Deep Thoughts about Nightmare on Elm Street

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One, two, Freddy’s coming for you…

Today’s episode of Deep Thoughts gives Emily a chance to finally exorcise the boogeyman of every 80’s childhood: Freddy Krueger. Though neither Emily nor Tracie ever saw the influential 1984 film Nightmare on Elm Street, the burned and be-knived Freddy cast a long shadow over the culture, meaning the Guy sisters were completely unaware of the badass Nancy Thompson, protagonist and final girl (the last woman alive to confront the killer) who refuses to give in. Though the film hits some false notes in 2024–specifically, the “punishment” of Tina after having sex–Wes Craven has created a remarkably feminist film that allows a very normal teen girl to reclaim her power from an abuser. What a shame that our culture chose to make Freddy the enduring symbol of this iconic film, rather than Nancy.

Content warning: discussion of child murder, death, and sexual predation

Whatever you do…don't fall asleep. And do throw on your headphones to listen in!

Mentioned in this episode:

https://thegeekiary.com/a-feminist-look-at-a-nightmare-on-elm-street/18520

https://slate.com/culture/2015/09/wes-craven-s-secret-feminism-as-seen-in-nightmare-on-elm-street-and-scream.html

https://journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/view/1281

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/the-enduring-importance-of-nancy-from-a-nightmare-on-elm-street%3famp

https://papaeleele.wordpress.com/2015/07/03/a-nightmare-on-adolescent-street-by-richard-stange/

Our theme music is "Professor Umlaut" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Learn more about Tracie and Emily (including our other projects), join the Guy Girls' family, secure exclusive access to bonus episodes, video versions, and early access to Deep Thoughts by visiting us on Patreon. 

We are Tracie Guy-Decker and Emily Guy Birken, known to our family as the Guy Girls.

We have super-serious day jobs. For the bona fides, visit our individual websites: tracieguydecker.com and emilyguybirken.com

We're hella smart and completely unashamed of our overthinking prowess. We love movies and tv, science fiction, comedy, and murder mysteries, good storytelling with lots of dramatic irony, and analyzing pop culture for gender dynamics, psychology, sociology, and whatever else we find.