Page "Damsel in distress" Paragraph 27

Examples can be found in films that date back to the early days of movie making.

One of the films most often associated with the stereotype of the damsel in distress, The Perils of Pauline ( 1914 ), in fact provides at least a partial counterexample, in that Pauline, as played by Pearl White, is a strong character who decides against early marriage in favour of seeking adventure and becoming an author.

Despite common belief, the film does not feature scenes with Pauline tied to a railroad track and threatened by a buzzsaw, although such scenes were incorporated into later re-creations and were also featured in other films made in the period around 1914.

Academic Ben Singer has contested the idea that these " serial-queen melodramas " were male fantasies and has observed that they were marketed heavily at women.

The first motion picture serial made in the United States, What Happened to Mary?

( 1912 ), was released to coincide with a serial story of the same name published in McClure's Ladies ' World magazine.