Common Sense Note
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 Review
Reviewed By: Maria Llull
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.
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Sexual ContentLots of teenage sex (outdoors and at a college party) and crude mentions of sex: "spin her around on my Johnson like a goddamn pinwheel." Veronica is the victim of a rumor that she had oral sex with two jocks in one night. Jocks make a nerdy student say "I like to suck big dicks" outside a church. Two jocks strip down to their boxers. Veronica is forced to kiss J.D. and a college student against her will. |
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ViolenceOne poisoning where the victim falls through a glass table. Plenty of gunplay by J.D. and Veronica: at school with blanks, in the woods resulting in two deaths. J.D. and Veronica fight each other with guns, shooting off a finger; lots of blood. Dynamite is planted under bleachers of school kids at a pep rally, then strapped to and detonated by J.D. Teen suicide is a huge focus and faked suicides lead to real attempts by two students. J.D. admits that his mother probably committed suicide. His father blows up buildings. Veronica burns herself with a lighter on purpose. A Barbie is hung in Veronica's room as a threat and Veronica pretends to hang herself. |
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LanguageThe F word is used frequently in over-the-top expressions like "f--k me gently with a chainsaw," "f--king psychotic," "stupid f--k," "they all want me as a friend or a f--k." |
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Social BehaviorExtreme bad behavior is intrinsic to this dark comedy. J.D. thrives on chaos and death and drags Veronica down with him. When she starts to resist him he stalks her and threatens her. High school pecking-order stereotypes are rampant. Parents and school administrators shown as bumbling and ineffective in dealing with the "suicide epidemic." Suicide notes are forged, then circulated and revered by students and faculty. One Heather uses holy water to fix her hair at a funeral. The fake suicide pact of two male athletes is staged as a gay tryst with "gay artifacts" like mineral water and played for laughs. Cow-tipping. Kids pander to TV crews in a display of public mourning and one asks for a copy of the tape for his Princeton application. A college boy and J.D. act sexually aggressive toward Veronica. One Heather throws up lunch every day. J.D.'s dad blows up buildings and gloats about it. Girl gets laughed at for attempting suicide for real and living. Veronica does learn a lesson in the end about popularity and befriends the most laughed-at girl in school. |
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CommercialismSwatch, Coke, Limited, MTV, Barbie |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoVeronica, J.D., Veronica's dad, and a teacher smoke. A teen smokes pot under the bleachers. High schoolers are drunk at a college party and Veronica throws up. |
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