QUEERING THE SLASHER: SCREAM | Video Essay 📼🔪

Surprise Sidney...This is part three of my five part series on queering the slasher genre! And in this episode, I will be talking about MY favourite scary movie, riot grrls, grunge music and sexy, sexy murderers.
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Opening theme: Final Level - Little Jimmy Urine
Please subscribe for more on this series very soon, enjoy your holiday season, stay safe and remember, stay spooky! 📼🔪

[@misslaura199]

A lot of people including the cast and crew believed that either they were lovers or Stu was in love with Billy which is why he went along with the murders, there was even one of the production staff who worked on the movie and he said that he believes there was at least a one-sided love between the pair but he wasn't sure if they both were in love with each other, I buy this because if you watch Stu throughout the movie, he seems to almost worship Billy, he always looks at him in a certain way, he gets way to close to him at the end when they're taunting Sidney and he even had a smirk on his face when Billy punched him before he went upstairs with Sidney, there was also the part after he 'stabbed' Billy and he wiped the knife which many people have referred to as a sexual innuendo

[@vide0n4sty]

yesss i especially love how much matthew lillard is on the billy/stu train. i think he even made a comment about how if they survived they would have run away and rehomed stray dogs (and killed on the weekends of course). even kevin williamson was kinda like "yeah i can totally see it" in a recent interview!

[@oskar_oskarewicz]

It is a very interesting interpretation. However a lot of what both you and Video N4sty say would require actors, the crew, Williamson and Craven all together having that in mind, and directing the story this way. And I doubt that was the case. I have never came a cross on any info that Craven directed them to give the audience such impression. He was a clever guy though, there's a big chance he thought it's a great thing to make it sligthly ambiguous, and open for many interpretations :) Well, Craven is not around anymore so we will never know. Unless someone asks Williamson about it :) Maybe he suggested it to him, who knows? From what I know he's gay, so I can assume Billy and Stu being in somewhat romantic relantions ship crossed his mind while writting. Cheers

[@ThePestProblem]

Wow you’re reaching

[@misslaura199]

@@ThePestProblem I guess the writer is also reaching as well, Kevin Williamson has confirmed that Billy and Stu were based on two killers who were gay and in a relationship

[@divineasscheeks1245]

@@oskar_oskarewiczthe writer himself said they were queer

[@chloefarrah8598]

the first time i watched this movie, at the ripe age of 10, i thought they were secret lovers. years later, i still do 💪

[@whatsgoodfam772]

Same

[@Therizzler-v7h]

Sameee

[@ThePestProblem]

You would still be wrong in that assumption.

[@Fxnrl0]

@@ThePestProblemits literally been confirmed by both actors. Stu and Billy were also inspired by Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb , two gay serial killers who have been found to have been in a romantic relationship with each other.

[@ThePestProblem]

@@Fxnrl0 it’s literally not confirmed at all and is only said to be by desperate flag bearers looking for characters to project onto in order to feel justified.

[@shlorgersen]

Matt lillard said if billy and Stu survived they’d be married raising stray dogs

[@C0rv1dBon3Z]

I think Matt said on an interview that if they survived, they’d get married and raise stray dogs 😂

[@mr_selfdestruct]

Lets not forget the "the killing was a real mans job" talk they all had together at the fountain in the beginning! With Randy saying "It takes a man to do something like that" when refering to Casey and Steve's murder when talking to Stu, almost de-masculating him. I always thought that had some tension as well.

[@BuffyTheVampireSlayer-ht2lj]

how does that demasculate him

[@ThePestProblem]

Reaching as usual

[@currymunch3r970]

i've been labeling scream as a queer slasher FOR YEARS, like yeah obviously there's something going on between these two fruits.

[@eleanorcooke7136]

Scream and the Nightmare on Elm Street 2.

[@chickwithbricks]

Top result for my search "scream is gay" and well-deserved! No notes, fantastic video thank you!

[@vide0n4sty]

that is my legacy from now on. thank YOU

[@desmondclark3193]

Scary Movie even hinted at this in their satire version.

