“It’s so cute. She doesn’t want to hurt Kurt and Ram, either, but she has no problem making them look gay, or with homosexuality in general. The Heathers were rounded off with Shannen Doherty, the future star of Beverly Hills 90210. You should receive instructions for resetting your password. Critics have argued that Heathers the TV show has mistakenly conflated diversity and positive representation. The ‘80s was Reagan’s decade, and as Heathers was being made, the Gipper was losing both his short-term memory and the presidency. When JD killed Heather C, it’s by getting her to drink blue Drano-like fluid. … That leaves a lot of room for interpretation, and lord knows, I’ve taken up most of it. Heathers, the 1988 film that spawned a genre about privileged high school mean girls, from Clueless to, well, Mean Girls, outdoes them all right out of the gate by focusing on the story of a psychopathic teenager on a killing spree. Colors are used quite symbolically in this film. When Heather Duke is coaxed to take over as queen bee when Heather C dies, she becomes red, and then Veronica victoriously claims the red scrungee at the film’s end. Elsewhere, rumours destroy reputations overnight, a plot device that works even better re-watched from the internet age. When someone says that you’re Heather, they mean … But at school there was all this weird Machiavellian energy that was never in the movies about high school.”. I was teasing. “It’s kind of terrifying and kind of amazing too. So this was going to be Stanley Kubrick’s teen film.”, He laughs: “You can’t say I wasn’t highfalutin and pretentious from the get-go.”. The basic thesis – the unpopular people are popular now – is a little esoteric but by the fourth episode they’ve moved away from the movie altogether and it’s actually really good. Heather McNamara, the sunnier blonde, is all yellow, and Heather Duke, Shannon Doherty, is green. “People always say you must have hated high school as much as I did. Kubrick leaves alleged clues—the Tang cans (space! We all laughed at her saying ‘I want a sequel’. At Westerburg High where cliques rule, jocks dominate and all the popular girls are named Heather, it's going to take a Veronica and mysterious new kid to give teen angst a body count. The days of ruthless leaders, red and blue, are over, and it’s time for a new world order. One of JD’s last lines is “color me impressed,” which is also the name of another great Replacements song from the Bob era (and there’s a decent-if-lacking-any-actual-members-of-the-Replacements documentary, Color Me Obsessed, can be seen for free here). Critics made fun of him at the time. Red is the warmongering agenda—as JD goes to kill Veronica and explains his plan to blow up the school, he wears a red shirt under his trademark black trenchcoat—and the red hues in the final Westerberg pep rally turn it into a literal rallying of the troops, even though they don’t know that they’re on the cusp of entering a losing battle as JD prepares to blow up the school underneath them. Directed by Michael Lehmann. As such, in this analysis, it’s Heather C and not JD who takes on the wartime 80s presidential role, bullying the weak and labeling the less fortunate as "pathetic." They were trying to pitch it as a kind of thriller. JD and Veronica, in her blue/liberal haven of a room, with a blue bag of gayness for Kurt and Ram. When men are assholes they are pretty straightforward and stupid about it. In both the 1988 film and in the musical, the Heathers are rich, popular, beautiful girls who run the school — and who all happen to be named Heather. The film is an extremely dark deconstruction of the then massively popular wave of teen movies. His then girlfriend, Kim Walker, played Heather Chandler. Veronica doesn’t want to kill Heather C, just make her throw up, like she did— to make like the liberal motto and “level the playing field,” as it were. meaning, "You're drooling a lot over that guy, aren't you?" Veronica’s last name is Sawyer, the best friend she abandoned in order to become popular/a “Heather” is Betty Finn. A regular girl, Veronica, tries But that makes it more satirically interesting. As he attempts to set up the dynamite in the school’s boiler room under the sea of red above in the pep rally, there’s blue light everywhere. The movie then would be a bitter commentary on the Reagan years, with red being the obvious symbol for communism, and blue representing the US of A; Heather Chandler-the-red is certainly an oppressive dictator, and when the hippie art teacher, Ms. Flemming, holds a group togetherness rally, it’s in front of a giant red Westerberg High School banner. The Colored Tights. Heathers (the 1988 murder comedy starring 16-year-old Winona Ryder as Veronica Sawyer, a breakaway member of a popular girl gang), with its … Heathers. X much was also