I see that line, or some variation thereof, FAR too often in the first fifteen pages of scripts I read – a completely gratuitous cleavage shot. There are a lot of aspiring screenwriters out there in need of cold showers. Sex and sexy girls aren’t bad – just make sure there’s a reason you’re getting your hot-bodied police detective to parade around in her Victoria’s Secrets.
Ironically, I get the sense that a lot of writers put scenes like this in as a way of claiming they’re writing strong female characters. If a woman uses her assets cunningly to distract and manipulate a man, she’s got to be smart, right?
Wrong. We see right through that, and usually the actress will too. In fact, it might even appear degrading to the characters – both the one doing the flashing and the one being flashed. Sometimes that’s exactly what the scene needs and if it serves a function, go for it.
But if your only thought here is “BOOBIES!” your reader is just going to roll his eyes and call that a clean strike.
And in case you’re putting this in there to make sure that your lead actress is stunning, ask yourself this: when was the last time Hollywood ever cast an ugly girl in the lead?
Amen. There's also no reason to describe the lead characters as "ruggedly handsome," or "sexy, but inteligent," etc. When first describing characters come up with something a little more interesting to say about them. As the Bitter Script Reader says, everybody knows that in a major motion picture the leads are going to be hot, no need to remind us for the billionth time.
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