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.
Grace Taylor (Tina Lifford/Charlene Baptista)
Character Arc:
Having been date raped in 1969, which also resulted in the “death” of her best friend Mary, Grace Taylor became somewhat of a recluse, but managed to help the descendants of those who were involved in the disappearance of Mary from paying for the sins of their fathers. Literally. Coming to the aid of heroine Sam, Grace managed to right the wrongs committed 35 years prior and surviving. This makes the Urban Legend franchise the only one I can recall that had a black woman survive the carnage in every film. Now that’s wassup.
Fun Trivia
Grace took over the spot left open by Reese Wilson (Loretta Devine) in the “black woman figure” of the Urban Legend franchise and still managed to survive. Instead of happening upon the shenanigans of a killer as Reese did, Grace was reluctant to help, steering away from involvement until it was “unavoidable.”
Final Thoughts
In some people’s eyes, Grace would probably be seen as a total “magical negro” character due to her having the wealth of knowledge that helps the final girl defeat the evil. However, I don’t think she embodies that trope fully. Although I wished the movie had of gave Grace something more than guiding the lead girl to survive. Especially when she was the victim of date rape and all. But Reese didn’t have a big story as well, but we knew enough about her to know she wasn’t a one trick pony. Alas, I’m still proud of both women making it through crazed killers, real and supernatural alike.
Comments