Celia makes herself know in the opening scene in the movie The Player, the 1992 movie starring Tim Robbins. Celia is an overbearing and bossy secretary to Griffin the major character of this film. She is a woman between the age, of 40-50 based on her experience and authority over Sandy (the newly hired secretary). Based on the ring on her finger one can assume she is married, giving the viewer the impression of a common wife, based on the time this film is set. Although her character gives the feeling of another simple woman in the workplace to the men she encounters at her job, her character was scripted for more than just that. During the arrivals of mysterious and threatening letters to her boss, Celia played by Dina Merrill seems to know very little. However, when in meetings with her bosses she appears in the background of many important conversations. As a woman in her field of work she seems looked over, although when it comes to gossip and workplace drama, she knows it all. It isn’t until we are trying to determine who the person sending all the letters are that we consider the woman that seems so innocent but knows it all, comes to mind. At first glance she is considered a character of “quickly legible attributes” (126) in Scales of presence (a traditional working woman in the 1990’s). Her character space is very impactful and dynamic which allows the viewer to create an entire character plot for Celia just from short interactions throughout the film. Due to her introduction in the very beginning, even before the outstanding Tim Robbins, she is given a sense of authority. Her commands given to Sandy are powerful and completely opposite to “secretarial discretion” described in “Small Parts, Small Players”. Sandy’s minor role also helps develop Celia and makes her more dominant and her character space less squeezed and compressed through a hierarchical point of view.
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