Queer Street

What if I told you there was a slasher trilogy centered around a lesbian love story and they both survive and live happily ever after? You’re probably thinking I’m telling a cruel joke and my punchline is “in your dreams!” Well it’s not a joke, it’s very real actually. Just look at the Fear Street trilogy on Netflix.

The Fear Street trilogy follows Deena Johnson (Kiana Madeira), a high school student from Shadyside, and her friends as they fight off serial killers trying to kill Deena’s ex-girlfriend Sam Fraser (Olivia Scott Welch). Throughout the three movies that span three centuries of time, the audience learns how to save Sam, the history of the killers, and the real story of Sarah Fier, Shadyside’s first witch. The Fear Street trilogy is a masterclass in subverting common slasher tropes. The movies draw a lot of influence from iconic slasher movies, but are careful not to make the same mistakes and perpetuate harmful stereotypes. 

Movies and television have had a troubled past with LGBTQ+ representation, especially horror movies. One of the most common tropes pertaining to the LGBTQ+ community is “bury your gays.” This trope refers to the disproportionate amount of queer characters who are killed off in the media as compared to their straight counterparts. In past decades, if you were queer in a horror movie, you’d be one of the first to die. Not only do viewers have to worry about if a character survives, but also how they are portrayed while they’re still alive. Oftentimes, sexuality is not explicitly stated, so the characters are queer coded. Queer-coded refers to when a character’s sexuality can be inferred through their mannerisms, behavior, and dialogue. Villains are usually queer-coded, which then associates queerness with evil and perpetuates homophobia. This trend is a shame because Kevin Williamson, a prolific horror screenwriter and creator of the Scream franchise, is an openly gay man. There have always been queer people involved in horror, but horror represents them poorly. Fear Street provides refreshing and heartwarming LGBTQ+ representation, after years of crumbs.

In addition to homosexuality being associated with evil, horror movies have also associated homosexuality with the Devil and witchcraft, further villainizing queer people. The third installment in the trilogy, Fear Street Part 3: 1666 tells the story of Sarah Fier, a lesbian who became the scapegoat of a village run by men. Her village had a plague of tragedy like rotting food and a classroom full of massacred children. This bout of evil was the work of Solomon Goode, but Sarah was blamed for it. A drunken man told the village he saw Sarah and her lover, Hannah “lay with the Devil.” Hannah internalized this hate towards queer people and believed her relationship with Sarah brought misfortune to their village because homosexuality goes against nature. They were both sentenced to hang for being “witches” which is a metaphor for homosexuality. Despite knowing her own innocence, Sarah took all of the blame and claimed she corrupted Hannah, which allowed Hannah to be spared. Sarah made the ultimate sacrifice to protect her lover. Though she ultimately died, Fear Street told her story in a tactful way that reflected the stories of other marginalized people who have fallen victim to a patriarchal and heteronormative society. 

Deena and Sam are the final girls of Fear Street. They’re not traditional final girls by any means. Historically, final girls are straight, white, and very feminine. They’re both lesbians, Deena is a woman of color, and they’re not typically feminine girls. Sam and Deena’s relationship is treated just as a heterosexual one would be. Interestingly, the movie was not marketed as a queer love story and viewers don’t know the gender of Deena’s ex until Sam is revealed to be a girl about fifteen minutes in. This choice by the films’ director, Leigh Janiak, forced audiences to check their own biases. Instead of Sam and Deena’s love for each other being villainized, their love is what saves them. “Death by sex” is a common slasher trope that punishes characters for having sex and becoming less pure. Thus, any expression of love is a death sentence. However, it is Sam and Deena’s connection to each other that stops a possessed Sam from killing Deena. As Deena says to Sam towards the end of the first, “you and me are the way out.” Their love and bond was their escape from this nightmare situation and the driving force of the trilogy.