Line #33 Main/SeeminglyWholesome50sGirl


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4	[[quoteright:349:[[Film/Angel1984 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/angel_movie_3.png]]]]
5	[[caption-width-right:349:And on weekends, [[TripleShifter she sleeps]].]]
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10
11	->''"Now in the daytime, Mary Hill was a teaser\
12	Come the night she was such a pleaser\
13	Mary Hill was such a thrill after dark\
14	In Cherry Hill Park!"''
15	-->-- '''Billy Joe Royal''', "Cherry Hill Park"
16
17	She seems to be the perfect, wholesome teenage girl of The50s. By day, she's a sweet, innocent ultra-virgin who dresses in knee-length skirts and [[SexySweaterGirl tasteful sweaters]], and repeatedly says things like "that's swell!" and "peachy keen!". She might [[{{Meganekko}} wear glasses]], attend [[CatholicSchoolGirlsRule Catholic school]], or even be a PreachersKid. Her parents and teachers talk about what a "good girl" she is, but all the kids at school (except for the "squares", of course) know about her "reputation". By night, she drinks, smokes, and hangs out with (gasp!) boys. She "parks" with them, while the car radio plays {{Nothing But Hits}}, and may even have experienced sexual intercourse. (And if she ''is'' still a virgin, she may only be one in [[TechnicalVirgin the technical sense.]]) In other words, she's either something of a Hot {{Hypocrite}} or at the very least something rather different from what she appears to be. After all, she doesn't want to be a "square" and the male hero needs a girlfriend that ''appears'' respectable but isn't a prude. Bonus points if her mother or grandmother was a [[TheFlapper flapper]], teaching their daughters and granddaughters the way of sly rebellion and liberation.
18
19	She could be seen as a subversion of the ultra-wholesomeness stereotypically associated with the Fifties, but it's more likely just an example of TruthInTelevision (more or less). Among adults, there were large differences in premarital sex rates after the pill was introduced in 1961, a moment often held to have heralded the start of the sexual revolution. At the same time, however, the TeenPregnancy rate peaked in 1957 and has, barring a short-lived rebound in the late '80s, [[https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/08/02/why-is-the-teen-birth-rate-falling/ fallen consistently]] ever since. Despite this, by the 1970s, the '50s were often just treated as the present in regard to sexual behavior, except with far more hypocrisy. Perhaps it's just the fact that the whole franchise of Fifties nostalgia films about the sex lives of teens couldn't possibly exist without her. She is a perfect combination of the nostalgic '50s charm and 1970s priorities. It is no coincidence that this trope became popular. And, of course, this type of ersatz "good girl" can still be found (or suspected) in more culturally or religiously conservative environments even in the present day.
20
21	A variant of NaughtyByNight, and SubTrope of LivingADoubleLife. May overlap with CovertPervert. See HotLibrarian for her more adult (and less intentionally sexy) counterpart. Contrast with the sexy-on-the-outside, innocent-on-the-inside HookerWithAHeartOfGold.
22
23
24	----
25	!!Examples
26
27	[[foldercontrol]]
28
29	[[folder:Comic Books]]
30	* In the Horacio Altuna story ''Cat'', the protagonist Jessica Hampton-Brooks is a seemingly wholesome girl (blonde, blue-eyed with YouthfulFreckles) from an upper society family, but is, in fact, a stellar example of TheVamp and TheSociopath.
31	[[/folder]]
32
33	[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]
34	* Kathryn Merteuil in ''Film/CruelIntentions'' definitely qualifies. Though at the end of the movie, her game is exposed for all to see, courtesy of her deceased step-brother's diary.
35	* ''Film/{{Pleasantville}}'': Played with, where a girl from our day and age ends up stepping into this role... and by the time the movie's done, ''every girl in town'' is like that to some extent, ''except'' the girl who started the behavior.
36	* Marty's mother Lorraine in ''Film/BackToTheFuture1'' wants to be this, to Marty's understandable alarm. Not only is she Marty's ''mother'', but she [[ParentalHypocrisy hypocritically]] also berates her children for acting this way in the future (at least until Marty improves history).
37	%% * ''Film/Angel1984'': "High School Honor Student by Day. Hollywood Hooker by Night." One wonders how she kept her grades up if you know what we mean. (ZCE please add details)
38	* Janet Weiss from ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow''. She's an innocent girl who is Brad's fiancee. Though, during her time in the castle, she has sex with both Frank N. Furter and Rocky...the latter prompting pure jealous rage from the former (over ''him'' sleeping with ''her'', not vice versa). In the end, she's confused about what has occurred, but also realizes the benefits of living a sexually active life.
39	* Mary Lane of ''Film/ReeferMadness'', the ingenue of ingenues, takes one puff of "marijewana," at which point... [[https://youtu.be/_FqaOVz3dYE Some things just need to be seen.]]
40	* The plot of ''Film/{{Hairspray\|1988}}'' starts when one of the seemingly wholesome girls on the in-universe ''The Corny Collins Show'' has to take a leave of absence from the show...[[StigmaticPregnancyEuphemism for nine months]].
41	* PlayedForLaughs in ''Film/NotAnotherTeenMovie'', where a bit character who fits the bill also suffers from HollywoodTourettes.
42	[[/folder]]
43
44	[[folder:Literature]]
45	* Sybil in ''Literature/InvisibleMan'' is a funny case in that she would qualify as {{The Ingenue}} if it weren't for her rape fantasies. (As the victim, mind you, not the rapist--she's utterly smothered by her life, and wants something wild.)
