One thing you've gotta understand about Heathers, mostly the movie, is that it was never supposed to be realistic or plausible. It's NOT a teen rom-com, it's a parody of teen movies. It's exaggerated, strange and surreal on purpose. The Heathers are an exaggerated version of the popular girl archetype, and JD is an exaggerated version of the bad boy archetype.
I think that Veronica starting out as a Heather makes for a stronger characterization (in the movie’s context), she’s not exactly meant to be a good person so it makes sense that the approach is showing her at her worst so when she does make right choices further in the narrative it comes off as character growth
Contrariwise I like how the musical leads off with Veronica stating "I believe I'm a good person" and eatablishing her as the brainy girl sick of high school politics, to win audience sympathy, and then immediately shows how she's NOT a good person and NOT above it all.
@@bitwize This became a long ass ramble sorry lmao I rlly love both tbh, Veronica manages to be way more relatable and light hearted in the musical which builds up to the murders, her choices and character shifts in a very interesting and different way than in the movie. I reasonate more with her movie version because this super cynical, edgy and kind of stuck up her own ass personality seems (to me) to be more fit for the kind of story Heathers is, but in the musical adaptation making her more of a awkward girl who thinks she’s in some sort of moral high ground also works very well I think my only issue with the musical approach is that though Veronica isn’t as much of a good person as she thinks she is it ends up falling a bit flat because her “niceness” and excuses shield her from blame a bit too well, which isn’t really a problem but I feel like they could have shown her hypocrisy and lack of empathy more blatantly instead of just telling us (stuff like having her say she doesn’t really feel bad for killing Chandler instead of just having her not care). In a way I think the writers went out of their way to make Veronica more excusable in her actions but maybe that’s more about how I interpreted it lmao
i prefer the movie for reasons a lot of people prefer the musical, which is that i like how everyone in the movie is more messed up and youre not supposed to really feel bad for anyone (besides martha. poor martha). i love how jd is just entirely inexcusable as a person in contrast to how hes actually SOMEWHAT justified for being the way he is in the musical in the musical everyone and everything is more softened and humanized in a way which i understand and i think makes sense for a musical from 2014 so i get why people prefer it to me i just also love the scenes in the movie more (veronica and jd killing kurt/ram, the college party, the cigarette-mouth thing, veronica being already part of the clique etc) of course the jokes didnt really age well but i think they do have their charm at the same time.. like the mineral water being the reason the cops believe kurt and ram were gay??? hilarious to me that all being said the musical has some amazing songs. dead girl walking AND the reprise both go crazy. in the reprise at the end where the others sing and it just escalates until the gunshot goes off.. TOO GOOD
Personally, the softened and humanized characters of Broadway interpretations is what I love about them. I like being able to analyze things psychologically, and Broadway gives characters layers that I love. I can see why you would prefer the film, but I often find myself leaning towards the Broadway adaptations of existing works
@@galenavangif you could even consider it that. it's abt the heathers being "woke" in modern day and veronica is straight white and kind of conservative and so is JD. after the first episode it derails off the original plot even more and is basically it's own shitty show
More than just Martha's shirt, Big Fun was actually a pop band in the film. They are the band H. Duke had the school sign the petition over. (I would say their hit song, but it uses the no-no word, followed by "don't do it")
fun fact! their song (''no-no word, don't do it'') was a parody of the queens song ''don't try no-no word''! They couldn't use the actual song (like they couldn't use the original voice for the opening number ''que se ra, se ra'') so they remade it!
Listen, listen, cause I can't let you badmouth one of the best scenes in the movie. The cigarette scene is one of my favorite scenes because it has a lot of meaning when you view the movie in its entirety. It directly parallels JD's death scene where Veronica lights herself a cigarette with the blow of the explosion. So in both scenes, they light up their cigarette with a wound inflicted on the other. In the first scene, it's showing us how JD doesn't actually care for Veronica in the slightest (if you still had any doubts) and in the second, it's Veronica taking control back, showing us she's completely free, and giving JD a taste of his own medicine. I think that effect was rendered very well in the musical, where instead of the cigarette scene they have a small reprise of Our Love Is God. The first time JD sings that song, it's purely to manipulate Veronica into doing what he wants, and the second, he's just begging for her to love him again as he dies. The first time, JD repeats the line 'Our Love Is God' over, and over, and over, until Veronica finally joins in - and in the second, he repeats it four times hoping she'll echo him, but this time Veronica resists. Instead, she says 'Say hi to God'. She wishes for him to go to heaven, but she doesn't return his love anymore. Absolutely brilliant imo
"purely to manipulate Veronica" implies that, in the musical, he didn't love her at all. Which I think it's not true because he is slightly different in the musical compared to the movie. He was still manipulating her, but there was truth to what he was singing.
@@yay29823well, yeah, you're right in a way, i do believe that JD at the very least believed he loved veronica. although in my interpretation he was also unconsciously using veronica as an excuse to kill people - he didn't do it for her, he did it because killing made him feel powerful and he needed a reason to do it. but i do agree that in our love is god, he probably believes a lot of what he says
I personally think the movie and musical aren't really comparable as they have two different purposes, one is to make a statement and the other is to entertain. Though I do prefer the musical the movie tells a better story
I was completely sure the "make a statement" you were referring to was the musical, and the "entertain" one was the movie until the last bit. (I haven't watched the movie, so I'm not disagreeing with you, I just assumed based on what I've gathered from the clips)
@@yay29823As a person who has seen both, I wholeheartedly believe the *movie* is the one that makes a statement. The later musical is more for entertainment and is a lot more upbeat compared to the cynical and darker movie that it's based on. I'm assuming that since you haven't seen the movie (which you should because it's good and I still can't forgive the musical for cutting out several good scenes) you probably don't know it's supposed to be *satire* on several aspects of teenage life at the time (the movie was made in the 80s). Basically Heathers (not the musical but the original) focuses on several heavy topics (now you have to watch the movie several times to catch all the themes and messages, I'm sure I still don't have them all) such as: Abusive/toxic/unhealthy relationships and leaving them. (Unlike the musical which heavily romanticized JD/Veronica even after the murders. The movie makes it clear that there's no “I can fix him” with people like JD and that relationships like that don't get better with time: they will only do more damage and hurt. Although I am glad the musical later added the song “I say no” ) Manipulation (JD's bts acts of manipulation of the student body through manipulating Heather Duke to get what he wants and also JD'S manipulation of Veronica to get what he wants) and also dubiously consensual “intimacy “ (some scenes actually show people being pushed/forced into intimate and sexual acts) (attempted) School massacres/threats/violence (i.e JD's fake shooting in cafeteria and his attempted bombing scenes). Also remember this movie is from the 80s, before school shootings became more frequent so it was ahead of its time. Depression and spiraling mental health. Suicide epidemics especially amoung teenagers. The two facedness of almost everyone (e.g cafeteria survey and Heather Chandler's funeral scenes). Guilt and self harm (e.g Veronica's locker room scene, Veronica harming herself with the car lighter scene, and the crying girl at Kurt and Ram's funeral). the bullying cycle and the *gradual* damage to its victims (e.g Martha and Heather C attempting suicide because of bullying and ostracization) . Societies’ reaction to Teen suicide aka the glorification and neglection of teenage suicide and mental health. Adults and other peers only “care” about teens once they die and not necessarily for the right reasons (e.g Heather Chandler's funeral, suicide note passing in class scene, yearbook scene, and hand holding in cafeteria for the cameras scene) while simultaneously neglecting the actual needs of suffering adolescents (e.g Martha humiliated in the cafeteria scene, “Poor Heather (M)” in class scene, and rumors spread about Veronica scene). Meanwhile the musical tries to tackle some of these themes (some more successfully than others), the musical often distracts from the original’s themes with fun songs, overly sympathetic characters ( cough musical JD cough ), removing 90% of the schools fakeness/two facedness, briefly mentioning only SOME of the Heathers’ struggles (still am not for giving the musical for that), removing most of Veronica’s guilt scenes which stunts her development a bit, ending where everyone suddenly gets along through song and is happy (honestly I find the movie ending to be more plausible where Veronica only starts to make changes, as again change doesn't happen that easily, first by mending the damage done by befriending the friendless and recovering Martha), *removing Heather's Duke character arc/spiral from sweet but struggling girl into the new mean head of the school* (like why'd the musical have to do my girl Duke dirty like that), removing JD's behind the scenes manipulation with the school’s status, and changing and cutting out pieces of Veronica’s character development arc from the original. Now don't get me wrong: I love the musical, but I'm not always happy with its changes. I'm sure I could dive deeper into this but this comment is already too long and I need a break. Sorry for any grammar mistakes and have a good day
Hmm that's interesting. I feel like the musical story is way more fleshed out, like way more, and in a way tells a much better story. Whereas the movie just goes straight into everything and there isn't much depth to the characters.
