Writes Naomi Fry, in "'Heathers' Blew Up the High-School Comedy/The 1989 cult classic ushered in a darker, weirder, more experimental era for teen movies" (NYT).
September 5, 2023
"The thirty years since the release of 'Heathers' have solidified its legacy... Though J.D. emerges at first as a sensitive alternative to the football-playing lunkheads of Westerberg High..."
"... it becomes increasingly clear in the course of the movie that he is a product of what we now call 'toxic masculinity'.... J.D. is the kind of man who turns to violence because he feels that first, his mom, and later, his girlfriend, didn’t love him enough. With his trenchcoat and firearms, he can now be seen as a harbinger of the Columbine era, in which we unfortunately still very much reside.... The movie was ahead of its time in another respect.... [In 1988] 'Heathers' drew a prescient link between the self-satisfied, domineering Ayn Rand-ian cruelty of the Reagan era and the other side of the coin—sociopathic violence.... J.D., despite his seemingly subversive ethics, ends up espousing a vicious credo...."
Writes Naomi Fry, in "'Heathers' Blew Up the High-School Comedy/The 1989 cult classic ushered in a darker, weirder, more experimental era for teen movies" (NYT).
Writes Naomi Fry, in "'Heathers' Blew Up the High-School Comedy/The 1989 cult classic ushered in a darker, weirder, more experimental era for teen movies" (NYT).
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Nope. This film is a minor cultural footnote at best. The Texas Tower shooting massacre happened in 1966. The expression "Going Postal" arose in the 1980s following a series of postal workers shooting up their workplaces. Etc. Etc. Go back thousands of years, and young men have become violent, joined armies, become criminals, etc.
Young male violence has nothing whatsoever to do with a cult film, Ronald Reagan, Ayn Rand, or other events that shaped one particular person's sense of reality. However, living in a bubble clearly results in lame analyses.
If only we could go back to “the cruelty of the Reagan era”! Rather good times.
That darned Reagan, huh? Ruined everything.
wasn't The Real Problem.. That it wasn't very funny?
"...the self-satisfied, domineering Ayn Rand-ian cruelty of the Reagan era..."
She got that wrong on multiple levels. And as for 'self-satisfied'...? The smug faces seemingly tattooed on every snarky leftist with a degree from Brussels to Portland seems to be the standard for that word. No need to look up the word. Just look at their faces.
That said, though there were other high school movies that had awful things happen to awful people, "Heathers" did seem to take that next step. I don't disagree with her on this. And...I thoroughly enjoyed that movie back when I was full of Ayn Rand cruelty. Today my Ayn Rand doses have leveled off. I'm merely revolutionary now.
I’ve never heard of Heathers- I was in HS from 82-85.
Guess I had a life back then!
I suppose “toxic masculinity” is the trigger word(s), here. I don’t much believe it’s the toughest, most masculine men that are the problem in the 1st place. It’s a transference of emotion that causes grief. The inability to process. When did the phrase: “use your words” become the command of the day? What good are words when the process is absent?
That is such fucked up revisionist history. Heathers is the kind of humorous satire movie critics had up to now appreciated and celebrated. I bet those Columbine kids never saw this one…
I remember renting Heathers and watching it on the floor with the kids my girlfriend was nannying. One of those kids grew up to be a modestly famous Hollywood writer. He has opening credits and an on screen in The Office. I like to think he was inspired by my keen selection…
A number of high school comedies of the 80’s were based on an assault on toxic masculinity. If you stretch the genera to include movies around high school aged kids “Karate Kid” and “Back to the Future” certainly fit the bill.
College comedies did the same thing starting with “Animal House”.
It's interesting that Naomi Fry doesn't even mention Martha Dumptruck, whom she resembles. BIG FUN.
Every Republican President is ALWSYS a Hitlerian Monster...... To the Communists who wish us to join the Chinese people in slavery to the State. Alas, our Hostess still plays for the pro-commie team. Which is a sad and intellectually incoherent reality.
Heathers was obviously aimed at John Hughes movies, which were also a manifestation of “Reaganism”. New Yorker now publishing college term papers.
