Originally posted June 22, 2020 at Cinema76.com
Why is the teenager so hard for parents to understand? The concept of the teenager is one that came about in the early to mid-1900s. With the rise of compulsory public education teens had to go to school and therefore be away from their parents. This gave them the opportunity to create their own culture and norms. The teen became mysterious, acting in ways parents could not relate. The 1989 film Heathers takes this idea to an 11, as director Michael Lehman’s takes us to the hyper violent world where teens are left to their own devices and parents and teachers alike fail to understand them.
Heathers takes a very bleak look at the 80s teenage experience. Veronica Sawyer (Winona Ryder) hates her friends. Specifically the Heathers, a social group that rules the school and is made up of 3 Heathers; Duke (Shannon Doherty), McNamara (Lisanne Falk), and the queen bee Chandler (Kim Walker). Heather Chandler and her mean girls torment any and everyone they want just to just because they can. However, things change when Veronica meets the new rebel at school J.D. (Christian Slater). The two “accidentally” kill Heather Chandler which begins their journey of death, destruction, and fake suicide notes.
I have seen this movie quite a few times, mainly because Christian Slater is a dream boat even when he’s playing a total psychopath. Watching it for this series I really tried to think about “why was this film a flop” to be honest it did not really take much reflection to figure out why that would be. The tone of this film is so twisted and weird and is for sure not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. The film is a satire about teen suicide and murder. Ity feels very strange to watch in 2020, especially as someone who remembers so many of the school shootings have come in the years after the film. Even J.D’s attire is reminiscent of some of the school shooters which is very chilling to come to terms with. It makes moments in this film hard to grapple with while also making it feel relevant.
Recently, I saw someone post about how no one cares about someone’s mental health until they kill themselves. I think that becomes a central point to the story. As the main character Veronica remarks “death gave Heather depth, Kurt a soul, and Ram a brain”. People are fascinated by the “dead teen” especially if their death is as inexplicable as suicide. It gives people a mystery to try and solve. And for Veronica’s messes up little school, Inevitably suicide becomes the trendy thing to do. Those who are struggling and are crying for help in the film inevitably get tormented by the rest of the school. With all of its dark humor it has a lot going on and is trying to speak to some important aspects of our society.
At the end of the day every single of of these kids is privileged as fuck and all they can do with their minuscule about of teenage power is torture each other. One thing I think this film does successfully is not necessarily excuse their behavior but does show what cycles of abuse look like. Everyone has trauma they are working through and most of them are dealing with it in unhealthy ways. This really struck me when watching it this time around. Heather Chandler lets herself be taken advantage of by older guys to maintain her cool appearance. She torments Heather Duke, who develops an eating disorder that mysteriously goes away when Chandler dies, and then Duke becomes the new Queen. J.D.’s mother commits suicide, leaving him alone with his sociopath father, then J.D. begins offing the popular kids.
For how unsettling and potentially controversial this film is it does have some optimism about what could be if we took care of each other and ourselves. And it truly is a funny film, maybe not ‘haha funny,’ but funny nonetheless. I can’t help but have a blast every time I watch it. Kim Walker is amazing as Heather Chandler it’s a shame she gets offed so fast, she’s a ruthless bitch but damn does she have the best lines. Of course Winona and Shannon Doherty are amazing, and did I mention what a dreamboat Christian Slater is? Plus for how messed up and funny the kids are the adults are equally amazing with their level of ignorance to the situation. Some do the scenes with the parents and teachers are my favorite. And at the end of the day it’s hard not to love a film that has lines such as “well fuck me gently with a chainsaw, Do I look like mother Teresa?”
The Neon Banshee 