Chris (Friday the 13th)

Chris is the primary protagonist of the third film in the Friday the 13th—further appearances are flashback sequences and easter eggs.

Writers Martin Kitrosser and Carol Watson conceptualized her following Amy Steel's decision to turn down the offer of reprising Ginny, the heroine of the prior film.[1] An uncredited Petru Popescu was hired to do additional rewrites featuring the character. The role of Chris went to actress Dana Kimmell, although she wasn't who the writers of the script envisioned in the role.[1][10] The television actress had recently led Jim Sotos' feature length slasher film Sweet Sixteen (1983) which caught the attention of Frank Mancuso Jr., the producer of Friday the 13th Part III (1982).[10] He reached out to Kimmell, and she met with a casting director.[11] He brought her to an audition, in which all she had to do was scream, with Mancuso Jr. and director Steve Miner.[11][9][10] Due to a scheduling conflict with another project, Kimmell was initially unable to sign on to the film.[10] However, the filmmakers postponed filmmaking until she was available.[10] Kimmell describes the character as "a young college girl who takes her friends up in the mountains."[10] There wasn't a lot of discussion or preparation for her character until she arrived on set to begin shooting. Kimmell has expressed gratitude for the film, stating that "it's by no means a cheap horror film," and described Chris as a "good part."[10]

Popescu describes rewriting the Chris character to be the most creatively fulfilling as a writer as she had a past he could explore.[13] He found Chris both was easy and challenging to write due to this background, and that he spent the most time developing her.[13] The biggest questions asked by the makers surrounding the character were the exact nature of her history with Jason.[13] Early discussions involved a full-fledged rape backstory, although they deemed this too exploitative, and decided to keep her past with Jason ambiguous.[13]

Although speculations surfaced that Kimmell pushed for various changes in the movie, Kimmell only recalls expressing discomfort to Mancuso, Jr. about dialogue referencing Chris having sex with her boyfriend.[12] Kimmell states she got permission to alter the lines for this scene as she knew Friday the 13th had a young audience and didn't want the film to be overtly sexual.[12] Costar Tracie Savage states, "Each person took care of themselves. Dana had no say over what was happening. She wouldn't have had that authority. The priority is to scare the hell out of people, and if they have an actress who was concerned about the art, they're going to say, "Sorry, we'll find somebody else."[12]

The original ending of Chris getting decapitated at the hands of Jason Voorhees (Richard Brooker) was scrapped due to the filmmakers finding this ending to be too grim.[14] This ending would have marked the first film in the franchise to feature the protagonist dying.[15]

The character's depiction is as a traumatized survivor of assault, escaping an encounter with Jason Voorhees when she was younger. Film critic Janet Maslin (The New York Times) writes that Chris is the "lone survivor" and by the end of the film, "she is in very bad shape indeed. Her nerves are so rattled that she shrieks at the sight of a mallard."[16] Writer Jim Harper notes Chris' traumatic backstory of being assaulted as a teen adds to the motif of her reluctance to engage in sexual activity when compared to her peers.[15] When discussing Chris psychologically, scholar Wade Newhouse describes Chris as an exploration of the psychology of a victim rather than the prior film's focus on the villain. Newman describes her as being set apart from the other characters in the film, attributing it to Chris' self-awareness rather than a morality play. Newman highlights her monologue as showing her "in a sense worth saving because her introspection marks her as unique in a world of otherwise generic teenagers."[17]

Similarly, Brennan Thomas characterizes Chris as showing signs of PTSD, emphasizing her as the series most physically and emotionally vulnerable character.[17] Thomas further likens her to a post-war Vietnam veteran due to her extensive trauma.[17] Wickham Clayton credits Chris as the first protagonist of the Friday the 13th films to have an in-depth backstory. Clayton attributes her backstory and its connected flashback scene that alludes to the possibility of rape by Jason as allowing Chris to have a fully developed character arc that explains her mental breakdown at the end of the film. Clayton argues that the sufficient characterization provided to Chris allows the audience to have an emotional engagement with her wellbeing compared to the heroines of the prior installments.[18] Tim Dirks describes Chris's confrontation with Jason as a "monumental battle of wits and stamina."[2] Jack Pooley (WhatCulture) describes the character as "annoyingly hysterical" but praises Chris for her resourcefulness during the film's finale.[19] Joan Bunke (Des Moines Tribune) describes Chris as "dim" for the character's decision of returning to the place that traumatized her.[20]

• Bracken, Peter (2006). Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th. Titan Books. ISBN 978-1-845-76343-5.