Tired Film Tropes: The Damsel in Distress
The damsel-in-distress, persecuted maiden, or princess in jeopardy is a classic theme in world literature, art, film and video games. Existing in almost every culture and present as far back as Greek mythology, this misogynistic trope usually involves a beautiful or innocent young woman, placed in a dire predicment by a villain or monster, and who requires a male hero to achieve her rescue. After rescuing her, the hero often obtains her hand in marriage. She has become a stock character of fiction, particularly of melodrama. Though she is usually human, she can also be of any other species, including fictional or folkloric species; and even divine figures such as an angel, spirit, or deity. There are so many examples of this that no one list could contain them all, so here's a carefully-curated list of some great movies that contain this trope in one form or another. This is truly a tiny drop in the bucket when it comes to how common this trope isolated! How many have you seen???
avg. score: 32 of 73 (43%)
required scores: 1, 17, 29, 34, 46
