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The suburban high school setting in the 2020 film Ginger Snaps serves as a representative of social pressures, where conformity and traditional feminine ideals are enforced, leading to the Fitzgerald sisters’ rebellion, alienation, and ultimately, to Ginger’s monstrous transformation. In Ginger Snaps, teen sisters Brigitte and Ginger Fitzgerald refuse to conform to suburban societal norms, finding nothing more horrifying than the idea of becoming as boringly normal as their peers. In a 2021 article from The Guardian, Ginger Snaps director John Fawcett states that he and co-writer Karen Walton wanted to explore what it felt like to be a teenager surrounded by “mindless sheep,” while also creating a character who subverted the ‘final girl’ trope present in many horror films. Ginger – transgressing the boundaries of Carol J. Clover’s pure/virginal “Final Girl” definition – uses drugs, has sex, and eventually becomes a killer herself. Although Ginger’s changing personality is the result of a werewolf attack, she refuses to see herself as a victim. Instead, she embraces her monstrous transformation, becoming the pursuer rather than the pursued.

Ginger Snaps opens with serene music and snapshots of nice suburban neighborhoods filled with cookie cutter houses. A sign featuring a horse and cart welcomes visitors to Bailey Downs, further idealizing this quaint suburban community. These images lull viewers into a false sense of serenity, as it quickly becomes evident that this idyllic suburbia is not as picture perfect as it initially appears to be. While a mother does yard work, her young child plays outside near her. What first seems another indication of the peaceful life enjoyed by the residents of Bailey Downs becomes horrific as the mother discovers the blood of their recently mutilated dog smeared on the child. Despite her horrified yelling, her neighbors continue going about their routines as if nothing has happened. Viewers soon discover that this is not an isolated incident, as numerous dogs have been lost to “The Beast of Bailey Downs.” Nevertheless, the residents of Bailey Downs ignore this very real problem so as not to disrupt the façade of the perfect suburban community.

On the other hand, the Fitzgerald sisters – Ginger (Katherine Isabelle) and Brigitte (Emily Perkins) – capture the underlying monstrosities associated with suburban life in their school project titled “Life in Bailey Downs.” The sisters’ project features photographs of each of them in staged death/suicide scenes around their home and community. It is evident that the sisters harbor no idealized fondness for Bailey Downs. They are “‘united against life as [they] know it,’” with a pact stating their intentions to be together forever, either “‘out by sixteen or dead in the scene.’” The Fitzgerald sisters would rather die than become average suburban teens living out their remaining years in Bailey Downs.

Due to Brigitte and Ginger’s love for the macabre and their lack of interest in so-called normal teen interactions, they are alienated from their peers. Classmate Trina Sinclair embodies the ideal suburban teen girl, serving as an antagonist for both sisters. Trina, who exhibits socially expected feminine traits and interests, bullies the sisters for both lacking and then later demonstrating interest in boys. When Brigitte and Ginger are overheard making snide comments about Trina, she intentionally knocks Brigitte to the ground during physical education class. Ginger warns Trina not to touch Brigitte ever again, to which Trina responds by saying, “‘Stop me, freak.’” Hence, both Fitzgerald sisters are ostracized for their differences and are fully aware of the underlying cruelty of the popular and socially accepted Trina, just as they are aware of the insidious nature that often belies idyllic suburbia.

Further contributing to the Fitzgerald sisters’ alienation from their peer group is the fact that neither Ginger (age 16) nor Brigitte (age 15) has begun menstruation at the opening of the film. Their mother, Pamela, eagerly anticipates the onset of menses for the girls, hoping that Ginger’s back pain might be due to menstrual cramps. At the dinner table, she tells the girls’ father that their delayed menstruation is “‘not normal.’” Again, viewers are reminded that Brigitte and Ginger are abnormal, which, by their own intentions, is exactly what they desire to be. They long to remain rebels, united against the encroaching social expectations of their suburban high school and community.

In an act of solidarity with her sister, Ginger vows to help Brigitte retaliate against school bully Trina Sinclair. They plan to kidnap Trina’s dog and make it look like he was killed by “The Beast of Bailey Downs.” During this escapade, Ginger experiences the onset of her first menstrual period, lamenting that she killed herself to be different and then she is screwed by her own body. Following this complaint, she is immediately attacked by a werewolf. In the ensuing fight for her life, she is bitten, and thus infected. Upon returning home and examining Ginger’s wounds, Brigitte notices that they are already healing. In school the next day, a film shown during science class symbolizes the transformation taking place in Ginger, describing an invader that preys upon, devours, and eventually destroys its host.

Ginger begins exhibiting signs that she is already changing. In an uncharacteristic move, she smokes marijuana in a drug dealers van with fellow classmates, all of whom are boys. When Ginger exits the van, she sees bully Trina, whose dog furiously barks and lunges at her. Ginger then heads to the school bathroom, where she is found by a concerned Brigitte. Brigitte sees hair growing out of Ginger’s wounds and recalls that she was bitten during a full moon. When blood drips from Ginger onto the bathroom
floor, Brigitte insists that they go see the school nurse. Despite Ginger’s unusual symptoms, the school nurse cheerfully insists that everything she is experiencing is part of a normal menstrual cycle. Hence, the juxtaposition of Ginger’s experience is that the abnormal is encapsulated within the normal, largely ignoring the anxieties and fears teen girls experience as they undergo hormonal changes and the onset of menstruation.