@@luna-mo3ol With all due respect I disagree: As a person who has seen both, the musical seems more of a simplification and tone down of the movie and its themes. Like it literally cuts out several important scenes, characters and character personalities, and satire/messages. Like seriously musical: What happened to the themes of two facedness in response to bad teenage mental health? (Like why did the musical have to cut out the two funerals? The funerals were important scenes especially for Veronica’s character development. Instead Chandlers’ funeral is cut out and Kurt and Ram's funeral scene is replaced by an unnecessary [to the plot] filler song based on one line.) What happened to the individuality of the background students [the movie background students had personalities and some provide important interactions with the main characters like Peter, Betty, and courtney; the musical background students feel like they're just grouped together as one with a few funny lines here and there. Those background characters used to have names and personalities]? What happened to dealing with the dealing of guilt in unhealthy ways (i.e the shower scene, cigarette burning scene, and all the wake/funeral scenes)? Veronica's journey with trauma and guilt is important to her character but those scenes are instead cut out and replaced by ghost Chandler. What happened to the themes of toxic and unhealthy relationships and escaping them? Toxic and unhealthy relationships are very important to Heather's story. Instead they tried to make musical JD too sympathetic (even during the final songs), despite him still being a bad/toxic person. He still tricks Veronica into murdering her classmates and gaslights her and he knew what he was doing; so why are we supposed to root for them to be together?? Also WTF is up with musical Heather D's character, aka her non-existent character arc ? Movie Heather Duke had a reasonably slow character arc from sympathetic shy girl to cruel mean girl. Musical Heather Duke takes power almost immediately after Chandler’s death and is perfectly described by Veronica as has “...no discernible personality”. Also I have a slight issue with musical Veronica's "development”? But I'm not going to bother writing an entire new essay on that so I won't bother talking about it. And wth is with the unrealistic musical ending where everything and one in the school is fixed and getting alone in 3 mins? The movie acknowledged that change only happens gradually (I.e Duke's power climb) NOT instantaneously. The movie had a perfect ending where Veronica starts making better changes by starting with the one person who had been lonely, bullied and was depressed because of it for most of her life (instead musical practically mashes her character with Betty Finn, makes her k*ll herself mostly because she misses Ram [like wtf?!] instead of her movie character’s actual mental health issues, and calls it a day). Basically the musical is somehow 30 mins longer than the movie and yet cuts out so many important details). EDIT: I don't have the energy to review and edit all this now so this is only a rough copy
dont remember the timestamp, but its when you pointed out how duke's bulimia was suddenly cured. but a lot of people with bulimia eat from stress, and chandler's death was probably causing her stress.
I always thought it was because chandler was basically forcing her to throw up food so that she wouldn’t gain weight or something and after she dies, duke no longer has to conform to chandler’s standards and demands.
In defense of the scene where Heather Duke eats the chicken wing ( 9:07), I don't view it as her bulimia going away but rather I view it as a binging episode; bulimia is comprised of both purging, which we see earlier in the film where her bulimia is first mentioned, and binging, which we see in this scene. Most people point to the dialogue and the fact that she quite literally says "fuck it" as evidence that she's dropping her eating disorder but as someone with bulimia myself I can absolutely confirm I have that sort of "fuck it" mentality when I'm binging or eating something I shouldn't, only to regret it later. Because we don't see the regret/purging afterwards I think its easy to believe she's just lost her eating disorder but I think its watering her condition down to say she just doesn't have bulimia anymore.
At 18:30 you asked how Veronica got a gun - I think it’s one of the guns they used to kill Kurt and Ram! JD had two guns and gave her one for that scene and we never saw her give it back to him, so it could be that she’d left it in her car after they killed Kurt and Ram and then grabbed it before she went into the school.
Actually, JD leaves it on her bed before he leaves her room when her mom is coming upstairs! Tiny detail, but I’ve seen the movie SO many times it’s burned into my brain lmao
I love that musical, especially the version where Jamie Muscato plays JD (there’s a nice little slime tutorial on RUclips I’m pretty sure) because his JD solos (especially Freeze your brain) hit so hard. He makes JD look psychopathic through and through. Also it has, imo, the best Heathers Chandler with Jodie Steele.
I'll always be an off-broadway rather than west end girl, but man Jamie Muscato's JD is out of this world. He's the scariest JD I've seen, and that says a lot lol
@@ACBarrelRacer7142I love Ryan 😭 but tbh I think Ryan has the better voice, but Jamie had better acting. Then again it's kinda hard to compare the acting cuz there's literally no recording of Ryan anywhere😭😭
Did you skip talking about the differences in the scene where Veronica goes to a college party with Heather Chandler or did I just miss that part? I really love how we get a glimpse of Heather C's internal conflict in that moment--especially when she spits on her reflection in the bathroom mirror, and I miss that subtlety and humanity in her portrayal in the musical.
I think the musical did not do Heather Chandler justice with skipping these scenes. I love the movie and really enjoyed the musical but I feel like they really simplified Heather C and D into pure evils so they had more time to flesh out the other characters and part of what made the movie great was that none of the heathers were evil. They are mean and crappy to people around them and vindictive and lots of other things but they are also still vulnerable and still teenagers!
I like the movie more because the story was never about true love or killing for love. It was about a psychopathic killer Veronica was corrupted by. The musical was going for a more 'romance' approach, with him sacrificing himself. But not gonna lie, I don't like that they changed the meaning. I also don't like how they tried to make JD a better person. He was never a good kid, and with a father that killed potentially thousands I don't think JD would just say "I'm a bad person because my mom died! That's why I tried to kill an entire school!"
I don't think the musical excuses JD's actions, though. HE believes his mom's death to be an excuse, up until the turning point Veronica does too, which explains why she stayed with him for so long despite what he's done. Nevertheless, the audience still knows he's a horrible person.
Few issues (warning sarcasm is used. I'm also not pretending I know more than you about the movie, it's just you need to rewatch the movie several times to understand what it's really saying, which I'm not faulting anyone for if they didn't, because even I have probably missed a few things) : 9:35 The shower scene was meant to portray Veronica trying to wash away the guilt of killing Heather Chandler. The other Heathers don't really care that she's gone (*Two facedness is a very important theme in the movie as both adults and peers only “care” about depressed teens once they are gone, neglecting those who are struggling at the same time [e.g Heather D at the beginning, Heather M later, and Martha*) and start taking care of Heather C’s remaining precious belongings: one of which they give her. Several times in the film Veronica is haunted by guilt (like when she laughs at Kurt and Ram's funeral but then sees one of their younger sisters looking back and crying) and tries to relieve herself of it (like burning herself with the car lighter). The shower scene isn't meant to be sexualization, it's meant to show Veronica's development from indifferent to guilty to caring. 11:45 This scene is important, it again highlights the two facedness of the other students. How they only pretend to care or briefly do, while on the outside pretending to be sad. Veronica also again deals with her guilt again by praying to God and trying to rationalize her part in Heather's death, but knows it no use (“but who am I kidding”) 12:01 its Kurt and Ram who start and spread the rumors about Veronica in both movie and musical, Courtney and musical Heather D clearly state this (Movie: “Ram and Kurt have been…” from that one boy and “Ram and Kurt were very descriptive” from Courtney/”But I heard from the boys What you were up to last night” from musical Heather D... The movie quotes are just based off memory because I don't have the dialogue memorize… yet) 12:53 once again it is to show Veronica’s guilt, but also to show how unhealthy JD really is as he doesn't truly care about her and even gaslights (is that the right word??) her that she wanted Kurt and ram dead. JD isn't a good or justifiable person (which is why I hate that the musical made him too sympathetic, yes he is more human but in a way that it overshadows how he still is a manipulative murderer). It's not to be edgy but to remind us that this is a toxic relationship where he tricks her into being his accomplice for murdering her classmates 13:54 "Our love is God. Let's go get a slushie" obviously became a song (still bitter they cut out the slushie part! Is it not "romantic enough" for you, musical?! It's junk food, I would literally swoon if someone said that to me [unless I knew later they would plan the murder of two of my classmates]) 14:05 I agree it's a filler song but it actually takes away a much more important scene to the plot. As mentioned earlier in the movie Kurt or Ram have a little sister who turns to Veronica crying, making Veronica more guilty as he little girl heard her laugh after JD made a dark joke that the parents realistically wouldn't have really been too happy with an alive gay son ("a son with a limp wrist and a pulse") once again a tie into the “only care when the teens are dead” message. While I agree it's nice to be supportive, you're forgetting that this was set the 80s and also the movie actually makes an point about the homophobia. And realistically everyone wouldn't suddenly get along and be supportive because of a song. 15:09 this is my opinion but I don't really like 17 that much because by then it's clear that JD manipulated her into murder (with Heather C Veronica didn't know JD knew she grabbed the wrong cup and didn't say anything and thought she had just accidentally mixed them up and it was her fault), yet musical Veronica still gives him a second chance... It's also kinda romanticizing an unhealthy relationship (because JD in the musical is our sweet misguided baby boy - who is a bit homicidal but that's a minor flaw-- who just needs love) 18:31 someone made a comment about where she got the gun so I won't repeat it. Finally the ending: imo the movie ending is more realistic/makes more sense and is nicer. No “everyone is suddenly okay and happy” song but a changed Veronica determined to right her, JD's, and the Heathers’ wrong; starting with befriending the friendless girl who has been one of the most affected by them. It's simple, it's sweet, and it's just the first step. Veronica's first change as “new sheriff” is being there for Martha, a girl she doesn't know. The change to Westerburg is not all rushed and shoved into a song, because realistically it would take time. I believe it's better this way that Veronica wasn't initially Martha's friend, because it ties in with Veronica's arc that she slowly begin caring for others. Not just the people close to her, but the innocents caught in the crossfire and didn't deserve the pain it brought (like the little girl and Martha) ***** ***** Edit: I need to add and change a few things here and there, but I have to get up in 5 hours so I'll polish this up later. Don't judge this mess for how it is currently, I just don't have time rn.
The one place I'll disagree is that I'm Team JD on the Kurt and Ram murders. Veronica knew. They'd already "accidentally" killed someone and she chooses to go ahead with this scheme? The movie even has her say the line "so it'll look like they've been shot and killed, but really they'll just be lying there, unconscious and bleeding?" Which sounds CRAZY and obvious when you say it out loud. And then to top it all off, she DOES kill Kurt. So yeah, I'm basically with JD on "you believed it because you wanted to believe it". Only a moron would've gone along with that plot without suspicions, and we know Veronica's not a moron.
My excitement died the second you said you were using the west end version as reference 😭😭😭 (cool video nonetheless, but the off broadway version is superior lol)
Completely disagree, I LOVE the soundtrack for the off broadway but ….. the slime tut I watched for it I couldn’t get into , I adore Barrett and the rest of the cast but the JD (Dan in that ST ) I couldn’t ‘connect’ to him , and I got bored of him pretty quickly. But tbh I don’t even like the OG west end soundtrack really apart from I say no, your welcome as for some reason Jamie gives me the ick . Honestly now that I think about it , the only JD’s I like are Simon (I would die for that man 😂 ) and Ryan who is ovi the OG and you can’t beat him!
