Celebrating Lawrence Monoson: Friday the 13th's Teddy Bear

For so many Friday the 13th fans out there, Lawrence Monoson is best known as Ted "Teddy Bear" Cooper, the snarky teen who not only has a penchant for sticking things in "the ol' computer" but introducing a generation of fans to the memorable phrase "Dead Fuck," creating an unforgettable victim for Jason Voorhees in this fourth film in the series.

But the thing is, even though Ted is an often abrasive character in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter and he is often such a douche towards his pal Jimmy (Crispin Glover), there's still something incredibly endearing about Monoson's character despite all of his rough edges, and it's not just because Teddy Bears are typically cute and cuddly creatures.

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No, this all comes about due to the young actor's wonderfully nuanced performance that is both funny and somewhat cringe-inducing (in a good way), but also has just a hint of melancholy to it as well. The fact of the matter is that Lawrence Monoson's portrayal of Ted in The Final Chapter doesn't nearly get the credit it deserves for how damn good it is, especially since so many other performers in this sequel have been put in the spotlight (deservedly so, of course) and is yet another wonderful performance from the actor who was really coming into his own at the time.

Best friend characters who aren’t afraid to give others “the business” can be a lot of fun, especially in movies, and there’s no denying the fact that Ted's antics in The Final Chapter definitely stand out in the Friday the 13th series. To me, what's fun about the character of Ted is that he has obnoxious tendencies and he isn't always the most supportive friend either, but you get the sense that he's contending with his own insecurities that are lying somewhere deeper within him, emanating from a place filled with self-doubt.

It’s this dichotomy within his characterization, and ultimately elevated through the work that Lawrence Monoson does in the sequel, that makes Ted such a fascinating supporting character overall.

And while it's never explicitly said during The Final Chapter that Teddy is struggling, you can see these subtle ripples of his insecurity through Monoson's performance in the film and all the little nuances he works into Ted's quieter moments as well.

I don’t think it’s a huge stretch to say that Ted does a lot of posturing in The Final Chapter because even though he's constantly pushing Jimmy's buttons, you can tell that there's a hint of uncertainty driving his character. That becomes very evident during the house party scenes late into the film, as Teddy Bear has taken a liking to one of the twins, Tina, but she has her sights set on anyone but him. First, it's Paul who is already there with his girlfriend Samantha, and then, she decides to turn her attention to Jimmy, who she eventually asks to "go upstairs" so that they can hook up, leaving Ted completely crestfallen in response.

Despite dealing with that rejection, Ted’s determination to get lucky does not waver, and he tries to work his magic on Tina's twin sister Terri. That ends up also being a fruitless endeavor, as Terri decides to leave once the party starts to wind down, leaving Monoson's character feeling down on his luck as he's now struck out romantically multiple times. Beyond that, all of his friends at this point have made a trip to “Hookingupsville,” — even the awkward Jimmy — which leaves Ted as the odd man out in The Final Chapter.

We also see that there's some conflict between the friends earlier in the sequel when it comes to the twins already, as a conversation between Ted and Jimmy during the party heads in a vulgar direction, thanks to Teddy who decides to pantomime being a "Dead Fuck" for his pal by placing his hand through the zipper of of his jeans. This act also demonstrates an aspect of Ted's facade that he puts up around his friends where he's trying to play up situations for jokes to try and feel like he fits in, but you get the sense that in the grand scheme of things, he knows that he doesn't really fit in at all and that bothers him.

So, in an effort to be a part of things, he has to constantly try and find ways to center himself in conversations so he doesn't get left behind.

But in The Final Chapter, Ted is ultimately left behind. During the film's third act, he's eventually all alone watching old stag films in the darkness of the rented house, and that isolation becomes a factor in how Jason is able to claim him as a victim. Not that the buddy system always works out in the Friday the 13th movies (see Sandra and Jeff in Part 2), but Mrs. Voorhees' baby boy is able to make quick work of Ted simply because no one else was around.

In a lot of ways, how victims are claimed in the Friday films — and in slasher movies in general — is reflective of the teenage experience during the 1980s where you often make your choices based on groupthink logic (like renting a house when there is a maniacal killer that has been using the area as his own personal hunting grounds over the last several days) and then, you are forced to deal with the repercussions of those decisions solitarily (like getting stabbed from behind through a projection screen).

I do feel like this is a good time to pause and just say that, yes, I am keenly aware that I'm probably taking the Friday the 13th movies a bit too seriously and I understand that Ted was most likely intended to be just another stereotypical character for Jason to kill, but what's the fun of that? Monoson and the rest of this cast give us an array of endearing and compelling characters to invest in for The Final Chapter, which is one of the biggest reasons why it's one of my favorite entries in the series.

