“The fact that our final girl Deena is a black, queer woman is not virtue signaling, nor is it forced diversity. It is a choice. An intersectional identity which is often used as collateral damage in movies (especially horror movies) and represents one of the most targeted identities in real life is given the role of the hero and the survivor in Fear Street and carries the bulk of the plot throughout all three movies. The dual role that Kiana Madeira is given in the series only strengthens the real life repercussions of the horror that follows our protagonists until the end of the story.
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Solomon Goode says that he made the deal with the devil because he felt that he deserved the good fortune that he had believed he would receive in America. He believes he is owed a good and easy life. And yes, it is sad that he lost his wife and child, but the sentiment that he is owed happiness at the expense of the lives and the happiness of others is what makes him a monster. Every death that occurs as a result of his actions feeds the curse with blood and so his fortune will grow as others suffer. The worst part is that he still sees himself as a victim in this situation. As it turns out Sarah Fier was actually the victim. The fact that it was a queer woman who was blamed for the actions of an entitled white man for hundreds of years echoes the demonization of minorities throughout history and makes this story even more tragic.
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When Deena kills Nick, he sees her as Sarah, and truly it is her influence that eventually stops him and saves Shadyside. The fact that the surviving characters include three black people and two queer people is a powerful statement both realistically and cinematically. By this point, nearly every trope we have been set up to believe has been broken. The POC in the cast are not used as collateral. The queer relationship is not doomed. The kindly white police officer is a monster, and the witch is an innocent. It is interesting to consider who trusts Officer Nick Goode from the beginning and who is immediately suspicious of him. I am a white woman, and I Iiked Nick at first; that’s not to say that most BIPOC might see him differently from the very beginning. Because the truth is, in our world, the queer woman is rarely the villain, true evil is born from white male entitlement.”
