‘Scream VI’ Queer Character Speaks Up
Jasmin Savoy Brown, who plays queer character Mindy in 'Scream VI,' spoke about the importances of LGBTQ characters in horror films.
Scream VI hit theaters on Friday, and it’s shaping up to be a healthy opening weekend for the slasher flick.
This time, new leads Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, who were introduced in last year’s reboot of the franchise, are living in New York City with their remaining friends, but wouldn’t you know it, Ghostface finds them once again.
The 2022 reboot of Scream was notable, as it included the series’ first LGBTQ character: Mindy Meeks-Martin, portrayed beautifully by Jasmin Savoy Brown. In the 2022 film, her sexual identity is more hinted at than outright expressed, which was certainly a step in the right direction, but not everything the community was hoping for.
“In the last film, you know, there was much reference to Mindy’s queerness,” Brown said in an interview with Pride. “But there wasn’t necessarily an opportunity in the script originally for like, an on-screen kiss, for physical intimacy.”
The actor, who identifies as part of the LGBTQ community, spoke up when it came time to begin working on Scream VI.
“I was like, I’m sorry, but there has to be a kiss here. It will shred everyone’s hearts,” she said. Thankfully, she got exactly what she wanted.
“I was delighted when I read in the script that Mindy has a girlfriend,” Brown admitted. She went on to say that the “filmmaking team was really welcoming of my ideas,” which is wonderful to hear, as so many other actors have voiced opinions and suggestions that would better their characters in the past, only for their comments to fall on deaf ears.
So, how important is this role to Brown?
“It means everything to me,” she said in an interview with Gay Times. Her excitement is certainly warranted, as she is making history with her performance, and doing so in a way that honors the LGBTQ experience and brings a decades-old franchise into the now in a meaningful way.
“To be one of the lucky few that gets to debut something and be the beginning of the wave is really exciting,” Brown said. “We have all been met with such open arms, but to be a queer person our whole community is like, ‘Oh my god, finally!’”
A quick look at social media surrounding Scream VI shows it’s all most people can talk about.
The movie opened with nearly $6 million on its first night, and it is headed toward what Variety suggests may be a “franchise-high opening.” This shows that people are still in love with the brand, and likely that they enjoy seeing a queer person not just in the movie, but as one of the characters who has a real love life and who is present in several films.
In her Gay Times interview, Brown spoke to the long history of gay themes, characters, and ideas that have lived just beneath the surface in scary movies for decades, stating, “Horror has always been very queer and queer-coded.”
She confirmed that things are moving in the right direction now by stating, “it’s only recently that it’s starting to not be queer-coded because the characters are gay. They’re either gay and evil or gay and running or gay and sexy. Who cares, as long as they’re gay?”
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