OK, I need to know something.
Did we ever really have those screens in our dressing rooms or are they just a Hollywood fabrication so the couple can continue the conversation in accordance with the Hayes code?
I just can’t see a time when I want a gentleman hanging around in the room when I am changing close in some little corner. I am not overly modest, but I like to get on with things when I am changing.
According to some quick research, folding fan room dividers originated in China, and were used for things like creating privacy zones and blocking drafts. They spread through Asia and reached Europe after Marco Polo, where they were mostly used for their artistic value.
Changing screens are sometimes used in changing rooms in theaters and so forth, so that someone more shy about changing can change clothes without being exposed to other people in the room working on their makeup or costumes. I suspect this is where the trope comes from, because it was used A LOT in old westerns where dance hall girls duck behind a screen in the changing room while holding a conversation with the local protagonist. Once it was established where it made a little sense, it started showing up in situations where it made no sense whatsoever. Any excuse to tease some female nudity to an audience! (Sorry, ladies, no point in teasing you with male nudity; Hollywood doesn’t care about you!)
OK, I need to know something.
Did we ever really have those screens in our dressing rooms or are they just a Hollywood fabrication so the couple can continue the conversation in accordance with the Hayes code?
I just can’t see a time when I want a gentleman hanging around in the room when I am changing close in some little corner. I am not overly modest, but I like to get on with things when I am changing.
According to some quick research, folding fan room dividers originated in China, and were used for things like creating privacy zones and blocking drafts. They spread through Asia and reached Europe after Marco Polo, where they were mostly used for their artistic value.
Changing screens are sometimes used in changing rooms in theaters and so forth, so that someone more shy about changing can change clothes without being exposed to other people in the room working on their makeup or costumes. I suspect this is where the trope comes from, because it was used A LOT in old westerns where dance hall girls duck behind a screen in the changing room while holding a conversation with the local protagonist. Once it was established where it made a little sense, it started showing up in situations where it made no sense whatsoever. Any excuse to tease some female nudity to an audience! (Sorry, ladies, no point in teasing you with male nudity; Hollywood doesn’t care about you!)
Please note that a folder can eventually save your life when a mean strangler is after you. How convenient and useful !
I meant a folding screen of course, not a folder !
By Brendon Lynch.