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.
Max (Laurence ‘Larry’ Fishburne)
Character Arc:
Max’s only concern was making sure his kids were safe and sound among the halls of Westin Hills Hospital from each other and themselves. Contributing their ailments to “fucked up chromosomes” due to acid use by the kids’ parents, Max was completely oblivious to Freddy Krueger’s existence. This was maybe for the best, because it sealed his fate as a survivor of the film. And a likable survivor at that. Fuck you, Doctor Simms.
Fun Trivia
Max is one of the few likable adults in the entire Elm Street franchise. That may be more of an opinion, but… hey.
Max is also one of the few black people to survive the Elm Street saga, joining Doc and Yvonne. Kincaid also survived Dream Warriors but was the first kid slain off Elm Street in the next film, The Dream Master.
Final Thoughts
Some might call Max’s inclusion a cop out or a weak addition, but with black folks getting slain left and right in 80s horror movies like cans on logs for target practice, Max’s survival is a win, bruh. And we’re taking that W.
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