Meh… I was in high school and college in the 80’s and this wasn’t a blip on any radar of any of my peers. A lot of the standard fare brat pack stuff was. I can’t even remember all the stuff that we went to with all that coming of age crap that was produced. “Hrathers” wasn’t one of them…
As for future cult type hits, I’d put “Less Than Zero” (not comedy, tho) and “Fandango” as true teen cultish type movies, although impacts on any future movie making was probably limited, except in the case of Fandango, it got plenty of recognition for Judd Nelson and Kevin Costner to go on to successful careers. I’ll add that my little group of high school buddies have visited many of the actual locations in “Fandango” from the Flight School in Pecos, TX, to the Dom Rock overlooking Santa Elena Canyon off the Rio Grande river road.
"With his trenchcoat and firearms, he can now be seen as a harbinger of the Columbine era, in which we unfortunately still very much reside.... The movie was ahead of its time in another respect.... [In 1988] 'Heathers' drew a prescient link between the self-satisfied, domineering Ayn Rand-ian cruelty of the Reagan era and the other side of the coin—sociopathic violence.... J.D., despite his seemingly subversive ethics, ends up espousing a vicious credo...."
Forget it, she's rolling.
Was it worth building it up, just to tear it down? Easier than looking for more worthy material, I guess. The clip seems like a fair representation of a pretty vapid movie. She could have picked any Popeye cartoon.
I saw it and enjoyed it at the time. I didn't think it was a blazing work of genius, but it was a clever turn on the then-plentiful teen comedies/dramas. I'd really like to watch it again today, to see what a second view (and my aging) allows me to see in the film that remains consistent with my first impression of it, (if at all), and that which may be a significantly different experience (if at all).
Good books reveal more to the attentive reader with each rereading, sometimes providing meaning that may even be contrary to one's earlier understanding. I read Dostoyevsky's NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND three times, first in high school, again after college, and a third time roughly 20 years after my previous reading. I had completely different reactions to the story with each reading, as if it were actually a different story each time. My second reading of Kafka's THE TRIAL also seemed like a somewhat (if not entirely) different story than I had read originally years before.
I wonder if HEATHERS will stand up to that standard...or sink like a stone.
I thought Heathers was full of toxic femininity. Or maybe that can't be allowed to exist. What-ev.
It was a funny movie, obviously in a very dark way, but it's about her using him to kill off her rivals, and then things get out of control. It's all about the violence that women are capable of, and that's partly why it was so transgressive. Fry's misinterpretation strips Winona Ryder's character of all agency, and we all know that Winona is a badass.
Haha- I posted a tag line from the movie and it didn’t post. Was it edited?
We’ve fallen so far…
Robert Cook said...
I saw it and enjoyed it at the time. I didn't think it was a blazing work of genius, but it was a clever turn on the then-plentiful teen comedies/dramas. I'd really like to watch it again today, to see what a second view (and my aging) allows me to see in the film that remains consistent with my first impression of it, (if at all), and that which may be a significantly different experience (if at all). …
I recently tried to rewatch it Cookie- you were correct then. I’d add stale and dated to your review…
I can't find any bio data for Naomi Fry, but from the one picture of her I can find; I'm guessing she's not really old enough to remember the Reagan administration.
Forget it, she's rolling.
This is only an exhibition, not a competition but if it were…
he can now be seen as a harbinger of the Columbine era
In grade school we had to read about George shooting Lennie. I blame Steinbeck…
A movie released in 1989 might have been influenced by the Reagan administration, but it falls under the GHWBush era historically. This is a movie that screams "Wouldn't be prudent!" rather than "Tear down that wall!"
How about keeping history, at least dates and corresponding events, historical?
What a bizarre piece. JD is not a roll model. Some people really don't know how to watch a movie.
Some people are attracted to "dark and gritty" and "black, deeply satirical" movies and TV. I suppose if that's your taste -go for it. Myself, I'm not a fan. I've always noticed the satire always goes one way. And having "dark and gritty" all the time gets even more tedious than "light and positive".
The same is true of "Sad endings". In early the 70s, having a few sad endings when almost every film/TV show before that had happy ones, was a breath of fresh air. But when Hollywood started giving us one sad ending after another, it got boring as fuck. ONe reason Star wars was so popular was it was upbeat and NOT dark and gritty.
I can't remember watching Heathers all the way through. I think I liked the first half, then got bored and turned it off. I much prefer the John Hughes movies. Or Back to future.