Here’s the thing, I love Heathers and the music slaps, but, unfortunately, you can’t really make a Heathers adaptation now in a post-columbine world without losing the essence of the message. What made Heathers daring was that it was a response to the john Hughes style of portraying high school. And even worse, when the musical tried to make JD into a more sympathetic character, those changes made the message muddy. It’s an ick I have about the musical that will never go away as someone who’s had the Heathers movie as a special interest for about 4-5 years now. The point of JD was to show what happens when mental health goes neglected to the point of psychosis. He goes into (at least from what I can tell) a psychosis brought on by the reaction the school had to Heather C’s death. This is most exemplified in the scene where JD suggests a date of mini golf to Veronica and she responds by suggesting the off Heather D next. This response, along with the response of the school, proves to JD (in his very ill state of mind) that he is doing the right thing. JD genuinely has a disconnect with reality and believes hes doing good. The audience is grounded back to reality when we see a shot of Rams little sister mourning her brother right after JD makes a joke about how the parents would react if their son had been disabled. JD is in his own reality, while the camera shows us the guilt on Veronicas face, confirming that even though Kurt and Ram being dead might seem positive, they are also have family that will grieve the loss. The big difference is that in the movie, this is used to explain and help people understand, whereas in the musical, hes made into a bit of a “troubled teen boy that needs saving” type of character which is not the point of his character at all. He is a sick man, thats why he attaches the bomb to himself. What happens to someone in a state of disconnect from reality, they self-destruct. And he does that, literally. Also, I find it important to mention that there’s a very good reason Veronica didn’t start off as friends with Martha. The musical made Martha very akin to Betty Finns character, which defeats the purpose of Veronicas final decision in the movie. Her decision represents her seeing past and rejecting the social order, which Betty Finn respects. If Martha acts like Betty Finn ( which she does in the musical), then Veronicas takeaway from the events of the story becomes less nihilistic and more palatable. The exact thing which Heathers was criticizing. Heathers needs to be nihilistic, edgy, unpalatable, and thought provoking. Not to say the musical isn’t, but at least for me, the magic of a cult classic gets lost when the goal becomes how to make it more appealing (whether that be for a stage adaptation or in general). Anyways, I could write a whole thesis paper about Heathers but im just gonna stop now. The point is: JD is a sick man with a disconnect from reality, not a “smoll bean”( and im not saying thats what hes thought of as its just the musical tries to make him more sympathetic which ends up taking away the power to his character and how he fits thematically into the rest of the story).
this is exactly what i think about jd too, I couldn't think of the way to describe it so thank you! while I love both the musical and movie so much I think that the movie did at least the characters better. heathers (in my opinion) should not have the happy ending that the musical gives. its a movie about fucked up people doing fucked up things. i think Martha works so much better in the movie too, for the reasons you said and also I hated that in the musical her character basically revolved around wanting a guy who relentlessly bullied her almost all her life! like come on give her a bit of self respect. her suicide attempt being because she wanted to be in heaven with said guy and not because she was a girl bullied about her weight so much that she felt that was her only option was such a bad decision to make.
@@feel_bad_inc YESSSSS!! Exactly! It needs to end on a nihilistic note in order for the story to make a complete arc as it’s one of the main themes throughout the movie! Another thing that I think the musical kinda missed is that it’s ok for a story to be like that and it doesn’t have to end on a good note. It just needs to conclude in a way that makes sense (it doesn’t even have to resolve in a traditional way, ambiguous endings have their purpose too). That’s why some of the greatest stories ever told are tragedies (think Macbeth or Romeo and Juliet), because thats what completes the story arc. Also, another thing that I think is worth mentioning about the movies ending is that importance of the blues rendition of “Que sera sera” that plays while Veronica walks off with Martha. The movie starts with the original version, which sounds very refined and high class, reflecting Veronicas position with the Heathers and the rigid conformity they adhere to and promote. While the blues rendition at the end reflects the wisdom gained from the trauma of the events of the movie. It’s a swing beat, emphasizing the shift in Veronicas point of view and her rejection of what she conformed to at the start of the movie. Another important thing about this rendition is that it’s put into a blues style, a style of music created to help ease suffering. And then finally, the lyrics themselves. Since there’s not a lot going on on the screen during the ending rendition, the audience is forced to pay attention to the lyrics and how they relate to the story just consumed. Also, I agree about how they should have kept Marthas backbone. As I said, she was combined with Betty Finn in the musical which doesn’t do her any justice because the characters represented completely different things (Betty accepts social hierarchy while Martha is forced to reject it entirely because of how poorly she’s treated and ostracized).
@@lachlainegordon806 couldn’t have said it better myself! As much as i love the musical i just think the movie writers knew exactly what they were doing, and executed it so much better. whenever i watch/listen to the musical i tend to to stop once i get to the seventeen reprise 😅
Excellent response. This is why I prefer the movie (also the musical "plays for laughs" some crucial moments--compare Heather M's suicide attempts). SMALL CORRECTION: You mention that "JD makes a joke about how the parents would react if their son had been disabled." In the joke you speak of, JD wonders how the dad would react if his son "had a limp wrist with a pulse." Being "limp-wristed" isn't about being disabled, it's actually a reference to a homosexual stereotype (gay men being seen as more effeminate). So JD is responding to the dad saying "I love my dead gay son" by saying "He wouldn't express this level of love for his son if his son was alive and came out as gay." So JD is actually making a fair point about the homophobia and double standards of the society around him, BUT that's not the point. As you point out so well, even though JD is "right" about some of the ways that society is screwed up, him cracking the joke in the face of the raw grief of the little sister shows how disconnected from reality he is. The movie is a MASTERPIECE because of those beautiful humanizing moments that show you that even when JD is right, he's wrong. The bathroom party scene with Heather C is another one of those beautiful humanizing moments. It shows that even though Heather C is cruel and hurts people with her power, she is also victimized by the same power structures she uses to hurt others. Heather C is not what's wrong with the world, and murdering people like her and the jocks is not addressing the root of the problem. Those three clips--Heather C spitting water at her reflection, Kurt/Ram's sister's grief in contrast to JDs out of touch joke, and Heather M's suicide attempt--are probably my favorite in the whole movie.
@@annevanderelst247 I have liked many different incarnations of the musical, but the original with Barrett Wilbert Weed remains the best. As for comparisons with the movie (and yes I was alive in the 80s) I find they are going for two different tones. The original is more committed to the dark satire, but I'm not sure I'd hold one above the other for that.
In the movie JD said "We could have toasted marshmallows together" to "dead" Veronica - in musical he sings "We’ll watch the smoke poor out the doors, bring marshmallows, we’ll make s’mores!"
The movie made JD that dark because he was supposed to be a parody of the “dark and broody rebel” boyfriend character. He’s callus, he’s murderous. I like movie JD more because you’re not supposed to root for their love, you’re supposed to root for Veronica. Veronica defeats her self-image, she makes good friends, she shots, stabs, and kills the boy who manipulated her. It’s a triumphant end in the movie too.
Veronica's nightmare chorus chants "Very, very, very..." which keys off of "How very." There was a rewrite between off-Broadway and UK. The original did have Veronica pretending to hang herself which JD believes then her mom walks in screaming and she has to be like "mom I'm okay stop screaming!' Instead of "You're Welcome" Ram and Curt sing "Blue" about their blue balls which is funnier and less backhandedly spelling out why they are bad. I did appreciate the addition of a Heather Duke song when she takes over. They also added an unnecessary late solo ballad for Veronica just to underline _again_ that she's not a bad person. And I totally agree that Veronica should just temporarily forget about her BFF and want to be popular. it's okay for her to temporarily decide to abandon her friend. Veronica wants someone to protect her, JD, and to be popular and like she one-lines "our job is being popular" which is true - she's moving in the management hierarchy and her friend doesn't fit into either of her early decisions. It makes a better scene when she changes her mind later when she decides to protect her since Veronica _does_ remember what it is to be bullied - it's a better character arc.
The UK does also have Veronica pretend hang herself actually! That plot point didn't change at all or they would have had to change the end of Meant to be Yours ^^
I love Heathers the Musical, and it was actually my introduction to the movie way back when I was in high school, but GOD I love that movie!!! It quickly became my favourite and most watched film of my adult life, there's just something about it that I fell in love with and I can't really explain it lol. Tbh I think the musical is too soft -- which makes sense because it has to fit the bounds of musical theatre. And you have to remember that the movie was made in the '80s so a lot of the things that happen are a product of their time, for example not outright saying they support LGBT+ (although for the '80s I'd say the movie wasn't too bad on this front). Either way, loved the video, keep them coming!!
I always found it sad that in the movie while Veronica avoided the collage dudes advance, heather was basically asulted and forced to do what her college guy wanted. It always made that whole situation sad from their argument to heathers death.
Exactly. Heather Chandler just came from being sexually pressured into something she didn't want to do, only to find Veronica out there refusing to do the same and (from Heather's pov), basically saying "i'm better than that and better than you". Her frustration at Veronica not following the "rules" the rest of them felt forced to is a constant undercurrent in that scene.
I feel like you missed the point of the scene around “Lifeboat”. Like so the teacher is encouraging these kids to open up, not because she cares about them, but because it makes her feel important and less guilty. But she clearly didn’t expect any of them to have real issues nor was she prepared to actually help any of them. As seen by the way she just like dips when McNamara opens up about the pressures and anxiety she feels. Also I don’t think that song is about being suicidal (I could be wrong) but it’s about all the pressure she feels to stay popular because it’s such a precarious position. Which Duke proves immediately by turning their peers against her. Duke is absolutely obsessed with being popular and uses this opportunity to completely take McNamara (a possible competitor for Duke’s new Queen Bee status) down when she was weak. And everyone joins in with Duke because of the fear that if they don’t they will be the next one kicked off the “Lifeboat”.
