We go from In A Gadda Da Vida and Freddy playing Nintendo to a scene where Tracy has to relive the sexual abuse she endured from her father? Talk about a serious change in tone.
I thought that dream sequence was great, by the way. It was incredibly dark, it would have been better suited for an earlier film.
That was one of my favorite parts of the movie, actually. I tend to like when Freddy shape-shifts and initially poses as other people to confuse whoever he's going after. Also enjoyed the "fight" he had with Tracy; I think the movie didn't do enough with Freddy vs. Tracy. I would have liked to see him stalk her more.
THE TALK ASYLUM -
Coming in November!
I thought that too, especially since right after Tracy attacks her father, Freddy reappears and the tone goes straight back to goofy comedy. This movie was just all over the place.
WINGED FREAK...Terrorizes?....Wait till they get a load of me...
Yeah, this molestation subplot did not feel right in this otherwise goofy and cartoony movie. So out of touch with its tone and intent.
shareHow was it out of context with the film? The film is about grungy 90's teens in a youth shelter. It was in perfect context with the movie and could have been the beginning of a grungy Dream Warriors style new 90's series of more disturbing content had Dream Child not sucked so bad they had to end the series just to get people to go see the next movie
shareI found this particular subplot/dream to be really disturbing. Not really sure how I feel about it in the context of the film. All I know is that it really messed me up.
shareI saw this movie as a little kid and the sexual abuse stuff went right over me head. Should I have been watching this at the age of 8? Probably not, but bad Fathers can let you watch anything.
I will not fear, fear is the mind killer
In a weird kind of way, I'm glad it went over your head as an 8 year old. I'm hoping that means it was because you never had to suffer anything of that kind as a youngster.
shareI watched the film when I was 8 as well. I think back then I just knew that Freddy was disguising as her father to try to hurt her and didn't think of it any deeper than that. It wasn't until I was older that I realized that her father really molested her.
Anyways, I think it's one of the most effective parts of the film. It's a really "Freddy" thing to use people's deepest fears, bad memories, regrets, and desires against them. I thought he was really staying true to his character as it was written in previous films while letting us get to know Tracy better and feeling sorry for her at the same time.
I don't know whether it was out of place but the actor who played Tracy's father was *beep* creepy!
shareI felt Carlos and Tracy's stories were equally dark. It was Spencer's who was out of place.
Tracy being sexually abused is clearly traumatic but have we given any thought into how messed up Carlos's is? He was being physically abused by his mother via inserting things into his ears. When he didn't hear in time when he was called, she would "punish" him by temporarily damaging his ear drums, leaving him deaf for some time. It wasn't until she permanently deafened him in one ear that Child Protective Services stepped in and removed him from the situation.
I don't know about you but that seems equally as dark as being raped by your dad.
Spencer, on the other hand, was just upset that he couldn't (or didn't want to) live up to his father's expectations. Spencer wanted to smoke weed all day and be carefree but his father wanted him to be successful. While I don't want to depreciate the verbal abuse Spencer probably went through (emotional/verbal abuse is nothing to shrug off), this doesn't compare the trauma his friend's faced growing up. Heck, we don't even really get confirmation as to whether Spencer's father's urges for his son to be better is actual abuse or just frustration over his son being a pothead with no intention of doing anything but be a pothead.
To me, THAT'S why Spencer's dream was less serious than his friends. Freddy really didn't have much to go off of in terms of what Spencer actually went through so....he just made it up as he was going along. With Tracy and Carlos, it was obvious what would get under their skin (sexual and physical abuse). But how was Freddy planning on killing Spencer with verbal abuse? Criticize him to death? Tell him he's grounded if his grades don't pick up? Thus, Freddy got creative...in the silliest way possible because Spencer's trauma may have been pretty silly too.