Scream: Deep Thoughts About Badass Final Girls, Self-Aware Pop Culture, and Why We Expect Morals from Horror but Not Comedy

Scream: Deep Thoughts About Badass Final Girls, Self-Aware Pop Culture, and Why We Expect Morals from Horror but Not Comedy

1:01:20 Oct 31, 2025
About this episode
Send us a message! Include how to reach you if you want a response. We're releasing this episode (109) four days early in honor of Halloween!There are certain RULES that one must abide by in order to successfully survive a horror movie.In December 1996, teenaged Emily learned to love horror movies when she saw Wes Craven's Scream in the theater. Twice.Unlike most pop culture specifically created for her demographic, Scream offered feminism, cultural commentary, badass women as protagonists and antagonists, a banger of a murder mystery, and plenty of comedy--all while simultaneously analyzing film tropes, leaning into them, and subverting them all at once. It's no wonder it lit Emily up so much she convinced her scaredy-cat big sister to go see the film, too.But there's a reason Emily hadn't watched this film for nearly 25 years even though it had once been one of her favorites. The murder of peer while she was in college brought home to her the fact that pop culture makes violent death into entertainment. And despite the superb storytelling, rewatching Scream as a 46-year-old mother of teenagers only highlighted the tragedy behind the perfectly-constructed fiction.But even with her misgivings about the film's violence, Emily is still grateful to director Wes Craven, screenwriter Kevin Williamson, and actor Neve Campbell for giving her Sidney Prescott as a pop culture role model for setting sexual boundaries. Sidney has complete bodily autonomy and agency, and neither the film nor any of the non-homicidal characters shame her for her sexual decisions--even when she trusts the wrong man. This was a message that millions of teenagers took in with the quips and scares without realizing it. Nice work, Scream team.Listen in--but don't tell anyone that you'll be right back!Content warning: Discussion of murder, serial killers, sexual violence, Harvey Weinstein, and other types of violence. Mentioned inPlease give us a review and/or a rating! It really does help. In fact, email a screenshot of your review and your address to guygirlsmedia@gmail.com, and we'll send you a Deep Thoughts About Stupid Sh*t sticker to say thanks. ~Tracie & Emily Meet the sisters behind the microphones! Sunday, April 26 at 5 pm EDT /  4 pm CDT, we'll open our zoom room for you. We'll play movie-themed games, learn about one another, and take a break from the news (without abdicating our minds). It's just what you need to recharge before the week ahead. RSVP here guygirlsmedia.com/hangoutWe are the sister podcasters Tracie Guy-Decker and Emily Guy Birken, known to our extended family as the Guy Girls.We're hella smart and completely unashamed of our overthinking prowess. We love 80s and 90s m
Select an episode
0:00 0:00