Tell Me Why: Heathers

I’ve been brushing up on my 80’s movie knowledge by renting a lot of the classics on Netflix. So far, I’m in love. The 80’s are my decade and I’m proud to have been born during that time. There was one cult classic that I wasn’t too impressed with: Heathers. In fact, it kind of left me feeling a bit uneasy. Here’s why:

Heathers is a 1988 cult classic starring Winona Ryder, Christian Slater and Shannon Doherty. It’s about a girl (Ryder) who half-heartedly tries to be a part of the “in crowd” until she meets a boy (Slater) who teaches her a more devious way to play social politics. At first I was under the impression that it was going to be a sort of Mean Girls-esque dramedy, and parts of it did remind me of the 2004 teen classic, but as the storyline progessed it just got to the point where it was absoutely ridiculous…and terrifying.

I’m not sure if any of you guys have seen Heathers but if you haven’t, I’ll try to explain this the best I can without giving too much away. There’s a lot of death to deal with – people killing other people and blaming it on teen suicide. If this movie came out in this day and age, I don’t think it would have made it to opening day. While it is known for being a dark subversive “comedy,” I don’t see anything funny about it at all. Teen suicide, mostly due to bullying, is such a hot topic right now that I don’t doubt releasing the movie in the present would be controversial, but it also gives people ideas. They see others killing those who bother them, and they just might mimic their actions. Blowing up a school is disturbing, and after the events that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary this past December, I don’t think Heathers would go very far today. It is offensive and sadistic. Unfortunately, it might have been ahead of it’s time.

So as the lovely Sara Scoggins would say, tell me why! Tell me why I should appreciate Heathers! I can’t see any reason why this movie should be glorified as an 80’s classic but I tried really hard to like it. I really did. I sat through the whole painful 103 minutes of it waiting for some sort of redemption but I just couldn’t relate.

Tell me why, Buzznet! Let’s discuss!

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