[@DalmaSafra]

the hint that mks me believe at least stu likes billy that way, is how he posed behind him, his face close to his face, might be ntg, but i had that feeling.

[@randompersonyoudontknow1678]

im a little late for the party lol but on the 1995 rewrite of the scrip there's a scene that was removed from the final cut where billy says to stu he's "far too sensitive." so the "peer pressure" line would make even more sense when linking it back to their relationship

[@MistarZtv]

Talanted, brilliant, incredible, amazing, showstopper, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before, unafraid to refferace or not refferace, put it in a blender, shit on it, vomit on it, eat it, give birth to it

[@vide0n4sty]

me at this comment ^^^

[@emptylanternmedia2248]

I love the visual symbolism and tasteful sexual innuendos in the movie. The way dissects the psychology of sex

[@katisbeingsilly]

Billy probably only dated sidney to kill her, same with stu, who said that they couldn’t be lovers?

[@HauntedX0X0]

That was such a good video! Well spoken, sighted, and analyzed! I’ve adored Scream for awhile now and I’ve had a recent kick of playing it quite often, especially because I favor Billy and Stu. I’m queer myself, so maybe it’s a pattern lmao. Love to see the recognition of their queerness because.. Scream is so very not straight. Glad it’s not popular to brush it aside as any other slasher. Definitely looking forward to future content, Scream or no!

[@rhiley5097]

GREAT VIDEO!! i do disagree with your reading of randy as a straight man. i think billy, stu, and randy are all stand ins for kevin williamson (and other gay horror fans). i do see randys crush on sidney as performative bc he only ever mentions it around other men and we’re never given a real reason for him to crush on her. i think it makes the video store scene so much more interesting- billy and stu taunt randy for being deeply closeted, intimidating him by using their sexuality.

[@vide0n4sty]

this is a truly excellent reading, and i honestly totally see it!! this is made even more interesting by randy's equivalent (?) in scream 4 saying "you can't kill me, i'm gay"

[@misslaura199]

IMO I don't think so, not many people brag to folk about who they've got crushes on especially if they're scared of rejection which would be the case here because Sidney was with Billy and he probably thought she was out of his league also, his only other friend apart from Bily, Stu and Sidney is Tatum who looks like the type to taunt him about it and then tell Sidney besides in the original script the ending was supposed to be different and it included Randy asking Sidney out on a date which she agreed too

[@warmsunflower8156]

@@misslaura199 - Ohhhh, I soooo wanted Sid to be with Randy. That would have been a fine ending.

[@misslaura199]

@@warmsunflower8156 They actually recorded a date scene for Scream 2 back when the script was supposed to have Randy be Gales new camera man but because it got leaked everything was scrapped, I would've loved a Randy and Sidney relationship too

[@denji5426]

great video! just finished watching the movie yesterday and i just couldn't stop thinking about it. thanks for this

[@AnthroFiend]

These videos are too good! Keep it up! I'm glad I'm not the only one who HATES Freudian theory.

[@BuffyTheVampireSlayer-ht2lj]

I wondered why I liked Scream and Carrie so much, this seems like a logical answer

[@ZyanoseBiggestFan]

Love the mention of riot grrrl, I’ve studied the riot grrrl movement since I was about 12 and it’s just interesting

[@chrislawson1988]

The whole thing is really about killing stus ex girlfriend and girlfriend and killing billy's girlfriend so they can be together. The rest was all a red herring like they say in clue lol.

[@razkable]

Why kill the principal then?..seems dumb...they are risking getting caught...

[@warmsunflower8156]

There's always some stupid bullshit reason to kill your Principal. 😂 P.S - You're awesome if you get the reference.

[@Melody.Joy.23]

@@razkable the principal hanging from the goalpost made everyone leave the party so the final killings could take place.

