Hooker with a heart of gold
The hooker with a heart of gold is a
Characteristics
The character type is defined by morally positive traits, which are contrasted with the character's employment as a prostitute. The narrative will often provide extenuating circumstances for the character's prostitution, and emphasize her personal decency. Sometimes, the character will be a foil for another female character who reflects negative stereotypes of uptight or frigid women.[1] Per Nell Damon Galles, the character is "the good girl who made one too many bad decisions—losing her virginity, becoming promiscuous, and eventually entering the dark world of prostitution."[2] The "hooker with a heart of gold" has also been described as a "modern 'secular' counterpart" of the medieval sinner-saint.[3]
Historical development
Prostitutes appear in ancient Greek literature as far back as the
In classical Roman literature, the prostitute was commonly portrayed as especially selfish; the stereotypically bad woman against whom the femina bona (good woman, typically a loyal wife) was contrasted. This stigma against prostitutes largely persisted in Western society from Roman times until at least the start of the 21st century. Nevertheless, the prostitute with a heart of gold still appeared quite frequently in Roman writings from around the time of Terence; for example in Terence's Hecyra and in Livy's semi fictionalised account of Hispala Faecenia. The Roman prostitute with a heart of gold was however invariably portrayed as an exception to the norm for prostitutes to be selfish and greedy. Unlike the Greek "good hetaera", who could sometimes end up marrying elite men, the Roman prostitute with a heart of gold was expected to know her place at the margins of Roman society, though there were exceptions.[6]
Subsequent development of the stereotype may also have drawn inspiration from traditions surrounding the
In French literature, early appearances of the hooker with the heart of gold occurred towards the end of the 18th century, including
The 1848 French novel by
In American cinema, prostitutes were generally portrayed sympathetically even from the earliest films, though the hooker with a heart of gold was relatively rare until the 1980s. Some early examples of movies featuring a hooker with a heart of gold are the 1917 and 1918 versions of Camille, 1932's Shanghai Express with Marlene Dietrich and the 1939 movie Stagecoach.[10][11] From European sources, mainstream portrayals were begun to be seen by the early 1960s in internationally-popular films such as Never on Sunday and Irma la Douce. The "hooker with a heart of gold" archetype became most prominent in American cinema during the 1980s, peaking with Pretty Woman. The development of the trope reflected a more lighthearted cultural attitude toward prostitution, which nonetheless overall condemned women for the social transgression of prostitution. The character of Mona in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) exemplifies the era's hooker with a heart of gold: a wonderful woman whose goodness is surprising and amusing because she is also a prostitute, and whose love interest berates her for prostitution.[1] These films have been criticized as akin to sexploitation films for the way they present a glamorized and male-dominated view of prostitution.[12] The hooker with a heart of gold has also been criticized as a "pathetic cliché".[11]
The character of Ophelia played by Jamie Lee Curtis in the 1983 comedy Trading Places also represents an example of a hooker with a heart of gold, according to some reviewers.[13]
See also
- Counterstereotype
- List of famous prostitutes and courtesans
- Said the actress to the bishop
Further reading
- Johnson, Katie N. (2017-10-30). "Consumptive Chic: The Postfeminist Recycling of Camille in Baz Luhrman's Moulin Rouge!". Prostitution and Sex Work in Global Cinema: New Takes on Fallen Women. Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-64608-4.
References
- ^ a b Griffiths, Heather (2010). "Cinematic Forced Atonement, 1960-2000: The Masculine Gaze and Violence Against Female Prostitutes". Sociation Today. 8 (2). Archived from the original on 2022-05-31. Retrieved 2022-05-16.
- from the original on 2023-11-02. Retrieved 2022-05-20.
- from the original on 2023-11-02. Retrieved 2022-05-20.
- ISBN 978-3110556759.
- from the original on 2022-05-22. Retrieved 2022-05-22.
the term "good hetaerae", as defined in a much-discussed passage in Plutarch's 'Table Talks'
- ISBN 9781316563083.
The Roman whore was conceptualized as a particularly selfish individual... Since the Roman era, this concept has served as a general troped in the discourse about the characters and morals of prostitutes in Western society. ... "The "heart-of-gold" prostitute is always depicted as an exception to the stereotype
- ^ Jakes, T.D. (2003). God's Leading Lady. New York: Berkley Books. p. 127.
She may be the original hooker with the heart of gold
- ISBN 978-0-415-44741-6.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8223-1947-4. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
- from the original on 2022-05-22. Retrieved 2022-05-22.
- ^ a b Herzberg, Bob. From Shooting Scripts: From Pulp Western to Film, 2005, McFarland, p.11,12
- ISBN 978-0-8093-2029-5.
- ^ Emily Soares (6 November 2009). "Trading Places review". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on 1 October 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2024.