Further complicating matters is the fact that many of the changes in Ginger are viewed as an expected part of a teen girl’s development. As a result, Ginger’s newfound interest in boys and sex is normalize to a degree. In an argument with Brigitte, Ginger declares, “‘I have hormones . . . they don’t make me a monster.’” However, once Ginger takes on the role of the aggressor, her desires are seen as monstrous. Ginger begins to pursue boys, prompting school bully Trina to suggest that Brigitte get a leash for her “slut, bitch sister.” The surrounding crowd of teens laughs at this insult, and Brigitte is left standing alone as Ginger dismisses her and leaves with classmate Jason.

Once alone with Jason, Ginger becomes aggressive, ignoring Jason’s suggestion that she slow down. He reminds Ginger that he is “the guy,” to which she responds by slamming him down and asking him who the guy is now. Afterward, Ginger returns home. Alarmed because she sees Ginger crying, Brigitte asks if she is hurt. Ginger responds by saying, “‘I get this ache. And, I thought it was for sex, but it’s to tear everything to fucking pieces.’” At this point, Ginger confesses to killing a neighbor’s dog and expresses her fear and desperation, aware that her uncontrollable desires are gaining power over her.

Furthermore, Ginger is anxious about what her peers will think of her once news of her sexual encounter hits the high school rumor mill. Ginger fears she will be labeled a “freak” by Jason. Brigitte responds by saying they will tell everyone the same thing about Jason. However, Ginger – well aware of society’s double standard for men and women regarding sexual activities – states that Jason will be seen as a “hero,” while she will be seen as “just a lay . . . a freak, mutant lay.” Again, although there is the added layer of Ginger’s werewolf transformation, this scene reveals the ways in which women’s sexuality is often viewed as unnatural or even monstrous, a societal belief which infiltrates the halls of the local high school.

Once again, the politics of high school popularity are played out on the physical education field, as bully Trina Sinclair verbally and physically attacks Brigitte, pushing her down. Enraged, Ginger defends her sister, knocking Trina to the ground and punching her. Although the more popular Trina started the fight, outcast Ginger is seen as the only guilty party. No questions about what instigated the incident are asked, and Ginger is the only one called into the guidance counselor’s office for punishment. When Trina later comes to Brigitte and Ginger’s home to confront them about her missing dog, she is attacked by Ginger and fatally wounded when she slips and hits her head on the Fitzgerald’s kitchen counter. Later, as Brigitte and Ginger literally sneak under their parents’ noses outside the window to hide Trina’s body, their father declares that he thinks the girls are up to something, while their mom responds by saying they’re just being “normal” teenage girls. Yet again, lurking under the façade of normality, lies something sinister.

Brigitte, having taken on the role of Ginger’s protector and conscience, goes through numerous attempts to rescue her sister. Ginger, however, has fully embraced her monstrous nature, telling Brigitte that “it feels good . . . like touching yourself.” Ginger tries to convince Brigitte to make an updated version of their original pact so they can both embrace the powers of monstrous transformation in their quest to remain “united against life as [they] know it.” Undaunted, Brigitte refuses and continues with her plans to cure Ginger. Brigitte forms an unlikely alliance with local drug dealer Sam, who helps her create an injectable form of Monkshood to use as a cure for Ginger. In an act of solidarity, Brigitte cuts both her and Ginger’s palms, exchanging blood with Ginger, so that she, too, is now infected with lycanthropy. Although Ginger has now fully transformed into a werewolf, with no outward characteristics of her human form remaining, Brigitte continues to try to save her. However, in an act of self-defense, Brigitte arms herself with a knife. In the ensuing struggle, Ginger leaps on top of Brigitte, fatally stabbing herself with the knife. Ginger Snaps concludes with a weeping Brigitte lying atop the chest of dying werewolf Ginger, forced to confront life in suburban hell without her sister – life as she has never known it.

^{References
Clover, Carol J. Men, Women, and Chainsaws. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1992.
Ginger Snaps. Directed by John Fawcett, performances by Katharine Isabelle and Emily Perkins, 2000.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0210070/?ref_=tt_ch
Hobbs, Thomas. “A Werewolf Thelma and Louise: How We Made Cult Horror Film Ginger Snaps, 25 Oct.
2021, https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/oct/25/werewolf-thelma-and-louise-how-we-made-
cult-horror-ginger-snaps-scarlet-johansson-boycott. Accessed 10 August 2024.}

Jennifer Smith (she/her) holds a MA in English from SNHU and was a presenter in the Stephen King Area
at the 2024 Popular Culture Association National Conference. You can find her reading, watching, and
discussing the horror genre at https://www.instagram.com/literarylove123/