Keywords

• Sharp features
• Arched/strong eyebrows 
• Mean but naive and young looking 
• Has a desire to become a successful actress/performer 
• Confident
• In her early 20s or slightly younger

Inspiration

For the initial character design, I was inspired by Lilico from Helter Skelter and Pearl from the X film series, however, I wasn’t entirely sure what the backstory would be and how it would affect the character. Since she was going to be the protagonist, I wanted her to be able to stand out from the other characters, be it with more drama or nuance in her design. To start, I looked for actresses that fit the description and tried to develop it from there.

I asked a few people to choose the face that they thought best suited the traits (listed at the top of the page) and narrowed it down to three.

While making draft sketches of the main character, I tried to blend at least one feature of each face into one. For the pose, I wanted her to be holding a bouquet on stage but I found that she just looked cliche and I wasn’t fully satisfied. I was assured that this was alright, given the era, but decided that I wanted to try something different for the main character.

After discussing my idea with Jake during the guest lecture in week 4, he asked me what elements of the character reflected my own experiences. He suggested making the character the same ethnicity as me and see how that could change her motivations or story. I was told to look into the life of Shirley Bassey, a prominent artist in the late 50s and onwards as she was known to be assertive and confident much like how I wanted my character to be. A classmate also recommended Kenneth Anger’s book Hollywood Babylon which detailed Hollywood’s scandals from the 1900s to 1950s.

I thought about Jake’s advice and after some consideration, I decided to change this character. I believed having a character with a different ethnicity, especially one that mirrored my own (Filipino or just generally Asian) would be easier for myself to develop. Appearance wise, I still wanted her to have striking features and look mean yet have the naivety that comes with being in your early 20s. 

To get some inspiration for her look, I researched some Asian actresses and models that were famous during the 50s. China Machado was a model for Balenciaga and Givenchy, eventually becoming the highest paid model in Europe as a walker. It made sense for Genevieve to have a background in beauty pageants and be exceptionally beautiful – especially for 50s standards – as it was harder for people who were non-white or not white-passing to have a fulfilling career. This was her head start and why she would then get scouted by the manager.

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Background

Family & Childhood

The events prior to and during the game were rather confusing or vague so I attempted to make a timeline.

During the 1930s, many Asian migrants moved to California in search of work. 1931 was also the start of a seven-year drought which was followed by dust storms the following year. This caused farms in the rural south to dry up and crops to blow away in the wind, creating what was known as the “Dust Bowl”(Fanslow, R. (1998). The Migrant Experience  | Voices from the Dust Bowl: the Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Worker Collection, 1940-1941). Charles Todd and Robert Sonkins conducted interviews and an observation of the experience of migrant workers in California, with much of the documentation concentrated in San Joaquin Valley.

• The Great Depression, drought, and dust storms meant that thousands of farmers had to pack up with their families to try and find work in California.
• Migrants represented in the study were primarily from Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri. Those who were able to cross the border found that the labour force was exceedingly disproportionate to the number of available jobs. When the Dust Bowl families and migrants arrived in California, they found that with the surfeit of workers, there was a significant reduction in the going wage rates.
• To maintain a steady income, they had to follow the harvest around the state and for this reason, migrant populations were most dense in agricultural centres. The majority of farm labourers were of Mexican and Filipino descent.
• The Arvin Migratory Labour Camp was the first federally operated camp opened by the FSA in 1937. It was made to resolve the poor living conditions for many of the workers. It was a safe space away from discrimination as well as a place to practice their culture and their sense of community.

Genevieve was originally the a daughter of migrant parents, making her second gen but decided to make her third-gen as it made more sense in the timeline and her attitudes as she was more assimilated into American Culture.

Her parents are U.S.-born citizens with strong ties to their Filipino culture and lived in San Joaquin Valley which is five hours away from Hollywood. The 1930s and 40s, had the harshest anti-Asian episodes, with the Great Depression feeding xenophobia and Filipinos becoming main targets (Gregory, J. (n.d.). Asian American and Pacific Islander Migrations – Migration History 1860-2017). Born in the late 1930s, Genevieve would still be a child in the 30s and 40s and with her parents, experience wartime rationing and economic uncertainty. Also, facing both racism and patriotism in the West.

During the Game

During the events of the game, Genevieve experiences paranoia-induced hallucinations and a spiralling mental state when her career is threatened.

Although Hollywood stars using illegal and prescription drugs is nothing new, research into Hollywood’s drug culture in the 50s – 60s, found that studios could sometimes supply their stars with drugs. This was so that they could keep up the glamorous image of Hollywood by keeping their stars working and in check (We Heart Vintage blog: retro fashion, cinema and photography. (2013). The drug culture of Hollywood’s golden age). Many major stars such as Judy Garland, Cary Grant, and Jack Nicholson used methamphetamines, marijuana, LSD, etc. It was speculated that as many as 100 stars used LSD as part of psychotherapy sessions or recreationally.

The effects of LSD can be beneficial, making the user feel: euphoric, energised, empathetic, and in awe of people around you (“LSD | FRANK.” Www.talktofrank.com), however, it can also have serious side effects. LSD feeds off the user’s imagination, meaning your mood, environment, and tolerance will affect the potency. Although not as addictive as other drugs, it can cause hallucinations, paranoia, panic attacks, and can sometimes even lead to psychosis or the user to act violently/erratically (“Extreme Behavior Related to LSD.” Skywood Recovery).

These side effects match Genevieve’s mental state as the game progresses. Since she is already established under a major record company, she would have easy access to these drugs. Being in an extremely demanding industry would be a catalyst for these side effects. Her history of being born in an agricultural hotspot in California explains her hallucinations of people transforming into livestock. It is a reflection of norms and attitudes of the time – with an emphasis on appealing to the male audience by being highly sexualised but also trying to maintain child-like innocence.