AARTI BHATIA
HONORS 159J
INSIGHTS
Veronica looking into Heathers locker, after the suicide
The treatment of the theme of class in this movie gives a lot of insight
to how things were at that time in a typical suburb. The girls are the
most popular kids in their high school. Everyone outside of their clique
thought that the Heathers and Veronica were all happy and content with
their lives. Outwardly the girls were always getting their way with in
school and with their parents, yet not one of them actually enjoyed
life. Veronica and two of the Heathers were constantly upset with
Heather (Chandler) behind her back for ruling their lives. Yet none of them
ever
had the nerve to break off from the group and become her own person. In
suburbia, people give up part of their identity in order to assimilate
into society, but this was taken to the extreme in Heathers. The
distinctions between classes was evident in the material aspects of the
movie. One can
estimate someone's class level based on how they dress, where they live,
and what they drive. This is how it usually is in typical suburbia as well.
Heathers was all about status symbols and their relation to popularity. The
girls were all well to
do, and believed that their status gave them power. They used to go
around the school all dressed up in the latest fashions. For
entertainment they would play jokes on classmates that they felt did not
measure up to their standards. Once they decide to torment a girl who is
overweight. They slip her a note which claims to be from one of the most
attractive football players. The girl approaches the football player and
shows him the note. He and his friends proceed to laugh in her face
until she leaves the cafeteria crying. The Heathers are highly amused by
the effect the joke had on the poor girl. Sameer Ghokale's project
investigates the treatment of an outsider by a suburban family. In his
analysis of the movie Milk Money, the outsider is accepted, rather than
rejected, as in Heathers.
Teenage troubles are prevalent throughout the entire movie. Heather
(Shannen Doherty) deliberately throws up after lunch one day in the
bathroom. Her
friends make the comment that bulimia is out of style. They do not make
any effort to help her with her eating disorder. Eating disorders are
still a problem for teens today, especially in suburbia. The media and
peers put unconscious pressures on teens, especially girls, to conform to
the ideal body type. The Heathers and Veronica are all considered by
their peers as fairly perfect examples of attractive girls with good
bodies. There were probably many girls in that high school that envied
the girls and may have even had eating disorders in the hope of emulating
the popularity of the girls.
Teenage suicide was another main issue discussed in Heathers, despite the
fact that no actual suicides took place. One morning after a party,
Veronica and JD go to Heather (Chandler)'s house to get her back for making
Veronica feel bad for vomiting at the party. Veronica wants to serve
Heather a concoction that will make her sick. JD puts some strong
cleaning product into a mug, while Veronica thinks that they are just
giving her orange juice and milk. Heather drinks the "hangover remedy"
and dies almost instantly. Veronica realizes that it was JD's chemicals
that
Heather drank. To escape trouble, Veronica and JD write a suicide note
in Heather's handwriting.
The next day in school, the only topic of conversation is Heather's
suicide. There are many theories on why the most popular girl in school
would want to kill herself, although no one is actually upset about her
death. Even the other Heathers do not really mourn for their friend,
instead they go through her locker and divide up her accessories. Her
suicide note (the one secretly fabricated by
Veronica and JD) claimed that no one really understood the true Heather
Chandler. Heather's "suicide" was then seen as impressive by many of her
peers. Suicide was not viewed as a sign of weakness, but rather one of
strength.
The suicide of two boys, both popular football players, is announced a
few days later. These boys were also actually killed by Veronica and JD,
but their deaths are played off as a joint suicide. Now that three of
the most popular kids at Westerberg high school have apparently committed
suicide, it in a way becomes trendy. Kids begin to build their usual
daily conflicts into major reasons to commit suicide to escape their
immense burdens of life.
Heathers gave insight into the lives of American teens. People from
other cultures who watch this movie will learn a lot about the way high
school kids were in the eighties. Teens define [American] society.
Their attitudes are what the media and fashion world cater too. Teens
make up a very significant portion of society (McClellan, 1972).
Teenagers define the decades. When one thinks of recent history, often
incorporated are images of what young adults wore, did, and thought.
Project Two: HEATHERS