Queer Representation in MTV’s Scream
Bi-curious icon Audrey Jensen.
Horror fans seem to have conflicting views of MTV’s Scream TV series. Personally, it’s one of my favorite shows and was a 12-year-old me’s introduction to slashers. Scream MTV was also the first time I’d ever seen a Bisexual lead in a show. Audrey Jenson transformed what queer representation could look like in teen television.
Audrey gets outed by the school mean girl and is mercilessly teased by her peers. Audrey doesn’t let this bullying get to her, instead she holds her head up high and challenges their comments. Even with multiple people harassing her over her sexuality, she never feels ashamed about her Bisexuality. Additionally, while we only see Audrey being attracted to women she still identifies as Bi-curious. This is so important because Bisexual people are often seen as either gay or straight and just “in a phase,” but Audrey sticks to the Bi label. Not only that, but Audrey’s friend group supports her unconditionally. For queer teens with few friends, Scream MTV showed us that we weren’t alone and that we could have true friends that really cared about us.
Many films and shows will only allude to their characters being queer. They’ll make one comment or the writers will confirm it on social media, but we rarely see the character’s queerness in the show. Scream did the opposite. We are consistently reminded of Audrey’s sexuality in multiple episodes (often because the killer is using it against her, but beggars can’t be choosers in 2015). The second scene of the first episode shows Audrey kissing her girlfriend. The series never tried to downplay Audrey’s Bisexuality. Even more recent content like Loki or Cruella will only bring up a character’s sexuality once and then never again (these are still super important, but they don’t feel as accurate). MTV’s Scream had strong Bisexual representation before Bisexuality was even being widely accepted. Unlike most queer horror characters, Audrey isn’t killed off in the first twenty minutes, so we get to watch her character grow and change. Audrey was one of the first Bi characters many Gen-Z audiences were able to connect with. We saw a real person rather than a cookie-cutter queer stereotype, someone we could sympathize with and pray would survive.
Audrey is an incredibly relatable and well-developed character. She feels like a character by queer people for queer people. Casting a queer actor definitely helped make Audrey feel authentic and honest. I have no doubt that Bex Taylor-Klaus’ perfect portrayal of Audrey aided in creating the truthfulness of their character. Most of the time, queer characters are pushed to the side or feel stiff and stereotypical. Audrey Jensen on the other hand was a driving force in the story and a dynamic teen character. She was flawed and immature, but learning and slowly growing up. The accurate portrayal of teenagers in the series is for a different article, but Audrey is a great representation of queer gen-z/millenial teens. Audrey Jensen was one of the first characters I truly saw myself in and helped me and many of my peers understand the complexities of queerness and gender.
While Audrey’s character certainly wasn’t perfect, she absolutely broke the mold when it came to queer representation. Revisiting the series made me really appreciate how much effort the writers put into a genuine portrayal of queer adolescence. I feel so lucky to have had that representation as a kid, and I’m glad future generations will have it as well. MTV’s Scream was way ahead of its time. It gave queer teens the reassurance that there was nothing wrong with them regardless of what others might think. If you haven’t given the series a chance, it’s certainly worth the watch. I hope in the future we get more queer characters like Audrey Jensen.
