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(Deep Cuts) FRIDAY THE 13TH:  Anatomy of a Scene...Ginny's Psychological Trick

By. Bee Delores

When you watch a FRIDAY THE 13TH film, you know what to expect. There will be very little character development, an insane body count, and inventive, brain-smashing kills. But early on in the franchise, there’s a two-minute scene that showed careful focus could be given to enrich the story. It remains the single best moment in the entire series. In FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2, Ginny, played by the incomparable Amy Steel, creates the illusion that she’s Pamela Voorhees, Jason’s (Warrington Gillette) mother. She dons the icky, probably maggot-coated, sweater lying across Jason’s shrine and picks up the machete. Ginny worms into Jason’s psychology and lingers there, convincing him that his mother came back to life.

When we first meet Ginny, she drives up in her VolksWagen bug that’s certainly seen better days. She’s a tad late to the staff meeting at the new counselor camp just down the shoreline from Camp Crystal Lake. Her boyfriend Paul (John Furey) leads the training for a batch of new and old college kids looking for a cool gig between semesters. “It’s not the fun summer job everyone thinks it is,” Paul asserts. 

Ginny’s car whines and wheezes as she tries to start it back up so she can move to another parking lot. When Paul approaches to help out, he quips that she should “use some of that child psychology you’re majoring in” to get the car to start. It eventually coughs and gags to life, puffing a thick black smoke right into Paul’s face. “You’re such a sucker for it,” Ginny replies with a smirk. Her introduction primes the viewer for her sense of humor, independent spirit, and a determination to do some good in the world.
 

It’s not until much later that we get a deeper glimpse into how she approaches her work, relating her studies to Jason Voorhees. “I doubt Jason would have even known the meaning of death, or at least until that horrible night. He must have seen the whole thing happen,” she tells Paul and another counselor over beers at the local pub. “He must have seen his mother get killed, and all just ‘cause she loved him. Isn’t that what her revenge was all about–her sense of loss? Her rage at what she thought happened? Her love for him? He must be out there right now, crying for her return, her resurrection!”

Ginny's theory about Jason's devotion to his mother takes on a whole new meaning in Peacock's CRYSTAL LAKE. In CRYSTAL LAKE: The Psychology of Pamela's Love for Jason, Bee Delores examines how Pamela's grief becomes an obsession and why her relationship with Jason is central to understanding the violence that follows. It's an interesting companion to Ginny's interpretation of the Voorhees family.

Tommy Jarvis (Corey Feldman) attempts a similar trick in FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE FINAL CHAPTER, but it neither feels earned nor does it pack as much punch. In the fourth film, Tommy shaves his head and confronts Jason. “Remember me, Jason?” Tommy asks, sheepishly trying to pass himself off as a young Jason. You could argue it does make sense. They’re both outsiders and weirdos trying to make their way in the world. Jason was ostracized for his looks, and Tommy isolates himself in mask making. However, the scene doesn’t tap into the psychology of Jason. As a result, it loses the strength and charm that makes the moment in PART 2 hit hard.

Ginny also cements herself as The Final Girl of the franchise. Move over, Alice (Adrienne King)! Ginny’s resilience against all odds marks her far higher than Alice, who, quite frankly, is the weakest part of the original film. She’s not intuitive or creative; she’s quite the opposite. She’s not even fighting the brute strength of Jason but his mother and nearly gets herself killed during the final confrontation. Conversely, Ginny possesses a level head amidst her fight for survival. She never hesitates and her resolve never wavers. She’s keenly aware of her surroundings, so when she spots Jason’s shrine to his mother, she knows exactly how to play that last moment. She trusts that it’ll all work out, and it does. Her smart move at least bought her and Paul some time to collect their bearings and fight back.

It’s a real tragedy that the franchise ditches her character, and she never returns. I’d like to think she went on to lead a happy life, untethered by her trauma. In fact, she became the antithesis of Laurie Strode. She never allowed the pain and loss of her experience gravely impact her life. She became a clinical psychologist, got married, and had a daughter. And she never looked back. Her manipulation of Jason indicates that she would never for a single moment allow the boogeyman to stay with her.

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2 remains the franchise’s best sequel, and that’s owed largely to Amy Steel’s Ginny and that final confrontation. While the film series never embraced the psychological aspects of the story, the TV series Crystal Lake sure has, as it delivers a thought-provoking and gripping examination of a mother’s love for her son, how that misery sends her careening over the edge, and what it sets up for the films. It seems that Ginny became the basis of the Peacock show, if only unintentionally, and for good reason. She’s an icon for a reason.

So, does CRYSTAL LAKE actually make Jason's story better by digging into his family history? Davalyn Baker has some thoughts. In her review of Peacock's prequel, she praises Linda Cardellini's Pamela Voorhees while questioning whether explaining the franchise's famously ridiculous mythology might eventually take away some of its appeal.