Heathers

I have a soft spot for teen comedies. I should rephrase this: I have a soft spot for good teen comedies. But how can I tell whether a teen comedy is good or not? I think the secret lies in whether or not it talks down to its target audience: me (and teenagers).

When this movie was released, it came out of left field. Winona Ryder had only just been in BeetleJuice and Christian Slater was pretty much an unknown. Actors and studios were avoiding this movie like the plague while it was being made because of its contraversial subject matter. No one thought it would be as successful as it was considering it is one of the darkest of the dark teen comedies.

Heathers looks at everything that plagues teenagers- suicide, alienation, parents, friends, school, sexuality- and blows it up (no pun intended) in your face. No subject goes unchecked. While this might seem like the most depressing movie ever, Heathers handles these subjects with sensitivity but also with biting wit and awesome slang and dialogue.

At no point does Heathers talk down to teenagers; it doesnt belittle teen problems. Instead, it says, "What the hell are you thinking? This is what is important to you?" It also doesn't act as if teens cannot make fun of their own problems and recognize the satire. Heathers doesn't dumb down its dialogue or ignore character development.

I believe that this is where the success lies in making a good movie whose target audience is teenagers: acknowledging that kids are not total boneheads and are capable of recognizing our pitfalls, even if only for ninety minutes. Some of my other favorite movies intended for a teen audience are movies that my older sister and brother, as well as mother and father, love, too. If you make a smart movie that happens to be about teenagers, at the end of the day, it will still be a smart movie. Heathers is a smart movie. I think the fact that it has not been forgotten speaks to its intelligence.

Parent Watchability: This movie is probably more enjoyable with friends. Avoid viewing with tots because of its dark subject matter and there might be some shady moments which could make you uncomfortable when watching with parents.

Categories of Note:
Dialogue

You Might Also Like: Pretty Persuasion, Mean Girls, Easy A, American Psycho, Clueless, Rushmore, Beetlejuice, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Election, The Rules of Attraction