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finalgirlkell · 11 months

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Final girl (Noun): An Introduction.

According to some, I guess I owe them an explanation. But let's start at the beginning - at least.

What is a Final Girl?

Coined by film theorist Carol J. Clover in her 1992 book Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film.

The Final Girl is a character (classically female presenting) who is the last person alive to confront the killer/monster, and often the sole survivor. The final girl is a trope in horror films (particularly slasher films ).

A common plot in many horror films in which several victims are killed one-by-one by a killer amid increasing terror, culminating in a climax in which the last surviving member of the group, the final girl, vanquishes the killer (at least until the sequel).

Why would I want the moniker or call this blog Final Girl Kell?

The final girl trope has evolved throughout the years, from early final girls most often being DIDs (Damsels in Distress), saved by a strong men to more modern final girls who are more likely to survive due to their own abilities.

For many, the final girl is the living embodiment of stereotypical conservative attitudes of what women "should be"—virginal, subservient, untouched by the menace of the outside world. But as the trope evolved, the trope was used to force the audience to identify with a woman in the climax of the movie. The person you root for to win. That became a very powerful sword to wield. It allowed new points of view in horror storytelling.

When women won, they were able to force men to watch them step into their own power.

The name Final Girl Kell is a large part wish fulfillment.

I'm not here to trauma dump, nor give some sob story - at least not all at once and not for the public to twist and use against me as some things have been in my past. It's what the public does to victims of abuse when they speak out and that fall out I know all to well to try again.

The quick notes version is I've been the innocent who was forcefully defiled by the monster of men. I've had my life completely derailed by others selfish needs and desires - others fears and needing to single out someone to hurt to deal with their own insecurities - and I've had to bear the brunt of that fallout, living in a life feeling confined to a box others made to try to kill me.

I'll give them it was a trap my own naivety caused me to fall into - trusting the wolves in sheep's clothing - but the Final Girl always makes it out of these traps. They always fight and claw their way back out to come back and take those monsters down. They make it out to see another day. To live another day. To be free of the monster hunting them down.

As a survivor, especially one a lot of people see as "not perfect" I identity with that.

I've been to the edge and back and I've gotten free. I've won to see another day. As someone still dealing with picking up the pieces of my trauma and more recent battles - I hold on to the trope like a mantra. I will survive, and I will thrive. I will be free to see the light of another day.

As a child who grew up on whatever I thought sounded cool at Blockbuster and loved all things spooky - Final Girls like Nancy, Sidney and Laurie always stuck with me. My inner child and adolescence begs me to tap into the power those Final Girls had - and I have to honor that.

What is the goal for this blog?

Benny: But I still want to know what happens! Buffy: Everyone gets horribly killed except the blonde girl in the nightie who finally kills the monster with a machete but it's not really dead. Jennifer: Oh my God. Is that true? Buffy: Probably. What movie is this?

— Cut dialogue from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

I can't say what I plan for this blog to be totally.

Part health journeys - with my mental and physical health in some serious need of TLC.

Part writing out ideas for horror screenplays based on the insanity I'm dealing with and the terrifying situations living in Atlanta brought me into.

Part just spooky stuff I like, and showing off the positive progress I've made. Be it showing off a cool skill I've taught myself (like with ghost hunting) or musings about Halloween Horror Nights and showing gratitude for the things and people who make me want to never give up.

I can't say I have everything figured out, but I'm down to start this blog journey and I hope others are excited to read, listen, watch and hopefully relate.

We're all final girls here.

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