[@doodle6381]

Me watching this: Stu’s bi Billy’s gay Stu killed for Billy’s love and they were secretly dating next question

[@danim896]

freud is actuallt fun to read once you read when he rejects his own original theories

[@leaf2182]

This was such a good video essay omg I love the scream franchise so much and you explained everything so well and made a super entertaining well thought out video

[@fusionspace175]

Dewey is basically just Andy from Twin Peaks. Great video though, interesting take on the film. It never even occurred to me how many times Ghostface has been both male and female, for example. Plenty to think about here, next time I see the film.

[@vulpesinculta6493]

I ship it.

[@nathancombs527]

I just found your channel. I really hope you keep making content like this. You're doing amazing

[@tmvward]

I love how you did this, wonderful job.

[@WeezerFan87]

I love how well thought out and put together this video is. You can clearly see how much learning went into this video!

[@BluejaysBlog]

This video is incredible! Love the analysis!

[@unclekarl5219]

I'm only seeing this video now but I think its a great analysis, becoming more relevant now since the original script of scream 5, one of the killers was openly gay and in the opening of scream 6 there is a gay ghostface even if he has short screentime

[@trae2648]

Omg I'm new and I can't forget about the two of them hshshsb it's like I'm obsessed

[@amesjahhh5312]

This was such a well made video essay!!!

[@chrislawson1988]

Wish I could give this laughing emoji instead of thumbs up lol. Stu definitely liking st billy lovingly lol. Plus in video store he's right behind randy playing with his ear lol. I'm like that's weird man. I wouldn't like that lol. Very interesting video lol.

[@Auilrophilex]

This makes sense

[@bambiiii1ii]

gayle is 100% queer coded in the later movies

[@loganw.6756]

Keep up the good work, you deserve more subscribers.

[@vide0n4sty]

thank you so much, your support means the world!

[@whisper1776]

Holy shit, that was a well put together video - really a great job, thank you!

[@juanv4939]

This video was amazing. Thanks

[@vide0n4sty]

thank you!! means a lot

[@beebbop5358]

hey your face is fine you have a nice face don't worry about putting it in videos your writing for this js awesome so glad I found it!

[@a_coconut_girl]

Does anyone else read Sid as ace coded? Just wanted to know what y’all think about her possibly being ace or a-spec.

[@ManubibiWalsh]

I’m a-spec, and I never read Sidney as a-spec. Her whole image is that of a traditional slasher protagonist, which is meant to be turned upside down by 1. being smarter than most characters in typical previous female characters in slashers, but also 2. having her choose to have sex with Billy and surviving, which effectively deconstructs rule number 1. Also, she’s a good girl in the whole first and second act to really establish her as the final girl, and then she switches to a more complex character who has sex and kills the killer using their own costume and thus their identity. You can also see she doesn’t hate the idea of sex with Billy, she’s just a bit puritanical and sex-averse at first and thinks it’s inappropriate for them to f*ck also considering she just lost her mother. Finally, not wanting to have sex shouldn’t be a sign that “ah, this person/character is ace”. Sure, for most aces not seeking out and not wanting sex comes with our sexualities, but wanting or not wanting sex has more to do with libido than sexuality, and there are allosexual people who can be sex-repulsed just like there can be sex-positive asexuals or demisexuals or gray-asexuals etc. Is she asexual? Probably not. Is she sex-averse? Up to a certain point. Most of all though, she’s a character who exists to subvert the rules of the genre the story is filed under. Every character is exactly that, and every character subverts multiple rules, including the rules, including the rule of every rule: “rules exist to be broken”. In fact, even by assuming Scream subverts the rules of slashers, those rules sometimes still apply. Like, Randy says that saying “I’ll be right back” gets you killed. Stu says it twice, and he ends up dead. The final statement of this movie is, then, that there are no rules. Scream VI just really reinforced that, by subverting the rules of its own franchise.

[@BSchnizzleness]

This was GREAT!!!!

[@antonellatinajero8158]

I love this

[@Mayor-q6b]

Wonderful video

[@xo7667]

holy crap this is a great video

[@Jutlander83]

This is an amazing analysis.

