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.
Dr. Christine Heffner (Fran Bennett)
Character Arc
With her primary concern being for her patients, Dr. Christine Heffner was certain that Dylan’s , Heather Langenkamp’s son’s, delusions and illness was due to lack of sleep and the influence of the Elm Street movies. Convinced that Heather was not a fit parent, Dr. Heffner was ready to call child services and have Dylan taken away. Then she saw the mess that Freddy made and rightfully kept her mouth shut and exited stage left to let Heather save her son.
Fun Trivia
According to IMDB.com, Dr. Heffner was based on the head of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), Richard Heffner. He constantly came for Wes Craven’s edges during the prolific filmmaker’s career, making him Craven’s nemesis. Seems like a fitting ‘tribute.’
Final Thoughts
Dr. Christine Heffner was the culmination of all the parental/adult figures in the Elm Street series who didn’t even bother to entertain the idea of Freddy being real. Every time she came on the scene, I was like, “Gurl, go on somewhere!!!” and rolled my eyes in severe annoyance. She was a real asshole, despite having a great Freddy scene/line with the claw. That was an iconic moment. However, I bet Dr. Heffner will think twice before diagnosing a sleep deprived kid with schizophrenia and an unfit parent next time. OR she may just stay in her lane and leave that type of situation be. I think the latter is best.