The girl next door is a young female stock character who is often used in romantic stories. She is named so because she often lives next door to the protagonist or is a childhood friend. They start out with a mutual friendship that later often develops into romantic attraction.
A similar expression is "boy next door".
A girl-next-door character is often seen as natural and unpretentious. A trope that evokes nostalgia, it is associated with small towns and more local or even rural ways of life. [1] The girl next door is often portrayed as innocent. [1]
Actress and singer Doris Day, renowned for her rom-com film roles in the 1950s, is described as a pioneering embodiment of the girl-next-door image in film: [1] regarded as "Hollywood's girl next door". [2]
A common cliche is when a male protagonist is caught in a love triangle between two women, he will usually choose the "sweet, ordinary, and caring girl next door" he grew up with rather than a more well-off or beautiful woman with fewer morals. [3] Other times, this character ignores the hero for another male character, despite being the object of his affections. [4] [ better source needed ]
The character Mary Ann Summers from the TV show Gilligan's Island (portrayed by Dawn Wells) had the girl next door allure, in contrast with the more glamorous character Ginger Grant (portrayed by Tina Louise). [5] Due to the popularity of the show and the two lead female characters, the question "Ginger or Mary Ann?" became shorthand for asking someone whether they preferred a girl-next-door type or a more glamorous type. [6]
Romantic comedy is a sub-genre of comedy and romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles.
All About Eve is a 1950 American drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. It is based on the 1946 short story "The Wisdom of Eve" by Mary Orr, although Orr does not receive a screen credit.
Gilligan's Island is an American sitcom created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz. The show's ensemble cast features Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Tina Louise, Russell Johnson, and Dawn Wells. It aired for three seasons on the CBS network from September 26, 1964, to April 17, 1967. The series follows the comic adventures of seven castaways as they try to survive on an island where they are shipwrecked. Most episodes revolve around the dissimilar castaways' conflicts and their unsuccessful attempts to escape their plight, with the ship's first mate, Gilligan, usually being responsible for the failures.
The damsel in distress is a narrative device in which one or more men must rescue a woman who has been kidnapped or placed in other peril. The "damsel" is often portrayed as beautiful, popular and of high social status; they are usually depicted as princesses in works with fantasy or fairy tale settings. Kinship, love, lust or a combination of those motivate the male protagonist to initiate the narrative.
Tina Louise is an American actress widely known for her role as movie star Ginger Grant in the television situation comedy Gilligan's Island. Louise is the last surviving cast member.
Dawn Elberta Wells was an American actress. She is best known for her role as Mary Ann Summers in the sitcom Gilligan's Island.
Mary Ann Summers is a fictional character in the television sitcom Gilligan's Island which ran on the CBS network from 1964 to 1967, and has run more or less continuously since in reruns. She was played by actress Dawn Wells.
Ginger Grant is a fictional character portrayed by actress Tina Louise in the 1964 to 1967 television sitcom Gilligan's Island.
The final girl or survivor girl is a trope in horror films. It refers to the last girl(s) or woman alive to confront the killer, ostensibly the one left to tell the story. The final girl has been observed in many films, including Psycho, Voices of Desire, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Halloween, Alien, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream, and Terrifier 2. The term "final girl" was coined by Carol J. Clover in her article "Her Body, Himself: Gender in the Slasher Film" (1987). Clover suggested that in these films, the viewer began by sharing the perspective of the killer, but experienced a shift in identification to the final girl partway through the film.
Lovey Howell, is a fictional character from the 1964 television show Gilligan's Island played by Natalie Schafer. The character is a rich socialite married to millionaire businessman Thurston Howell III.
John Michael "J.D." Dorian, M.D., is a fictional character and protagonist of the American comedy-drama television series, Scrubs.
Gilligan's Planet is an American Saturday morning animated series produced by Filmation and MGM/UA Television which aired during the 1982–1983 season on CBS. It was the second animated spin-off of the sitcom Gilligan's Island.
Gilligan's Wake (ISBN 0-312-29123-X) is a 2003 novel, loosely based on the 1960s CBS sitcom Gilligan's Island, written by Esquire film and television critic Tom Carson. The title is derived from the title of the TV show and Finnegans Wake, the final work of Irish novelist James Joyce. The novel was published subsequently as a paperback in 2004 (ISBN 0-312-31114-1).
Gilligan is a fictional character played by Bob Denver on the 1960s TV show Gilligan's Island and its many sequels. Gilligan, affectionately called "little buddy" by the "Skipper", is the bumbling, dimwitted, accident-prone first mate of the SS Minnow. His full name is never given. He wears a trademark red shirt, pale trousers, white sneakers, and white navy cap.
Rescue from Gilligan's Island is a 1978 made-for-television comedy film that continues the adventures of the shipwrecked castaways from the 1964–67 sitcom Gilligan's Island, starring Bob Denver and Alan Hale Jr., and featuring all the original cast except Tina Louise. The film first aired on NBC as a two-part special on October 14 and October 21, 1978. The film has the characters finally being rescued after 15 years on the island. The film was directed by Leslie H. Martinson.
Satsu is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, a comic book continuation of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Introduced as one of the strongest Slayers, she has a close relationship with her mentor Buffy Summers. Satsu develops romantic feelings for Buffy, and the two have a brief sexual relationship. She becomes the leader of her own Slayer squadron in Tokyo, and forms a friendship with fellow Slayer Kennedy during her performance review. She also makes a minor appearance in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Ten.
Surviving Gilligan's Island: The Incredibly True Story of the Longest Three-Hour Tour in History is a 2001 American made-for-television docudrama film based on the 1964–1967 television sitcom Gilligan's Island.
The strong female character is a stock character, the opposite of the damsel in distress. In the first half of the 20th century, the rise of mainstream feminism and the increased use of the concept in the later 20th century have reduced the concept to a standard item of pop culture fiction. This narrative cliche is separate and distinct from the notion of a female character who is well written, granted some form of agency, and whose actions and desires occupy a central place in the story in a way that is unusual in the history of women in literature and women in film.
The depictions of women in film noir come in a range of archetypes and stock characters, including the alluring femme fatale. A femme fatale, is a prevalent and indicating theme to the style of film noir.