Screenwriting 101: Seth Lochhead

On the lead character in the movie Hanna being a girl: “It’s what was in my head. It’s what felt right. The more I thought about it, the more people were opposed to it (managers, producers, etc.), the more I became aware that it irritated a cultural prejudice. Unfortunately, boys and violence is a natural context for film (a cliché even). It’s something people expect and are comfortable with. By accident, her gender/sex added a layer to the film, just a little something extra to make the reader/audience uncomfortable/intrigued and something, if they so chose, to examine deeper (why can’t a little girl be strong?). I think it’s a dangerous thing to answer questions in your written work, but I think it is imperative to always ask the questions. That’s our job, to spark curiosity and emotion from an audience, to allow them to discover what’s going on inside their own heads.”

— Seth Lochhead (GITS Interview, October 25, 2013)