46	[[/folder]]
47
48	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
49	* Subverted in the pilot of ''Series/HappyDays'' where one girl's "reputation" turned out to have originated entirely from boys bragging about how far they'd gotten with her.
50	* ProfessionalWrestling actually brought us one of these in the form of [[Wrestling/KaraDrew Cherry]], a manager for Deuce & Domino, a tag team of [[{{Delinquents}} greasers]]. Unfortunately for Kara Drew, the girl behind the gimmick, it was her only shot at the big time. According to some sources, she was reportedly released for being [[HollywoodPudgy "too fat"]] to be a Diva.
51	* ''Series/TwinPeaks'', with its very retro-'50s aesthetic, naturally played with this one. Given that essentially every character on the show had a secret of some kind, every female character was at least a borderline example of this trope, but a few really stand out.
52	** Laura Palmer, the murdered homecoming queen, is gradually revealed to be one of these - a cokehead with several secret boyfriends, many of them much older than her. It's hard to be too judgmental, given [[spoiler:that she was the victim of repeated sexual abuse by her [[DemonicPossession demonically-possessed]] father.]]
53	** Audrey Horne, [[GoodSmokingEvilSmoking cigarette-smoking]] daughter of the town millionaire, is initially set up as the WolfInSheepsClothing version of this, but gradually becomes more of a GoodBadGirl through her [[AmateurSleuth investigation of Laura's murder]] and [[LoveRedeems her crush on Agent Cooper]].
54	** Donna Hayward, by contrast, is initially set up as the [[BettyAndVeronica Betty to Audrey's Veronica]], the conscientious good girl and best friend to Laura. As the series progresses, her attempts at being an AmateurSleuth and finding Laura's killer [[spoiler:become increasingly reprehensible, as unlike Audrey, Donna puts other people in danger, and even accidentally [[DrivenToSuicide drives a man to suicide]], and she uncovers no real information.]]
55	* Morello in ''Series/OrangeIsTheNewBlack'', whose "entire world view is based on ''Theatre/WestSideStory''," making her a bit of a 1950s girl in the 21st century. She seems very sweet and very devoted to her fiance, but it turns out she's actually kind of racist. ''And'' [[spoiler:she's having a [[SituationalSexuality lesbian affair]]. However, her naivete might be genuine, as it turns out her fiance doesn't visit and she's the only one who still thinks he's waiting for her. In season 2 it's revealed that her "fiancé" was actually a guy she was [[StalkerWithACrush stalking]], and she was arrested for putting a car bomb under his ''actual'' fiancée's car.]]
56	* Cindy on ''Series/GoodGirlsRevolt'' is a Seemingly Wholesome Sixties (Later Seventies) Girl who dresses cutely, is married, shy, and sweet. She's also [[spoiler:an alcoholic and cheating on her husband]], all the while being one of the main actors in the women's plan to file their complaint.
57	* The ''Series/{{Riverdale}}'' take on the ComicBook/ArchieComics character Betty Cooper fits this trope, the show having a strong '50s RetroUniverse aesthetic much like ''Twin Peaks'' (one of its main inspirations). While Betty's demeanor, style of clothing, and iconic ponytail definitely seem wholesome as can be, she self-admittedly has a "dark side", which may or may not have something to do with whatever mental condition she has that makes her dependent on Adderall. When she leashes out as "Dark Betty", she expresses a lot of anger and a certain degree of sexual repression.
58	* ''Series/{{Glee}}'' may not be set in the 1950's, but Quinn Fabray fits the description. Outside of her cheerleading uniform, she's nearly always seen wearing knee-length skirts or fifties-style circle dresses, she's from a very conservative Christian family and is president of the celibacy club. However, she's a manipulative AlphaBitch and in the fourth episode, it's revealed she's pregnant, after cheating on her boyfriend.
59	[[/folder]]
60
61	[[folder:Music]]
62	* Music/ChuckBerry's hit "Sweet Little Sixteen" narrates a girl like this.
63	-->Sweet little sixteen\
64	She's got the grown-up blues\
65	Tight dresses and lipstick\
66	She's sportin' high heel shoes\
67	Oh, but tomorrow morning\
68	She'll have to change her trend\
69	And be sweet sixteen\
70	And back in class again.
71	* "A Sweet Old Fashioned Girl" by Teresa Brewer tells both sides of the story in first-person. It was a top ten hit on both sides of the Atlantic in 1956, suggesting the record-buying public at the time found the dichotomy just as amusing as we do today.
72	* Then there was the aforementioned Mary Hill in Billy Joe Royal's "[[https://youtu.be/v5xkaQenW6s Cherry Hill Park]]"[[note]]"Cherry Hill Park" being in Cherry Hill, [[{{Joisey}} New Jersey]], the quintessential Jersey suburb (of UsefulNotes/{{Philadelphia}}, in this case). It's in the area marked "Happy White Families" [[http://i.imgur.com/Pwnf4.jpg here]].[[/note]] It's a fantastically catchy '60s pop tune that deals with something potentially salacious.
73	* The girls in the Music/GarfunkelAndOates song "The Loophole" are a modern example.
74	* Gender inverted with Cry Baby's brother from the [[Music/CryBabyAlbum self-titled]] Music/MelanieMartinez ConceptAlbum. He looks like an average, studious young man but is a drug user with implied negative (or at least depressive) character traits. The entire family keeps up a [[StepfordSmiler facade]] [[HappyMarriageCharade of happiness]] but Cry Baby herself is a BrokenBird. She [[SanitySlippage cracks]] over the album.
75	* Streetheart has "Snow White" mentioning that she has the perfect disguise.
76	[[/folder]]

Context Main / SeeminglyWholesome50sGirl