{"id":392594,"date":"2022-01-11T15:46:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-11T12:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/courteney-cox-gave-heart-to-the-heartless-in-scream\/"},"modified":"2022-01-11T15:46:00","modified_gmt":"2022-01-11T12:46:00","slug":"courteney-cox-gave-heart-to-the-heartless-in-scream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/courteney-cox-gave-heart-to-the-heartless-in-scream\/","title":{"rendered":"#Courteney Cox Gave Heart to the Heartless in Scream"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a5026ae2138f\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a5026ae2138f\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/courteney-cox-gave-heart-to-the-heartless-in-scream\/#The_Other_Final_Girl_of_Scream_Gale_Weathers\" >The Other Final Girl of Scream: Gale Weathers<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/courteney-cox-gave-heart-to-the-heartless-in-scream\/#Courteney_Cox_Brings_Empathy_to_a_Scream_Antagonist\" >Courteney Cox Brings Empathy to a Scream Antagonist<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/courteney-cox-gave-heart-to-the-heartless-in-scream\/#More_Than_a_Thinly_Written_Tabloid_Journalist\" >More Than a Thinly Written Tabloid Journalist<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/courteney-cox-gave-heart-to-the-heartless-in-scream\/#How_Courteney_Cox_Got_the_Role_of_Gale_Weathers\" >How Courteney Cox Got the Role of Gale Weathers<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#Courteney Cox Gave Heart to the Heartless in Scream<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<pre><code>     &lt;span class=\"mx-1\"&gt;Cox smartly resisted making her character, Gale Weathers, a stereotype of tabloid journalism by playing her with compassion in Wes Craven\u2019s meta-horror classic.&lt;\/span&gt;\n&lt;\/p&gt;&lt;div id=\"\"&gt;\n\n\n\n                &lt;figure class=\"sf-entry-featured-<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a> \"&gt;\n            &lt;img width=\"800\" height=\"333\" src=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Courteney-Cox-in-Scream-1.jpeg\" class=\"articlethumb wp-post-image\" alt=\"Courteney Cox In Scream\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Courteney-Cox-in-Scream-1.jpeg 800w, https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Courteney-Cox-in-Scream-1-768x320.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\"\/&gt;                                    &lt;p&gt;\n                    &lt;span class=\"sf-entry-flag sf-entry-flag-creditline\"&gt;Dimension Films&lt;\/span&gt;\n\n                        &lt;\/figure&gt;\n\n    &lt;!-- START BYLINE --&gt;\n    &lt;div class=\"row align-items-center justify-content-center my-4 text-center medium dark-gray\"&gt;\n        By\u00a0Jacob Trussell\u00a0\u00b7 Published on January 11th, 2022 \n        &lt;\/div&gt;\n    &lt;!-- END BYLINE --&gt;\n<\/code><\/pre>\n<p><em>Acting is an art form, and behind every iconic character is an artist expressing themselves. Welcome to\u00a0The Great Performances, a bi-weekly column exploring the art behind some of cinema\u2019s best roles. In this entry, we examine Courteney Cox\u2019s performance in Scream.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\"\/>\n<p>In <em><strong>Scream<\/strong><\/em> (1996), cinephile Randy (Jamie Kennedy) lays out the rules for surviving a horror movie. You can\u2019t drink or do drugs. And never under any circumstances, should you say \u201cI\u2019ll be right back.\u201d But the number one most important rule? Never have sex. These rules are integral to one of the most well-known tropes in the horror genre, the Final Girl, a phrase first coined by Carol J. Clover for her book <em>Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Throughout the <em>Scream <\/em>franchise, the Final Girl is Sidney Prescott, portrayed by Neve Campbell. The quiet resilience Campbell gave Sidney has made her one of the most beloved heroines of horror cinema. She kicks ass and takes names as she fights back against the myriad of murderers that don the Ghostface mask. Whether she\u2019s armed with a handgun or a TV set, we love watching Sidney take matters into her own hands to stop the nightmares that plague her life.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s the intriguing thing about Sidney, though, that sets her apart from other famous Final Girls: in the original <em>Scream<\/em>, she breaks Randy\u2019s rules by having sex with her boyfriend, Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich). This allows Sidney to subvert the trope, untethering the strength of her character from the idea that Final Girls must be virginal to survive. This choice by writer Kevin Williamson gave agency back to Sidney, and we see that tenacity in each subsequent sequel.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-the-other-final-girl-of-scream-gale-weathers\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Other_Final_Girl_of_Scream_Gale_Weathers\"><\/span>The Other Final Girl of Scream: Gale Weathers<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>But there\u2019s one female character in <em>Scream<\/em> just as strong as Sidney who <em>doesn\u2019t<\/em> break Randy\u2019s rules: <strong>Courteney Cox<\/strong>\u2019s Gale Weathers. On-screen, we never see Gale drink, do drugs, have sex, or say \u201cI\u2019ll be right back.\u201d Sure, we can surmise that Gale isn\u2019t a virgin \u2014 after all, she is a decade older than the film\u2019s cast of high school characters. Still, we never see her do any of these things in the actual film. If we\u2019re following Randy\u2019s rules to a T, that\u2019s all that matters, right?