehensive nor exhaustive. It's just a short list. I'm sure there are some glaring omissions.
PAPER MOON (1973), Tatum O’Neal is
Addie Pray an orphan child on the lam with a man who may or may not be her
father.
BAD NEWS BEARS (1976),
Tatum O’Neal is shepherded by a beer swilling cigar smoking Water Mathau.
ORPHAN (2009), Isabelle Furhman is a
homicidal 9 year-old orphan girl who seduces her step-father.
TRUE GRIT (1969, 2010), Mattie
Ross is effectively orphaned, her relationship is with an aging gunslinger Rooster Cogburn.
WALKABOUT (1971), Schoolgirl Jenny Agutter and her brother become stranded in the Australian outback when their father shoots himself. Girl walks around in the wilderness naked . . .
KICK ASS (2010), Chloe Moretz plays a pint-size vigilante/assassin and she talks dirty too! Hit Girl has no mother, only a father.
WALKABOUT (1971), Schoolgirl Jenny Agutter and her brother become stranded in the Australian outback when their father shoots himself. Girl walks around in the wilderness naked . . .
KICK ASS (2010), Chloe Moretz plays a pint-size vigilante/assassin and she talks dirty too! Hit Girl has no mother, only a father.
LAWN DOGS (1997), Ten-year-old Mischa Barton plays Devon, a girl neglected by her parents. She develops a crush on the lawn mower guy.
THE PROFESSIONAL (1994), Natalie
Portman is orphan girl who adopts a hit man as her father figure with a decided Oedipus subtext.
Jodie Foster frequently put in work as the little girl lost.
TAXI DRIVER (1976), Iris is a
runaway prostitute who has a relationship with a psychotic taxi driver.
CANDLESHOE (1976), Jodie Foster plays an
orphan street urchin.
ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE (1974), Jodie is Audrey, a wisecracking, shoplifting, wine-guzzling tomboy who's mother is a prostitute.
ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE (1974), Jodie is Audrey, a wisecracking, shoplifting, wine-guzzling tomboy who's mother is a prostitute.
THE LITTLE GIRL WHO
LIVES DOWN THE LANE (1976), Jodie is an orphan with
an unsavory relationship with Martin Sheen.
Dakota Fanning has played her share of wastrel waifs.
Dakota Fanning has played her share of wastrel waifs.
WAR OF THE WORLDS
(2005), The Martians are attacking Dakota, and she has Tom Cruise for a father,
I don’t know which is worse.
HIDE AND SEEK (2005),
Dakota’s mother is murdered, only a father.
MAN ON FIRE (2004),
Dakota has two parents, but they are neglectful, she develops a strong parental bond
with Denzel Washington her bodyguard.
HOUNDDOG (2007), Dakota has no mother, and she plies the neighbor boy with kisses to show her his winkie.
Shirley Temple was almost always depicted as an orphan or a waif.
SUSANNA OF THE MOUNTIES (1939)
Shirley is the orphaned survivor of an
Indian attack in the Canadian West, she has thing for Mounties.
LITTLE MISS MARKER (1934) Shirley is abandoned by her
father and used as collateral to cover a bet on a horse race.
BRIGHT EYES, (1934) Shirley is an
orphan, again.
CURLY-TOP (1935) Wealthy
Edward Morgan becomes charmed with a curly-haired orphan Shirley.
CAPT IAN JANUARY (1936) Shirley lives with a lighthouse keeper
who rescued her when her parents drowned.
1 comment:
Not to rain on the parade -- But Walt Disney considered this almost an absolute requirement for his movies. The children (usually girls) were always orphaned or had only a father figure. This provided built in sympathy for the character and it also raised the precarious nature of her life. Think Snow White, Cinderella, and (of course) Bambi -- but it even occurs in most of the modern incantations (Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Lion King.)
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