‘Scary Movie’: A Tribute to Regina Hall as Brenda Meeks
In recent years, Brenda Meeks from the Scary Movie series has grown more popular with both new and old fans returning to the franchise. For the horror genre as a whole, Brenda Meeks should be praised as one of the best heroes, mostly due to Regina Hall’s performance. Hall embodied the role to such a degree that Brenda steals almost every scene she’s in. And of course, fans want more. Even Anna Faris and Regina Hall would be open for another film. The irreverent, highly successful franchise doesn’t have the staying power as other horror comedies, but when it comes to horror icons, Brenda Meeks should be on the same level as Laurie Strode, Sidney Prescott, and other figures associated with the Final Girl label.
Brenda may have started as a stereotypical, loud Black character but Hall gives such an earnest performance and adds dimension to what would otherwise be a caricature. Brenda isn’t a one-note sassy Best Friend; she serves many purposes. While the Scary Movie franchise constantly broke the fourth wall and doesn’t take itself seriously—one example is Brenda dying twice in the series but inexplicably coming back—the series did take advantage of Hall’s and Faris’s chemistry and gave Hall the material to make Brenda a memorable character. I’ll chronologically look at the series’ treatment of Brenda and show how she’s one of the greats, giving us some of the best scenes in horror comedy, if not horror altogether.
Scary Movie
The first film in the series sets up Brenda as Cindy Campbell’s friend and Shorty’s (Marlon Wayans) sister. Scary Movie, directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans, is full of jokes about race. Some are clever and some aren’t. One of Brenda’s first punchlines is not knowing her father, an overdone joke even by 2000s standards. But then, Brenda shines as she meets up with Cindy and roasts mutual friend Buffy Gilmore (Shannon Elizabeth) for being a “ho” by shacking up with a backup dancer. She adds, “She is as fake as press-on nails.”
Brenda is there for the inciting incident of covering up the murder from a hit and run. After that, she shows up in only a few small ensemble scenes. Honestly, you’d think the movie would use Brenda a little bit more as Cindy’s friend, but sadly our beloved character is absent while many of the deaths occur. Luckily, Brenda’s standout scenes come sooner rather than later when she’s getting hot and heavy with her boyfriend, Ray (Shawn Wayans). Hall shows off many of Brenda’s qualities in this scene. Brenda’s bashful and smitten with Ray’s flirting, and vibrant when a song she likes blasts from the radio. Playful and stimulated by Ray’s freakiness, Brenda starts putting on his football uniform. Hall hilariously displays Brenda’s confusion over what’s happening.
The piece de resistance of Scary Movie is Brenda Meeks’ death scene at the theater. A contrast to the previous scene, Brenda is the loud, smack-talking moviegoer we don’t want in our theater. Each line by Brenda is quotable: “I gotchu on camera. You on candid camera now.” From her pronunciation of Shakespeare to the physical humor even though she’s sitting down, Hall truly owns the scene. It gets increasingly over the top when the audience, from the police to famous religious figures, starts stabbing Brenda for her annoying behavior and then clapping at her death. It’s a sublime parody of Scream 2’s opening death scene that commented on race in horror films. There’s already inherent humor in the Scream 2 theater kill, and Scary Movie capitalizes on it in the best way.
Best Line: “Out of my face! Out of my face!”
Scary Movie 2
Somehow, Brenda has returned. And it’s all for the better. Brenda is more superstitious now which arguably saves her life in one of her first scenes. Don’t split the pole!
We get a new version of a bedroom sex scene. I love Hall’s little giggles and how she shows a little embarrassment before launching into dirty talk: “Imma shit on these walls Ray.” It’s here we get some direct racial commentary on horror tropes. Brenda points out that white characters always want to split up, and once all the Black characters (Ray, Shorty, and Brenda) are left alone, she thinks their fate is sealed. From now on, Brenda is looking out for herself. Cindy meanwhile gets chased by a monster. When Cindy is running for help, Brenda subverts the Best Friend role and prays Cindy gets her “white ass” killed instead.
Fortunately, the monster is only a weak skeleton, so Brenda and Cindy escape but not for long. Brenda runs away at the next sign of trouble and throws out she’s not Cindy’s best friend anymore. After all, you don’t have to outrun a ghost, you just have to run faster than your friend.
Best Line: “It would have just been you if you had just shut the fuck up!”
Scary Movie 3
Scary Movie goes PG-13 for the first time but doesn’t lose its crass nature. Unfortunately, Scary Movie 3 has Brenda die again, and Shorty is nowhere to be found. It’d be weird if there was any continuity in this series.
Before her demise, Hall gets some of her best moments. She meets Cindy as a teacher to Cindy’s nephew, admitting that it’s been a long time since they’ve seen each other. But they pick up right where they left off. Brenda’s overly sexual side comes out which Cindy thinks is romantic, despite the classroom setting with children around.
Hall demonstrates her comedic chops when Brenda plays pranks on Cindy. Brenda says she watched a tape and received a call that said Brenda would die in seven days. Hall creates the funniest faces when she acts like she’s dying, and Faris plays off of her perfectly. It’s the heart of the movie, even if their friendship has its ups and downs.
But then the real haunting starts. The television mysteriously turns on, and we get a The Ring parody with a long black-haired girl climbing out of the well. Brenda says, “Another little white girl done fell down the well. Fifty black people got they ass beat by police today, but the whole world gotta stop for one little whitey down the hole.” Hall exhibits more physical comedy as a full-on fight scene breaks out. Sadly, Brenda loses. At the wake, pure mayhem breaks out when Brenda’s family fights George (Simon Rex) and Mahalik (Anthony Anderson) because they think Brenda’s alive. Brenda’s body gets blown to bits. A shame that she left the movie too soon, but even in death, she still provides some laughs.
Best Line: “Cindy, this bitch is messin’ up my floor!”
Scary Movie 4
In Scary Movie 4, Brenda shows up too late as a reporter, about a third of the way through the movie. The movie hand waves her death away and we get a real adventure with Brenda and Cindy again. Their friendship is at 100% and Brenda is much more sexually open in this film. They travel to an off-the-grid village and are put on trial. She flirts with a man in the court. “After this, how about you take your thing of which we do not speak and slide it up in my place which I like.”
There’s not a scene above all the others for Brenda, but the wordplay in the courthouse is witty and a highlight of the film. When we get to the aliens—who look like Billy the Puppet from the Saw movies—Brenda is actually turned on by the torture devices the aliens subjected everyone to. After the main alien, Jigsaw, stops the invasion, Brenda has sex with Zoltar and gives him an STD. Somehow, this brings the aliens’ machines down.
Best Line: “This is a problem with which I have had much experience. Maybe I could help him in a room in which there are no others. Or you can all watch. I don’t give a shit.”
In the end, Brenda Meeks is an anomaly as a black heroine who makes striking commentary on horror movie tropes and miraculously joins the next installment even if she died in the previous one. Not many good guys can say that. Brenda is more than a Final Girl or comic relief character. In the cartoon-like universe of Scary Movie, Hall gives a performance that elevates the material in a way many other spoofs have failed. There are times when Brenda’s absence is palpable and the films are sadly lesser for it. Hopefully, any future installment allows Regina Hall more screen time.
In all the Scary Movies, Brenda shows she can be fearless and fight her way through the terror. She is more than any cliche role she is parodying. She’s there for the ride when it comes to saving the world, but has self-preservation, too. There simply hasn’t been a force of nature like Brenda in the horror world since.
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