I have been seriously in love with Jason since October 3rd of 2025!!
Everything started with a huge Friday the 13th horror attraction that my sister and I attended! At the time, I didn’t really care about Jason given that I only knew of him from Freddy vs. Jason and was just… kind of unimpressed idk. I thought he was kind of lame back then. Because of that, I didn’t have the highest expectations for the event.
Despite my initial feelings, though, I felt really let down by the time we left. Jason hardly jumpscared me at all! I felt a bit sad and let down.
I took time to reflect on these feelings, though; if I didn’t care about Jason, then why did that bother me?
Since I already loved slashers (such as Ghostface and Freddy Krueger, my childhood fav and bae lol), I felt inclined to watch the movies. Since then, I begged my sister to return! She agreed and we had a great time! (Read everything here!!)
Since then, I have really pondered on the movies and Jason himself-I had even rewatched multiple times! Especially Part II for my fanfiction. This pondering really caused me to consider why I love Jason in the first place.
First and foremost, I feel a connection to Jason’s history. I resonate with Jason's drowning-not in the literal sense, but symbolically and metaphorically. I see strong correlations with Jason’s drowning and the neglect of the mentally disabled in real life.
From what I have known and observed, neglect is a very common experience for those who are considered mentally disabled (“special” if you will). For instance, I faced a lot of this treatment in my own life. I can recall many instances of neglect from professionals and other trusted adults who supposedly had my best interests in mind. This neglect caused a lot of suffering in my life-a sort of this metaphorical “drowning” and desperation. In a sense, these experiences directly parallel Jason’s. Rather than watching over the boy, the counselors entertained themselves with sex-therefore leading to Jason’s drowning and “death”.
Even if the symbolism likely wasn’t intentional, I think it’s interesting to think about. I also believe that it contributes to Jason’s strong characterization.
That being said, the second movie really sealed my love for Jason. Part II truly established his character. This film depicts him as a sly, ruthless murderer-stalking his victims in the dead of night. Part II had me on the edge of my seat, studying his every move. One of the deaths that most impressed me was Scott’s. I thought that giving Jason knowledge with traps and other hunting was such a nice touch to his character given that his whole existence revolves around surviving on stolen goods, food, and wild prey. I also like this detail because, despite his severe mental handicap, it gives him more knowledge and depth rather than just being stereotypically portrayed as “dumb”.
Hunting skills aside, I also really enjoyed his depth and complexities. For instance, Jason shows fear. Rather than acting as an invincible, unstoppable juggernaut, Jason runs from death. One particular scene that really stood out to me was the one where Paul chased him a chainsaw. Rather responding with nonchalance, Jason frantically ran away from it. I loved this scene because I think it really highlights his childlike nature (his frozen mental age) and mortality.
Jason’s mental age becomes especially apparent in Part II. The end of Part II really touched me-especially the scene during Jason’s showdown with Ginny. The moment I saw Ginny throw on the sweater and imitate his mother, my jaw dropped. I loved the total change in Jason’s demeanor; a once cunning and violent hunter became soft, submissive, and yearning. Despite the context, I honestly found it kind of adorable if I’m being honest haha.
Through that scene, I saw the boy underneath everything-the same innocent little boy who always yearned for his mother. Bear in mind that I definitely 100% don’t agree with woobifying him; I like to keep everything realistic and I love my men as unapologetically evil as possible. What I really, truly love is Jason’s complexity. I love that, even with his vicious nature, that little boy is buried deep within-that same little boy who just wants to bring his mother back.
He feels a yearning so extreme that he centered his mother’s head in a candle-lit shrine. The creation of the shrine is described as an attempt to resurrect his mother and, when you think about it, it’s tragic. As Ginny said, Pamela is all Jason ever had. Likely due to his severe disability, he never attended school, so he never had any friends.
A somewhat similar theme in Part IV held just as much magic for me-particularly the one where Tommy both shaved his head and used makeup to turn himself into a child version of Jason. This distracted him from a violent attempt and, for a moment, caused Jason to really reminisce. With curious arms, he reached forth. Just like the aforementioned scene, this one showed us, the audience, that Jason still felt a connection to his past and his drowning. If you think about it, it’s quite sad.
Even with his traumatic past in mind, Jason has committed atrocities.
While horror fans relentlessly bash Part III, I loved a lot of its themes and additional horror elements. I believe that the writers tried to emphasize his violent nature in this film. For example, at the beginning of the movie, a news report mentions “cannibalism and genital mutilation”. I see both of these actions as fitting for him considering he is a wild, demented hill billy roaming around the place. I think that he definitely fits the bill.
As for the sexual mutilation specifically, the movies already depicts Jason as a very sexual being. The first notable instance of this portrayal are in Part II. He watches women skinny dip (Terry) and change out of their clothing. Jason later drags Terry to his shack and arranges her body in a rather suggestive position.
Sandra and Jeff’s death scene also highlight his sexual nature. After impaling the two with his machete, he pins Jeff right to the wall and jumps into bed with Sandra’s naked corpse-another instance of necrophilia and sexual violence.
The two most notorious scenes of all, however, are a shown attempt as well as an actual off-screen rape. The first of the two instances is when he topples Trish, pins her to the ground, and positions himself between her legs. This occurs right after Trish fell backward-exposing her underwear before Jason.
The actual rape occurs in Part III and it is the theme of the entire movie. The movie revolves around Chris and the terrifying, mysterious figure who attacked her. Throughout the film, she expresses memory loss, severe fear of and discomfort with her boyfriend who she used to be “hot and heavy” with. Her parents refuse to tell her what happened. And, during the flashback, Jason chases after her and grabs for her legs. In the final showdown, there is also a scene where he rips an article of clothing off of her. I wonder if that is supposed to symbolize anything…
All in all, I love the writers’ refusal to shy away from very dark and taboo qualities during this time period. Obviously, this doesn’t last for long, but they are some of my favorite things about him (especially considering that I am a dead dove connoisseur lol). They have also inspired the big Jason/self insert fanfic that I’ve been after for months.
All of that being said, I really do feel such a deep love for Jason. I have rewatched these four movies over, and over, and over again-both for my fanfic and also because I love him. I love both his atrocities and also his more sympathetic qualities.
I hope you enjoyed the read!