Ladies Bulk And Skull

It seems worth discussing the two heel girls I mentioned yesterday in my ongoing coverage of "Friday The Thirteenth Part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan". I think that the first time Tamara and Eva (whose names I never really knew until I looked them up for this) are seen is looking in on the boxing match through a skylight. Their characters aren't laid out incredibly badly in that introduction. We see well enough that Tamara is the alpha, more loose, and that Eva is the follower, more hung up on responsibility. It's a regrettably stereotypical setup.

Tamara expresses her eagerness to have sex with star boxer Julius, and Eva seems willing to go along with that, to say nothing of their shared interest in cocaine. I think that Tamara stands alone in her willingness to go to any lengths to mitigate the consequences of being caught doing cocaine and of, apparently, failing to complete her biology project. Tamara is a terrible, terrible person. It's hard to say that anyone on the ship outside of Jason himself is worse. The film takes the curious approach of making almost every person who gets killed exceptionally unsympathetic, but even Principal McCulloch is more likable than Tamara.

Eva's not so bad, really. She seems given to going along with things she knows are wrong in pursuit of friendship. I rather imagine that if she'd survived the bloodbath aboard the ship she'd have learned better how to find happiness. Probably in college she'd have finally found her crowd. It can be very hard to do that in high school. One hits the lottery, makes the best of a bad lot or spends that time alone. Eva made the best of things with Tamara.

Tamara dies rather spectacularly after showering, with Jason dispatching her with a shard of mirror from the bathroom in her cabin. I'd say I relished her demise on account of how unlikable she is, but like I said, most of the deaths are suffered by people who meet that description. Poor Eva, who I have nothing against, dies in a very forgettable way on the dance floor. I guess it's nice to see that location used again, but it's an undeserved end. So ends the arc of the two girl heels.