[@ar-tz8ot]

this video is great

[@CasperOliver]

I love your videos on queer horror so much!! Thank you for sharing these 🥰🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

[@garlicbread11682]

Man I don’t want serial killers representing me💀

[@caramelbilquees]

I think Stu was in love with Billy he never cared about the girls he dated Casey, Tatum even though she never did anything. Billy I don't know he seems in love with his mum only it seemed he would of killed Stu too that's why he stabbed him so many times?

[@jeremymorrow4350]

I mean I think it was just stu engeric personality we all have that friend to act like that

[@razkable]

He's meant to be the rich lonely kid who is a horror movie nut and just psychotic easy to manipulate didn't understand the consequences...

[@idealisticcynic06]

Ok I honestly missed a lot because of the complex themes and words but from what i understand they are all gay? MAn I really need to watch the film then lol- greatly enjoyed the video

[@opalopal-g8q]

Please tell me im not the only one who ships tatum and sydney as asexual lesbians

[@JamieRushing27]

Stretching your fantasies into the real world as hard as you can. 😅

[@stephaniepage4334]

WHo do you ship sid with?Billy derek,randy or mark

[@vide0n4sty]

therapy (but mostly mark

[@warmsunflower8156]

Randy

[@joshuawaring4180]

As a gay man myself, I cannot tell you how much the word ‘Queer’, ‘Queering’ or other derivatives, gets under my skin. It drives me mad.

[@ManubibiWalsh]

As a queer woman, I can’t tell you how liberating the word “queer” is, and how traumatic the word “gay” is (it was THE most common homophobic slur where I live and I still hesitate in using it when talking about myself or others, and I’m past my 30s) so each to their own I guess.

[@rozyberger6068]

[@FoxfireAhri]

are they..yk.. 🏳‍🌈🏳‍🌈🔪👻

[@seandaniels7938]

Not everything is gay lol

[@lycanfangs]

pretty sure billy and stu were confirmed to be queer coded by the writer lol

[@ManubibiWalsh]

@@lycanfangs they were. Kevin Williamson said it with his whole chest, and he wrote the script so...

[@bardidamn8667]

as much as this is cute them being gay is both a homophobic stereotype and woman hating misogynistic stereotype

[@towncryptaxel4440]

Not necessarily, this is really good video essay I'm going to link down below that basically breaks down the morals of deeming horror movies as queer-coded. specifically due to specifically due to the common representation of the time, and the effects of the Hayes law. it's really interesting but it's a pretty long video, so I totally get it if you're not done for it. But long story short there's a lot of nuance that goes into it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/g2m9YoGgpcl7Z68

[@ManubibiWalsh]

You really need to read something up on the Hayes Code. Every character in old movies who was meant to be gay could not be represented as explicitly gay unless it was very symbolical and subtextual, or unless the queer character was a villain. And this movie is not just a subversion, but also a homage to those old movies. What we do know is that Kevin Williamson confirmed the queer-coding was there, the other thing we know is that Matthew Lillard said “Stu’s gay” at a Q&A, but he also said, like, “listen, we had no idea this movie would get so big, we were just in a very no-expectations, no pressure environment and we just went with the flow”, which kinda overall suggests it was all happening on accident, or because Wes Craven liked it enough. So, does the movie explicitly say they’re romantically or sexually into each other? No. Is the subtext there? Yes. Is it universal? Again, no. You can read it however you want, which is why I personally prefer coding and fanon to canon. And then there’s the whole “positive representation” discourse, which... I’m over it. Like, yeah, being represented correctly is good, but at the end of the day nobody stops being homophobic or racist because they saw a movie. I think we need to detach from the hysteria of “queer villains are bad for the community” because no, even if we were to be represented as perfect kitty angels who do no wrong in fiction, people will still kill us and take our rights away in reality no matter what. So really, it’s time we stop killing off queer creativity (as, again, the writer is literally gay) just to get homophobes and transphobes to like us. Might as well just have a blast and experience catharsis by safely fantasizing about being feral vindictive monsters.

[@TailsOSTailows]

this is cap

[@Ghostly04]

You are stupid. It’s canon ☠️