I read the article. She does go on. If I were as fanciful in my conclusions as her, I would say that the Christian Slater character is more of a Marxist than Ann Randian rebel. Like the the early Bolsheviks, he starts out killing just the right people. Everyone can agree that high school jocks, like aristocratic white Russians, are fascists and deserve death. Perhaps some of the mean girls, like the kulaks, are also worthy of early death. But then the Slater character turns his fire toward Winona. That's like Stalin turning on the early Bolsheviks. Such sainted characters did not deserve The Purge or show trials......Well, anyway, it's a sure bet that none of the Hollywood writers were ever on the football team. Everybody's high school experience is atypical but Hollywood writers had a more atypical high school experience than is typical.
Re high school jocks: On a per capita basis, there are more assholes on the football team than, say, in the chess club. In my own experience, though, I knew a few high school jocks who were decent enough fellows. High school jocks are routinely stereotyped in teen movies as unfeeling brutes. In Hollywood, it's acceptable, encouraged even, to stereotype some types but utterly wrong to stereotype other types. I guess some stereotypes are archetypes and deserving of critical acclaim while other stereotypes are sexist, classist, or racist.
"...the self-satisfied, domineering Ayn Rand-ian cruelty of the Reagan era..."
What's her damage?
Now we are in the " self-satisfied, domineering Ayn Rand presciently described cruelty of the Clinton-Obama-Bide era."
Except we are not supposed to feel it, because its victims are subhuman, right? Trumpers? BTW, when is Biden going to renounce those Ukrainian nazis in Florida who are loudly proclaiming their support for him, and praising his arming of their brothers in Ukraine with artillery?
I forgot, some neonazi claims to be a Trump supporter, and all Trump supporters are nazis, some neonazi supports Biden, and Biden, BTW, supports neonazis, and it's just something to be ignored. It's funny how all of those Reagan-era war-mongering neocons left alive, like Dick Cheney, are voting for Joe Biden and voted for Hillary Clinton before that.
So, Tom T? Kinda like that girl who “encouraged” that boy to commit suicide w/exhaust from his truck?
Toxic, for real.
Never saw "Heathers" and the teaser doesn't tempt. (Did any of the actors go on to success?)
The creature Fry is playing the Reagan and Rand bogey cards because that's what she has been taught, probably in a good prep school way out in the country. She's not old enough to have any memories or personal knowledge of the '80s, but knows the signifiers of her class.
I remember the 1980s. It was morning in America. The Soviet Union fell and so did the Berlin Wall. We beat inflation and in this country the people responsible for economic policy were going to be too smart to ever let inflation ruin our economy again. We had put Vietnam behind us and we weren’t going to get involved in stupid wars for stupid reasons anymore. As I began my career I had female managers and black managers and female colleagues and black colleagues, and it it seemed as though we were going to put race consciousness and gender consciousness totally behind us.
Good times.
"the self-satisfied, domineering Ayn Rand-ian cruelty of the Reagan era and the other side of the coin—sociopathic violence"
I know it's prog talking to progs and everything, but this still seems a bit over the top even by the usual standards of prog absurdity.
By the way, in which American communities and what political jurisdictions do we find the most "sociopathic violence"?
So, when I Googled this question, "How old is Naomi Fry?", I got this quote from Fry herself as one of the top returns:
"I was born and grew up in Haifa, Israel, in the 80s and 90s. When I was about four we also started to spend time occasionally in Seattle, where ....."
Yeah, that is someone who has a deep understanding of the Reagan era alright.
I have always loved the movie, Heathers. One of the very best black comedies made during my early adulthood- right up there, in my opinion, with its contemporary competition, Throw Momman From the Train and War of the Roses.
It really is more about toxic femininity than it is about toxic masculinity, so Fry's take on it is very odd to my ear.
I remember liking the movie when it came out, but mostly because it reminded me of my high school. Like the movie, my school was in Ohio. We also had a clique of girls with the same first names, but it was Amy.
Never seen Heathers. Looking at the cast on IMDB I recognize two whole names. And- it's a huge cultural influence? Or something? Uh huh.
Coop refers to that "coming of age crap" that apparently Heathers was. I've seen a few of those coming of age crap movies- and not one of them even remotely resembles any part of my life.
The intelligentsia is the only group concerned about Heathers legacy and the lessons it teaches. Much as they foist Catcher in the Rye A Long Day's Journey Into Night, Portnoy's Complaint, and other such drivel onto hapless students who are forced to discuss all the lessons these cultural icons contain.
Much to the distress of my HS librarian I picked out books by Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke, and their ilk to read, with great pleasure, instead of their recommended authors. Even in the SF field. Their list included A Wrinkle in Time which, IIRC, was the ONLY SF on their recommended list, which is, IMHO, utter crap. The average person doesn't read "literature" for fun, literature as defined by the intelligentsia, nor do they see lessons learned in movies beloved by that same group- movies are watched for entertainment, not lessons.
