“Final Girl” by CHVRCHES, Thursday, October 17, 2024
The "Final Girl" trope in horror movies, coined by film theorist Carol J. Clover in her 1992 book Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film , refers to the last female character left alive at the end of the film, who confronts and often defeats the killer or monster. This character has become a significant archetype in slasher and horror films. The trope originated in the 1970s and became especially popular in the 1980s with movies like Halloween (1978), Friday the 13th (1980), and A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). When crafting their concept album Screen Violence , inspired by horror films, CHVRCHES ’ songwriter and frontwoman Lauren Mayberry explores the trope, setting it in real life rather than a work of fiction in the song “ Final Girl .” The song is a pivotal track on Screen Violence with the band selling Final Girl shirts and Mayberry wearing the t-shirt in concerts as pictured in the lyric photo. DOES SHE LOOK LIKE ME ? There are several key f