I feel like Heathers, Movie and Musical are both good as stand alone pieces, but best as companion pieces. If a person has seen both in some way they get a better experience from both. While one might do certain things better than others, I think they work off each other so well that a fan is well serviced watching and enjoying both.
9:01 Not only drama but well done because we can see a magazine titled “The Fall of the American Teen” not sure if it’s its intentional or not, but if it is that’s so good
3 things: 1. Merging Betty Finn and Martha into the same character ruins aspects of the plot and Martha’s character (and has a better impact at the end in the movie). When JD is blackmailing heather duke for being friends with Martha years ago, it doesn’t make sense for that to be a serious threat if they literally just let Martha’s more recent bestie to join the heathers. Also Martha is supposed to be a complete social reject (hence suicidal), whereas although she wasn’t popular, Veronica still had a social life before joining the heathers. The ending when Veronica becomes friends with Martha at the end is so much more meaningful and satisfying, especially since she never really stopped being friends with betty, she just spent less time with her. It would mean candy store would be changed slightly but it could easily be recontextualised to be about betty instead and would still be a banger. 2. I agree Veronica becoming a heather in the musical is way too quick and doesn’t really make sense but I love that being how/why the heathers became interested in recruiting her into their clique. And 3. I actually love the characters being more messy and bad in the movies than their softer film counterparts, they’re more fun.
The Broadway version of the show is actually fairly different from the West End version. I never knew! His motive in the Broadway version is more similar to the movie. Interesting right? I knew they changed the song Blue to a newer song, but I didn't realize they changed the script too
OMG I always want an analysis video about different versions between movie and musical heathers and i finally got one which was way too awesome, what a suprise!
Veronica in the movie actually has JD's gun! He left the gun behind while hurrying out the window after he saw Veronica "dead" and heard her mom coming. In the musical JD doesn't bring a gun at all so Veronica attacks him with the stick
In the film JD tells a joke to Veronica at Kurt and Ram's funeral and after Veronica laughs at it she is noticed by Kurts younger sister who looks disappointed and sad, which makes Veronica feel bad and it's better because she sees that her and JD are hurting people. I also hate how the whole part of the father saying "I love my dead gay son" was turned into a song. It feels wrong and takes the attention off the main topic off the deaths of Kurt and Ram and onto something that wasn't even important up to that point, this also takes away from the point of Veronica realising she's doing a very bad thing
Actually, there's another scene in the musical where she realizes this. The scene where she's singing to her diary, and reflects on the deaths of kurt, ram, and heather c. She definitely learned what she's doing wrong, just not then and there
I love JD's death in the movie far more than in the musical, I'm sorry it didn't seem to have much of an impact on you. With the movie, it's all in the subtle implications. JD recovered alone in the boiler room, he had every opportunity to restart the bomb there and carry out his plan. He instead chose to kill himself because Veronica had earned his respect by challenging his method of curing society. He understood that although he was a lost cause, although he had tried to destroy their world and failed, Veronica might just be able to build it into something new. "Pretend I did blow up the school. All the schools. Now that you're dead, what are you going to do with your life?" Such a great line and perfect callback to Chandler's lunchtime poll. JD was the alien that came to blow up the world, the world was their high school. Every student answered the poll question with self-centred motivations on how they'd spend their money. Nobody said "I would try and stop the alien". Movie JD was clever, suave and powerful right up until the end because that's what he represented, he was supposed to be an inevitable destructive force; except he wasn't inevitable, all the violence wasn't inevitable and Veronica proved that playing by her own rules could make it so she'd never have to resort to his way again. Musical JD died as a tragic, doomed lover. Movie JD died as an enemy force that decided to lay down their weapons grudgingly but respectfully. Whichever you prefer is a matter of interest, but I much prefer the latter.
I definitely prefer movie JD's death as it was actually a part of the movies message but musical jd's work because it's a sappier version which is also fine, especially since it's a musical it's all about that motivation so digging into more of his feelings is expected. But preferably I'm a sucker for story telling so sending a message with a great ending gets me ofc!
@@ohwowitsme8548 Honestly, agree to disagree here. I'm more into story telling as well, and i do think that his death scene is well done, but i think a lot of the poor pacing and odd writing choices were what not made this scene work for me. What a lot of people seem to misunderstand about the musical is that JD was most certainly not a tragic, doomed lover. He was also a psychopath, and Veronica knew this. Before JD dies after he says, "our love is god", veronica doesn't say it back to him. This IS an example of character growth, and the propelling of the musical's themes is there. I feel like some people think that being given a few redeeming qualities to add a little more depth in JD's case is making him LESS complex, and i don't understand?
13:00 But it does nicely mirror the scene in the end where Veronica uses the explosion that blows up J.D to light her cigarette, showing that she’s in power now.
When I first saw the Heathers movie it was on a Saturday morning when I was a kid and my dad just put it on. I'd never heard of it, had no concept on what to expect, and knew Winona Rider from Little Women and Beetlejuice. At first I thought it was a teen movie like any other I'd seen up until that point...and then the first murder happened, and murders kept. happening. and I loved it. For me this movie was an incredible satire, it was absurdist, and it was wonderful. When I recently saw a production of the musical I went in with an open mind and was excited to see how they interpreted the story and was so disappointed. My main problem was this: the softening of the characters and stories makes for a very messy handing of the themes of teen suicide for me. The movie is makes relatively no statement on suicide or mental health, beyond the idea that revenge actions can have unintentionally bad consequences. The movie provides an incredible satire of the feel good teen brat pack movies of the 80s. The musical tries to make a real statement on mental health and suicide that feels weird with the absurd reality of the world. For me, there is not a good handling of this theme. Additionally, I think the movie's handling of Martha's suicide was more interesting as it is a stark contrast to the rest of the movie and feels heavily grounded in reality. Implying that the world we see through the eyes of Veronica, the Heathers, and JD is disconnected from the actual wider world with them having no regard for other around them...until Martha's suicide attempt which results in the two worlds smashing together. Additionally, I think adapting this movie in an age when school shootings/bombings are a horrible norm is difficult if not impossible, for me the climax of the movie worlds because of the context of the movie being a pre-columbine movie. At that time the idea of a teenager bombing their school was just as ridiculous as the rest of the story...today it's not and so it just doesn't work for me. Finally, for me all the changes that the musical makes makes the story just another stale teen movie with broadly the same beats as any other. I like that we don't see Veronica join the Heathers, I like that Veronica isn't actually that nice of a person at her core, I like that JD is just this ridiculous parody of the broody bad boy. For me nearly every change that the musical makes weakens the story and the verisimilitude of said story. This was very long winded but the movie has a very special place in my heart (which I will acknowledge makes me very biased) so I have a lot of thoughts. Either way I love this new series as it's really interesting to see side-by-side comparisons of adaptations and originals (even if my opinions differ of which I like better)
Maybe it’s just me, but I like the musical changing JD to be more justified in killing Kurt and Ram, and the fact that Veronica is still trying to fix and help him or salvage the relationship even by the end of the movie. I think it hammers home the “emotionally dependant toxic couple” aspect in a different but equally effective way from the movie
Around 9:40... Veronica taking a shower was her feeling guilt over what she'd done by killing Chandler and trying to wash herself clean. It wasn't supposed to be sexual. As a Gen X teen I got it straight away. Maybe it's lost in generation translation? I don't know. But yeah, it's a different way that Veronica shows her guilt, but it's there.
Honestly, I like both a lot, and this video helped me see the smaller changes more clearly. I see what you mean with how the musical has the clunky transitions, (the phone call and Heather Mac’s confession) and how Heather C. was being rude to Veronica’s mom for some reason??? The only thing I think is that how the double-date went in both the movie and musical should have been switched. Like you and others have been saying, Heathers the musical does soften and humanize the characters. Also like you said, the fact that Heather Mac and Duke literally volunteered Veronica for Date r*pe was WAY cruel that not even the Heathers themselves would do something like that, especially in the musical where again, the characters are softened so they can be redeemed by the ending. I highly doubt that Heather Mac and Duke would ever pull something like that on Veronica, as neither seemed to be that cruel to anyone. What we've seen from them so far is really just the whole bullying Martha thing, which she absolutely did not deserve, and was pretty mean. Not say saying the bullying had nothing to do with those two, but anything they did earlier on in the film seemed to be heavily orchestrated by Heather Chandler. That said, without a queen bee, pre-power trip Duke and (most likely depressed at this point) Mac pulling a stunt like that seems like a bit much. On the other hand, Veronica literally ditching Heather Mac while she is (maybe?) being assaulted by Kurt or Ram (whichever one that was) doesn't make sense for her character in the musical either. This, however, is ultimately my opinion. (Don’t fight me please) What do you guys think would have made more sense? Does the musical’s double date work? Also, am I the only one who this Elle (Heather Mac, Off-Broadway cast) sounds different on Shine a Light Reprise then all her other songs?
I honestly prefer the movie over the musical. The movie just feels more meaningful and has stronger themes, while the musical feels like a dumbed down version of the movie.