<\/p>\n<p>However, Gale isn\u2019t initially positioned as the hero of the franchise, which makes it difficult to immediately view her as a Final Girl. The de<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">script<\/a>or that is frequently used to describe Gale by the other characters, the creative team, and even Cox herself, is \u201cbitchy.\u201d Director Wes Craven originally described the character to Cox as a \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/tjsF5qTbLcY?t=168\">bitch on wheels<\/a>.\u201d In the film, Gale\u2019s cameraman Kenny (W. Earl Brown) describes her as a \u201cbitch goddess.\u201d In interviews during the press tour for the original film, Cox discussed how excited she was to finally play a \u201cbitchy\u201d character. But when I look at Gale Weathers, I don\u2019t see a character that is \u201cbitchy.\u201d I see a determined, career-oriented person who will do whatever it takes to emerge on top of an industry, and a world, stacked against empowered women.<\/p>\n<p>Gale Weathers is a tabloid journalist fashioned after the personalities that emerged from lowbrow television <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> programs of the mid-\u201990s like <em>Hard Copy<\/em> and <em>Inside Edition<\/em>. This was an era when the line between news and entertainment had begun to blur, so it\u2019s no wonder that a reporter is positioned as a foil to the main protagonists in <em>Scream<\/em> as a media circus erupts in the town of Woodsboro. Gale is meant to embody everything wrong with modern media: brazenly opportunistic reporters who are more concerned with raising their own status and making loads of money through shock value than an altruistic pursuit of the truth. However, this is a one-dimensional read on Gale, and at odds with the way Cox portrays her.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Courteney_Cox_Brings_Empathy_to_a_Scream_Antagonist\"><\/span>Courteney Cox Brings Empathy to a Scream Antagonist<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>In the first movie, Gale believes that Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber) had been falsely accused by Sidney of the murder of her mother, Maureen, a year earlier. Sidney, however, believes that Gale trumped up false truths about her life simply to sell more copies of her upcoming book. And as Sidney is the audience surrogate, this is how we\u2019re supposed to view Gale as well, regardless of the fact that all of Gale\u2019s actions, from her reporting to her book, have been in pursuit of clearing an innocent man\u2019s name.<\/p>\n<p>Because Gale is initially presented as a quasi-antagonist, in the hands of another actor she could have easily become a cardboard cut-out of compassionless journalism. Throughout the first movie, we watch Gale get excited as the juicy story of the Woodsboro Murders begins to emerge. Looking into her eyes, you expect to see cartoon money signs flashing as the body count rises, but Cox never lets Gale relish in the misery of what she\u2019s reporting. By resisting playing Gale as shamelessly unremorseful, Cox was able to find the heart in her heartless character.<\/p>\n<p>We see this empathy in Cox\u2019s Gale after she watches Sidney sneak out of the Woodsboro Police Department following her first brush with Ghostface. Rather than jumping into a line of antagonistic questions, Cox\u2019s Gale shows genuine concern for Sidney, immediately asking her, \u201cAre you alright?\u201d Of course, Gale wants to get the hot scoop, but this moment speaks to the underlying empathy that Cox threads into her character. Just because she wants to write a story about Sidney does not mean Gale isn\u2019t sympathetic for what she just lived through.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"More_Than_a_Thinly_Written_Tabloid_Journalist\"><\/span>More Than a Thinly Written Tabloid Journalist<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Even after Sidney snidely asks how Gale\u2019s book is progressing, Cox doesn\u2019t match her combativeness. Gale\u2019s line \u201cI\u2019ll send you a copy!\u201d causes Sidney to punch her in the face, but Cox doesn\u2019t deliver it with the snark you\u2019d expect from an unscrupulous character. She retains an open earnestness in her expressions that makes the audience question if Gale is as cold as she\u2019s made out to be. Cox plays Gale in such a way that while she may see an opportunity to tell a hell of a good story, it\u2019s clear she\u2019s in it for more than just the fame and glory.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That being said, Cox\u2019s Gale has to fight to get this point across to the other characters in the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">series<\/a>. \u201cIs this just another brilliant Gale Weathers performance?\u201d Dewey (David Arquette) quips at her after the murders begin in <em><strong>Scream 2<\/strong><\/em>. With exasperation she screams at him, \u201cThere\u2019s no cameras here! I just want to find this fucker!\u201d She catches her breath and hesitates, almost like she\u2019s silently considering whether anyone will ever believe this to be true of her. She then quietly pleads with Dewey that this is who she really is.