[Pride 2020] From Villains To Heroes: Imperfect Women In Horror

Even before I was aware that I was bi, I’ve always been drawn to female antagonists.

One of the earliest crushes I can remember is Jesse from Pokémon, though I also had a crush on James. They may not necessarily be the biggest baddies out there, and I do love when they wind up helping Ash and the rest, but regardless they are considered to be “bad” due to their repeated attempts at stealing other people’s Pokémon. Jesse herself is vain, demanding, selfish, and often drags James and Meowth along on whatever endeavors she has for stardom. However, she also cares about them, even if she won’t always admit it.

I wasn’t aware of it at the time, but I’ve come to realize why I like women like this: because they would tell me what to do. I’m an anxious, indecisive person. Making decisions overall is something that I hate doing, and in a romantic situation that’s amplified. But a lady like Jesse would take charge, and leave me free to just turn my overthinking brain off for a little while.

However, I’ve also realized over time there’s a reason certain traits, even if they’re ones that I found myself drawn to, are often found in women antagonists. It’s, of course, thanks to sexism. Women that have sexual desires, that want power, that are loud and angry, that are violent, really any trait you would easily find in a male protagonist? Those are “bad” women. They’re against the sweet, virginal, warm good girl. That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with being those things! But there’s also nothing wrong with being a sexual being, with wanting more for oneself, with expressing less than appealing feelings of fury and scorn. Thanks to misogyny, however, these aspects have more often than not been given to the women we’re not supposed to identify with, or like.

And yet here’s me, with the biggest crush on Julia from Hellraiser imaginable. It’s not that I don’t like Kirsty, in fact as women protags in horror of the time go, she’s actually pretty feisty. And sure, as you’d probably guess from my article about human/monster relationships, I’m a little biased thanks to Julia’s utter dedication to Frank, even as a goopy skinless creature. Ultimately though? I just admire her. Yes, she’s flawed, and is shitty to Kirsty. These flaws, though, make her feel just that much more human. Even as she begins to relish sacrificing men to her lover - and who wouldn’t? - her prowess in her sexuality and confidence in going after what she wants is hard not to appreciate. The ultimate gay question is always “do I want to be them, or be with them?’”and the answer tends to always be a bit of both.

Even if they aren’t the antagonists, women with these qualities, especially the farther back you go in horror history, are certainly not the final girl. They’re Barb in Black Christmas with her drinking and inappropriate topics, they’re Laurie Strode’s friends Lynda and Annie from Halloween who smoke and have sex, they’re the friends and neighbors of the final girls who don’t make it because they were drinking, because they were fooling around, because they weren’t sensible. Supposedly. They also all tend to be teenagers, who of course never make mistakes. Who should never be allowed to fuck up and grow and learn without the threat of some force that will kill them for doing so.

If nothing else, this is, in fact, realistic. In the sense that young girls are at risk should they party, put themselves out there, be loud and obnoxious, or anything else that boys their same age can get away with, simply because of misogyny and gender biases, but I digress.

This is the good news though: these concepts are changing. A shift has been happening with our lead women in horror, and yes, I did notice it because I found myself falling in love with them the way I adore lady villains.

This trend is happening mostly in horror comedies, which is appropriate because I look at it as women finally being allowed to be Ash Williams-esque heroes. Imperfect, loud, angry, sometimes goofy, and unafraid to cuss out the bad guy while coming at them with a weapon of choice. Human, one might say.

My first point to this is Tree from the Happy Death Day series. Not only is she all of these things, but she’s also an asshole! She’s our protagonist, our hero to root for, and she’s also a dick! This shouldn’t be so rare that it’s noteworthy, but it really is, and it’s why I adore her. It’s something male heroes have been allowed for ages, to grow and become better people by the end of things. Tree is at times a hot mess of a person, but guess what! Women can be exactly that sometimes. That doesn’t make her any less worthy of living, worthy of succeeding, and worthy of growth. Even more so, her pain and reason for much of her struggle is in thanks to the loss of her mother, and the second film in particular really explores their relationship in such a meaningful way that I don’t usually see in horror either.

Another excellent example is Grace Le Domas from Ready or Not. It’s not Samara Weaving’s first time playing this type of character, Melanie Cross from Mayhem is also a great example, but Melanie isn’t quite as much the main character as compared to Grace. Grace really carries the brunt of the film on her back, and does so not with, well, grace, but with ferocity. Grace by the end of the film is SMOTHERED with blood and dirt and god knows what else, she’s ready to bludgeon any member of the Le Domas family foolish enough to come after her, and with the most guttural roar I’ve heard from a final girl aside from two other instances I can think of. Adelaide from Us also issues such a bellow, though that’s more for hinting purposes, and Beverly from It Chapter 2 also does a similar sounding scream while bloodied and lifting a whole ass man in the form of Ben to safety.

I love when Grace issues this animal-like cry, because at this point she is very much a cornered beast ready to rip the throat out of anyone who comes near her. “Scream Queens” is a popular term for final girls in horror, particularly in classic slashers, for a reason. They do scream a lot, but those most often are screams of fear, high pitched and what most would consider feminine. Not that there’s anything wrong with that per se, that’s a valid response to someone trying to kill you, but not something we see from male protagonists in horror. Now, finally, we’re letting our women leads not just be scared, but be furious. Be murderous for the sake of their own survival, ready to fight tooth and nail to live, and not care how pretty they look nor sound in the process. It makes it more grounded, realistic, and human.

It’s not beautiful to be a woman surviving the threat of those in power wanting you to lie down and accept your fate. It doesn’t look pleasant to be dealing with grief and loss. And it shouldn’t! Women are under no obligation to anyone to be perfect while we fight to speak up, to pursue our goals, and to look out for ourselves. It’s about time that horror realized these traits make lead women more attractive because it makes them feel real. Not just objects to be sexualized and coveted by a male gaze. When Tree struts through campus naked she’s not doing it for anyone but herself, and that confidence is sexy. Far more so than throwing in a naked woman in heels and having her run around screaming and being threatened for, what, like five minutes straight?

Looking at you My Bloody Valentine remake.

I hope that we see this trend continue in horror overall, and that filmmakers realize that women protagonists don’t have to be sweet and wholesome to be likable. Women can, shockingly, just be real people! We have trauma, we have flaws, we have anger, and what better way to explore those things than in horror?

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