Movie Review: Heathers
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What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that teens will probably want to see
this pitch-black comedy, but it's better for those just exiting
high school and up. This film goes to extremes portraying the
cruelness of the popular crowd and the rebellion against it.
The popular kids are murdered by poisoning and shooting and
their suicide notes are forged. There are two more "real"
attempted suicides, some self-mutilation, and bulimia. There's
lots of gunplay by the main characters and one bloody scene.
J.D. attempts to blow up the school and all its students with
dynamite. Teens have sex (outdoors and at a college party) and
speak crudely about it. Two boys are sexually aggressive. And
there's plenty of harsh and homophobic language.
Families can talk about popularity, suicide, depression, and any number of hot-button teen subjects. High school is a high-anxiety microcosm of what awaits teenagers post-graduation. How do you deal with pressure successfully? How do you learn to make positive decisions?
Common Sense Media Review
The odd and often uncomfortable world of teen peer pressure
is no stranger to any of us. HEATHERS is a dark comedy that
zooms into this pressure cooker, dishes up some grotesque
stereotypes, and tosses them into a cleverly campy scenario
that threatens the lives of the entire student body of Westburg
High.
Three girls, all named Heather ( Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk, and Kim Walker), run things from the top of the social food chain. Veronica Sawyer ( Winona Ryder), while not a Heather in name, is nevertheless a member of this primping gaggle of popularity queens. She feels overwhelmed by their flighty power games and secretly despises the Heathers' mean-spiritedness, angrily scribbling invectives against them in her diary while openly participating in their cruelty.
Enter J.D.( Christian Slater), a dark, witty rebel with a cool snarl who quickly captures Veronica's heart. J.D. supports her burgeoning hatred of the Heathers and joins her in a vindictive practical joke on the top Heather. But the joke is for keeps when Heather drinks J.D.'s "hangover cure" made of deadly cleaning fluid. A shocked Veronica decides to help J.D. cover up the murder by giving it the appearance of a suicide.
A series of copycat suicides quickly envelops Westburg High. The phenomenon takes on a bizarre life of its own as the student body, faculty, and parents all react to the macabre events in their own clueless and dysfunctional way. One teacher even admonishes, "suicide is one of the most important decisions a teenager will ever make."
Meanwhile, Veronica must admit to herself that J.D. is even more of a monster than the Heathers. Can she foil his plot to administer a student body-wide suicide pact?
Fans of this movie will also enjoy Election , the Christian Slater vehicle Pump Up the Volume, and Reality Bites .
Common Sense Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information to help parents make media and entertainment choices for their families.
