Sleepaway Camp
Summary
Despite being the first film in a now - iconic horror franchise , Sleepaway Camp ’s legacy remains complicated four decades after its initial outlet . Derivative of earlier slasher movies like the 1980 instant classicFriday the 13th , Sleepaway Campboasts a dedicated cult follow . Even outside the distinctive seismic disturbance - and - reverence of the repugnance genre , the film ’s twist termination is considered one of the most surprising in cinematic history . However , that same wrench ending is factious among present-day critic .
Sleepaway Campopens with John Baker and his kidskin , Angela and Peter , boat on a lake with John ’s young man , Lenny . After a fatal chance event bolt down John and Peter , a traumatized Angela spring up up with her Aunt Martha and cousin , Ricky . At summertime camp , a teenage Angela is bullied by her peers and step by some of the camp ’s staff . One by one , Angela ’s tormentors are murdered . At the end of the photographic film , a naked Angela sits on the beach , hold tight a tongue and cut off head . The liberal " reveal " is that Angela actually expire in the boating accident , while Peter was put up as a girl by Aunt Martha .
Sleepaway Camp’s Modern Criticisms Explained
For some critics , Sleepaway Camp ’s ending is a transphobic conclusion that perpetuate genuine - world trauma . Trans author Willow Maclay note inCléo Magazinethat the crux of the photographic film ’s transmisogyny stems from its " equation of genial unstableness with having arise up in a gender theatrical role not concurrent with your identity . " Moreover , the " reveal " of Angela ’s anatomy — something that does n’t necessarily correlate to grammatical gender — is portrayed as more shocking than the fact that she ’s the sea wolf . Regardless of the film ’s aim , this horror setup is transphobic and is one reasonwhy the cult classic slasher would n’t be made today .
However , not all critic have the same popular opinion ofSleepaway Camp . In an interview withFangoria , trans role player and militant Calpernia Addams argues that even thoughSleepaway Campis problematic , it does n’t deserve to be censor . rather , it can be enjoy for its brand of " schlocky ' LXXX repugnance . " In fact , Addams does n’t read Angela as a trans quality at all . On the other hand , trans writer Alice Collins ofBloody Disgustingargues that Angela , despite her aunt ’s abusive " force gender - bend , " is a transgender missy . TheSleepaway Campsequels seem to put up this meter reading : Angela undergoes sex - affirming operating theatre and uses traditionally feminine pronouns .
What Sleepaway Camp’s Cast Have Said About The Horror Movie’s Legacy
Even thoughSleepaway Camp ’s iconic ending was created by accident , it defines the film . player Felissa Rose , who plays Angela , reflects onSleepaway Camp ’s 40 - year legacy in an interview withDread Central , stating that she does n’t finger like the movie is transphobic . " I feel as though Angela was a typical adolescent seek to find her gender recognition and sexual orientation course , " Rose enjoin . " It was forrader of its clip . " For Rose , Angela is an antihero — a subsister who endures the misuse of her " disturbed " aunt and peer before accept agency in the only elbow room she can .
Although Angela ’s narrative can be read in many way of life , there ’s no acquiring around that the film ’s design and encroachment may not align . Even if Angela is a queer antihero , her storyline echoes some of film ’s most imperishable transphobic characters , likeThe Silence of the Lambs ' Buffalo Bill and Michael Caine ’s character inDressed to defeat . With few positive depictions of trans role in mainstream film , these Janus-faced , violent characters become synonymous with transness . In turn , this perpetuate real - public trauma and shapes cinema ’s visual oral communication . Even whenSleepaway Campis reevaluated , that does n’t mean the movie ’s contrary impression are washed-up .
Sources : Cléo Magazine , Fangoria , Bloody Disgusting , Dread Central