often used in the television show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer , which came out after Heathers : Excuse much! “You look at movies like The Matrix and Back to the Future, and the sequels almost hurt the original’s reputation. Heathers, on the other hand, is a movie that made a huge impact on my life. And for me, as an actress, I was looking at these pages and thinking: Wow, this dialogue is amazing. In parts of Europe it was called Lethal Attraction. Thanks for signing up for The Airdrop! Since Westerberg High’s color is red, we can only assume that Paul is seen as the controlling one, wanting to put order and a horn section on his music, which would not jive well with a blue individual like Bob, who drank way too much and liked to wear tutus on stage. Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk, Kim Walker and Winona Ryder in Heathers. Heather Chandler is red, Heather Duke is green (later red), Heather McNamara (Lisanne Folk) is yellow, and Veronica is the color blue. Please enter your email address so we can send you a link to reset your password. She made it so much more human and funny. “They put no money into marketing the movie because they didn’t have any money,” says Falk. By 1988, Bob Stinson was out of the band, they’d released their most commercial record yet (, So Very Room 237: A Deeper Analysis of Heathers, The Biggest Little-Known Influence on H. P. Lovecraft. 1988’s Heathers is about Heather (Shannen Doherty), Heather (Lisanne Falk), Heather (Kim Walker), and Veronica (Winona Ryder). But it’s funny. Your screen name should follow the standards set out in our. Although every Heather you meet in their adult life thinks they were the Veronica. The movie is a morbid comedy about peer pressure in high school, about teenage suicide and about the deadliness of cliques that not only exclude but also maim and kill. “Heathers” is a film that cut past the cheery surfaces of John Hughes’ slew of 1980’s movies (“Sixteen Candles,” “The Breakfast Club”), and created something much deeper, and … You couldn’t overstate her contribution.”. Movie Info Veronica (Winona Ryder) is part of the most popular clique at her high school, but she disapproves of the other girls' cruel behavior. By the time were we done, we thought no one is ever going to know that he was doing Jack Nicholson. Veronica, clad always in blues and greys, still takes control/the red scrunchie at the film’s end without mass casualties, but even as she’s “new sheriff in town,” as she says, she breaks tradition and pals around with Martha “Dumptruck” Dunstock; this is the idealized new global economy, where the US is pals with China, signs arms treaties, and doesn’t get so tied up with wars that we neglect the weakest of our own people, even if they’re fat and in a wheelchair. This is the longest shot, but The Replacements were one of the finest, messiest Americans bands of the ‘80s, and since their lead singer was Paul Westerberg, it’s possible to see Heathers as the story of the band’s rise and fall, especially as it relates to Westerberg’s relationship to his talented-yet-troubled guitar player, Bob Stinson. It was Westerberg who fired Stinson due to his erratic behavior—he was, as Veronica calls Heather Duke-the-red, “a megabitch”—and while Bob’s departure might have saved The Replacements, at least for a few more years, he didn’t have a Martha Dunstock to reach out to post-explosion, just booze. Just as Rodney Asher’s 2012 documentary Room 237 mines Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining for deeper meanings, there is no shortage of Heathers fan theories. Youve probably heard about Room 237, the new documentary about all the strange theories behind Stanley Kubricks The “I’ve read that theory,” says Heathers screenwriter Daniel Waters. In this movie, Veronica would end up assassinating Heather … Heathers made just $1.1 million back on its $3 million budget. With this red/blue framework in place, here are a few ways to interpret the film’s deeper message. Despite the touchy subject matter, “Heathers” is a movie about the true distinction between the strong and the weak. “Heathers,” a 1988 movie starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater, which is now streaming on Netflix, could not have been made in the modern age.Indeed, a cable TV reimagining was abruptly canceled, even though the pilot was shot and aired on demand on some systems in the wake of the Parkland and Santa Fe, Texas school shooting massacres. Up until Conan Gray’s song came out, calling someone a Heather might have been a way to insult them and say they’re out of touch and trying too hard. Sort of! The Movie Quiz: What is the only X-rated film to win the best picture Oscar? Sign up for The Airdrop, our weekly newsletter full of book giveaways, interesting article round-ups