Heathers is a movie that deals with school shootings, bullying,
homophobia and teen suicides. Sadly it was not made this year, but in 1988 and
remains relevant today. Fortunately it is also a dark comedy with a hints of
hope buried amongst the many dead bodies. Also noteworthy, it was a critical
hit for stars Christian Slater and Winona Ryder before their careers went off
the rails but then got back on track thanks to lead roles in hit TV shows. Clearly
some things change and some things stay the same.
Seeing it the
first time I was struck by the tone balanced by director Michael Lehmann and
writer Daniel Waters, and thought there is no way this could be made today. A
lot of bad things have happened in schools in North America between 1988 and
today, chief among them mass shootings. Bullying is ever present thanks to
social media, and suicide is such a hot-button issue in schools that some
organizations were afraid the Netflix show 13
Reasons Why might encourage teens to take their own lives. Still, in Heathers teens are poisoned, shot, and
in one case run over by a truck, and yet you can’t help but laugh because of
the absurdity of the situation. It is one hell of a balancing act, but the
filmmakers get away with it.
The “Heathers” in
question are Heathers Duke, McNamara and Chandler (Shannen Doherty, Lisanne
Falk, and Kim Walker) who rule over their fellow students in an Ohio high
school. They are rich, beautiful, and simultaneously hated and feared. Some
schools are microcosms of society, and in the society of this particular school
the Heathers are evil dictators. Veronica Sawyer (Ryder) is also a popular girl
and is sort of friends with the Heathers, but as her time in school is coming
to its end she is growing weary of the way they treat everyone around them.
Then along comes J.D. (Slater) a cool, smooth-talking student from out of town
who doesn’t take shit from anybody. He also carries a gun in his coat.
Veronica is
immediately drawn to J.D. who is unlike anyone she has ever met. They share
their innermost thoughts and desires, such as Veronica’s desire to make Heather
Chandler puke her guts out. It begins as a prank, but J.D. takes it beyond that
resulting in one dead Heather. Not wanting to go to jail J.D. and Veronica
leave a suicide note at the scene. This is where the humour and the darkness
begin to mix because the more bodies drop, the more hypocritical the community
becomes. For instance when Veronica and J.D. murder two homophobes and make it
look like they were lovers, the two boys are made into martyrs against homophobia.
Meanwhile when one bullied student actually does try to commit suicide and
survives, she is mocked for trying to jump in on a trend. Hard as it is to
believe if you have never seen the movie, this is all very funny.
Another thing I
love about Heathers is the evolving
dynamic between J.D. and Veronica. They are reminiscent of other movie couples
who have also fallen in love and gone on murder sprees, but the difference here
is that Veronica is not willing to go all the way down into the darkness. The
idea of killing the mean Heathers is certainly appealing to her, but then she
begins to wonder, where does it end? Violence is a short-term solution, and as
for suicide that is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. J.D. on the
other hand seems to think both approaches are great solutions, just like most
school shooters.
I haven’t seen 13 Reasons Why and I don’t know if it
would inspire people to commit suicide, but I believe Heathers can actually inspire people to try to be nice to each
other for a change. The movie’s final scene is especially on point.
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