The Friday the 13th franchise has become iconic largely due to the hockey mask-wearing killer, Jason Voorhees. However, there was a time where Jason was just an innocent soul taken by Camp Crystal Lake. The teen counselors' negligence led to his eventual drowning and brought the wrath of his mother, Pamela. While she didn't live past 1980's Friday the 13th to kill again, her son returned from the dead and took her place in later sequels, which the first film's writer took issue with.
Friday the 13th originally was a unique study on motherhood and how a traumatic event can taint the concept. In Pamela's case, the event was the drowning of her son. As a mother without a son, she began to kill to fill the void left by Jason and claim some semblance of revenge for his death.
As Pamela kills the teens one by one, it becomes clear that the loss of her son warped her mind. She felt that any counselor was just as much at fault for Jason's death as the actual ones years ago. The subject matter for 1980's Friday the 13th was the most layered of the entire series and helped show the negative effects of severe trauma. Victor Miller, the writer of the first movie, revealed the decision to replace Pamela with Jason defeated the purpose of the original film.
On his website's FAQ page, Miller said, "To be honest, I have not seen any of the sequels, but I have a major problem with all of them because they made Jason the villain." To Miller, the story featured Jason as nothing more than Pamela's motivation, and the idea to bring him back was never in his plans. He also added, "Jason was dead from the very beginning. He was a victim, not a villain." While Miller's vision was never seen to its conclusion, the Friday the 13th fanbase still honored Miller's idea in their own way.
As far as the viewers are concerned, Jason isn't a victim and far from a villain. Now, he is seen as more of a hero with a quiet charisma that fans still haven't gotten tired of. With each movie bringing Jason back from the dead in some convoluted fashion, he began to take on a more supernatural presence. Each installment strayed farther from the realism established in the first film, but it also turned Jason into a killing machine. His focus and creative kills have taken him from Camp Crystal Lake to the streets of New York City and even space.
There hasn't been another Friday the 13th installment for some time. However, if there were a reboot or sequel in the works, it would be the perfect time to see Miller's vision be given the justice it deserves by seeing Pamela menace the counselors one more time. Until then, fans will have to keep rooting for Jason to get all of the teens before the credits roll.