Advice desired - should I name a person as a physical model?

[Chimney Sweep]

Hey there, kinky folk.

I have pretty much made up my mind on this one but I thought I'd run it past you experts anyway. Obviously it is my job as the author to paint a picture with my words, but how do you feel about naming a specific person as an example of how your character looks? It's one thing to casually refer to a celebrity...

"She had sharp features, like a predatory Angelina Jolie."

I wouldn't hesitate on something like that where the example is widely know, but what if they are more obscure? It feels weak to name drop an obscure person, but ham fisted to go for the hard lookup...

"Busty doesn't tell the tale. I went searching for somebody who looks like this girl and I found her! Go look up Milena Velba and you'll see what I mean!"

I'm thinking it's a bad idea to send my reader off on a Google search, right? I could be a little more elegant in the setup, but still...not real smooth.

I've mostly rejected the idea, I just want some validation, or maybe advice on how to manage it more gracefully.

Thanks
CS

PS - Do go look up Milena Velba. But not at work. Boom boom.

 

[HeyAll]

Perfectly fine if you sneak it in slyly and with style.

 

[TxRad]

Not a very writer like thing to do. In most cases, an exact match to someone is not needed as most readers want to fill in the blanks on their own, so to speak. Also it will knock a few readers out of the story. Few will take the time to go looking for someone they don't know and a few will wonder what kind of spam or viruses are attached.

My opinion for what it is worth.

 

[8letters]

Hey there, kinky folk.

I have pretty much made up my mind on this one but I thought I'd run it past you experts anyway. Obviously it is my job as the author to paint a picture with my words, but how do you feel about naming a specific person as an example of how your character looks? It's one thing to casually refer to a celebrity...

"She had sharp features, like a predatory Angelina Jolie."

I wouldn't hesitate on something like that where the example is widely know, but what if they are more obscure? It feels weak to name drop an obscure person, but ham fisted to go for the hard lookup...

"Busty doesn't tell the tale. I went searching for somebody who looks like this girl and I found her! Go look up Milena Velba and you'll see what I mean!"

I wouldn't even use the Angelina Jolie comparison in one of my stories.

 

[KeithD]

I think it's fine if you want the reader to latch into a very specific look or way of projecting a character, you don't want the reader to go off on his/her own to visualize/pin down the character, and/or if it would take more time to describe the character than the character's role in the story is worth. I once used Peter O'Toole not only to convey the sense of handsome, yet a bit suspiciously effeminate, but also to date the time period of the story's character in "just in passing" use to convey what he was not looking for in a hookup.

 

[NotWise]

I don't see a problem with it, but I wouldn't do that myself.

 

[SimonDoom]

I think this is a judgment call that can go either way. Generally speaking, I think the better thing to do would be to identify what feature of Jolie's your character has, and then describe that feature, rather than say she looks like Jolie. But if there's something about Jolie's manner, the way she walks or looks, then it seems like this is OK. It's got to be somebody really famous, though, to pull it off, because otherwise readers won't know who you are talking about.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I think this is a judgment call that can go either way. Generally speaking, I think the better thing to do would be to identify what feature of Jolie's your character has, and then describe that feature, rather than say she looks like Jolie. But if there's something about Jolie's manner, the way she walks or looks, then it seems like this is OK. It's got to be somebody really famous, though, to pull it off, because otherwise readers won't know who you are talking about.

What Simon said.

Note also that describing somebody by comparison to a living person is risky because you're pinning your story to a moving reference point. Five years ago I could have described a character with "he reminded me of Bill Cosby" and readers would've assumed I meant a fatherly type; today those same words convey "rapist". Even recently-dead people are risky.

Also also, some references don't travel well. "David Brent" is probably more recognisable in the UK than the USA.

The example of "sharp features, like a predatory Angelina Jolie" is a pretty good way to do it because it gives some information even to readers who don't know what AJ looks like. "Go look up Milena Velba" just says "I don't know how to use words to put an image in people's heads".

KeithD's point about using those references as a way to describe the describer is a good one.

 

[carsonshepherd]

No. What about Angelina does the character share? Arched brows, knowing eyes, a fierce jaw? Show the reader that by descriptions of the character. The descriptions need not be in one paragraph, but throughout. Let the reader create their own picture in their mind's eye; it may not be identical to yours, but if your descriptions are apt enough, perhaps it will. Have fun and flex your writing muscles instead of taking the easy way out. (Note, a reader mentioned in a comment they pictured my main character as Chris Pine. I didn't when I wrote it, but I was like, hell yes.)

 

[ElectraRex]

If it's part of a whole bigger style. If you're writing in 1st person and your protagonist speaks almost exclusively in pop culture, it'd be super normal for them to compare people, places, and things to pop icons.

If you're in third person limited...you'd really need it to be part of your larger voice in the work and not an isolated example of meta narration. Even then, it's probably going to come off a little lazy.

If you're in third person omniscient stop. That's a dead narrative style.

 

[8letters]

Note also that describing somebody by comparison to a living person is risky because you're pinning your story to a moving reference point. Five years ago I could have described a character with "he reminded me of Bill Cosby" and readers would've assumed I meant a fatherly type; today those same words convey "rapist". Even recently-dead people are risky.

