You know who we're talking about. If you've ever seen anything that leans even a little into the horror genre, you've seen her. She's the sweet girl next door , who eschews teenage experimentation - no alcohol, no sex, definitely no drugs - desperately trying to outrun the serial killer at the end of a slasher flick. Her moral superiority might just be the thing that saves her. But she'll suffer first. Oh yes. Sound familiar? There have been lots of deconstructions of this trope and some excellent subversions, but you know how the dragons like to dissect things! This week, Jules and Madeleine take a stroll this this particular trope's path, tracing it from horror to thriller to crime to SFF. Like most tropes, it's not all bad although there's definitely some less savoury aspects to this one. Under the microscope this week - Alien, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Psycho, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and many more. Join us for a look at the gory origins of the Final Girl.
Title Music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 201: It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas - Our Favourite Festive Scenes
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 200: The F-word Revisited - Faeries in Urban Fantasy
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 199: Troubled, Dead or MIA - Parent-child Relationships in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 198: Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey - Time Travel in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 197: The Trouble with the Victorians - How a Single Era Influenced Our Opinions
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 196: Tale as Old as Time - Why Fairytales Endure
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 195: Key & Codex - Secret Societies in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 194: Creaky Floorboards & Locked Doors - Learning Tension and Suspense from Gothic Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 193: Tragic Heroes and Unexpected Children - More Tropes We Love in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 192: Fitted Breastplates & Feminine Mystique - Sexist Absurdities in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 191: It's Harder that You Think - Writing Sex Scenes in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 190: Art and Artifice - What Jane Austen has to say to a Modern Readership
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 188: I'm Not Gay, I'm Just Evil - The Queer Coded Villain Trope in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 187: Designer Flu & Superhumans - The Conspiracy Theory Trope in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 186: Going Through Changes - Shapeshifters in Myth and Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 185: This is Not Forgiveness - Redemption Arcs in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 184: Auguries and Omens - Bird Symbolism in Myth and Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 183: The Future We Deserve? - Learning Hope From Science Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 182: Full Immersion Fantasy - the Appeal of RPG
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