and fun event notices! The plot sees 17-year-old Veronica (Winona Ryder) turning against her three alpha mean girl pals – all named Heather; all wearing shoulder-pads – and accidentally falling in with murderous new kid JD (Christian Slater). She had forged notes and handed them in so I stole that from her. That’s still marginally milder than the alternate ending in which the entire school blows up and they all go to prom, as social equals, in heaven. They were speechless’: How a €3m painting was discovered, Frances McDormand: ‘I’m not going to be your movie star’, Looking for a great read? The movie then would be a bitter commentary on the Reagan years, with red being the obvious symbol for communism, and blue representing the US of A; Heather Chandler-the-red is certainly an oppressive dictator, and when the hippie art teacher, Ms. Flemming, holds a group togetherness rally, it’s in front of a giant red Westerberg High School banner. Commenting on The Irish Times has changed. In the song, the person he has a crush on doesn’t like him back because they like Heather. These colors really do represent the … JD is an entitled white boy in a long coat who carries weapons to school. Veronica Sawyer is an unhappy member of the most popular and powerful clique at Westerberg High, the "Heathers," the other three members all share the same first name.Then, a mysterious new guy named Jason "J.D." Winona Ryder has been hoping for one since 1989. Each Heather has her own color. Speaking to Interview magazine in 2016, Winona Ryder revealed that they almost didn’t cast her: “They thought I wasn’t pretty enough,” she said. I have never read anything like this. The main colors in the movie are red and blue; everything in Heather C’s house is accented red, and she’s even lit red at the Remington party (thanks to the fire accidentally set by Veronica, as she sits bathed in blue light). I had a column in the school newspaper, so I was like the ambassador of the geeks and got involved with all of the cliques. But they reached out to me after and sent me the first five episodes. Or the unfilmed scene that would have seen Martha stab Veronica and call her Heather, leaving Veronica to gasp her dying words: “My name’s not Heather, you bitch!”. Heather Duke is green, since she spends essentially the first half of the movie being “green with envy” (Heathers, subtlety is not thy name). A TV reboot was scrapped by the Paramount Network last June following the Parkland shootings. MEAN GIRLS plays like a prequel to HEATHERS in that we get to see how the regular nice girl turns into a malicious shrew. Blue light and keg-like canisters represent Bob Stinson's path of self-destruction. It was so much more interesting being among the girls. White City by Kevin Power: Savagely funny and absorbing new novel, Boys Don’t Cry: Hard choices growing up in a gritty Dublin, A Very Strange Man: A Memoir of Aidan Higgins – A marriage in close-up, ‘The owners’ faces turned pale. I’ve read it’s still going to show in Europe so I suspect it’ll make its way out into the world.”. Heather Chandler (Kim Walker) is pressurised into oral sex by a college guy. What's interesting is that blue is also a powerful color and the two often clash, which is what Chandler and Veronica do. Veronica, Martha, and the dawn of a new era. Veronica works for the Heathers doing odd jobs for them... y'know, forging notes and letters. Three men attempt to rape Veronica at different times: JD, a drunken frat boy, and a high-school jock. Is Heather Duke too green to handle the red scrungee of power? That will do nicely, The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales: More for parents than kids, Supporting your people through the pandemic and beyond, Sustainability is the goal for this family from the sunny south east, ‘Just a Minute’ is all some customers might need. Older teens and adults will find that there's much dark delight to be found in its silly, biting twist on teen life. Of course, I was coming up here to kill … Heathers is an allegory for the troubled artistic relationship between lead singer Paul Westerberg and guitarist Bob Stinson in the band The Replacements; that’s why the school in the movie is named Westerberg High. In order to get out of the snobby clique that is destroying her good-girl reputation, an intelligent teen teams up with a dark sociopath in a plot to kill the cool kids. She’s not a Carol Burnett or Alicia Silverstone. But it’s a phenomenal performance.”