It's also the meanest mean girl movie ever. It was about frenemies before frenemies was a thing.
If you haven't seen it before, stop reading now and go watch it on Netflix. (I almost said "rent it," but the last time I rented that movie, it was on VHS).
The Heathers are a trio of the bitchiest bitches to ever walk the halls of high school. Heather Chandler (Kim Walker) is the lead Heather, and her new "friend," Veronica (Winona Ryder in her best role this side of "Girl, Interrupted") decides to take her down. Veronica just wants to take her down a few notches, but her new boyfriend, J.D. (Christian Slater), has different ideas. More homicidal ideas that have to do with orange juice and drain cleaner. But, as we learn, you chop off the head of one Heather, another Heather's head grows up into that place.
"Heathers" was a favorite of mine back in high school. I was a junior when it came out (1988) and had seen the nasty side of high school and junior high long enough to know that although the characters were caricatures, there was enough realness to them to make the story resonate. Who didn't daydream of getting perfect revenge on the kids who treated us like crap?
"HA! Take that, Michelle! Choke on this, Jennifer!" (I'm not calling out anyone in particular from my past; these were just really popular names in the 80s.)
"Heathers" is an extreme example of girl-on-girl hate. But it does demonstrate the fine line between being close with your friends and keeping your enemies closer.
It also shows that you should never date Christian Slater, unless he's in "Pump Up the Volume."
But "Heathers" isn't the only mean girl movie from the 80s. "Pretty in Pink" has some bitchy gym class girls who are mean to Andie and her friend. In "Say Anything ..." Diane (Ione Skye) kept so much to herself in high school that the other kids thought she was a snob. She doesn't develop any female friends throughout the movie; it's all about her and Lloyd (John Cusack).
"The Breakfast Club" is the antithesis to this. Claire (Molly Ringwald) and Allison (Ally Sheedy) start out wanting anything to do with each other then end up connecting by the end of the movie. It might be on an acquaintance level, but it still gives us some hope. There are also some good girl friendships in "A Nightmare on Elm Street," but then most of them get killed in gruesome ways, including by rolling around the ceiling of a room and leaving a trail of blood.
Of course, in a lot of 80s movies, girls are mostly eye-candy and playthings for the boys ("Porky's," "Private Resort," "Hot Dog: The Movie" and other fine classics). Honestly, if it wasn't for John Hughes and Molly Ringwald, 80s movies would have been nearly all guy-driven.
If you check out this IMDb list of 80s teen movies, there are very few of them with female leads. "Risky Business," "The Outsiders," "Heaven Help Us," "Revenge of the Nerds," anything with the Coreys, "Better Off Dead," "Soul Man," "Dead Poets Society" (a personal favorite), "Teen Wolf," etc.
I hope the trend is changing. We have more movies now with strong female leads (it's even a category on Netflix). There are more movies and TV shows with female friends with strong bonds. In the 80s, there was an omnipresent theme of "must get the girl." It's even in "The Goonies," and that movie is all about a pirate adventure.
It's no wonder girls get their claws out with each other. We've been taught via the entertainment world that a boy or a man is the prize. Even if we didn't know there was a prize to be had. Of course it's the boy and not a successful project or great job. Yes, you can argue that the real prize is love. That's a nice thought, but that's where the story usually ends. When, really, the story is much bigger.
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