<\/p>\n<p>In Cox\u2019s earnest declaration, it cements in the audience that Gale isn\u2019t a composite of the crass tabloid journalists from the \u201990s. Cox\u2019s Gale is a multidimensional character that can\u2019t be neatly defined by the preconceptions that both the audience and the characters have projected onto her. Gale may be presented as a \u201cbitch,\u201d but through Cox\u2019s performance, she distances herself from that misogynistic stereotype.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_Courteney_Cox_Got_the_Role_of_Gale_Weathers\"><\/span>How Courteney Cox Got the Role of Gale Weathers<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Surprisingly, though, Cox almost wasn\u2019t Gale Weathers. The production knew they wanted to have a recognizable face in the role, so they originally offered the part to comedian Janeane Garofalo before considering actress and model Brooke Shields. Cox lobbied hard for the role because she wanted to break out of the mold Hollywood had made of her after her work on <em>Family Ties<\/em> and <em>Friends<\/em>. As Cox <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-features\/scream-movie-cast-stories-1235038248\/\">told The Hollywood Reporter<\/a>, \u201c[<em>Scream<\/em>\u2019s producer] Cary Woods was in my manager\u2019s office and she pitched me for the part of Gale. Cary thought it would be a nice surprise to have me play such a calculated character\u2026but I had to convince Wes. So, I wrote him a letter and assured him that being \u2018a bitch\u2019 wouldn\u2019t be a stretch at all.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Courteney Cox was perfectly attuned to the \u201cbitchy\u201d confidence Gale Weathers required, though it\u2019s the heart she gave her character that has made Gale a fan favorite throughout the <em>Scream <\/em>franchise. Does she want to sell more books? Sure, what journalist \u2014 tabloid or otherwise \u2014 doesn\u2019t want their work to be seen and heard? But Cox doesn\u2019t play that as Gale\u2019s overarching motivation. If she had merely played Gale as cruel and cold, it\u2019d have been difficult for us to come to love the character as she evolved into one of the series\u2019 central heroes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Through the compassion she baked into her performance, Cox was able to show audiences that Gale was driven by something more than her bottom line. She earnestly wants to uncover the underlying truths that she ardently believes in so she can help put the real killers in the world behind bars. And if she makes a couple of bucks off of it in the process. Frankly, more power to her.<\/p>\n<pre><code>    Related Topics: The Great Performances\n    &lt;!-- AUTHOR BOX --&gt;\n<\/code><\/pre>\n<div class=\"gray-bg p-4 border small mb-5\">\n<div class=\"row align-items-center text-md-center\">\n<div class=\"col-md-2\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/jacob.jpg\" class=\"circle img-fluid\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\"\/>\n        <\/div>\n<div class=\"col-md\">\n            Jacob Trussell is a writer based in New York City. His editorial work has been featured on the BBC, NPR, Rue Morgue Magazine, Film School Rejects, and One Perfect Shot. He&#8217;s also the author of &#8216;The Binge Watcher&#8217;s Guide to The Twilight Zone&#8217; (Riverdale Avenue Books). He is available to host your next spooky public access show. Find him on Twitter here: <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JE_TRUSSELL\">@JE_TRUSSELL<\/a> (He\/Him)        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<pre><code>    &lt;!-- START RECOMMENDED READING 1 --&gt;\n                                &lt;section class=\"recommended py-5\"&gt;\n            &lt;h3&gt;Recommended Reading&lt;\/h3&gt;\n\n\n        &lt;\/section&gt;\n            &lt;!-- END RECOMMENDED READING --&gt;\n\n\n\n\n&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"&gt;&lt;\/script&gt;\n<\/code><\/pre>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/social-media\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Social Media category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/courteney-cox-in-scream\/#utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=courteney-cox-in-scream\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Courteney Cox Gave Heart to the Heartless in Scream&#8221; &lt;span class=&#8221;mx-1&#8243;&gt;Cox smartly resisted making her character, Gale Weathers, a stereotype of tabloid journalism by playing her with compassion in Wes Craven\u2019s meta-horror classic.&lt;\/span&gt; &lt;\/p&gt;&lt;div id=&#8221;&#8221;&gt; &lt;figure class=&#8221;sf-entry-featured-media &#8220;&gt; &lt;img width=&#8221;800&#8243; height=&#8221;333&#8243; src=&#8221;https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Courteney-Cox-in-Scream-1.jpeg&#8221; class=&#8221;articlethumb wp-post-image&#8221; alt=&#8221;Courteney Cox In Scream&#8221; loading=&#8221;lazy&#8221; srcset=&#8221;https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Courteney-Cox-in-Scream-1.jpeg 800w, https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Courteney-Cox-in-Scream-1-768&#215;320.jpeg 768w&#8221; sizes=&#8221;(max-width: 800px)&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":392595,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Courteney-Cox-in-Scream-1.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-392594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=392594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/392595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=392594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=392594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=392594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}