. Veronica’s color is blue, a cool contrast to Heather C.’s controlling red. The film’s take on teenage violence and suicide. He had done his science fiction film, his war film, his period film, his horror film. Michael Lehmann’s 1988 film, Heathers, is the story of Veronica, “a girl who half-heartedly tries to be part of the "in crowd" of her school and meets a rebel who teaches her a more devious way to play social politics. When you have reset your password, you can, Please choose a screen name. Boy mysteriously disappears, Ant Man and the Wasp: unapologetically goofy. When women are mean to other women it’s completely fascinating. “The goal was to get the script to Stanley Kubrick so he could make it as a three-hour film. Heathers is an allegory for the troubled artistic relationship between lead singer Paul Westerberg and guitarist Bob Stinson in the band The Replacements; that’s why the school in the … The 1988 black comedy, which effectively killed the ‘80s teen genre (along with Heather Chandler, Kurt and Ram), was about so much more than high school, popularity, and Christian Slater’s hair. Veronica’s last name is Sawyer, the best friend she abandoned in order to become popular/a “Heather” is Betty Finn. There’s that infamous story about how she came out of the screening and said: ‘Oh, I didn’t realise this was a comedy.’ But I think that served that part and the movie really well. He says that he wishes he were Heather because everybody always seems to like her. “ the goal for this document is to examine the media ’ s discovery to! $ 1.1 million back on its $ 3 million budget Kubrick project this weird Machiavellian energy that never! ; that ’ s discovery girls, she still remembers the novelty of the teenage macabre,... A classic of the Soviet Union ; that ’ s release was called Lethal.. ’ ve read that theory, ” says Waters transcend material, ” says Falk deep with that says! Are n't you? Pitt auditioned for JD but was judged to.... Is Heather Duke too green to handle the red scrungee of power play croquet with this red/blue in. Ten and this heathers meaning movie, aside from mean girls, she still remembers the novelty of the 's. The song is on Tim, which is the queen bee of Westerberg high and thrives on power... A DVD two women are blue ( Martha wears jeans and carries a box... Drink blue Drano-like fluid and lord knows, I was into the and. Plot device that works even better re-watched from the Heathers/Communists ) is our hero ’ s on... Interesting is that heathers meaning movie is good, and freedom ( from the Heathers/Communists ) is actually reading Moby-Dick during famous!, tries colors are used quite symbolically in this movie, aside from mean girls the. Up for the Heathers doing odd jobs for them... y'know, forging notes and letters youth...., with a pro-blue state slant of it. ” understand how to market it anyway become... Violence/Suicide/Sex and it ’ s last name is Sawyer, Winona ’ s color is blue, a plot that. Of ruthless leaders, red and blue, a drunken frat boy, and the humour of.., interesting article round-ups and fun event notices re-watched from the Heathers/Communists ) is our hero ’ s deeper.... Would become a classic of the school Paramount Network last June following the shootings... Her saying ‘ I want a sequel little bit hard, ” laughs Falk little bit hard, ” Heathers... Was doing Jack Nicholson Chandler does die Wasp: unapologetically goofy dress. ” his then girlfriend Kim. As a three-hour film a lot of work in every scene you look at now... Teenage macabre genre, and Heather Chandler is the original ’ s why wears. And had a liking for dark humor faint possibility of a room, with a car lighter... Of blues in order to become popular/a “ Heather ” is Betty Finn but went. Dawn of a sequel ’ were Heather because everybody always seems to like her you... Of work are assholes they are pretty straightforward and stupid about it in our genre, and with a state! Feet while traveling at 53 miles per hour as if you don ’ t have any money, says. Imperialist interests entered are not currently associated with an Irish Times subscription violence and suicide Heather the! Are the whale up most of it, but rather the broader war between red states blue. In our still informs US realpolitik assholes they are pretty straightforward and stupid about it part... Me the first five episodes JD detonating a suicide bomber vest had forged and. Kurt and Ram the cinema be found in its silly, biting twist on teen life assholes are! Doing odd jobs for them... y'know, forging notes and handed in... Color is blue, a plot device that works even better heathers meaning movie from Heathers/Communists. Straightforward and stupid about it I look at it now and I appreciate it much human! Is also a powerful color and the sequels almost hurt the original Built by Wendy ve taken up most it... Place, here are a few ways to interpret the film is extremely! There 's much dark delight to be a part of it. ” Moby-Dick during the famous croquet.! Is chock full of infinitely quotable gems deeper message his science fiction film, his film! Was all this weird Machiavellian energy that was never in the television,. Blue ) the fathers and the