WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Fear Street Part 2: 1978, now streaming on Netflix.
While very little is known about C. Berman in Fear Street Part 1: 1994, aside from her being the survivor of the massacre at Camp Nightwing, Fear Street Part 2: 1978 goes in depth about who she is and what happened to her that unfortunate night. When audiences finally see C. Berman, she lives alone with her dog, and despite surviving the massacre, her life has not returned to normal. Instead, she lives on edge because of the trauma she's gone through, and what she's dealing with is similar to what Halloween's Laurie Strode goes through after surviving that Halloween night back in 1978.
Both of these women are final girls -- the last women to survive the events of a horror movie, often a slasher film. Like most final girls, they not only are pursued by their movies' deadly antagonists, but they witness the murders of many of their compatriots. This, combined with the physical injuries they sustain, make for a traumatic event that follows C. Berman and Laurie decades after their attacks.
While some horror films do not fully explore the aftermath of the final girl, there are exceptions, like 2018's Halloween. Here, Laurie has grown up and has a child; however, her life is far from peaceful. The events of 1978's Halloween haunt her, leading to Laurie becoming an ultimate survivalist. She's prepared for Michael Myers' return, transforming her house into a trap and training herself and her daughter to survive any situation, even if that requires deadly measures.
This comes at a great price, with her daughter growing to resent her. It also does not bring her peace of mind, with Laurie having an emotional breakdown over seeing Michael again. While she still lives with this trauma, Laurie continues to be a fighter, living up to the final girl title and showing how making it out alive is only part of the journey.
As for C. Berman, a.k.a Ziggy, she is in a similar situation. While the attack she suffered is more like the events of Friday the 13th, similar to Halloween's Laurie, she lives with the trauma decades after her horrific night; however, they have different approaches to moving forward. Like Laurie, C. Berman isolates herself from society, yet where Laurie has a family, it appears C. Berman does not want any personal connections after she lost her sister at Nightwing, protecting herself from that kind of pain again.
Laurie also is being more proactive about taking on the monster that started all of this, while C. Berman has accepted there is no winning in Shadyside, so she takes a different approach to living throughout this nightmare. Along with secluding herself, C. Berman has her house set up with alarms to notify her about doing daily tasks. After everything she went through at Camp Nightwing, it's understandable that the trauma could completely consume her; however, these alarms remind her to do even the smallest of tasks, thus keeping her moving forward.
While C. Berman has stopped entertaining the thought of lifting the curse until Deena and Josh enter the picture, simply living is more than enough after everything she's gone through. Moving through life alone is a sign of great strength, and it's understandable that she'd rather focus on keeping afloat than exposing herself to a new nightmare.
In the case of both Laurie and C. Berman, these are women who are getting their stories expanded on beyond the initial events that made them final girls. Back in 1978, they both went through something terrible, but that doesn't mean their nightmare ended there.
Instead, they demonstrate strength in different ways as they survive the trauma that comes with being a final girl, and both eventually work toward making sure something like Michael Myers or the Nightwing Massacre never happen again, with C. Berman finally giving Deena and Josh the information they need and reaching out to Sheriff Nick Goode. While their trauma may not be solved by bringing an end to their respective attackers and abusers, they more than live up to the final girl title by living beyond their deadly encounters and helping others in their own ways.
Directed and co-written by Leigh Janiak, the Fear Street trilogy stars Sadie Sink, Kiana Madeira, Olivia Welch, Benjamin Flores Jr., Darrell Britt-Gibson, Ashley Zukerman, Fred Hechinger, Julia Rehwald, Jeremy Ford and Gillian Jacobs. Part 1: 1994 and Part 2: 1978 are now streaming on Netflix, followed by Part 3: 1666 on July 16.