Because Scream is a more feminist slasher than it seems

Horror subgenre popularized in the late 70s by HalloweenTHE sharp (From ” tear apart “, OR ” to slice “) depicts a group of people, usually young revelers, dealing with a masked killer determined to kill them one by one. Sometimes the psychopath is a woman (from friday the 13th, in 1980) and the male leads also take it for their rank. But the sharp has always tended to feature male assassins chasing naked young women, screaming in every direction, tumbling inexplicably down unobstructed corridors, before dying in excruciating pain.

The new warriors

Released in 1996, the first He shouted, written by Kevin Williamson, breaks the sexist tropes of the genre. In one scene, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) explains why she doesn’t like horror movies:

“It’s always the same scenario, always the same mentally retarded person chasing a beautiful little girl with big breasts who runs to lock herself in her room instead of leaving the house, it’s scary! »

Heir to Laurie Strode, Sidney represents the archetype of the ” final girl », the only one that survives in this genre of film. Kevin Williamson explains: “As a gay kid, I identified with the ‘final girl’ and her struggle because that’s also what it takes to survive as a young gay man. You watch this girl survive the horror and trauma she endures. »

Through the shutters of He shoutedSidney Prescott became a role model, a resilient fighter who refuses to be confined to her victim status. She’s not the only one final girl. In another film, ambitious journalist Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) would end up as cannon fodder. In He shouted and its sequels, this funny and intelligent character has the freedom to evolve. Sidney and Gale are resourceful warriors, always triumphing over the usually unintelligent Ghostface. Except when she’s a woman? The psychopath closest to success is Jill Roberts (Emma Roberts) in the fourth episode. Sidney’s cousin managed to pass herself off as the new one final girl before revealing his true face.

He shouted it also tackles feminist topics. Billy explains to Sid that he killed Maureen Prescott because she was having an affair with her father. For the killer, it’s all Sidney’s mother’s fault. Did you say sexist double standard? Released in 2000, Scream 3 traces Maureen’s past in Hollywood, where she was the victim of a gang rape. Producer John Milton says:

” It was the 70s, everything was different. Rina knew the mouse [….] Nothing happened to her that she didn’t provoke, one way or another. »

Old time argument (used in the Polanski affair), technique of blame the victim, slut shameimpunity… The plot resonates with the Me Too movement, publicized 17 years later by several Hollywood actresses, victims of sexual predator Harvey Weinstein.

Scream’s racialized characters: from black best friend to Latinx heroine

scream 2 it raises the question of the representation of racialized people. In the opening scene, Maureen (Jada Pinkett Smith) points to the candor of horror movies. Hallie (Elise Neal), Sidney’s best friend, fits the “racialized best friend” cliché, only there to highlight the heroine. Gale’s cameraman Joel is well aware of her skin color: “We know that black people never cut their teeth in this kind of situation”. If the following two parts turn out to be very white, the franchise has been catching up since 2022. scream 5 introduced two new final girlsSam and his little sister Tara Carpenter, played by Mexican actress Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, American actress, of Mexican-Puerto Rican descent.

Released on March 8, Scream 6 — who first outbids Neve Campbell over a salary dispute — is already a box office hit, especially with Latinx audiences. Proof, if need be, that two racialized actresses can carry a hideous frankness on their shoulders. The latter aptly explores the sisterly bond that unites Sam and Tara. The last two He shouted he also invited a cute black brother-and-sister duo, Chad (Mason Gooding) and Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown) to the slaughter. Openly lesbian, Mindy becomes the franchise’s first LGBTQ+ character.

In line with the end of scream 5the sixth part examines female violence, especially that of Sam, hidden daughter of Billy Loomis, this heroine dark he doesn’t defend himself, he takes revenge. All his rage explodes when he rushes at Ghostface to settle his bill with a dozen stab wounds. Did he inherit his father’s violence? We will propose another theory: Sam has the courage to respond to patriarchal violence with female violence. And the violence of women, these little things so soft and so fragile, is scary. It’s up to all the Ghostfaces of this world to shake now.