Content warning for discussion regarding rape, sex, murder and sexism.
“What’s your favorite scary movie?”
It’s a famous line uttered in one of horror’s most famous movies, during one of the genre’s most famous scenes. I’ve got a few favorites myself, but in the first ever issue of The Modern Monster, I want to talk about the movie that got me hooked on horror. We’re going back to a not-quite-modern 1996 to talk about an industry classic: “Scream,” directed by Wes Craven.
Hello and welcome to the Modern Monster! This is a brand-new weekly column focused on all things spooky and/or scary, which you will see in The Daily Campus every Freaky Friday. I’ll be discussing movies, books, shows, conspiracy theories, cold cases and more, as well as my thoughts on how these stories affect us all.
“Scream” follows Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), a teenager in high school grappling with the upcoming one-year anniversary of her mother’s rape and subsequent murder. She has a boyfriend, Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich) and a best friend, Tatum Riley (Rose McGowan). Rounding out the friend group is Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy) and Tatum’s boyfriend Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard).
If you search up the “Scream” poster, you might notice that Campbell’s name and face are noticeably lacking. If you watched this in 1996, you wouldn’t have guessed that she’d be our hero. The average viewer would’ve guessed the more famous Drew Barrymore, who is featured more prominently on the poster, but her character dies in the first scene.
Rounding out the main cast, we have Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox), the self-described “cheesy tabloid journalist,” and Tatum’s boyish older brother, Deputy Dwight “Dewey” Riley (David Arquette). Both are on the trail of the man who killed Casey and her boyfriend Steve.
Before the news of Casey and Steve’s murder reaches the town, Sidney’s father Neil (Lawrence Hecht) tells her he’s leaving town for work. That night, Billy sneaks into Sidney’s room and asks her to have sex with him. After two years of dating, he feels like they need to progress. Sidney agrees to be intimate as long as it’s over-the-clothes — a rule he quickly breaks. Sidney slaps his hand away.
The next day at school, Sidney and her friends are discussing the double murder. Stu talks casually about the murder and makes a remark that “There’s no way a girl could’ve killed them.” It’s also mentioned that Stu used to date Casey in the past before, as Randy says, “she dumped him for Steve.”
The killer, in a black cloak and a white “Ghostface” mask, eventually attacks Sidney, but she escapes. Billy, who showed up at her house suddenly, is named a suspect and arrested. Billy is released when the killer calls Sidney again while he’s in a holding cell.
Later on, Stu announces he’s hosting a party at his conveniently secluded house. Here is where the killer strikes again, taking multiple victims before the killer is finished off.
If it’s not obvious by this point, Billy and Stu are the killers. They also murdered Sidney’s mother Maureen, and call Maureen a “slut-bag whore” during their confession.
Billy and Stu are profoundly sexist. Sidney tells Billy that she isn’t interested in having sex with him considering the anniversary of her mom’s death is coming up, and Billy tells her she should get over it. Stu sexualizes actress Jamie Lee Curtis while watching a movie with Randy.
The men who survive Billy and Stu’s attacks are Randy and Dewey. Despite having a crush on Sidney, Randy is always respectful of her and never forces himself upon her in any way. Dewey has an interest in Gale, but he also never forces himself upon her. Gale is the one to kiss him, and although Dewey is into it, he turns her down because he’s currently on the clock investigating the killer.
It’s no coincidence that our surviving male characters are also shown to be the kindest to women.
On top of that, Sidney is the one to kill Stu before getting attacked by Billy and then saved by Gale. Sidney shoots Billy and finishes him off shortly after.
Gale and Sidney are at odds the entire movie, having had different opinions on who had killed Maureen. Gale is also incredibly career focused, with a dream of reporting on major crime stories. This leads to her hounding after Sidney, which Sidney never appreciates.
Despite this, Gale saves Sidney not Randy, even though Randy was in the same room as them during this scene. It’s Gale who picks up the gun and shoots Billy to stop him from murdering Sidney.
Additionally, a common horror movie rule (and one referenced in the film) is the required characteristics of a final girl. Many horror movies feature a female main character, who lasts until the end of the movie. Modern final girls are usually the ones to finally defeat the villain of the story. A common rule for a final girl, which Randy mentions during the film, is that she must be a virgin. If she isn’t, she’s lost her ability to survive to the end.
By the end of the movie, Sidney doesn’t fit the bill as this kind of final girl, but she’s the one to kill the two villains. Conversely, Randy fits the final girl trope a bit easier as a damsel-in-distress, a self-proclaimed virgin. It’s a reverse of roles that emphasizes Sidney’s agency and names her the hero of the story. She’s the one to end the torment, even though Randy is present for the climax of the film.
“Scream” is a movie that treats its characters with endless amounts of respect and highlights women during a much more misogynistic time. It’s also filled with references to other horror movies, and it presents itself as reliant on tropes, using that audience expectation against you.
This reverse of expectations adds to the feminist narrative of “Scream.” When looking back at old movies, we sort of expect to see a level of sexism within them. A product of the time, we might say in defense of an ancient gem. But “Scream” doesn’t need that defense. It still holds up today in that regard.
Sexism is still an issue we see today. With a gender-based pay gap and a possible abortion ban in the Life at Conception Act, it can be easy to lose yourself in the stress of a world that seems like it’s moving backward. But it’s nice to know we have movies like “Scream.”