When I think of Angelina Jolie, what comes to mind is all of the tabloid covers proclaiming she's suffering from extreme anorexia. "Sharp features, like an anorexic Angelina Jolie" just isn't an appealing image for me.

Also also, some references don't travel well. "David Brent" is probably more recognisable in the UK than the USA.

The problem I have with celebrity references is that I think it is hard for a person to judge just how well-known someone is. Angelina Jolie's only on-screen role since 2010 was "Maleficient". An 18-year-old would probably say "Angelina who?"

 

[KeithD]

An 18-year-old would probably say "Angelina who?"

And maybe curious enough to google it(?)

 

[SamScribble]

Personally, I would never give a reader a reason to leave the page. They may never come back.

 

[jehoram]

It's certainly a legitimate play, although you add some believability if you make sure that you're not talking about a celebrity identical to the character. Here's how I described one character in "The Ladies Club:"

"She hadn't changed much in six years. She was a dark-haired, deep-bosomed lady with fair skin and deep brown eyes -- think a shorter, slightly stouter Marina Sirtis and you'd be close."

 

[KeithD]

Personally, I would never give a reader a reason to leave the page. They may never come back.

I'm not that insecure, or that invested in individual readers, for that matter.

 

[lovecraft68]

I'm not that insecure, or that invested in individual readers, for that matter.

I agree. I don't intentionally set out to piss a reader off but if it happens, whatever. If you're so sensitive one little thing will send you into a tizzy an stop reading then good luck finding something that won't offend you...children's books maybe.

 

[NotWise]

"She hadn't changed much in six years. She was a dark-haired, deep-bosomed lady with fair skin and deep brown eyes -- think a shorter, slightly stouter Marina Sirtis and you'd be close."

That wouldn't have worked for me as a reader. I don't know who Marina Sirtis is, and I definitely wouldn't think to look her up. That's always a risk you take.

 

[lovecraft68]

It's certainly a legitimate play, although you add some believability if you make sure that you're not talking about a celebrity identical to the character. Here's how I described one character in "The Ladies Club:"

"She hadn't changed much in six years. She was a dark-haired, deep-bosomed lady with fair skin and deep brown eyes -- think a shorter, slightly stouter Marina Sirtis and you'd be close."

I don't know who that is, but it doesn't bother me. But the "Think..." I don't care much for the talking directly to the reader like that.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I referenced a well-known figure once to explain a first impression of somebody, something to be expanded in some detail later.

She had a good figure, by no means fat, but definitely lush. A Marilyn.

https://www.literotica.com/s/house-of-feathers-ch-17-a-passing-encounter

Beyond that limited usage, I wouldn’t unless there was a very good reason. A character might say that another character looked like [insert famous character here]; that might work.

 

[Oblimo]

The references to celebrities to describe a character I see on Literotica are almost always cheap, lazy writing.

Typically it’s just something like “she looked like Jennifer Anniston,” which isn’t really a description at all, especially if the reader doesn’t know who Jennifer Anniston is. Or imagine someone using one of the Wilson sisters, the images you’d conjure would vary quite a bit depending on the age of the reader.

And then there are worse things, like “she could have been Jennifer Anniston’s twin sister except with much bigger tits.”

Your example is definitely more interesting than what I typically see, as you use a simile to a celebrity to enhance a description rather than as the description itself.

I think celebrity comparisons are best used in two situations: for reference comedy (“She gave up on the melody and just declaimed lyrics like a soprano William Shatner”), and in-character dialogue. If a character says someone looks like Angelina Jollie, you are showing something about the speaker, how he or she thinks, what he or she thinks is attractive, etc.

 

[KeithD]

Who hasn't used Bette Davis eyes? Well . . . I have.

 

[dididothat]

For my two cents worth I like to keep character descriptions very brief, nothing I hate more then the "she was 5'7" 70lb with a DD rack and a perfect heart shaped face (never got that one, a face like a heart? what? all blood vessels and throbbing, wtf?), I much prefer to simply describe relevant bits and let the reader imagine them for themselves, stick to the basic bits that help the story. I also think its more elegant to reveal bits of the character's physical description as you go.

Just my opinion.

Stacey x

 

[KeithD]

*Sigh* Welcome to yet another aspect of writing fiction where one size or formula don't cover the waterfront.

 

[KindofHere]

...............

 

[LupusDei]

Well, just a passing note from a reader, I haven't watched television for ten or fifeen years and before that it was mostly Discovery chanel anyway. Nor do I listen to much music beyond what someone else had turned up in the background if I'm not annoyed enough to go and kill it. 99% pop culture references are totally wasted on me.

So I will agree, feel free to drop names in dialogue, especially if trying to convey more than just look, or where it enhance the description, letting me know describer finds what they see exceptionally attractive or familiar, or pass on an old dream, or whatever.

In short, think how what you write will be read by someone having not a slightest idea what the name refer to, no matter how famous you think it is, and/or to someone who may have heard that name but don't necessarily have ready visuals to go with it. No, I won't Google it up, I will just pass over it as a noise.

Besides, I also think that any breast larger than what is comfortable to run naked is ugly disability, so unless it's a narrative point how one of those enormous fat bags hit herself in the face, don't bother forcing overly exact measurements, I may puke.