In less capable hands, the character of Ted would have just been yet another slasher movie dickhead, but there is this underlying sensitivity to Monoson's performance in The Final Chapter that elevates his character from being another one-dimensional horror movie victim from 1980s cinema into a guy who has a lot more going on than just trying to get laid or razzing his best friend because he’s generally unsuccessful with the ladies.

Beyond the world of Camp Crystal Lake, I feel like Ted is an extension of Monoson's character Gary from Boaz Davidson's The Last American Virgin in some ways. Released only a few years before The Final Chapter, Davidson's 1982 coming-of-age sex romp was Lawrence's debut in Hollywood where he portrayed an unlucky in love teen who doesn't end up getting his dream girl Karen (Diane Franklin) in the end — a rather honest depiction of how awful it can be to be young and in love with someone who doesn't reciprocate your feelings.

It's really a shame that The Last American Virgin doesn't get talked about more when it comes to the raunchy teen comedies of that era. There's no denying that it is wildly uneven at times when it comes to the comedic elements of Davidson’s story, but it's Lawrence Monoson who provides the film with so much heart that makes it worth watching, with his performance feeling like a complete revelation amidst everything else going on in the film.

I happened to see this when I was on a trip back to West Virginia to visit family with my much older cousin who rented The Last American Virgin and My Tutor the same night — talk about a wild viewing night for me! Let's just say that the adults probably should have been paying better attention to what 7-year-old Heather was watching, but I’m grateful they weren’t.

But with The Last American Virgin, the film somehow transcends a lot of its dated comedy bits to capture something truly special: an unfiltered portrayal of teenage naïveté and the disillusionment that happens when your unrequited love never achieves requited status.

That last scene when Gary sees his lady love back with the asshole who abandoned her when she found out she was pregnant? You can practically hear the sounds of Monoson's heart being ripped straight out of his chest cavity in that scene. And as we watch Gary drive away over the final credits, it’s like pure heartbreak written all over Monoson’s face. It may be a comedy, but The Last American Virgin ends on a real gut-punch of a moment which was a rarity back then (and even now) and that’s why it still resonates more than 40 years later — Lawrence Monoson’s beautifully vulnerable performance does a lot of heavy lifting and I’m guessing it’s the biggest factor behind the comedy becoming a cult classic over the last few decades (a killer soundtrack and some nudity doesn’t hurt either).

It’s sort of funny, but I didn’t realize until I started writing this that 1985 was a big year in my burgeoning fascination with Lawrence Monoson. Beyond my cousin renting The Last American Virgin, I remember going and seeing Mask with my mom that year as well (it’s probably in her top 10 list of movies ever). I’m a big fan of Lawrence’s work in all the aforementioned films, but Mask is still my favorite supporting performance from him during this era in his career.

In Mask, Monoson plays Rocky Dennis' (Eric Stoltz) best pal Ben. The two friends don't see a lot of each other but they share a deep bond nonetheless (both Rocky and Ben have single moms who hang out together in the same motorcycle gang). With adulthood looming over them, Rocky and Ben begin planning a trip to ride motorcycles around Europe once they graduate from high school.

Of course, sticking to any kind of plan at that age is kind of a crap shoot in general, so when Ben tells Rocky that he's not going to be able to go on their trip because he has to move back to Michigan to stay with his dad, things go south quickly as Stoltz's character uncharacteristically lashes out. There are so many moments from Mask that are truly unforgettable, but the devastated look on Ben's face as the tears gently begin to stream down his cheeks after his best friend verbally annihilates him is something that has stuck with me for 40 years now.

And not for nothing, but Lawrence Monoson gave us some really good "emotional face" back then, making him truly a standout talent of that generation of actors that came up during the early 1980s.

In all seriousness though, I think that is what is so amazing about Monoson's ability as a performer as he was still carving out his path in Hollywood at that time is that there was just this raw vulnerability to a lot of his work that just felt so rare and pure and added so much to any project he was involved in at the time. So, I thought it was about time that we celebrated that.

I also should mention that one of the reasons I decided to write this is because I'm currently in the middle of a Beverly Hills, 90210 rewatch, and in season 4, Monoson shows up in a few episodes (22 - 24) as he plays an undercover FBI agent who infiltrates an extremist group that Brenda finds herself mixed up in that destroys an animal testing lab on the campus of the fictional California University.

Did I slightly geek out when he first showed up? Absolutely. It was in that moment where I was like, “You know who needs to be celebrated more? Teddy Bear.”

What's even more fun is that in episode 24 of season 4, Sheriff Garris (David Kagen) from Friday 6 plays Brenda's lawyer, creating a super fun inadvertent Friday the 13th franchise reunion between these actors (that season of 90210 also gives us quite a few other notable horror folks too, including Tracy Middendorf, Rachel True, a returning Christine Elise and Brooke Theiss, amongst others).

Anyway, Happy Friday the 13th to all the Jason fans out there, and Happy Friday the 13th to Lawrence Monoson too!

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