# Most Egregious Modern Iteration of "The Girl" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 4, 2009, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-egregious-modern-iteration-of-the-girl/484376 "2009-02-04T04:57:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-egregious-modern-iteration-of-the-girl/484376/21 "2009-02-04T17:00:59Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Seriously, every year it seems like there are about 50 new ones foisted on us. They each get maybe one or two more roles. Then - poof! Gone. > > I’m imagining there is a club in Hollywood somewhere where they induct a new class every year (sorts like a sports hall of fame, but it’s a hall of not-fame). I imagine that in some deep, dark basement in the Hollywood area, there is the Starlet Wall™ - a hideous mechanism, whereby studios physically \*throw aspiring It Girls against a wall \*to see who sticks. I can only imagine what is at the bottom of that wall, or how “Starlets Who Don’t Stick” get processed - but we can ask Julia Ormond, Gretchen Mol, Sossamyn, Marisa Tomei, Geena Davis, yada, yada, yada…😉 ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-egregious-modern-iteration-of-the-girl/484376/22 "2009-02-04T17:03:33Z")
I liked Liv Tyler as Corey in “Empire Records.” Though I enjoyed the movie as a whole more than any one particular performance, to be honest. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-egregious-modern-iteration-of-the-girl/484376/23 "2009-02-04T17:05:53Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > I’m imagining there is a club in Hollywood somewhere where they induct a new class every year (sorts like a sports hall of fame, but it’s a hall of not-fame). Hell, yeah. The other day I was watching a video mocking the _Godzilla_ remake from 2000 and I thought "What happened to the blonde chick with curly hair? (Pitillo? Something like that.) I remember her getting a couple of magazine covers back then… ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-egregious-modern-iteration-of-the-girl/484376/24 "2009-02-04T17:28:44Z")
Wargames had “the Girl” (Ally Sheedy?) Manhatten Project had “The Girl”(Cynthia Nixon) IMHO they did not add to either film. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-egregious-modern-iteration-of-the-girl/484376/25 "2009-02-04T17:37:14Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > She was great in _One Night at McCool’s_. She wasn’t just playing “The Girl” in that, either. I love that movie, but it occurs to me that I can’t remember what her character’s name was. Of course, I can’t remember what _any_ of the characters were called, except for twin brothers Omaha and Utah. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-egregious-modern-iteration-of-the-girl/484376/26 "2009-02-04T18:02:23Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > I imagine that in some deep, dark basement in the Hollywood area, there is the Starlet Wall™ - a hideous mechanism, whereby studios physically \*throw aspiring It Girls against a wall \*to see who sticks. I can only imagine what is at the bottom of that wall, or how “Starlets Who Don’t Stick” get processed - but we can ask Julia Ormond, Gretchen Mol, Sossamyn, Marisa Tomei, Geena Davis, yada, yada, yada…😉 Yeah, but see most of those you listed really aren’t in the category. Tomei & Davis have both won Oscars. Ormond & Mol work regularly in more prestige pictures, sometimes as the lead. They hardly qualify as actresses who played ‘the girlfriend’ in one or two movies and then vanished. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-egregious-modern-iteration-of-the-girl/484376/27 "2009-02-04T18:28:36Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Yeah, but see most of those you listed really aren’t in the category. Tomei & Davis have both won Oscars. Ormond & Mol work regularly in more prestige pictures, sometimes as the lead. They hardly qualify as actresses who played ‘the girlfriend’ in one or two movies and then vanished. Perhaps - but they were all hyped hard in their day…and eventually it was clear they didn’t stick to the Wall. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-egregious-modern-iteration-of-the-girl/484376/28 "2009-02-04T18:31:43Z")
“The Girl” in one of my favorite movies, _Breaker Morant_, has no dialogue or even a first name, being credited just as “Hunt’s sister,” and appears only in a brief flashback as the object of the hero’s desire. Bridget Cornish is the actress’s name. I checked her on IMDB once and found that she’s been in no other movies since, and had only a single earlier TV appearance. Knockout brunette, though. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-egregious-modern-iteration-of-the-girl/484376/29 "2009-02-04T18:36:39Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Perhaps - but they were all hyped hard in their day…and eventually it was clear they didn’t stick to the Wall. I’m going to step back, because I just don’t think we’re talking about the same thing at all. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-egregious-modern-iteration-of-the-girl/484376/30 "2009-02-04T18:50:17Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > I’m going to step back, because I just don’t think we’re talking about the same thing at all. I hear you and am sorry about that - clearly I am enlarging the pool to NOT just include random It Girl non-roles where they play “the love interest” with little/nothing to actually do in the movie. I am including starlets - even those considered to be solid actors and appearing in decent movies - who are foisted upon the public in the hopes that they might blow up to be the next Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock, Keira Knightly or Natalie Portman. I think of it as the Jewel syndrome - I am not a fan, but she could’ve built a solid core of fans and a longer-term career if her label hadn’t forced her into the Hype Machine and over-sold Save Your Soul and other stuff on that okay first album…no way she could’ve lived up to the hype… Sorry for somewhat hijacking the thread…or at least modifying the OP’s definition. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-egregious-modern-iteration-of-the-girl/484376/31 "2009-02-04T19:00:09Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > I hear you and am sorry about that - clearly I am enlarging the pool to NOT just include random It Girl non-roles where they play “the love interest” with little/nothing to actually do in the movie. I am including starlets - even those considered to be solid actors and appearing in decent movies - who are foisted upon the public in the hopes that they might blow up to be the next Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock, Keira Knightly or Natalie Portman. I think of it as the Jewel syndrome - I am not a fan, but she could’ve built a solid core of fans and a longer-term career if her label hadn’t forced her into the Hype Machine and over-sold Save Your Soul and other stuff on that okay first album…no way she could’ve lived up to the hype… 😕 Jewel’s released six albums since Piece of You (on which “Who Will Save You Soul” appears), and has another coming out this year. Certainly she’s not as successful as Britney Spears, but she’s hardly had a failed career. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-egregious-modern-iteration-of-the-girl/484376/32 "2009-02-04T19:09:43Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > 😕 > > Jewel’s released six albums since Piece of You (on which “Who Will Save You Soul” appears), and has another coming out this year. Certainly she’s not as successful as Britney Spears, but she’s hardly had a failed career. YMMV, but from a music biz perspective, not really. She had the big debut, her second sold a fraction of that, and either then or soon after she went into re-boot mode, trying a folkie, a sexed-up pop and then a country approach - all trying to find traction but not finding great sales - which led to a hosting stint on Nashville Star. Yes, she is still in the biz and doing okay, but she’s no what’s-her-name Idol girl Carrie-Before-He-Cheats or Taylor Swift, or in a poppier vein, no Sheryl Crow, etc… Oh, and her poetry sucks. But that has nothing to do with her music career - I just think it needs to be stated. Step away from the fancy pen, Ms. Kilcher… ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-egregious-modern-iteration-of-the-girl/484376/33 "2009-02-04T22:47:06Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > I hear you and am sorry about that - clearly I am enlarging the pool to NOT just include random It Girl non-roles where they play “the love interest” with little/nothing to actually do in the movie. I am including starlets - even those considered to be solid actors and appearing in decent movies - who are foisted upon the public in the hopes that they might blow up to be the next Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock, Keira Knightly or Natalie Portman. I think of it as the Jewel syndrome - I am not a fan, but she could’ve built a solid core of fans and a longer-term career if her label hadn’t forced her into the Hype Machine and over-sold Save Your Soul and other stuff on that okay first album…no way she could’ve lived up to the hype… > > Sorry for somewhat hijacking the thread…or at least modifying the OP’s definition. No, what you are doing is indeed a complete hijack – my OP was about the ROLES the actresses play, yours is about the actresses themselves. Completely different, and worthy of a thread of its own, if you ask me. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-egregious-modern-iteration-of-the-girl/484376/34 "2009-02-05T03:13:43Z")
Erika Eleniak in _Under Siege_. Her sole purpose is to show her lovely tits and be “The Girl” following Seagal around for the whole movie. Oh and since she was mentioned, I’ll make a recommendation: Gretchen Mol is currently playing a regular supporting character on the new show “Life On Mars.” It’s a good show and Mol is good in it. She has a very warm, likeable quality. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-egregious-modern-iteration-of-the-girl/484376/35 "2009-02-05T03:36:29Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Seriously, every year it seems like there are about 50 new ones foisted on us. They each get maybe one or two more roles. Then - poof! Gone. I can tell who they are! They are the “stars” that the staff of TMZ show potentially embarrassing video of and both Harvey Levin and I say, “Who the hell is that?” Sorry, sister, but it’s only embarrassing if people recognize you. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-egregious-modern-iteration-of-the-girl/484376/36 "2009-02-05T03:54:30Z")
In all the Batman movies, Lois Lane is basically The Girl. In all the Spiderman movies, there’s Whatshername. Actually, in all the Superhero movies (the most recent I’ve seen is Iron Man), there’s The Girl. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-egregious-modern-iteration-of-the-girl/484376/37 "2009-02-05T04:19:55Z")
> [@Boyo Jim](#): > > In all the Batman movies, Lois Lane is basically The Girl. Superman. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-egregious-modern-iteration-of-the-girl/484376/38 "2009-02-05T04:35:07Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Superman. Yet, to listen to my daughter, it’s unrequited because Superman and Brainiac 5/5.1/6, in the animated series, are BFFs with benefits. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-egregious-modern-iteration-of-the-girl/484376/39 "2009-02-05T05:04:04Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > Erika Eleniak in _Under Siege_. Her sole purpose is to show her lovely tits and be “The Girl” following Seagal around for the whole movie. Action adventure flicks have to be the most productive source of egregioius “The Girl” roles. I’m thinking Halle Berry in “Swordfish” whose sole purpose was to flash her breasts, and Vanessa Williams in “The Eraser.” Science fiction is very productive too. Altaira in “Forbidden Planet” literally was THE girl in the movie. > [@](#): > > Oh and since she was mentioned, I’ll make a recommendation: Gretchen Mol is currently playing a regular supporting character on the new show “Life On Mars.” It’s a good show and Mol is good in it. She has a very warm, likeable quality. Mol was great in “The Notorious Betty Page” as well. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-egregious-modern-iteration-of-the-girl/484376/40 "2009-02-05T05:15:21Z")
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