BTW in the 2014 off broadway(the better) version Veronica also fakes her s(u1(1de and there is a hilarious scene where her parents are screaming and she says ITS A JOKKEEEE
I know this is late but just to mention. Veronica did not suddenly resort to self harm in the movie. In the college party scene when she was by herself on the couch she lit a match and was trying to burn herself there. She ends up not able to go through with it and she puts it in her drink, the drink then lights on fire and she throws it out of the window. It starts a fire in a trash can outside which you can see in the argument between Heather C. and Veronica. It shows she was already into some self destructive behavior before hand which I think shows in her character development. Also, this isn't relevant but I think her doing that saved her from being drugged because you can see in the movie Heather C. got drugged by that guy's (the one that tried to sleep with Veronica) friend. But that's just a theory. Edit - Fixed spelling error
Actually in certain musical films, it also shows Veronica hanging herself. So technically yea, people do talk to dead corpses about their plans to blow their school. I know I did
I have been a huge fan of heathers since I found out about it in middle school. I personally prefer the movie, the musical is great, but I never knew about the show due to just how universally despised it is. When I had found it, binged it, hated/loved every second of it, and went to find any reviews of it, I found only one by a popular RUclipsr going over just how truly devastating it really was. Like you see mean girls being compared between all three versions, and people compare the heathers movie and musical very often. But Heathers (2018) will never be apart of the discussion. Not that I don’t think it’s deserved, since it is virtually the first Velma in terms of what they did to the plot (took a memorable franchise and just put a new story ontop) but I wish it was compared to the other two, despite how horribly different it is.
I’d say in terms of “watching” the series, you have to ready yourself for 2018 humor. And like, bad humor. Really bad. It is unknown who the writers were even trying to appeal to with the style. It can even be viewed in some (a lot.) scenes as ‘conservative’. Beyond just its humor, the plot HEAVILY derives from its source material. Without spoiling it to much, because it truly is a whole different story, the way they portrayed Veronica is nothing like she is portrayed in either movie or musical. She is very unlikable, which makes the show difficult to watch since you are suppose to dislike most of the school, and JD. So if you dislike every character… rooting for anybody in the show is impossible. There is no one person you want to ‘side’ with even a little. The amount of creative liberties they took strays farrrrr off course from the others, the way The Heathers are introduced and slain, the way JD acts, Ram and Kurt’s stories are completely different. Overall as I said, if you want to watch something that can only be compared to Riverdale or Velma in terms of IP destroying series, by all means. And I know I had mentioned I loved/hated the show. I couldn’t help but watch like a horrific car crash. I almost want to call it camp, but it’s too bad and no where near self aware enough of how horrible of a show it was to probably truly be deemed camp. Watching all of these teenagers be horrible to each other with comedic levels of dramatic situations they’re put into, they truly did ‘try their best’ to remake Heathers.
I really enjoyed this video(!), even though I definitely prefer the film to the musical. I think it comes down to whether you like the changes to Veronica and JD as characters, or whether you prefer them the way they were. If you ever find the time to compare the Beetlejuice movie to its musical, a similar thing will happen where characters are changed and some people will like it more or less for that reason (I like the musical more than the movie in that case).
I really love both so much but I think they tell two different stories. As someone who watched the movie first I totally got the vibe of psychopath JD who doesn’t care about Veronica and is more of less finding a “high” through insane acts like murder and the school explosion. I love this story because it is so (I can’t really think of the right word here so I’ll make do) edgy. The musical is also so compelling though because it has a little more comprehensive story instead of how the movie feels like your popping into Veronica’s life- the musical feels like a beginning, middle, and end. I also LOVE the songs and that is one of the main reasons I watch the musical anymore. Over all, my bias is the movie as I watched it first and will forever and always love Wynona Ryder. Awesome video though.
I heard somewhere that the scene of Veronica taking a shower fully dressed is her doing an impulsive and confusing thing to show that she feels like she's going crazy.
I did an analysis of the movie for media studies a while back and thought I'd add these on: IMO the opening croquete game is meant to parody the aesthetic of other 80s teen movies at the time, but at the same time show how it sets itself apart. The university party could represent what Veronica and the Heathers futures could look like if they stayed 'friends'. Thematically J.D is meant to represent Veronica's inner rage, it's why he appears immediately after she writes that angry entry in her diary, almost like she summoned him. The shower scene is meant to be a symbolic representation of Veronica washing away her guilt. Martha's 'Big Fun' t-shirt is a reference to the in-universe band of the same name, whose song is used throughout the third act. Veronica carrying the b•mb in the musical is a reference to the movie's original ending where it goes off on her and everyone ends up in a heavenly prom - which was recycled in the Heathers tv show.
15:30 I've watched 3 or 4 versions but in off Broadway she just suddenly confessed to wanting to kill herself and tbh that's so much better than west end where that seems like a decision she's thought over "I've thought about killing myself😊😊" and staying positive while talking like she usually is (in all versions shes a very cheerful character) in west end vs "I'VE THOUGHT ABOUT KILLING MYSELF!"looking scared and unsure whether that was a good decision in off Broadway
I feel like I'm seeing a lot of misunderstandings in the comments about the musical. These are very much two different stand alone pieces that compliment one another, but at the end of the day the musical is an adaptation that made major changes to better fit the medium of musical theater. I don't think it was made softer or more palatable to be entertainment (considering the topics covered and depicted it is still very dark and unpalatable for a lot of people frankly!) while the movie was some artistic masterpiece. They are BOTH for entertainment and they also both have deep and impactful meanings. One is just more nihilistic leaning and the other is more hopeful leaning, which is a fascinating way to do the adaptation in my opinion and allows for a different look at the core themes and characters. By doing it that way it does update to modern values, but I think it adds nuance to both the musical and the movie for a compare and contrast. That all said, I just wanna gripe for a second about a common comment I'm seeing here. The musical isn't more romantic, nor is it trying to have a more romantic set up at all. That JD is more sympathetic (I think to show that anyone can be a monster and to help explain why Veronica is willing to give him a second chance), but he's lying to himself. He THINKS he's doing all this out of love because he has a twisted idea of what love means, JD thinks he's being romantic, Veronica doesn't. She's attracted to him but I think she also has a "I can fix him" attitude. And as someone who has been in a bad situation because "well he's a good guy underneath it all, and if I'm just patient and understanding he'll come around", it was god damned powerful to see the way Veronica tries to justify his actions to herself while literally being haunted by the consequences of it. At the end JD sacrifices himself, but considering this is all his fault it's not really a sacrifice and I don't think Veronica really sees it that way either considering she tells him to say hi to god instead of calling back out love to JD. In the musical his death feels like an apology for who he is, not what he's done, which he uses to be selfish and self centered. It feels like one last manipulation to be remembered fondly when his love isn't returned and he realizes he has no control over Veronica anymore. Not sure if that makes sense or not, but JD had to be changed to tell a story about someone who is a fundamentally good person who is choosing to make every wrong, mean, awful choice she can to seemingly protect herself. (I know that mileage varies between theater versions, the one I'm most familiar with really emphasizes that Veronica joins the Heathers to survive high school and that being popular is just a side benefit. Which is great because it quickly turns into Veronica sticking to this horrible path because she is now scared of JD and thinks she can either change or placate him until she's safe again.) When they made the choice to make Veronica a nicer person from the start, it necessitated making JD just sympathetic enough that you might, for one moment, believe his lies and manipulations before realizing that doesn't justify shit. I'm personally a sucker for stories that show how good people can do bad things and bad people can do good things, I like how complex the musical makes it's leads in that respect. JD could've been a good person in a different life, but left to fester in the ways he was, he became delusional and now believes he's doing "good things" out of "love". And we watch how close Veronica gets to becoming a bad person, she has the chance to use his willingness to kill and even goes along with it before turning away. I don't know, TL;DR, I have a lot of big feelings about how realistic some of the abuse is in the musical version, love seeing people make and compound and recover from mistakes, and it comes with banging tunes on top of it. Huge fan of the musical lol.
One great thing about the musical and the movie is that they adapt the story to fit their mediums and tones. A lot of the changes from the musical were to take advantage of the “emotional and introspective” factor of the format, so they made it more emotional and tragic. The movie is much more cynical and subtle in some ways, in the movie Veronica has to learn to be empathetic and kind and JD is a one-note psychopath who is basically the devil on her shoulder, almost all the characters have arcs but are generally unsympathetic or have dry endings like Macnamara and Duck. The musical is more upbeat and emotional, but partly because it needs to be to work in the format, a lot of its changes were to make the characters more sympathetic. They made their toxic relationship with JD the driving force of the story more than before at the expense in part of the Heathers arcs because that relationship works better to have a musical development throughout the play with leitmotifs, Veronica in the musical is already empathetic from the beginning, She doesn't need to learn to love another, that's why things like the girl at Kurt and Ram's funeral are skippable. she joins the Heathers for the same reason she falls in love with JD, she's a fragile girl who needs to feel loved and protected. She supports JD not because she agrees with him, but because she is emotionally dependent on him. That's why Betty doesn't exist and Martha is her only friend (a girl that Veronica abused and betrayed, and she emphasizes the fact that Veronica was very low on the social ladder), that's why she's a virgin before meeting JD. She's never met anyone who made her feel like JD, something that as someone who has studied psychopaths and a bit of domestics violence is more real than it may seem. For these same reasons JD is more human and multifaceted besides hiding his dark side better, you don't know to what extent he feels a twisted version of love or uses Veronica as an excuse. It’s still a subversion of the “bad boy” archetype but in a different way, in the movie he’s a psychopath who takes the archetype to the extreme while in the musical he subverts the “beauty and the beast” or “i can fix him” tropes. His bond with Veronica doesn’t save him, it’s the catalyst for him to start expressing his psychopathy when he feels validated. Because your boyfriend only having you as his only emotional relationship is not very healthy. Although he says he’s dying for love, he really just wants Veronica to say that she still loves him because he has no way out of the situation or a reason to live. Leaving Veronica alone to carry a closet with now 4 corpses. She doesn't love him anymore, she feels sorry for him but she doesn't forgive him because in the end he didn't learn anything and he went too far. It’s because of these things that although some of the changes bother me, seeing what the musical could have told with the time and means they had, It’s very difficult for me to say that the changes were simply poorly chosen or absurd, Betty being Martha creates some plot holes because should there be some relationship between Duck, Veronica and Ram? Yes, but it works because it helps explain Veronica's loneliness and fragility. The arc of the musical Veronica is about learning to fight your own battles, escaping a toxic relationship, and that while people can improve, not everyone will be able or willing to do so. The real criticism that could be leveled at comparing both versions of the story is that the musical is not Heathers.
