Poll of the Day > Where did the "black people die first in horror movie" trope come from

(+) Yeah! (+)

I've probably seen over 200 horror movies and can't think of one off the top of my head

---

Yeah I never really understood that one either

Heck in a lot of movies that I can think of one of the black characters would be one of the ones to make it out alive

---

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlackDudeDiesFirst

Two of the last living people in Event Horizon was black.

And the one that does die sacrificed himself for the others.

But one could debate the ending.

---

kukukupo posted...

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlackDudeDiesFirst

Came in to post this.
---

It came from horror movies

---

There is also the woman being last/only survivor trope

---

JOExHIGASHI posted...

There is also the woman being last/only survivor trope

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FinalGirl

---

As a slasher fan I feel like they have something to do with it

---

The Shining

Clench281 posted...

It came from horror movies

This. And the movies have to be older, but also be movies that actually have a black person in them as a main character.

Once it became a cultural thing that people knew about, movies started making it a point to not have that happen. So its less of a thing now.

---

I mean are there any negative ass black people in movies anymore.

I mean like Junior from Platoon.

---

Dont watch a lot of horror movies but the last one I saw doesnt follow this rule, The Thing 1982

---

deoxxys posted...

Dont watch a lot of horror movies but the last one I saw doesnt follow this rule, The Thing 1982

that movie does have a black character though that totally vanishes with no explanation. You can assume the monster got him or that he died in the big explosion or maybe is still alive, but there is no resolution in the film as to what happens to him.

---

Mead posted...

that movie does have a black character though that totally vanishes with no explanation. You can assume the monster got him or that he died in the big explosion or maybe is still alive, but there is no resolution in the film as to what happens to him.

It's not made explicit, but there's a pretty strong implication that it's the first one.

---

^Yeah that

Boy that was actually a great movie, I dont tend to like to watch horror/slasher movies

---

Mead posted...

that movie does have a black character though that totally vanishes with no explanation. You can assume the monster got him or that he died in the big explosion or maybe is still alive, but there is no resolution in the film as to what happens to him.

he died offscreen in the comic. Also he wasn't even the first person in that movie to die offscreen.

Also everyone died in that fiilm so~

---

It used to be a common practice, but eventually it stopped because it had become something of a trope and people were objecting to it.

---

Zeus posted...

It used to be a common practice, but eventually it stopped because it had become something of a trope and people were objecting to it.

it really didn't..

---

Kimbos_Egg posted...

it really didn't..

It pretty much did. Black characters are far less likely to be the first death now, and many survive to around the end. Usually when it is still done, it's done as an homage to the earlier practice, such as in American Horror Story 1984 where Ray was the first camp counselor to die (well, outside of a flashback)

---

how many movies that weren't majority black cast actually had the black guy die first? Horror movies specifically. Can you think of any off the top of your head?

---

In a study of 50 popular horror movies, Complex found that a black character dies first in 10%, so 5 movies. It's not exactly common, but it has happened.

https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2013/10/black-characters-horror-movies/

If my memory serves correct, the black people did first trope was actually first popularized in a joke in Scary Movie or a similar film/show, wasn't it? I'm guessing that joke was probably meant to be more metaphorical of racism in horror movies, not literal.

I like how @Zeus has no examples of it happening. None of the Friday the 13th movies or Nightmare on Elm street, Halloween, Child's Play, Alien, Predator, hellraiser. Counting all the sequels in those series that's over 50 movies where it doesn't happen.

---

Kimbos_Egg posted...

how many movies that weren't majority black cast actually had the black guy die first? Horror movies specifically. Can you think of any off the top of your head?

The Shining

From my understanding, it was less about dying first and more about little chance to make it to the end.

---

Forest_Temple posted...

The Shining

literally at the end because only 2 people die in that film.

and he didn;'t die in the book.

---

Kimbos_Egg posted...

literally at the end because only 2 people die in that film.

and he didn;'t die in the book.

Yeah well everyone is more familiar with the movie anyway. So I'm right.

Forest_Temple posted...

Yeah well everyone is more familiar with the movie anyway. So I'm right.

Debatable.

Technically you see the death of the twin girls anyway so~

---

Just realized that the first death in Christine was a black dude.

---

JoanOfArcade posted...

I like how @Zeus has no examples of it happening. None of the Friday the 13th movies or Nightmare on Elm street, Halloween, Child's Play, Alien, Predator, hellraiser. Counting all the sequels in those series that's over 50 movies where it doesn't happen.

• In Aliens, Frost is the first major character to go, and Apone isn't far behind him. It's notable in that it's the only entry in the entire series, including Alien vs. Predator, to play this trope straight. The other films have a tradition where the black dude is the last to die in a (attempted) Heroic Sacrifice.
• In Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, a group of five high school students (including one black student) is ambushed by an Alien inside the high school. Guess which one the Alien kills first.

kukukupo posted...

* In Aliens, Frost is the first major character to go, and Apone isn't far behind him. It's notable in that it's the only entry in the entire series, including Alien vs. Predator, to play this trope straight. The other films have a tradition where the black dude is the last to die in a (attempted) Heroic Sacrifice.
* In Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, a group of five high school students (including one black student) is ambushed by an Alien inside the high school. Guess which one the Alien kills first.

Wrong. Both counts.

Frost didn't die first, the colonists did. 2, The highschool students didn't die first. The predator died first, then some guys dad who was hunting with his son, then 2 hobos who were white.

Watch the films more.

---

Jurassic Park, probably.

---

zebatov posted...

Jurassic Park, probably.

costa rican

---

Kimbos_Egg posted...

costa rican

um they were literally dinosaurs

---

You gotta go back to the 70s and 80s to notice it. Gremlins the black highschool teacher is the first to be killed off. Its such a corny predictable scene.

It's also not just that they died first; they were unlikely to survive at all.

---

Also semi related, new Caleb just dropped.
https://youtu.be/XqtjKu3GHIw

---

keyblader1985 posted...

It's also not just that they died first; they were unlikely to survive at all.

I mean isnt that horror/slasher movies in a nutshell? Most people dont survive XD

---

True.

---

Kimbos_Egg posted...

costa rican

Mead posted...

um they were literally dinosaurs

Lol.

---

JigsawTDC posted...

In a study of 50 popular horror movies, Complex found that a black character dies first in 10%, so 5 movies. It's not exactly common, but it has happened.

https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2013/10/black-characters-horror-movies/

If my memory serves correct, the black people did first trope was actually first popularized in a joke in Scary Movie or a similar film/show, wasn't it? I'm guessing that joke was probably meant to be more metaphorical of racism in horror movies, not literal.

So it's like a stereotype. A small handful does it but it becomes a something people associate the whole thing with.

---