The Death of a Final Girl

 

  Fans of 80s horror films are familiar with the term, "FinalGirl"; the only one who does not become a victim of the, usually, masked killer. Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode in John Carpenter's, "Halloween" was probably the first real concrete version of this type of heroine. She not only avoided death, but she also fought back brilliantly against the seemingly unstoppable serial killer, Michael Myers. When all the other victims were either preoccupied with other things, or just too plain stupid to avoid him, Laurie proved that staying focused and having some sharp knitting needles close by were just what was needed.  Over the years the Final Girl trope became ubiquitous in most horror films.

  My “Kid Sister”, Theresa Petrucelli Jones, was stalked for some twelve years by her own personal bogey man.  Metastatic Breast Cancer sprang out of a dark corner and invaded her most private and intimate space.  Once the initial shock wore off, Theresa fought back with a fire and determination that was both impressive and fearsome. She trusted medical science and the good doctors and nurses and other health professionals that were at her side.  They provided her with the knitting needles she needed to stab back at her malignant stalker – and stab she did!  Every time that things looked bad for our heroine, she, somehow someway, bounced back full of life and ready to kick some more ass.

  I would joke with her that she was probably going to outlive all of us, and I sort of believed it.  I mean, one week she’d be laid up after getting some sort of new treatment, and the next week she was off with her daughter to a drag show in Philadelphia or New York, or off to Florida with her husband to look at houses that they could retire to, or spending some time with me, her big brother, usually taking in the latest horror film or spending long weekends at The Monster Mania conventions in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.   Sure, she talked out loud about her illness, but damn if she ever engaged in self pity or high drama.  I think they call the way she reacted, “Grace Under Pressure”.

  We had a long-standing tradition of spending Halloween night together.  Usually, she came to my place, and we would watch a couple of horror films, engage in gossip, enjoy some pizza, wait on the trick-or-treaters, and, of course, indulge in one the more outrageous cocktails of the season, the candy corn martini.  More often than not, after the second drink, we would start to participate in heavy conversation about whatever spooky film we were watching, and often we’d discuss how we might best the monster/ghost/alien/demon or serial killer featured in said film.  Theresa often went the “Laure Strode route” and indicated that the best thing to do was to face the monster head on…just like she did with that real monster, cancer.

  I was with her once at one of the Monster Mania conventions we attended over the years, when she got some disturbing news from her oncologist over her cell phone concerning her latest round of treatments not working out the way they should have, and as such she would have to move on to more “aggressive” therapies.  After she hung up the phone, I asked her if she wanted to go home.  She paused for a moment and then shook her head and replied, “What I want is a dirty martini!”  And so, we went to the hotel bar, had a couple of drinks, and proceeded to enjoy the rest of the long weekend essentially just flipping the bird to her cancer.

  Now we all know that real life is not like the movies, and eventually the monsters get us all, even The Final Girls.  My “Kid Sister” finally had enough of dodging the slings and arrows of her outrageous fortune and quietly took off for greener pastures on May 28^th, 2021.  She left behind a beautiful and intelligent daughter, a beloved husband, another loving sister, a lot of relatives, a ton of friends, and me, her Big Brother who is going to miss her every day for the rest of his life. 

  I do not believe in heaven or hell or any of that other nonsense, but I like to believe that a life force as powerful as my sister’s carries on somewhere.  I mean, they say that energy is forever, or something like that, so who knows, maybe her energy joined with all the other positive energy that’s out there that can be tapped later for others fighting their own demons and monsters…

  Whatever the case, Rest in Power Kid Sister , you were a real life Final Girl.

   I Love You, Wherever You Are.