The 1988 movie starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater challenges the moral dilemmas of teens.
As moderate temperatures begin to melt away the snow that has been burdening Athens’s campus off and on for the past couple of months, promise of good weather is making students more restless than ever. I cannot prove anything, but I think the sudden spike in activity on Court Street this past weekend largely was because of the nice weather.
However, it is a shame that midterms week is upon us. It is an even bigger shame that spring break is, tauntingly, just around the corner — so close yet so far. The atmosphere at Ohio University feels unnaturally restless. Or, at least, I know I wish I didn’t have to stay inside.
That being said, though you may not be able to find the time to make both a casual journey up to Bong Hill and study for that COMS exam tomorrow night, Netflix is always there to make you feel arguably just as good.
Heathers is a 1988 movie starring a young Winona Ryder and Christian Slater as two cynical high school youths who are caught between two spectrums of cliques. Veronica (Ryder) is friends with the most popular girls in school while J.D. (Slater) is the edgy outcast. Veronica, unaccustomed to her newfound fame at school, doesn’t know whether to disregard the lowly habits of teenagers like J.D. or to embrace them as she wants to.
On its surface, the synopsis of the movie makes it seem like a typical teenage romantic comedy, but it is actually a very interesting dark comedy with subtle elements of being a psychological thriller. The movie takes several sharp turns throughout and poses interesting themes about life and death, always keeping the audience on its feet.
Heathers explores teenagers in a way most films typically do not. Of course the characters are typical late '80s stereotypes: two dimensional depictions of jocks, nerds, preps and rebels. Some of the characters border on shallow, but I think a large part of that has to do with the fact that the main character, Veronica, is a very hipster-esque, alternative spirit. It appears the movie certainly tries to appeal to a specific group of people, but it also in no way attempts to exclude others.
Though Veronica and J.D. do seem to be the only somewhat sympathetic characters in the movie, they are far from perfect. In fact, the dilemma that drives the plot of the movie and keeps harping on Veronica’s consciousness (which won’t be discussed because it's a spoiler) only continues to bother her because it is solely her fault, yet she does nothing to reconcile with her guilt.
The movie somehow manages to be both funny and serious, cynical and slaphappy, timeless and in-the-moment all at the same time. I have seen Heathers at least three times, and I would be happy to watch it three more times.
If you like Heathers as much as I do and are looking for something similar but different, a musical adaptation of Heathers came out a couple of years ago. The full performance can be accessed for free on YouTube.
Movie or musical, Heathers is worth the watch in any format.
Kaitlyn McGarvey is a freshman studying journalism. Have you seen Heathers? Email her at km451814@ohio.edu or tweet @McGarveyKaitlyn.