Back when avid readers weren't buried in their Kindles, it was easy to see what they were reading. Stephen King, Dean Koontz, bodice rippers, westerns, etc. No classics. Well, one classic author I know remains popular. Among females, many of my acquaintance. Jane Austen. What have I read of hers? Not a thing.
Went to the book store with my wife the other day and for the first time in years, actually bought some books for myself. Weird World War III, a collection of short stories, a collection of Pournelle stories, probably every one of which I've already read, but he's always worth rereading, and from their bargain section, a book describing various cults. Some of which I knew about, some new ones. I'm fascinated by cults, always have been. I'm having some problems reading the Pournelle collection. With my glasses on, or off, the letters are just exactly the right size that I cannot focus on them- and the pages stubbornly refuse to adjust font size...
"I wonder if HEATHERS will stand up to that standard...or sink like a stone."
I'm betting on sink. With the exception of Blade Runner, I can't think of a single '80's movie that I like as well now as I did at the time. Don't know if that's the refinement of age or simply the ephemeral nature of 98% of movies and television.
Even stuff that I thought would have aged well, like some of the PBS dramas of the time, seem trite and goofy now.
[In 1988] 'Heathers' drew a prescient link between the self-satisfied, domineering Ayn Rand-ian cruelty of the Reagan era and the other side of the coin—sociopathic violence....
Watch a Swed bring his camera phone to a knife fight.
(Viewers discretion is advised)
The thing about Heathers is that it was made by Hollywood liberals before the Democratic party boarded the crazy train.
The Heathers and the football players represent the rich and privileged, far right conservatives.
J.D. represents the extreme far left anarchist that wants to destroy the system. (like our modern Antifa fascists.)
Veronica represents the moderate voice that rejects both the far right and the far left. She is, at first, attracted to the far right and then the far left until J.D. goes way too far and she must destroy him.
Heathers was a cautionary tale about avoiding extremes on both the left and the right.
What a silly article.
I saw "Heathers" in HS, and if it had anything to do with Reagan or Ayn Rand I missed it. It did nail the whole misogynist school shooter personality, because it's a misogynist, nihilistic movie. I guess it's a dark comedy, which is fine, but the plot is about murdering teenagers because they act like teenagers. Maybe the point is that nihilism eventually leads to losing all moral perspective (ie if one murder is OK, then so is blowing up the whole school.) I'm not sure that's a point the movie makes very well.
The original Heather is murdered after she has a humiliating scene at a college party. What's that scene for? To make her sympathetic, or the opposite? It sure seems like the point is to take the most popular and good-looking girl and humiliate her before killing her. Uhhhhhhhhhhhh... did the director have issues?
The best line in the movie, which I still quote, is from an adult, one of the character's parents. Paraphrased from memory: "Listen, little miss voice of a generation, when teenagers complain about not being treated like adults, it's because they are."
This review is nonsense.
Christian Slater: a discount Jack Nicholson?
wasn't Heathers so a rehash of the old standard..
Good Girl meets Bad Boy; Good Girl falls for Bad Boy; Bad Boy turns Good Girl into psychopathic murder?
I mean, if there was EVER a hollywood cliche; that would HAVE TO be it
“I’ve got a meaningfully marked up Moby Dick.”
This Millennial Writer is a fucking moron.
The movie skewers everyone. Especially the Mental Health Experts.
'toxic masculinity'
a harbinger of the Columbine era
domineering Ayn Rand-ian cruelty of the Reagan era
despite his seemingly subversive ethics, ends up espousing a vicious credo
BINGO!
Only in the NYT can people actually earn money writing this krep.
I was pretty sure J.D. was an Antifa precursor. If he'd grown up he would have become a tranny.
I remember enjoying this film in the '90s when Winona Ryder was practically the voice and embodiment of a generation. Rewatching it a quarter century later, I was just horrified at how rapey the whole thing was! Did I just not notice that back then? Was that sort of behavior really so expected and normalized?! I found it all a bit messed up. Whatever message I got from it in the '90s was completely different from what I got two decades into the new millennium. In hindsight it was perhaps ahead of its time when released, but aged poorly since the 2000s.
I think Carrie hit a pretty dark note well before Heathers. But, if you got an axe to grind against Reagan any whetstone will do.
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