Few movies have the sheer balls Heathers has.
Suicide is a tricky subject made trickier when teenagers are involved. In a sensitive world, suicide is handled in a delicate way -- there's grief, remorse and a desire to remember the deceased in a positive light. But sometimes this can also lead to the core causes of suicide being swept away or buried; the truth is harsh, so we want to avoid it.
Heathers is not interested in avoiding the problems. Instead, it sets a harsh eye on them and brutally examines how the world sees the tragic self-destruction of teenagers.
There are four girls who rule Westerburg High School -- Heather Chandler (Kim Walker), Heather Duke (Shannen Doherty), Heather McNamara (Lisanne Falk) and Veronica Sawyer (Winona Ryder). The Heathers intimidate lesser teens with their boundless popularity, and Chandler is their cruel dictator. However, Veronica doesn't always approve of the Heathers' activities; she can often be found shaking her head in the background while the Heathers mock students such as Martha "Dumptruck" Dunnstock, although Veronica is hesitant to stand up to the rest of the group.
Then J.D. (Christian Slater) appears and immediately catches Veronica's eye. In his first day at Westerburg, J.D. pulls a gun on the school bullies, Kurt (Lance Fenton) and Ram (Patrick Labyorteaux), and shoots blanks at them. He seems to be immune to the power of the Heathers. J.D. is not too concerned with popularity; he just does what he wants when he wants. Soon, he and Veronica are dating.
The relationship takes a turn when Veronica and J.D. stop by Heather Chandler's house. As revenge for her humiliating treatment at a frat party the night before, Veronica mixes a milk and orange juice drink to make Chandler sick. J.D. fills a cup with drain cleaner and jokes that he should give it to Chandler so that she will drink it and die. While J.D. distracts Veronica with a kiss, she accidentally takes the cup of drain cleaner, which Chandler drinks before dying. Veronica is horrified, but J.D. urges her to forge a suicide note to avail them of any suspicion. Soon the entire town mourns the tragic suicide of Heather Chandler.
This is the core of the movie. When Heather Chandler dies, nobody remembers the evil asshole who dominated the school and destroyed the self-esteem of so many people. Instead, she becomes a martyr. Students see suicide as the hip thing to do because the hippest person at Westerburg chose to kill herself. Teens kill themselves left and right because they want to be remembered as being just as cool as the Heathers.
I think I am making this sound much more serious than Heathers is up to this point. The movie is serious in its own way, but it handles things in such a gleefully dark way. At Heather Chandler's funeral, for instance, everyone puts on the air of being saddened by the horrible tragedy of her death, but as they pray over her coffin, their thoughts reveal otherwise. In their way, the mourners are as superficial as Heather Chandler -- they mourn because they are still in her hip grip, not because they truly cared about her.
Another of Heathers' strong points is the dialogue. It is difficult to capture the way teenagers speak -- not just the words they use, but the way they use them. When writing teens, the temptation is always to be self-consciously cool and hip (hell, I'll admit to giving in to that temptation more often than not). Heathers does this, too, but it gets it right. The way the dialogue is written and delivered stays true to the way teenagers act. These characters act with puffed-up bravado and invent colorful slang that will set themselves apart from the pack. They speak with confidence even though they don't have any to speak of. It's an act that teens haven't mastered because they have not lived long enough to be subtle with it. They haven't perfected their identity.
This problem of identity is the movie's main point about suicide. Many who seriously consider it find themselves on the outskirts of society, or at least feeling as if they are on the outskirts, without any help. Heather Chandler's suicide opens the floodgates but still does not offer any help. It is glorified and chattered about ad nauseam, but everyone is content with that. Nobody confronts the problem. A student -- one with actual issues -- fails to commit suicide and is mocked because she is clearly "trying to be one of the cool kids." Many people growing up need something to latch onto -- a person, an idea, something -- to help them form the basis of who they are. The idea of Heather Chandler's suicide becomes a point of identity for the Westerburg kids, so they follow along because they believe they have nothing else or nobody else to reach out to.
In this movie, they really do not have anything else, because everyone is so wrapped up in their groupthink that they are ignoring the destruction going on all around them.
Anyway, Jesus, this turned out way different than I thought it would. There's more to the movie, but I'm not going to give it all away. The main point is Heathers is a great movie, funny as hell with a lot to say, and you should all see it if you have not already.
EDIT: Continuing the videos! In this clip from Heathers, J.D. and Veronica first meet each other.
