It’s interesting to think about how fans are portrayed and talked about in all five Scream movies, and this definitely sets the franchise apart from others.
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The Scream slasher franchise discusses fandom in every movie, and it’s always as interesting as it is scary and entertaining. Various characters want to be famous and have adoring fans who watch their every move and care about what they do, especially the way that Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) is portrayed in the first two films. Gale is a final girl but in Scream, she’s addicted to the feeling that she gets when she breaks a big story and has a huge audience watching her TV broadcasts. It’s only when the franchise continues that Gale shows her heart, emotions, and compassion, proving that wanting a large fanbase isn’t the most important thing in life.
It’s interesting that Scream talks about fandom in both senses: the people who want to have fans and the fans themselves. There are many Scream characters who really want people to know their names, faces, and why they wanted to kill people. Mickey Alteri (Timothy Olyphant), the Ghostface killer from Scream 2 (along with Debbie Loomis, played by Laurie Metcalf), wants a trial so he can be well-known. Jill Roberts (Emma Roberts) in Scream 4 wants to go viral.
Scream (2022) talks about fandom in the most obvious way of all of the films. One of the best Scream (2022) quotes is when Amber Freeman (Mikey Madison) admits her reason for wanting to be Ghostface: to get Gale, Dewey Riley (David Arquette), and Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) to return because they’re “legacy characters.” Amber’s partner Richie Kirsch (Jack Quaid) also talks about being a fan, one of the most memorable quotes from a slasher movie, as he says that people “don’t take fans seriously” and don’t understand that movies can mean a lot and help people through their lives.
Amber and Richie think that it makes total, perfect sense that they would want to create a requel and get credit for what they have created. They have been watching the Stab movies for years and they love them so much that they want to be known as the people who created some real life havoc so there was material for a new movie. The fact that they don’t see a problem with this proves how far they have taken their love of Stab. Amber and Richie are examples of people who are such big fans that they just want to be part of something. Everyone can understand that, but of course, no one should commit some terrible crimes in the process.
The sweet and funny character Randy Meeks and Jenna Ortega’s “elevated horror” fan Tara Carpenter are the people who show that being a fan can be a positive thing… but there are still problems. In Scream, Randy loves his job working at a video store since he’s so passionate about movies, particularly the horror genre. He likes recommending films to customers and helping them find what they’re looking for. When Ghostface comes to Woodsboro, Randy is ready because he knows a lot of facts about horror movie rules and he gladly explains what everyone should do to live. But as Randy learns, sometimes scary things happen in life and knowledge won’t get him out of every bad situation, as he does get killed by Ghostface in Scream 2.
When Ghostface calls Tara in the opening of Scream (2022), she tells them that she loves sophisticated, smart horror films and that she wants scary movies to have an intellectual message. It’s great that Tara likes to think about difficult topics and that she is self-aware and knows what kind of movies she likes. Tara shows that she’s a smart and capable person, personality traits that she uses when she fights Ghostface in the first scene and recovers from her injuries in the hospital while still trying to beat them.
In both cases, it’s possible that being a fan has helped Randy and Tara hide from life a bit and not really participate. Randy seems to have some friends but no one too cloes to him, and he mostly is on the outskirts at school, prone to debating people in class harshly rather than connecting with them. Tara also struggles with her relationship with her older sister Sam (Melissa Barrera) and it’s only when a new Ghostface surfaces that they decide to try to be in each other’s lives. While this is moving, it seems like Tara has ignored the need for real human connection in favor of watching a lot of movies.
Since fandom is such an important part of the Scream (and the Stab) universe, it seems likely that this concept will come up again in Scream 6 (and beyond, if there are any more films). It will be interesting to see how the idea is used next.
NEXT: Jenna Ortega: The Scream Queen Of 2022
