Betty Schaefer is a supporting character in the 1950 Billy Wilder film Sunset Boulevard. She's a script reader for a Paramount studio who dreams of becomes a official writer. She's also the girlfriend of Artie Green who spends a lot time with Joe as well.
Why She Rocks[]
- She's a great foil to our central character Joe Gillis for various reasons.
- Whereas Joe ended up hackwork he hopes will sell when he fall in despair, Betty wants to create well-written movies with a message within them.
- She's also very sweet and thoughtful, while Joe tends to be snarky and manipulative.
- Unlike, most Hollywood workers, she doesn't care about whether or not she gets to be in the spotlight, as long the picture manages to work out and is worth seeing. She also knows about Hollywood's dark side, but she still manages to look on the good side and stay committed to it, so in a way, she's also a foil to Norma, who doesn't know when to move on from an age.
- Even though she takes her job as a critic/script-reader seriously, she still respects Joe very much from his previous work, and was willing to help him out.
- Her relationship with Joe was also more loving and sincere than Joe's relationship with Norma considering they both had similar hope and dreams. Plus her skills as a writer are actually pretty good, as shown through her and Joe's script about school teachers.
- She's one of the nicest characters throughout the film, due to her optimism and caring side for others.