"on the nose" -- alternate term?

Cafe Society
1

There’s a phrase in screenwriting: “on the nose”. It means dialog that directly states a character’s intentions, emotions, or motivations instead of indirectly suggesting them:

For example: "I’m angry at you because when you show up late you remind me of my stepfather." That’s crappy, “on the nose” dialog.

However, surely someone must have noticed that blatant, direct statements were a lousy way to construct a character before screenwriting was invented in the 20th century. Is there an older term from literature or theater that means the same thing?

2

Hmmm - how about the fact that “there’s no need to read between the lines” on that one!

3

The ‘telling’ part of ‘show, don’t tell’.