Freddy Krueger and pop culture.

[Leatherface]

Recently I was thinking about the Elm Street films and Freddy Krueger when this occured to me, why is Freddy a pop icon? I mean aside from the obvious that monsters are pop icons like Dracula, Jason and the Mummy. But here's my issue with him, he's a pedophile and child killer. Yet there were dolls and toys of him sold in Toys R Us in the late 80's and 90's. I'm not complaining but I am curious, how did he transition into that type of icon. Jason makes sense given his mask and simplicity and he's more of a parody Icon nowadays but with Freddy...he was a household name. Why have him rapping with the Fat Boyz? Why make him into a goofy, strangely loveable character? How did he go from being so scary in Nightmare 1 and 2, to being a goofy guy in the later Nightmares? My answer is actually Dream Warriors. Dream Warriors made Freddy less of a horror madman, and more of a comic super villain. And so did Dream Master ( when he knows kung fu apparently) Dream Child and Freddy's dead. What I find interesting is that he has this crazy uncle vibe in terms of being a household name, and yet Jason never did. Is it because Freddy was made into more of a joke intentionally in the later Nightmares ( 5 and 6) or was it because of New Line's need to have him hang out with Dokken? Or because he talked? What do you guys think, how did Freddy become weirdly family friendly and Jason, Michael, Leatherface etc never did?

[Drayton Sawyer]

It was his humor. Over time he became more funny than scary. Each film was watched to see what crazy one liners he came up with when he killed.

[JasonKrueger13]

It was his personality. Unlike most of the other slashers...he had one. It wasn't until Nightmare 5 where he became more of a joke instead of terror (Until New Nightmare) and IMO Nightmare on Elm Street 1 was the scariest slasher film of all tie because of Freddy's extremely dark and interesting personality. He also had a face instead of a mask so marketing him was much more simple. His weapon of choice was also iconic. As you said though, having Dokken, a TV show, and a personal 900 number helped big time.

Note: I still love the other notable slashers of course!

[TommyBlade™]

You both point out some major points IFdude & Jason. Going to have to agree with you both. Personality & Humor does set the trend in determining Freddy character as each film was watched.

[stalker]

Sept 1, 2012 23:58:52 GMT -5 Drayton Sawyer said:

It was his humor. Over time he became more funny than scary. Each film was watched to see what crazy one liners he came up with when he killed.

I think you nailed it here.

[Drayton Sawyer]

Sept 2, 2012 12:50:53 GMT -5 stalker said:

Sept 1, 2012 23:58:52 GMT -5 Drayton Sawyer said:

It was his humor. Over time he became more funny than scary. Each film was watched to see what crazy one liners he came up with when he killed.

I think you nailed it here.

Thanks. Camper killed.

[stalker]

Better him than ME!!!! Anyway, you made a good point.

[Kwik Kash]

Definitely the personality. Also, due to his home turf being the dream world, it allowed a lot more to happen, as opposed to being in a town or at a camp. The possibilities were only as limited as the imagination and funds of those making the films.

Even if Freddy remained darkly serious, I do believe, as each film happened, he'd have lost a lot of his luster. It happens. You can only be scared of the same thing so much before it's hold weakens. Sure it may have been slower, but Krueger became the favorite. Think about it, Krueger was in all the films, began to have more screen time, and so it only makes sense that the audience bonded with him. It was that bond that, ultimately, made him known and, sadly, marketable. It's one of the reasons he exploded in the 1980s, as well as the surge in communicative technology and entertainment mediums.

Personally, I don't mind him being a pop icon. It's more appealing than other things, to me. It definitely stands out.