I had the luxury of meeting both Amanda Wyss and Heather Langenkamp again this past
weekend and ,no surprise, it led me to spend some time thinking about
the movie once again.
Amanda mentioned something about her and Heather still being friends to
this day. And it later, while laying down to sleep in my hotel room, got me to thinking about Nancy after the
Nightmare once she finally woke to emotionally face the horrors of the
reality of her Mother and friends deaths. The inescapable fears that
Freddy is STILL coming for her.The complete change to her young life.
This is a teenage girl who in the short span of a week has lost her
Mother, her best friend,her boyfriend and much more.What she thought she
knew of her Parents would be forever changed at this point. Seriously?
How does anyone cope with the knowledge that your Parents, especially
one who is a cop, were directly involved in murder. A murder that than
placed you in dangers path? She would go from being a young girl
thinking should I sleep with my boyfriend to should I ever sleep
again?Constant mental anguish. Dread.Impacted even more so by the fact
that she cant ever get a healthy nights rest.
I've always pictured the Thompson household near the end to be full of
fighting,door slamming and drinking while little Nancy tried to sleep in
her room. Then after the divorce , she would see her Father less and
less. And those times would be filled with an unspoken tension fueled by
bitterness towards Nancy's Mom . Just listen to the way he says "Marge"
when the two are in the LTs office. Especially while their daughter is right in front of him in grief over the fact that her best friend was murdered in the other room. If there was any time to drop the personal grudges and be there for your child, this would be one of them. There is a lot of history in that
one word.
After the Nightmare, Nancy would now have to live with this man
with whom she already had a damaged relationship. Nancy all the while still insisting
it was Freddy who did the dirty deeds. Her Father still believing she
is too far gone to accept the "truth". Nancy seeking the truth. Her Father denying it . Its
doubtful the two of them could ever communicate about the situation
without it turning into an argument and tears.
Who would Nancy have to turn too? Sure, she may have had a few friends
outside of Tina,Rod and her boyfriend. But would any of them be close
enough for her to talk to about her grief and fears? Unlikely there
would be anyone with whom she felt close enough to discuss Freddy.
And after the events, how many would even want to be around Nancy? Would
they be afraid to associate with someone surrounded by so much death?
Would she even return to school? Or would her damaged mind be so much
that she had to be committed shortly after the events not even allowing
her time to return to school.
So I found myself picturing Nancy as being incredibly alone . No Parent
to really comfort her. No friend to confide in. No one around her to
believe in her. She would be alone with her thoughts and fears way to
often for many years after .
And this would continue if or when she would be committed for mental health reason.How could she
talk to other patients who have their own real mental Freddys they are
battling, about her real flesh and fantasy blood Freddy? What if by
talking about her Freddy , one of these patients falsely convinces themselves
they are being stalked by him,adopting her "fantasy" as their own and
then harm themselves in an act of mental instability. She would most
likely find it hard to trust talking about her state with these unstable
strangers.
The Doctors would have none of her talk of Freddy. Eventually she would
be forced to hide her feelings and thoughts of Freddy and the truth that transpired. For fear of being punished with medication that would leave her weak minded and unable to fight the good fight when or if Freddy came for her. So now, shes not
only alone with her thoughts, but she feels she needs to repress them.
But this being our Nancy, she wouldnt just give up. Oh, sure, she would
have some dark nights to suffer through. It's a wonder she never became a
heavy drinker like her Mother. But that's out Nancy. Facing things. Not
running away down a bottle. She would most likely make books be her
friends she turned to. As she investigated what studies existed on
dreams, dream control and psychological survival. Doctors would see this
as a healthy pursuit and support her. Maybe Nancy would be the one to
discover the existence of the drug called Hypnocil. Finding its name
briefly mentioned in one of the many articles she has read about dreams
or suppressants. I could see Nancy proactively contacting the Doctors
associated with the drug, offering herself up as a test subject in her
desperate attempt to get a decent nights sleep.
Another thought: What drove Nancy to take Hypnocil? Would it have been
the fear of Freddys return? The fear to fall asleep at all , just in
case something was waiting for her on the other side? Do you think she
did see or sense Freddy in her post movie dreams? It's implied that when
the Freddy Snake says "Youuuuuu" and Nancy cries "Oh My God! " that
this is their dream reunion.
So if Nancy never saw Freddy after the Nightmare, why would she feel
compelled to suppress them every night. I could understand every once an
a while when her stress levels are high and shes going through a dark
depressive patch. And certainly in the beginning of her healing process
she would want to remove the possibility of a dream turning into a
nightmare, knowing what she knew of how dangerous they could be. But to
be on them every night? Maybe this was Nancys version of her Mothers
addiction- pill popping.
Perhaps after the movie Nancy experiences regular Nightmares inspired by
her memories of Freddy and his deeds. Reliving the horrors over and
over. But while this is just her minds vision of Freddy and not the
real thing, Nancy doesnt know this. She still thinks its the real deal.
Or ,even if she can sense its not the real thing, she fears that one
night it will be.That one night Freddy will find a way to slip into the skin of this "dream Freddy" and take over and get to her.He found a way to get to her once before.So she has to always be ready. Always on guard. And because of the intensity of the dreams Nancy has to
put up an exhausting fight ...every.... single.... night. With no friend to turn to when she wakes.
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