Final Girls vs. Fallen Women

The Bloody Madonna-Whore Complex of Horror Films

Some of the most notable female characters in film history have been associated with horror films—Laurie Strode (Halloween), Sidney Prescott (Scream), Nancy Thompson (A Nightmare on Elm Street), etc. All of these characters have more than a few things in common: together they are all examples of the ‘Final Girl’, the last lady standing at the end of a horror film, when all others have been slaughtered.

I find the Final Girl trope fascinating. In many cases, this character makes for an excellent role model. More often than not, Final Girls are intelligent, resilient, resourceful and carry themselves with a certain amount of dignity and self-respect. Often these girls are portrayed as virgins, which is both good and bad—but more on that later.

Final Girls are terrorised by sinister men who want to penetrate their pure skin with large, sharp phallic weapons, and these women fight back, not allowing themselves to be destroyed. Everyone else around the Final Girl has been taken out, leaving her to fend for herself. She usually acquits herself well, driving away or destroying the killer and saving the day. Of course, there is usually some indication that the killer is still alive and the Final Girl’s story is not over but for the moment, she is victorious.

Everything I have written thus far has shown the reasons why the Final Girl works as a positive role model, but I do have my gripes with her. Well, not with her—she’s a lovely, blood-soaked little go-getter—but the writers of these films are a whole different story.

I indicated earlier that I have an issue with the near mandatory virginity of the Final Girl. One of my major problems with many classic horror films is how they treat feminine sexuality. The Final Girl is often said to be a virgin, which somehow makes her a purer and more viable heroine. Horror movies always have female characters that are shown to enjoy sex, whether it’s in a monogamous relationship or with multiple partners—and these characters are almost always slaughtered before the credits roll.

In the meta-horror film ‘Scream’, Sidney Prescott is a virgin, and it’s repeatedly stated that this means she is safe from death. Later on in the film though, she has sex. The tone of the movie changes; suddenly she’s in danger. Fortunately for her and Neve Campbell’s bank account, she lives to be tormented another day, but the reoccurring horror trope that this pokes fun at—the loss of virginity leading to a loss of safety—is bothersome.

Even worse for these ‘fallen women’ is that outside of enjoying sex, they also like booze, cursing and maybe, horror of horrors, a little bit of pot. According to horror writer logic, this makes them ripe for a fantastically gory death scene that could potentially also be ironic. We’re not even set up to feel that much for the victim, because there is always the lingering sentiment that somehow she deserves her punishment because she isn’t winsome or pure of body.

Slut-shaming is nothing new in film; the femme fatale always meets with misfortune while the good girl finds her happy ending. The thing is, in a horror movie, the femme fatale’s misfortune is a gruesome end. The Final Girl says a witty line and shoots the killer in the head, while the Fallen Woman dies crawling through a doggy door—no symbolism there.

Excuse my language, but this is a fucking problem. According to the media, one of the highest virtues a woman can aspire to is to be sexually appealing. If a girl has had various dicks in her though, she is no longer socially acceptable. She must be punished, and in horror, the punishment must be extreme.

Slasher movies could be considered to be morality tales but I’ve never cared much for tales preaching “good morals”. The films are fiction but the harsh judgement exists in reality; many girls (myself included) who enjoy sex, booze and…other things can attest to that.

I love horror films; I’m just saying I’d like to see a girl who loves sex and jagerbombs kick the ass of some axe-wielding killer in a film every now and then. Is that too much to ask?

Oh, and men, in a horror movie, it doesn’t matter whether you are a selfless, pure and true virgin or a guy who loves to binge drink and get laid—you are fucked no matter what. Sorry.