@@annevanderelst247 Thank you for responding to my comment. I just wanted to emphasize one point: whether we like the adaptation or not, we have to try to understand the changes and the most important thing is that they work within the internal logic of that version.
I really enjoyed this video! I love both the musical and the film. Recently I've gotten multiple of my friends in LOVE with the musical, this is just further fueling the obsession. Thank you!!! :)
Finding out both of the actors for Joyce in Stranger things AND Prue from Charmed were in Heathers is just the thing I needed to know to make me watch Heathers. Two actors from my favorite shows in one other show/movie? yes. That is all I need in life.
Thanks for compiling this: the movie "Heathers" does have a personal effect on me because I personally know three women who look just like... Winona Ryder's "Veronica Sawyer" : a current acquaintance who is very well aware of the fact! Shannen Doherty's "Heather Duke" : a former neighbour across the street, she was "the girl next door" as I grew up. and most notably as Lisanne Falks' "Heather McNamara" : one of my aunts by marriage from Québec, no less!
I think the musical that you watched was a more softened down version than the one that was made in 2010, not by a lot but there very noticeable changes than from the one ive seen. Esp in the bomb scene since veronica and jd have a fight scene while the pew pew is ready to shoot (idk the term for that) and it goes off and neither of them know who got shot and i think its a nice feature to add bcs they both freeze for a while and it leaves suspenve bcs the audience doesnt know whos shot, also with quotes from the movie theres a few thats in the musical that arent songs such as “did you eat a brain tumour for breakfast” “grow uo heather bulimia is so 87” I also think that the scene where it shows heather dukes ed is gone (also in the tuneral scene it shows how hesther d prayed every day for this day to happen as she smiles above the cascet) shows just how much of a manipulator heather chandler was and the way heather d had now felt freedom and i think her wanting to become the new lead heather shows how much a traumatic event can change you and so fast
Ah also i think that veronica being worse in the movie kinda tells ppl how far love can change you or again the trauma heather c put onto everyone can change someone and make them do things to be “free” from her in a way I think that in the movie where heather m says on the phone she feels like shes being haunted kinda implies that shes not quite free from heather c
Apparently climbing into people's windows does exist. My neighbor upstairs has kids and one night they were sneaking two boys into the house, I know because I was trying to sleep and I heard bumping outside my window and found them sneaking the boys through their window using some sheets.
Haven’t even gotten 2 minutes into the video yet but I wanted everyone to know my favorite English teacher in college was the guy from the heathers movie who was like “Save the speeches for Malcolm X, baby”
funnily enough, I prefer the movie for the reasons you prefer the musical. JD's character was supposed to be a satire of the stereotypical bad boy. I feel the musical cheapened the drama and rebelliousness of the film by making it more like Mean Girls rather than the movie's dark comedic response to other teen films of the time. Great video
I love the darker characters of the movie, but it didn’t satisfy me the way the songs in the musical did. I also personally prefer musical JD’s (sort of) love-driven motive.
Girl I watched the mean girls musical movie and then watched your mean girls video afterwards and YESTERDAY i watched heathers and THIS shows up Insane ! Keep doing your videos,very nice and entertaining
9:40 actually, it took me a while to realize but the scene of veronica in the shower is a depiction of s3lfh4rm, it's supposed to be boiling water, Veronica "punishes" hersfelf in different scenes using fire (the candle at the party and when she burns her hand after k1ll1ng Ram an Kurt)
You stole my idea for a very long blog post about this >:0 Just kidding, really excited to see another point of view about this since you probably have seen other differences. Really love seeing new Heathers content!
Honestly i love the musical because the songs are a banger the songs have been in my mind for 3 months now i have always been humming them in school buuut I do also like the movie because of veronica's clothes like i wanna steal her closet but i still like both bcuz the plot and jd's character is just so interesting when i first watched heathers i thought it was going to be like mean girls but i never expected them to kill 3 ppl Anyways i love the video and since heathers is my favorite (+ since i don't see a lot of video essays on heathers) I'll subscribe to u ^_^ (Also sorry if my grammar is bad 😭)
In the musical doesn’t Heather try shooting Ram and Kurt but miss? Like she’s still corrupted, but she doesn’t actually murder anyone, just like with Chandler’s death. It might be a difference with the musical I watched, but she also doesn’t mean to give Martha the letter. She’s writing it before they tell her who, and when she gives the note to Martha it’s more of a spur-of-the-moment decision made out of care for Martha and fear of the Heather’s. Maybe I’m looking at it or remembering wrong too.
Did I stream the Heathers Musical just so I can come back and watch this video that randomly popped up on my RUclips feed? Yes. Yes I did. Great video! I thought the movie and musical were great in their own ways.
I love both the movie and the musical, but one thing I really like about the musical is how they flesh out JD. Sure, he's edgy from the start, but you can see him growing more and more corrupted throughout the musical, while movie JD largely stays the same throughout. I also really like that musical JD almost grows obsessed with Veronica as the story goes along, leading to him use her as an excuse for all the people he kills or tries to kill. Heather Chandler treated Veronica bad, Kurt and Ram made her cry, and once she leaves him he needs to blow up the entire school because "those assholes are the key, they're keeping you away from me. They made you blind, messed up your mind, but I can set you free". He's actively arguing that there's a reason why he keeps killing and why he wants to keep killing, meanwhile movie JD is mainly just doing it for fun. That's also what makes his sacrifice at the end work, he's once again killing for Veronica, only this time the one he's saving her from is himself. He still doesn't get why she wants to save her classmates when they've hurt her, but he recognises that if he kills them he'll be the one hurting her, so he saves them while making sure he can never hurt her again. This is also what makes the end of 'I am damaged' so good, he repeats that their love is god, desperately wanting Veronica to acknowledge and reciprocate his supposed love for her, but instead of amusing him, Veronica's only answer to him is to say hi to god. That's the one thing that didn't make sense to me in the movie: why JD decides to blow himself up outside the school. I get that it's a last grasp of attention and to make a statement, but there's no clear reason why he's decided to be "kind enough" (if you could call it that) to not blow himself up while in the school. It just doesn't fit with his characterisation in the movie to suddenly take himself out alone, when it would have been a bigger statement and spectacle if he took the school down with him. Musical JD has a purpose behind his final act, movie JD sort of just does it.
Oh no. You mentioned my special interest. Que Sera, Sera. Heathers the Musical is really wonderful, but absolutely fails as an adaptation. The movie isn't a tragic love story, but the musical basically needs to be to justify itself. Because of this, the musical necessarily misses the point of the film, but succeeds at making something new. Many choices are just inherent to transitioning something from movie to musical. The dream sequences in the movie serve to provide a point of contrast - Veronica's real world is as surreal as a dream, her decisions and the decisions of the people around her will be nonsensical, ethereal, and all-too-real. The musical is a musical, and therefore a Brecht epic (which is to say surreal by nature. The gun changing to a fist fight is another example of this. So is J.D. loving Veronica. Other changes are made to account for the change in the story's goals. The movie is about how the structure of society is damaging everyone in it - from the bottom to the top, and how high school is a microcosm of society at large. J.D's approach is to burn it all down, despite seeing regularly that that approach won't have any impact, while Veronica's arc is to stop living her life within the framework society tells her to engage in. In the musical, her arc is to stop letting other people manipulate her and her life, I guess? That's why Heather Chandler becomes almost more popular in death. There are plenty of things that the musical has to leave out as a result. Chandler despises what she feels like she has to do to maintain her image at the college party, showing that even she isn't free of the system. Eating disorders are often the result of a loss of power, and in order to be popular, Duke had to sacrifice her autonomy to Chandler - when Chandler dies, Duke is no longer bulimic. J.D. criticizes the father for the line "I love my dead, gay son," because he would have hated his alive, gay son. The musical does everything it can to re-contextualize old events into the new narrative, but things like Duke's bulimia and the Act 2 opener are odd artifacts, representing the overall change. "That school was society," completely falls flat in the musical because that's not what it's about. The TL;DR is that the change in theme makes it difficult to talk about the differences, because in my experience, most people (myself included, usually) aren't examining the themes of their media. A couple random notes: While most of the changes are done to alter the themes or facilitate the change in medium, combining Betty and Martha was just an all-around amazing choice. Martha's "Big Fun" shirt is for the fictional band who write the in-universe song "Teenage Suicide, Don't Do It," and one of my biggest gripes with the musical is that that song isn't the Act 2 opener instead of "I Love My Dead, Gay Son." I really liked the video and the format. Can't wait for the next one! I just can't figure out if I want to put a vote towards Waitress, Beetlejuice, School of Rock, something by Starkid, (please imagine that I'm trailing off)...
Hey thanks for sharing, so interesting all of this. Definitely hadn’t considered the fact that the themes are just completely different between the two. Makes a lot of sense why some things felt a bit off xx
I think the showing scene was to showcase Veronica's first s*lf-harm instance due to how intense her emotions were, since the water was boiling hot, followed after by her sticking the car lighter into her skin Anyway, great video, it's amazing to see there is still content about this musical I love so much
I mean I love both the movie and musical but I do prefer the movie more. My reason is kinda just because I like the actors more and I like how evil and irredeemable the characters are in the movie (which in my opinion makes them more interesting because like why?) compared to the musical who made some the characters more relatable than just an edgy school shooter bad boy. But again, both are still amazing and I love heathers with all my heart.
I feel like the fact that changing veronica to no longer be popular makes so little sense that they need to make her popular again within literally ten minutes should be a point to the movie
Who is your favourite Heather? My scrunchie reveals mine 💛
@XOlviX607 oooh really? Why do you like her the most?
