This February, Midnight Social Distortion will be celebrating Black History Month by honoring Black horror characters, in particular Black horror survivors, throughout the twenty-eight day period. Each day will feature one black male and one black female survivor in horror and sci-fi to bring light to the positive, albeit still problematic, black champions of representation in horror. Some disclaimers first: obvious spoilers ahead, and not all horror survivors will be featured this go round, but will appear in later posts down the line.
Rodger (Alvin Alexis)
Character Arc:
Like any other son of a preacher man, Rodger was a regular bad ass, mischievous teen looking for a good time on Halloween night. But he didn’t expect actual demons to crash his friends’ Halloween party. Being one of the first to sniff (literally) that something was not right at Hull House, Rodger dipped quickly but realized it was too late once he couldn’t find a viable exit off the premises. Not for the bullshit, he made sure to see sunrise by running away from danger when it crossed his path, and climbing a barbed wire fence in record time to make it to the end credits. Some horror fans give Rodger shit for his “cowardly lion” response to the events taking place, but he actually was the sole person with any common sense in the entire movie. Besides, if it wasn’t for Rodger’s quick thinking and second thoughts, Judy wouldn’t have been a final girl but a final victim instead. Y’all better stop hating and congratulate my man Rodger.
Fun Trivia:
Alvin Alexis almost moved away from Los Angeles after trying acting but not booking roles when he was called for the part of Rodger in Night of the Demons.
Significance to Black Horror Characters:
Some might see Rodger as a problematic black character in horror, but I tend to disagree vehemently. He was the first black man I saw survive a horror movie, and while he did run away in key moments, his resilience to survive was a silver lining within an era where black people were either dying earlier in the movie or sacrificing themselves for the main protagonists to survive. He deserves a spot in the black horror survivors hall of fame.
Final Thoughts:
Like I said earlier, Rodger deserves respect for being doing what most black characters didn’t do in a horror movie in the 80s: Survive. Respect for Rodger!!!!
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