6) Freeway (1996)
It doesn’t make for comfortable viewing, by any means, but Freeway is a vivid example of using the framing of a fairy tale – in this case, Little Red Riding Hood – and telling a modern story. With so many variations of the traditional tale of the girl and the wolf having appeared, there are a number of different interpretations as to its meaning. Some believe it to be a morality tale about the dangers of talking to strangers, some believe it to be an allegory for puberty, while others believe it to be about rape. Freeway takes all of those interpretations and delivers a story that moralises about the prejudices against young people that have been ‘in the system.’
Written and directed by Matthew Bright (Bundy), Freeway stars Reese Witherspoon as Vanessa Lutz – a troubled 15 year old whose mother is arrested for prostitution. To avoid being placed in a foster home, she steals her social worker’s car and sets off in search of her Grandmother. En route, her car breaks down and she accepts a ride from a passing driver – Bob Wolverton (Kiefer Sutherland), a counsellor at a school for boys.
Earning her trust, and promising to take her to her Grandmother’s home, Wolverton gets Vanessa talking about the sexual abuse she experienced at the hands of her stepfather, and she is horrified to realize that he enjoys the details. As the situation worsens, she realises that Wolverton is the serial killing rapist that has been featuring prominently on the news, and she fights to escape. Wolverton, however, is relentless.
The moral core of Freeway’s story concerns the attitude of others toward the characters of Vanessa and Wolverton. She is regarded as a juvenile delinquent, because she comes from a troubled home and has a criminal record – she is therefore assumed to be lying when she tries to alert the authorities as to Wolverton’s true nature.
Wolverton, on the other hand, is considered to be an upstanding citizen – because he is educated, has a responsible vocation, and a loving wife. He is, however, a monster, and it takes the courageous 15 year old to unmask him and put a stop to his horrific crimes. As we see in every well-made version of these traditional stories – in fairy tales, as in life, people are often not what they seem to be.