Scream

In most horror films, the female protagonist known as the “final girl” is the only character in the movie to be fully developed in psychological detail. The “final girl”, most of the time, is the last one to make it to the end of the film involving some sort of fight with the antagonist. This character goes through many excruciating events, which in turn, ends up leading to a fight with the killer (the killer tends to be male). One of the most prominent examples of the “final girl” is Sydney Prescott in the film, Scream, directed by Wes Craven.

Sidney, is written to be more responsible, intelligent, and a brave character, however, her friends are interpreted as more of “party animals” and care more about their alcohol intake than their education. Out of all of her friends, Sidney, is a virgin but what happens later in the film changes that fact. In most horror genre films, the virgins tend to survive till the end of the movie, whereas those who take part in sexual behavior end in a tragic death.

It is also apparent to the audience that although Sidney was attacked throughout the entire movie, she does not die (most likely because she is the virgin in the film). However, towards the end of the movie, she loses her virginity and the killer comes up with the plan to really killer her this time. This does not just happen in Scream, other movies like Halloween, the “final girl” makes it to the end of the movie as well because she is a virgin. In unfortunate circumstances, like Scream, all of her friends are murdered because of their promiscuous ways.

Throughout the film, Sidney faces many dangerous encounters with the killer, but what keeps her alive is her fighting abilities and quick thinking. To the male audience, this can be seen as a female with male characteristics, but to the female audience they see a girl with quick instincts and fighting skills. In an abundant amount of horror films, the females are seen as weak and tend to cry, scream, or start panicking when the killer is in sight, but only the males are the ones to protect the females and fight the killer. This is why the male audience could view the “final girl” as male instead of female.

In most horror films, females are portrayed as having more fear and more panicky moments, however, movies that incorporate the “final girl” the female protagonist is ready to take down the killer with their male characteristics.