WhileFriendsfans love watching Courteney Cox play Monica Geller, the actor is incredible as journalist Gale Weathers in theScreamfranchise. The role is both dramatic and comedic, as Gale falls in love with Dewey Riley (David Arquette) and begins reporting on the Ghostface murders. Fans see Gale’s life and career change because of these events. At first, Sidney hates Gale because she wrote a book about Sidney’s mother Maureen’s assault and murder, and Gale thinks that Cotton Weary wasn’t the one behind the tragedy. As Gale comes back to Woodsboro to investigate the murders in the first movie, she and Sidney start to like each other a bit more. ByScream (2022), audiences see Sidney and Gale teaming up.
When observing Gale in the newestScreammovie, fans can see her incredible strength and determination. While Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott is one of the most famous final girls in horror movie history, Gale Weathers can also be seen as the same kind of character.
RELATED:Was Scream 2022 Too Similar To A Previous Entry?
When Courteney Cox agreed to sign ontoScream (2022), the actress said, “They want to do anotherScream?” and then said, “Why not go back to something that was such a huge part of my life and play a character that was fun? They must have a real vision for this if they want to bring back the franchise and take the risk," according toThe New York Times. After watchingScream (2022), it’s clear that there was definitely a good reason to bring thehorror franchiseback, and now Gale Weathers can be seen as ahorror movie final girl just like Sidney Prescott.
Some of thebest horror movie main charactersare written with real personalities, backstories, motivations, and sometimes a sense of humor. Gale Weathers is a distinct character from the moment that audiences first see her. She has a reason for wanting to visit Woodsboro as she hopes to make a name for herself and become even more famous and successful. While fans might not love this or think that this is a good idea, they can definitely understand who Gale is and why she does what she does, especially when Gale says “If I’m right about this, I can save a man’s life. Do you know what that can do for my book sales?”
But even though this makes Gale seem fame obsessed with power hungry, and it seems like she wants to be as well-known as Jill Roberts (Emma Roberts) in thegreatScream 4movie, Gale undergoes a sweet character change. Gale realizes that she cares about Sidney, Dewey, and the others affected by this ongoing tragedy, and while she wants to report and write about what’s been going on, she doesn’t care about the fame as much. A proper final girl character needs to go through some changes, learn some lessons, and otherwise feel changed by the experience, and that’s definitely what Gale deals with.
Dewey’s death inis not only one of thebest kills inScream (2022)but one of the saddest, and that is also another reason why Gale feels like a final girl. By this point in the story, Gale has been through so much. She has now lost her soulmate and the love of her life. Fans learn that when Dewey and Gale went to New York City so Gale could star on a morning news show, Dewey wasn’t a big fan and he felt that his life was better spent in Woodsboro. This is heartbreaking for audiences to see as it’s clear that Dewey and Gale still love each other, and when they reunite in Dewey’s small hometown, their chemistry is still obvious. By the time that Dewey faces Ghostface and dies, Gale knows that she will never be able to forget their history, and she decides to write a book about what a good person Dewey was.
Thefinal girl tropesees the character as a last survivor/someone who always manages to escape, fight back, and generally beat the killer. While that of course applies to Sidney, as she does that in each of the five movies in the franchise, Gale does this, too.
Gale inScream (2022)is miles away from her first appearance in the originalScreamfilm. Gale wants to come back to Woodsboro to be there for Sidney and to see Dewey again, who she still cares about so much. Gale and Sidney are happy to see each other again, although of course this reunion is bittersweet considering that the Ghostface murders are happening all over again.
Although Sidney Prescott will be always be seen as the final girl fromScream, and one of the most interesting in horror movie history, fans can definitely see the same amount of strength in Gale Weathers.
NEXT:Scream Directors Went To Extremes To Keep The Plot A Secret From The Cast
