'Third-Wave Feminism In The Film Scream'

The film, Scream, restored the slasher craze after the countless sequels of previous slasher films, such as the Halloween and Friday the 13th franchises, quelled audience’s interest in the genre. Scream, directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson, is a horror cinema from 1996. The movie centers on high school student, Sidney Prescott, whom is terrorized by a murder who kills everyone she knows. The teenagers of this small town begin to contemplate the “rules” of horror films, such as do not have sex or say “I’ll be right back,” in order to survive the masked killer in what becomes a real-life horror movie. The film, Scream, advocates for third-wave feminism, the movement that aims for gender equality and empowerment of women, by

Two main male characters within the film, Deputy Dewey and Randy Meeks, emanate more feminine qualities. Even Deputy Dwight’s nickname, Dewey, is observed of as childish. In one scene, Dewey is seen with an ice cream cone, a sweet commonly associated with children; the ice cream is also pink which exaggerates his feminine attributes. He also is frequently seen throughout the film as nervous, scared, and even screams in many of the movie’s scenes. When condescended by his younger sister or when she refers to him as “boy” in public, Dewey says things like, “Mom said refer to me as deputy when I am on the job!” He constantly tries to compensate for his lack of masculinity throughout the film by constantly reminding everyone how he is the deputy of the town. Randy, on the other hand, is a self-proclaimed virgin whom is very nerdy and works at a video store. He is the voice within the film that keeps reminding everyone else about the supposed “rules” to surviving the horror film they have found themselves in. Both of these characters are deemed as “Final Boys,” for they survived the whole film. However, they survived due to the heroism of the female lead