Heather chandler
I can't decide between 💚 and 💛
I prefer their portrayals in the movie, personally, even if I generally like the musical better.
Heather Duke for sure
Heather Chandler ❤️
One thing you've gotta understand about Heathers, mostly the movie, is that it was never supposed to be realistic or plausible. It's NOT a teen rom-com, it's a parody of teen movies. It's exaggerated, strange and surreal on purpose. The Heathers are an exaggerated version of the popular girl archetype, and JD is an exaggerated version of the bad boy archetype.
I think that Veronica starting out as a Heather makes for a stronger characterization (in the movie’s context), she’s not exactly meant to be a good person so it makes sense that the approach is showing her at her worst so when she does make right choices further in the narrative it comes off as character growth
V interesting 🤔
Contrariwise I like how the musical leads off with Veronica stating "I believe I'm a good person" and eatablishing her as the brainy girl sick of high school politics, to win audience sympathy, and then immediately shows how she's NOT a good person and NOT above it all.
@@bitwize This became a long ass ramble sorry lmao
I rlly love both tbh, Veronica manages to be way more relatable and light hearted in the musical which builds up to the murders, her choices and character shifts in a very interesting and different way than in the movie. I reasonate more with her movie version because this super cynical, edgy and kind of stuck up her own ass personality seems (to me) to be more fit for the kind of story Heathers is, but in the musical adaptation making her more of a awkward girl who thinks she’s in some sort of moral high ground also works very well
I think my only issue with the musical approach is that though Veronica isn’t as much of a good person as she thinks she is it ends up falling a bit flat because her “niceness” and excuses shield her from blame a bit too well, which isn’t really a problem but I feel like they could have shown her hypocrisy and lack of empathy more blatantly instead of just telling us (stuff like having her say she doesn’t really feel bad for killing Chandler instead of just having her not care). In a way I think the writers went out of their way to make Veronica more excusable in her actions but maybe that’s more about how I interpreted it lmao
i prefer the movie for reasons a lot of people prefer the musical, which is that i like how everyone in the movie is more messed up and youre not supposed to really feel bad for anyone (besides martha. poor martha). i love how jd is just entirely inexcusable as a person in contrast to how hes actually SOMEWHAT justified for being the way he is in the musical
in the musical everyone and everything is more softened and humanized in a way which i understand and i think makes sense for a musical from 2014 so i get why people prefer it
to me i just also love the scenes in the movie more (veronica and jd killing kurt/ram, the college party, the cigarette-mouth thing, veronica being already part of the clique etc)
of course the jokes didnt really age well but i think they do have their charm at the same time.. like the mineral water being the reason the cops believe kurt and ram were gay??? hilarious to me
that all being said the musical has some amazing songs. dead girl walking AND the reprise both go crazy. in the reprise at the end where the others sing and it just escalates until the gunshot goes off.. TOO GOOD
Yes, the soundtrack of the musical is actually out of this world!
Personally, the softened and humanized characters of Broadway interpretations is what I love about them. I like being able to analyze things psychologically, and Broadway gives characters layers that I love. I can see why you would prefer the film, but I often find myself leaning towards the Broadway adaptations of existing works
I'm the same, mostly for Veronica. I think it diminishes the character that she doesn't shot Ram, it took away some complexity from her.
Don't forget feeling bad for poor Betty finn....
thank you so much i agree
If you like plot holes, unnecessary gore, and the Velma TV show then you will LOVE the Heathers TV show
Hahaha, weeeeell I’ll save it for when I’m in a hate watch mood then 😅
@@annevanderelst247 you do that queen
Man I have a lot of thoughts about that show
THERE'S A HEATHER'S TV SHOW?
@@galenavangif you could even consider it that. it's abt the heathers being "woke" in modern day and veronica is straight white and kind of conservative and so is JD. after the first episode it derails off the original plot even more and is basically it's own shitty show
More than just Martha's shirt, Big Fun was actually a pop band in the film. They are the band H. Duke had the school sign the petition over. (I would say their hit song, but it uses the no-no word, followed by "don't do it")
Oooh, I didn’t clock that! How cool 😎
fun fact! their song (''no-no word, don't do it'') was a parody of the queens song ''don't try no-no word''! They couldn't use the actual song (like they couldn't use the original voice for the opening number ''que se ra, se ra'') so they remade it!
yup and McNamara has a poster for them when she calls the radioshow
Listen, listen, cause I can't let you badmouth one of the best scenes in the movie.
The cigarette scene is one of my favorite scenes because it has a lot of meaning when you view the movie in its entirety. It directly parallels JD's death scene where Veronica lights herself a cigarette with the blow of the explosion. So in both scenes, they light up their cigarette with a wound inflicted on the other. In the first scene, it's showing us how JD doesn't actually care for Veronica in the slightest (if you still had any doubts) and in the second, it's Veronica taking control back, showing us she's completely free, and giving JD a taste of his own medicine.
I think that effect was rendered very well in the musical, where instead of the cigarette scene they have a small reprise of Our Love Is God. The first time JD sings that song, it's purely to manipulate Veronica into doing what he wants, and the second, he's just begging for her to love him again as he dies. The first time, JD repeats the line 'Our Love Is God' over, and over, and over, until Veronica finally joins in - and in the second, he repeats it four times hoping she'll echo him, but this time Veronica resists. Instead, she says 'Say hi to God'. She wishes for him to go to heaven, but she doesn't return his love anymore. Absolutely brilliant imo
Ooooh I'm loving this!
"purely to manipulate Veronica" implies that, in the musical, he didn't love her at all. Which I think it's not true because he is slightly different in the musical compared to the movie. He was still manipulating her, but there was truth to what he was singing.
@@yay29823well, yeah, you're right in a way, i do believe that JD at the very least believed he loved veronica. although in my interpretation he was also unconsciously using veronica as an excuse to kill people - he didn't do it for her, he did it because killing made him feel powerful and he needed a reason to do it. but i do agree that in our love is god, he probably believes a lot of what he says
@@phiikichi Oh, he was definitely using her as an excuse!
"But you're still using me to justify the harm you do!"
@@yay29823 yeah, I think that's what makes me like musical JD so much ^^ not even he knows how much of a monster he's become
I personally think the movie and musical aren't really comparable as they have two different purposes, one is to make a statement and the other is to entertain. Though I do prefer the musical the movie tells a better story
I was completely sure the "make a statement" you were referring to was the musical, and the "entertain" one was the movie until the last bit. (I haven't watched the movie, so I'm not disagreeing with you, I just assumed based on what I've gathered from the clips)
@@yay29823As a person who has seen both, I wholeheartedly believe the *movie* is the one that makes a statement. The later musical is more for entertainment and is a lot more upbeat compared to the cynical and darker movie that it's based on.
I'm assuming that since you haven't seen the movie (which you should because it's good and I still can't forgive the musical for cutting out several good scenes) you probably don't know it's supposed to be *satire* on several aspects of teenage life at the time (the movie was made in the 80s).
Basically Heathers (not the musical but the original) focuses on several heavy topics (now you have to watch the movie several times to catch all the themes and messages, I'm sure I still don't have them all) such as:
Abusive/toxic/unhealthy relationships and leaving them. (Unlike the musical which heavily romanticized JD/Veronica even after the murders. The movie makes it clear that there's no “I can fix him” with people like JD and that relationships like that don't get better with time: they will only do more damage and hurt. Although I am glad the musical later added the song “I say no” )
Manipulation (JD's bts acts of manipulation of the student body through manipulating Heather Duke to get what he wants and also JD'S manipulation of Veronica to get what he wants) and also dubiously consensual “intimacy “ (some scenes actually show people being pushed/forced into intimate and sexual acts)
(attempted) School massacres/threats/violence (i.e JD's fake shooting in cafeteria and his attempted bombing scenes). Also remember this movie is from the 80s, before school shootings became more frequent so it was ahead of its time.
Depression and spiraling mental health.
Suicide epidemics especially amoung teenagers.
The two facedness of almost everyone (e.g cafeteria survey and Heather Chandler's funeral scenes).
Guilt and self harm (e.g Veronica's locker room scene, Veronica harming herself with the car lighter scene, and the crying girl at Kurt and Ram's funeral).
the bullying cycle and the *gradual* damage to its victims (e.g Martha and Heather C attempting suicide because of bullying and ostracization) .
Societies’ reaction to Teen suicide aka the glorification and neglection of teenage suicide and mental health. Adults and other peers only “care” about teens once they die and not necessarily for the right reasons (e.g Heather Chandler's funeral, suicide note passing in class scene, yearbook scene, and hand holding in cafeteria for the cameras scene) while simultaneously neglecting the actual needs of suffering adolescents (e.g Martha humiliated in the cafeteria scene, “Poor Heather (M)” in class scene, and rumors spread about Veronica scene).
Meanwhile the musical tries to tackle some of these themes (some more successfully than others), the musical often distracts from the original’s themes with fun songs, overly sympathetic characters ( cough musical JD cough ), removing 90% of the schools fakeness/two facedness, briefly mentioning only SOME of the Heathers’ struggles (still am not for giving the musical for that), removing most of Veronica’s guilt scenes which stunts her development a bit, ending where everyone suddenly gets along through song and is happy (honestly I find the movie ending to be more plausible where Veronica only starts to make changes, as again change doesn't happen that easily, first by mending the damage done by befriending the friendless and recovering Martha), *removing Heather's Duke character arc/spiral from sweet but struggling girl into the new mean head of the school* (like why'd the musical have to do my girl Duke dirty like that), removing JD's behind the scenes manipulation with the school’s status, and changing and cutting out pieces of Veronica’s character development arc from the original.
Now don't get me wrong: I love the musical, but I'm not always happy with its changes. I'm sure I could dive deeper into this but this comment is already too long and I need a break.
