Shape Gazes Back But Laurie Strode Did Not Blink
Spoiler Alert: Halloween Ends
The mysteries behind Michael Myers have been revealed, the supernatural abilities and all the cultural symbolism behind the mask have finally been uncovered. And while the mystique is now gone, I believe that David Gordan Green, John Carpenter, Jamie Lee Curtis and the rest of the cast and crew have left behind a trilogy to be proud of. This is a bizarre moment for all of us nerds out there. The movie allows me and every other writer/fan within the last 50 years to take a step back and get the chance to either rightfully boast about what they got to write, or admit that they were horribly wrong the whole time. Make no mistake about it, this trilogy was a continuation of John Carpenters original messaging and intentionality. The Shape of this movie franchise did end up being this perfect conduit of Evil that was more or less meant to be a social commentary as much as it was a “Turn your brain off slasher flick”, but as the saying goes, “Know one knows what it means but it's provocative… It gets the people going!” and unfortunately for some people… You now know exactly what it means, and you cannot run from it.
In my last review, I talked about Michael Myers' evilness reaching its Apex. The people had fought against the “Boogeyman” and lost… badly. Like any great competitor, The Shape refused to go down… I even brought up the Kobe Bryant quotes. At the start of the newer movie The Shape’s legendary status had grown and subsequently Evil began to spread through the town of Haddonfield like a viral infection leading to death, violence, mass hysteria, and a generational mental health crisis. But as for the man himself, It appears that victory in this movie has defeated Michael Myers. Not even Evil personified can escape the force of nature that is father time. Evil may live on forever, but the body of Michael Myers certainly could not. In this movie we see a washed up Michael Myers that is literally decaying, his home destroyed, his fantasies already fulfilled, his anger perhaps dwindling. All the rage, sadism, pettiness, and competitive fire that surged within him before can no longer sustain him. 4 years after his greatest triumph. The movie does a good job finishing off a full character arc that wraps up his character development (once again supporting my theory about Michael’s mental health and personality to begin with). Even if the movie overall was more of a resolution/legacy story as opposed to being this epic climax, I suspect that this will be looked at in the future as a cult classic. All questions get answered about Michael Myers as he gets ready to go not so gently into the good night. His arm crippled, his mask is eroding, he’s living in the sewers and suddenly after killing once again you see his body transform as he regenerates ever so slightly. His broken arm locked back into place, his limp developing back into a swagger. The Shape was slowly becoming whole once again through bloodshed, he gazes into the eyes of another turning them into a monster or perhaps awakening the monster that lurks within them (and in an unbelievable turn of events Nietzsche’s “Beyond Good and Evil is even shouted out in the middle of the damn movie! HUH?), and finally he once again displays superhuman toughness, albeit without the strength and vigor from before. The Halloween Ends movie hammers home the idea that “The Shape” that Michael Myers may have embodied perfectly this personification of “Evil”, but that did not cause him to be as transcendent, immortal and unkillable as theorized. The trilogy has tried to have its cake and eat it too, and for those that paid attention it did a damn good job. While I did not see the franchise ending the way it did, I was planning on doing a chapter before this talking about Laurie Strode and how she added fuel to the fire a while spending a lifetime trapped in her own cycle of trauma that unfortunately got all of her friends, associates, and even her daughters friends killed. Crippling many generations and ruining her life. This movie brings all of these points up but with the flavoring of a modern day social media twist where often people refuse to take responsibility for their own actions and instead look to point fingers and demonize others. This demonization even leads to the creation of more evil in the film as Laurie Strode (and really Jamie Lee Curtis) inspires everyone to show compassion in a cold world even when you are outraged, even when you are down in the dumps. I have talked a lot about Michael Myers being this fearmongering staple of Toxic Masculinity, but what I did not get to talk about was Laurie Strode’s character and the impact of another form of toxicity that typically gets ignored in our contentious culture. That would be the narcissistic and yes… Evil concept of VICTIMHOOD. Laurie Strode in Halloween 2018 was a bloodthirsty, narcissistic, woman running around with “Main protagonist syndrome” finally at the end of Halloween Kills (again the movie that allegedly added nothing to the story) she realizes that you cannot always fight fire with fire. She realizes that love is the only way forward. I was planning on sharing a prediction that ultimately to kill Michael Myers you would need to quell the beast. Think back to all of these sports analogies and my talk about competitiveness and toxic masculinity. If Michael Myers was really supposed to be the APEX of all of these things, the last thing you would want to do would be pissing him off right before challenging head on with threats of an infantilizing nature. Michael in Halloween 18 and Kills responded much like a competitor or a wounded animal with his back against the fire. In this movie the fire still stoked… but boy was it dim!
I hold on to my perception that Michael Myers, while not literally being stronger than other fictional characters of the slasher genre, was certainly the most deadly. In the end, even while in his Wizard years, Michael Myers maintained all the traits that made him the super masculine killing machine that ignored pain and subverted the cultural expectations of the white suburban neighborhood of Haddonfield. As for Laurie Strode, this was the best performance from Jamie Lee Curtis in the entire franchise. I mentioned in my earlier articles that Michael Myers, while not caring about Laurie Strode in actuality, but much like how two partners that have broken up, with one still holding hatred and the other looking to move on to greener pastures. Both characters were able to get what they wanted in this ultimate divorce. Michael Myers in the last movie got to impose his will on the town of Haddonfield, relive the killing of his sister and acknowledge himself in the window staring into the abyss of his own creation as if to say “Who do you think you are? I am!” to the entire town of Haddonfield and especially to Karen, the child Laurie groomed to be a monster meant to take on her own monster. But in this movie Laurie Strode is finally able to put her Boogeyman to bed even as Evil has changed the town forever she was able to spread a message of Love and positivity, Love finally lived in Halloween Ends, and the final confrontation very subtlety even carries out this idea perfectly.
In the final battle absolutely destroys a worn down and washed up Michael Myers who at this point was just trying to take a victory lap after being successfully able to infect so many others (including a character in this movie that attempts to take on the power of the Shape). But after spiking him through a kitchen island Laurie does what most narcissistic people would do, she gives a pretentious speech where she eggs on Michael Myers while attempting to assert moral superiority (despite literally wishing for this confrontation to happen for decades) and Michael as this symbol of masculinity refusing to be emasculated immediately rises from the dead one last time to suffocate Laurie Strode while staring into her eyes. A suicidal and exhausted Laurie than cries and begs Michael to kill her (Michael finally completes his bucket list so to speak) The Shape than gazes into Laurie Strodes eyes, revealing all the evil that weighs on her soul, looking to corrupt her, or maybe kill her, or maybe it's just his way of inflicting psychological damage. One final insult to remind her of who he is and what he has meant to her and the town of Haddonfield “Don’t disrespect me or my own legacy” but Michael’s eyes actually begin to close, his hand slips ever so slightly, and before he can make one final push Laurie is assisted in taking down Michael for good. When fighting off The Shape, Laurie ran the risk of regressing back into the monster that she had become for the last 40 years. After being humbled YET AGAIN, she bleeds the Shape out peacefully and even holds his hand, effectively fighting fire not with fire, but with love. Almost acknowledging Michael as the Boogeyman, but giving him the permission to die. Michael’s body is then destroyed as Loomis would have wanted, with the entire town seeing that the dragon has been slayed. Of course the movie states that “Evil does not die it only changes Shape” But Laurie Strode’s saga ends with sunny skies, romance, and cherry blossoms. Even more importantly, it ends with a message of hope and a lesson about overcoming generational trauma even in the face of Evil. The Shape Gazed Back, but Laurie Strode did not blink!
