Ginny Field is a fictional

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

in the ''Friday the 13th'' series. She first appears in ''

Friday the 13th Part 2 ''Friday the 13th Part 2'' is a 1981 American slasher film produced and directed by Steve Miner in his directorial debut, and written by Ron Kurz. It is the sequel to 1980's '' Friday the 13th'', and the second installment in the franchise. Adrie ...

'' (1981) as a

child psychology Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development ...

student working as a camp counselor assistant trainer, in which she was portrayed by Amy Steel. Writer Ron Kurtz conceptualized the character, while director

Steve Miner Stephen C. Miner (born June 18, 1951) is an American director of film and television, film producer, and a member of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is notable for his work in the horror genre, including ''Friday the 13th Part ...

intended to utilize Ginny to carry further installments as the main

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

. Ginny has subsequently seen representation in other media such as novels and

fan labor Fan labor, also called fan works, are the creative activities engaged in by fans, primarily those of various media properties or musical groups. These activities can include creation of written works (fiction, fan fiction and review literature), ...

. Steel got the part after moving from Florida to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

to begin a career in both modeling and acting. She got called in for an audition for Ginny and described it as typecasting. Steel was asked by director

if she would be willing to return for the sequel, and she declined. Ginny's confrontation with the villain Jason Voorhees ( Steve Dash) and her nightmare sequence of the character have been deemed iconic. Film scholar

Carol J. Clover Carol Jeanne Clover (born July 31, 1940) is an American professor of Medieval Studies (Early Northern Europe) and American Film at the University of California, Berkeley. Clover has been widely published in her areas of expertise, and is the autho ...

cited Ginny among the original examples of the "final girl" theory developed in her 1992 nonfiction book '' Men, Women, and Chainsaws''.

Appearances

Film

Ginny made her first appearance in ''

'' (1981). A

major, Ginny is assisting her boyfriend Paul ( John Fury) in his new endeavor—running a counselor training center to train upcoming summer camp counselors. The facility is on the shores of Crystal Lake, which is infamous for the legend of Jason Voorhees ( Steve Dash). Ginny believes it and deduces that Jason kills as vengeance for his mother. Ginny faces Jason and retreats to his makeshift hut in the woods. She discovers the shrine of Pamela Voorhees and

Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

and decides to put on Pamela's deteriorating sweater—to impersonate Jason's mother. While it initially works, Jason realizes her tactic, and after a brief altercation with Paul, Ginny slices his shoulder with a machete. Ginny has a nightmare sequence of Jason attacking her through a window. The film ends ambiguously with her being pulled away on a stretcher with Paul missing. In ''

Part III ''Part III'' is the third studio album by American R&B group 112. It was released by Bad Boy Records on March 20, 2001 in the United States. Unlike the previous releases, the album is described as having edgier, techno-flavored jams, resulting in ...

'' (1982), Ginny appears in the films cold open flashbacking her confrontation with Jason and is later confirmed to have survived on a news report detailing her ordeal.

Literature

Ginny makes her first literary appearance in the novelization of ''Friday the 13th Part 3'' (1982), which states that she is in "serious condition" and is suffering from "severe hysterical shock" because of her battle with Jason Voorhees. She subsequently appears as the lead protagonist in ''Friday the 13th Part II: A Novel'', a novelization of the 1981 film ''

'', which was released seven years after the film premiered in February 1988. The novel was written by Simon Hawke and based on Ron Kurz's screenplay. The aftermath of her encounter with Jason is once again referenced in the novel ''Friday the 13th: Carnival of Maniacs'', which states that her claims of finding Jason's shack in the woods went ignored, due to the authorities doubting her sanity. Ginny is a prominent recurring character featured in the designs of the apparel company Fright-Rags. Artist Matthew Therrien featured Ginny in his "Final Girl and Cinema Survivors" digital series.

Development

Victor Miller, the writer of ''

Friday the 13th Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day in Western superstition. It occurs when the 13th day of the month in the Gregorian calendar falls on a Friday, which happens at least once every year but can occur up to three times in the same year. ...

'' (1980), declined to write the sequel as the idea of Jason being the villain was illogical to him. Ginny, instead, was conceptualized by writer Ron Kurtz. Once Kurtz joined the production, one of his goals was to kill off the protagonist of the first film,

(

Adrienne King Adrienne King (born July 21, 1960) is an American actress and artist. King began acting at six months old, appearing in a commercial for Ivory, which led to her appearing in several commercials working as a child actor. She made her film debut ...

