Feminine Mode Movies
I recently listened to Screenwriting for Hollywood by Michael Hauge. About two and a half hours into the program, Michael provides a "gift" for his listeners: His concept of Feminine Mode Movies.
To understand feminine mode movies, you must understand masculine mode movies. The good news is you already do. 95% of Hollywood movies are masculine mode movies. Masculine mode movies are defined by the hero's outer motivation. The specific, visible goal with a clearly defined end point. The goal we as the audience are rooting for the hero to accomplish. We know that once this goal has been accomplished, or the hero has died trying, the movie is over. The primary objective in a masculine mode movie is to establish an hierarchy - to come out on top, beat the bad guy, to finish first.
The primary objective of the feminine mode movie is to resolve an imbalance or conflict in a non-romantic relationship (winning romantic love is a masculine mode goal). Michael Hauge uses Postcards from the Edge as an example of feminine mode movies. Postcards is about a troubled actress trying to resolve her relationship with her show business mother. Her outer motivation is to stay with her mother so she can finish the film she is acting in but this is simply an excuse to put the characters together so they are forced to confront one another and attempt to resolve their imbalanced, conflicting relationship.
I don't know if I buy any of this either. Sounds like the difference between a plot driven movie and a character driven movie. I think the idea deserves exploration if only to further understand why some character driven movies do well with audiences and others do not so well.
To understand feminine mode movies, you must understand masculine mode movies. The good news is you already do. 95% of Hollywood movies are masculine mode movies. Masculine mode movies are defined by the hero's outer motivation. The specific, visible goal with a clearly defined end point. The goal we as the audience are rooting for the hero to accomplish. We know that once this goal has been accomplished, or the hero has died trying, the movie is over. The primary objective in a masculine mode movie is to establish an hierarchy - to come out on top, beat the bad guy, to finish first.
The primary objective of the feminine mode movie is to resolve an imbalance or conflict in a non-romantic relationship (winning romantic love is a masculine mode goal). Michael Hauge uses Postcards from the Edge as an example of feminine mode movies. Postcards is about a troubled actress trying to resolve her relationship with her show business mother. Her outer motivation is to stay with her mother so she can finish the film she is acting in but this is simply an excuse to put the characters together so they are forced to confront one another and attempt to resolve their imbalanced, conflicting relationship.
I don't know if I buy any of this either. Sounds like the difference between a plot driven movie and a character driven movie. I think the idea deserves exploration if only to further understand why some character driven movies do well with audiences and others do not so well.
posted by Joe at 9:12 AM
2 Comments:
Well, looking at your examples, DRIVING MISS DAISY was ultimately a feel-good movie. I mean, who couldn't love watching the relationship develop between Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman? Plus, it had already had a reputation as a well-liked play and, perhaps most importantly, the film was perfectly cast. I haven't seen THE HUMAN STAIN, which probably diqualifies me from making this comment, but who could really buy the Anthony Hopkins as an African American and Nicole Kidman as a janitor? From what I've read, HS was a complex film at least partly about the problems with political correctness. DMD was a pretty simple story set in the pre-PC south. Two very different movies (both about race, in one way or another) for two very different audiences. It would be interesting to ask your question about two other character-driven movies that had more in common - say LOST IN TRANSLATION, which did well and won all sorts of accolades, vs. say, I don't know, THE GOOD GIRL...
Good point. I'm changing my examples. Thanks for reading.
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