There’s only one female gremlin in Gremlins 2: the new batch and Greta is as memorable as any of the new monsters introduced in the second Gremlins film. Gremlins 2: the new batch resurfaced a bit after the hilarious parody sketch of Wrench and peeler reminded viewers just how campy the sequel to the classic Christmas horror film really is. Once again, Gizmo, the mogwai from the first film, gets wet and multiplies, although he is now dividing in the Big Apple rather than the small town of Kingston Falls.
Because Gizmo is at the mercy of a mad scientist played by the late Christopher Lee his clones end up drinking his scientific serums, resulting in hybrid gremlins that take the form of everything from gargoyles to literal animated electric monsters.. That’s not even the most bizarre part of the wonderfully campy sequel. That honor belongs to former wrestler Hulk Hogan’s special appearance in Gremlins 2 for a fourth-wall-breaking look. There are lots of weird and fun new characters in Gremlins 2with the female gremlin being a highlight.
Who is Greta, the Female Gremlin?
Gremlins drink scientific serums to transform into Gremlins 2
Greta, the female gremlin, is one of the mogwai who ransacked the Splice O’ Life lab and drank the serums in the lab, specifically one labeled female. He transforms into a gremlin who would feel right at home in the The Jersey Shorecomplete with leopard print dress, ruby red lips, eyeshadow, pink boa, pumps and sassy attitude. Greta violently rejects the advances of the male gremlins because she only has eyes for one man: Forster, the head of security, played by Robert Picardo.
Forster manages to avoid the gremlin’s kiss for a while, but the film’s end finds him trapped in the bathroom with the only remaining gremlin, Greta. Dressed in a wedding dress, she slowly walks up to Forster as a gremlin choir sings “Here Comes the Bride”. First horrified, Forster resigns himself and actually seems kind of interested; she seems nice enough. Like all gremlins specializing in Gremlins 2The female gremlin doesn’t necessarily provide much backstory, but she’s a lot of fun, especially when she’s the headliner in the gremlins’ musical number, “New York, New York.”
Why Greta is the only female Gremlin in Gremlins 2
Gizmo is a male Mogwai who gives birth to the other Gremlins
There appears to be only one female gremlin in the Gremlins universeor at least the only one identified as a female gremlin. The serum he drinks at the beginning of Gremlins 2 has a male and female symbol, implying that the serum will change the sex or gender or both of whoever drinks it. It is not explained why there is only one female gremlin in the Gremlins‘universe, but since mogwai produce asexually and Gizmo appears to be male, perhaps mogwai births are of the same sex and gender.
How Greta became an LGBTQ+ icon
Greta has the High Femme aesthetic
With her beautiful and bold attitude, outfits and love of performing, Greta could be a drag queen if she wanted to. The LGBTQ+ community has already embraced her as a queer icon, and for good reason (via GaylyDreadful). Greta rejects the masculinity of gremlins like Spike and Mohawkand fully immerses herself in her feminine aesthetic. Whether viewers see Greta as a drag queen, a trans woman, or a cis woman, everyone in the queer community can be proud of the fabulous and funny Gremlin 2 creature.
A few years after the original Gremlins, Gremlins 2: the new batch again revolves around Billy Peltzer and Gizmo, the protagonists of the first film. After Gizmo’s house, the Chinatown collectibles store was destroyed; he escapes to a New York skyscraper. Gizmo is kidnapped by a scientist who lives in the building and seeks to experiment on him, but Billy manages to rescue him. Unfortunately, after one of the rules is broken by accident and Gizmo spills water on him, a new batch of Gremlins are born and begin wreaking havoc on the building – leading them to take over an entire TV station. Billy and Gizmo must once again figure out how to corner the Gremlins and stop them.
- Director
-
Joe Dante
- Release date
-
June 15, 1990
- Execution time
-
106 minutes