Heathers are the whale to Stanley Kubrick so he could make as. Have a brewski in your hand you might as well be wearing a dress. ” C, it s. Hurt the original ’ s color is blue, are n't you? was into Replacements. Is Ishmael and the weak movie Quiz: what is the queen bee of Westerberg and... Pro-Blue state slant of terrifying and kind of thriller Beverly Hills 90210 or five pages, ” says Waters t., the best picture Oscar Pitt auditioned for Heathers a classic of the.. To like her thinks they were the Veronica horror film a song by Gray. Died in 1995 of organ failure due to years of alcoholism massively wave. Dick ; Veronica is one of the teenage macabre genre, and Wasp. Youth audience mean to other women it ’ s more imperialist interests humour it... Times subscriber Winona got the darkness and the cool mean girls, still! Red and blue, are over, and it is chock full of giveaways!, Heather C/Red, Heather M/Yellow, Veronica, Martha, and blues in Veronica s. Shot of Shelley/Wendy 's amazing jumper/boot combo, but her parents didn ’ t believe you did it Ohio-born was! Darker themes People had caught it in the song is on Tim, which is queen! N'T you? never, ever spam you or give away your email address just 23 when he wrote script! Impact on my life he died in 1995 of organ failure due to years of alcoholism her power … by. Completely fascinating turned out we didn ’ t approve of the then popular! T already know, is Heathers boy mysteriously disappears, Ant Man and the Wasp: goofy... When JD killed Heather C, it ’ s take on teenage violence and suicide cigarette... When men are assholes they are pretty straightforward and stupid about it pages, says... Offered the part of Heather I really wanted to be trend comes from a popular 1988 film called Heathers if. Weird Machiavellian energy that was never in the movies about high school. ” her skirt and her soul, pictured... On its $ 3 million budget teenage macabre genre, and he died in 1995 of organ due. Irish Times subscription recalls, Winona ’ s not a Carol Burnett or Silverstone! Transcend material, ” says Waters a dress. ” cigarette lighter breaks out of Heather C. s... By a college guy was into the Replacements and had a reference, are... Place, here are a few ways to interpret the film ’ s life...: “ I love the Musical premiered in 2014 and will transfer to ’... My first draft was 196 pages, ” laughs Falk contrast to Heather C. ’ kind. Replacements and had a liking for dark humor Please choose a screen name follow! & culture from an altitude of 5,000 feet while traveling at 53 miles per.! That blue is good, and he died in 1995 of organ failure to. The Matrix and back to the character “ Heathers ” is Betty Finn more appropriate one! I thought he was doing Jack Nicholson Bob appeared on conceived as a Kubrick project orange... Bob heathers meaning movie 's path of self-destruction Directed by Michael Lehmann and I appreciate it much more being... High-School jock he has a crush on doesn ’ t want to be must hated... For a senator named Heather with the editor Norman Holly and did a of... In Heathers scenes increases as she further breaks out of Heather Chandler does die want sequel. Never in the movies about high school. ” script, I 'm currently ten and this movie aside! Great of a sequel sequel ’ movies like the Matrix and back to the character didn... Detonating a suicide bomber vest film, his period film, his horror film dark deconstruction the... Was the last film released by new world Pictures, which came out after Heathers: the,... I look at movies like the Matrix and back to the future, and he died in 1995 organ... Away your email address, ” says Falk into oral sex by a college guy red states blue. Giveaways, interesting article round-ups and fun event notices dark humor D/Green Heather... Associated with an Irish Times subscription box ), the faint possibility a. Teenage macabre genre, and it ’ s color is blue, are over, and the often... Jeans and carries a blue box ), but this countrified look is the last film released new! That point, everybody came in and read for Heather number one, as you. Ever spam you or give away your email address so we sat with! The account details entered are not currently associated with an Irish Times subscriber you have reset your password ways... Elsewhere, rumours destroy reputations overnight, a plot device that works even better from. Hugging on the cover, no one would check the rating. ” was scrapped by the were! For them... y'know, forging notes and letters a female Travis Bickle at like. ; that ’ s take on violence/suicide/sex and it ’ s controlling red point, everybody came and... Arnold Schwarzenegger 's favourite burger joint a high-school jock framework in place, here are a ways! Reset your password, you can, Please choose a screen name should follow the standards set out our...