). Kurtz had a misconception that King's agent was trying to bribe the production for more money. Kurtz created a new group of counselors and wanted them to be believable and likable characters. Ginny was created by Ron Kurtz, following the original film's writer Victor Miller refusal to return—who found Jason's transformation into a villain illogical. Ginny serves as the successor to the original main character

(

) who Kurtz killed off in the prologue. Partial inspiration for Ginny came from numerous women Kurtz had known throughout his life that he characterized as "intelligent." While Ginny is not in '' Friday the 13th Part 3'' (1982), this was not intentional. Steve Miner intended for the character to return in the sequel as the protagonist and wanted the film to have a more psychological element to it—with Ginny's trauma being the focal point. One concept he worked on with writer Martin Kitrosser would have been set in a mental institution and featured Jason stalking her. Amy Steel recollects receiving a script that features the character returning to university to finish her psychology degree and being an outcast amongst her peers. The screenplay features Ginny in a post-traumatic state, taking

jiu-jitsu Jujutsu ( ; ja, link=no, 柔術 , ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu, is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat (unarmed or with a minor weapon) that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdu ...

as a means of coping with her trauma. This version of the script also confirms Paul's fate (whose survival was left ambiguous in the second film)—with Jason placing his head in her dormitory. It would have featured Ginny taking proactive steps, joining supporting character

Ted TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Depa ...

as they hunt Jason down.

Characteristics

Eric Goldman (''

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

'') wrote of the franchise's lead characters that Ginny is "one of the most appealing in the entire series," attributing it to Steel being likable. Matthew Chernov ('' Variety)'' wrote "actress Amy Steel gives a loveable performance that elevates her to the top ranks of horror movie heroines." Jeremiah Kipp ('' Slant'') describes Steel's performance as an "enjoyably low-key and naturalistic" that resembles Jamie Lee Curtis's performance as

Laurie Strode Laurie Strode is a fictional character in the ''Halloween'' franchise by John Carpenter and Debra Hill. She debuted in the original 1978 film as a high school student who becomes targeted by serial killer Michael Myers on Halloween night. La ...

in ''

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

'' (1978). The ''Friday the 13th Part 2'' script describes Ginny as an aspiring child psychologist working as a camp counselor over the summer. Steel describes liking the character as she wasn't scripted as "total bimbo" and highlights Ginny for having intelligence and confidence. Writer Jason Norman describes Ginny as being likable to the viewers and having a charismatic personality. Scholar Bruce F. Kawin notes Ginny's major in child psychology and writes her empathy towards Jason Voorhees and understanding children's emotions as attributing to her survival. Critic Barry Keith Grant questions the morality of Ginny impersonating Pamela Voorhees as means of survival and writes that the film's ending undermines Ginny's independence. Conversely, literary critic John Kenneth Muir commended Ginny for being "resourceful" during the film's climax and writes that she upstages

(

) and

( Jamie Lee Curtis) during her impersonation of Pamela. Writer Richard Nowell praised the character's "self-confident" entrance and "combining masculine traits with feminine attributes." Writer J. A. Kerswell characterizes Ginny as "warm, resourceful, and plucky." Similarly, writer Jon O'Brien (''

Inverse Inverse or invert may refer to: Science and mathematics * Inverse (logic), a type of conditional sentence which is an immediate inference made from another conditional sentence * Additive inverse (negation), the inverse of a number that, when ad ...

'') describes the character as tenacious and states that she is the franchise's "ultimate final girl." Adam Charles Hart states that Ginny is a shift in 1980's horror heroines due to her intelligence. In 2016, '' Paste'' ranked Ginny 17th on their list of ''The 20 Best "Final Girls" in Horror Movie History'', calling her "a realistic girl of her time period who, at the same time, has the guts and resolve to face off against Jason and come out on top."

References

External links

Ginny Field
on IMDb {{DEFAULTSORT:Field, Ginny Fictional sole survivors Fictional feminists and women's rights activists Fictional psychologists Final girls Friday the 13th (franchise) characters Film characters introduced in 1981 Female characters in film Female horror film characters