Sorry for any grammar mistakes and have a good day
Hmm that's interesting. I feel like the musical story is way more fleshed out, like way more, and in a way tells a much better story. Whereas the movie just goes straight into everything and there isn't much depth to the characters.
saki pfp spotted
@@luna-mo3ol With all due respect I disagree:
As a person who has seen both, the musical seems more of a simplification and tone down of the movie and its themes. Like it literally cuts out several important scenes, characters and character personalities, and satire/messages. Like seriously musical:
What happened to the themes of two facedness in response to bad teenage mental health? (Like why did the musical have to cut out the two funerals? The funerals were important scenes especially for Veronica’s character development. Instead Chandlers’ funeral is cut out and Kurt and Ram's funeral scene is replaced by an unnecessary [to the plot] filler song based on one line.)
What happened to the individuality of the background students [the movie background students had personalities and some provide important interactions with the main characters like Peter, Betty, and courtney; the musical background students feel like they're just grouped together as one with a few funny lines here and there. Those background characters used to have names and personalities]?
What happened to dealing with the dealing of guilt in unhealthy ways (i.e the shower scene, cigarette burning scene, and all the wake/funeral scenes)? Veronica's journey with trauma and guilt is important to her character but those scenes are instead cut out and replaced by ghost Chandler.
What happened to the themes of toxic and unhealthy relationships and escaping them? Toxic and unhealthy relationships are very important to Heather's story. Instead they tried to make musical JD too sympathetic (even during the final songs), despite him still being a bad/toxic person. He still tricks Veronica into murdering her classmates and gaslights her and he knew what he was doing; so why are we supposed to root for them to be together??
Also WTF is up with musical Heather D's character, aka her non-existent character arc ? Movie Heather Duke had a reasonably slow character arc from sympathetic shy girl to cruel mean girl. Musical Heather Duke takes power almost immediately after Chandler’s death and is perfectly described by Veronica as has “...no discernible personality”.
Also I have a slight issue with musical Veronica's "development”? But I'm not going to bother writing an entire new essay on that so I won't bother talking about it.
And wth is with the unrealistic musical ending where everything and one in the school is fixed and getting alone in 3 mins? The movie acknowledged that change only happens gradually (I.e Duke's power climb) NOT instantaneously. The movie had a perfect ending where Veronica starts making better changes by starting with the one person who had been lonely, bullied and was depressed because of it for most of her life (instead musical practically mashes her character with Betty Finn, makes her k*ll herself mostly because she misses Ram [like wtf?!] instead of her movie character’s actual mental health issues, and calls it a day).
Basically the musical is somehow 30 mins longer than the movie and yet cuts out so many important details).
EDIT: I don't have the energy to review and edit all this now so this is only a rough copy
dont remember the timestamp, but its when you pointed out how duke's bulimia was suddenly cured. but a lot of people with bulimia eat from stress, and chandler's death was probably causing her stress.
I actually think it's the absence of Chandler that makes Duke relax more and let go of her controlling eating behaviours!
I always thought it was because chandler was basically forcing her to throw up food so that she wouldn’t gain weight or something and after she dies, duke no longer has to conform to chandler’s standards and demands.
In defense of the scene where Heather Duke eats the chicken wing ( 9:07), I don't view it as her bulimia going away but rather I view it as a binging episode; bulimia is comprised of both purging, which we see earlier in the film where her bulimia is first mentioned, and binging, which we see in this scene. Most people point to the dialogue and the fact that she quite literally says "fuck it" as evidence that she's dropping her eating disorder but as someone with bulimia myself I can absolutely confirm I have that sort of "fuck it" mentality when I'm binging or eating something I shouldn't, only to regret it later. Because we don't see the regret/purging afterwards I think its easy to believe she's just lost her eating disorder but I think its watering her condition down to say she just doesn't have bulimia anymore.
At 18:30 you asked how Veronica got a gun - I think it’s one of the guns they used to kill Kurt and Ram! JD had two guns and gave her one for that scene and we never saw her give it back to him, so it could be that she’d left it in her car after they killed Kurt and Ram and then grabbed it before she went into the school.
Ooooh yes good point!
Actually, JD leaves it on her bed before he leaves her room when her mom is coming upstairs! Tiny detail, but I’ve seen the movie SO many times it’s burned into my brain lmao
I love that musical, especially the version where Jamie Muscato plays JD (there’s a nice little slime tutorial on RUclips I’m pretty sure) because his JD solos (especially Freeze your brain) hit so hard. He makes JD look psychopathic through and through. Also it has, imo, the best Heathers Chandler with Jodie Steele.
I'll always be an off-broadway rather than west end girl, but man Jamie Muscato's JD is out of this world. He's the scariest JD I've seen, and that says a lot lol
He's my favorite JD!
His JD is incredible.
But Ryan McCartan😩
@@ACBarrelRacer7142I love Ryan 😭 but tbh I think Ryan has the better voice, but Jamie had better acting. Then again it's kinda hard to compare the acting cuz there's literally no recording of Ryan anywhere😭😭
Did you skip talking about the differences in the scene where Veronica goes to a college party with Heather Chandler or did I just miss that part? I really love how we get a glimpse of Heather C's internal conflict in that moment--especially when she spits on her reflection in the bathroom mirror, and I miss that subtlety and humanity in her portrayal in the musical.
No I do talk about the different parties! And you are so right, Chandler spitting on her reflection is an excellent moment. X
I think the musical did not do Heather Chandler justice with skipping these scenes. I love the movie and really enjoyed the musical but I feel like they really simplified Heather C and D into pure evils so they had more time to flesh out the other characters and part of what made the movie great was that none of the heathers were evil. They are mean and crappy to people around them and vindictive and lots of other things but they are also still vulnerable and still teenagers!
I like the movie more because the story was never about true love or killing for love. It was about a psychopathic killer Veronica was corrupted by. The musical was going for a more 'romance' approach, with him sacrificing himself. But not gonna lie, I don't like that they changed the meaning. I also don't like how they tried to make JD a better person. He was never a good kid, and with a father that killed potentially thousands I don't think JD would just say "I'm a bad person because my mom died! That's why I tried to kill an entire school!"
I don't think the musical excuses JD's actions, though. HE believes his mom's death to be an excuse, up until the turning point Veronica does too, which explains why she stayed with him for so long despite what he's done. Nevertheless, the audience still knows he's a horrible person.
@@meridaskywalker7816true. But I still think they got the romance part wrong and softened JD's character.
Few issues (warning sarcasm is used. I'm also not pretending I know more than you about the movie, it's just you need to rewatch the movie several times to understand what it's really saying, which I'm not faulting anyone for if they didn't, because even I have probably missed a few things) :
9:35 The shower scene was meant to portray Veronica trying to wash away the guilt of killing Heather Chandler. The other Heathers don't really care that she's gone (*Two facedness is a very important theme in the movie as both adults and peers only “care” about depressed teens once they are gone, neglecting those who are struggling at the same time [e.g Heather D at the beginning, Heather M later, and Martha*) and start taking care of Heather C’s remaining precious belongings: one of which they give her. Several times in the film Veronica is haunted by guilt (like when she laughs at Kurt and Ram's funeral but then sees one of their younger sisters looking back and crying) and tries to relieve herself of it (like burning herself with the car lighter). The shower scene isn't meant to be sexualization, it's meant to show Veronica's development from indifferent to guilty to caring.
11:45 This scene is important, it again highlights the two facedness of the other students. How they only pretend to care or briefly do, while on the outside pretending to be sad. Veronica also again deals with her guilt again by praying to God and trying to rationalize her part in Heather's death, but knows it no use (“but who am I kidding”)
12:01 its Kurt and Ram who start and spread the rumors about Veronica in both movie and musical, Courtney and musical Heather D clearly state this (Movie: “Ram and Kurt have been…” from that one boy and “Ram and Kurt were very descriptive” from Courtney/”But I heard from the boys
What you were up to last night” from musical Heather D... The movie quotes are just based off memory because I don't have the dialogue memorize… yet)
12:53 once again it is to show Veronica’s guilt, but also to show how unhealthy JD really is as he doesn't truly care about her and even gaslights (is that the right word??) her that she wanted Kurt and ram dead. JD isn't a good or justifiable person (which is why I hate that the musical made him too sympathetic, yes he is more human but in a way that it overshadows how he still is a manipulative murderer). It's not to be edgy but to remind us that this is a toxic relationship where he tricks her into being his accomplice for murdering her classmates
13:54 "Our love is God. Let's go get a slushie" obviously became a song (still bitter they cut out the slushie part! Is it not "romantic enough" for you, musical?! It's junk food, I would literally swoon if someone said that to me [unless I knew later they would plan the murder of two of my classmates])
14:05 I agree it's a filler song but it actually takes away a much more important scene to the plot. As mentioned earlier in the movie Kurt or Ram have a little sister who turns to Veronica crying, making Veronica more guilty as he little girl heard her laugh after JD made a dark joke that the parents realistically wouldn't have really been too happy with an alive gay son ("a son with a limp wrist and a pulse") once again a tie into the “only care when the teens are dead” message. While I agree it's nice to be supportive, you're forgetting that this was set the 80s and also the movie actually makes an point about the homophobia. And realistically everyone wouldn't suddenly get along and be supportive because of a song.
15:09 this is my opinion but I don't really like 17 that much because by then it's clear that JD manipulated her into murder (with Heather C Veronica didn't know JD knew she grabbed the wrong cup and didn't say anything and thought she had just accidentally mixed them up and it was her fault), yet musical Veronica still gives him a second chance... It's also kinda romanticizing an unhealthy relationship (because JD in the musical is our sweet misguided baby boy - who is a bit homicidal but that's a minor flaw-- who just needs love)
18:31 someone made a comment about where she got the gun so I won't repeat it.
Finally the ending: imo the movie ending is more realistic/makes more sense and is nicer. No “everyone is suddenly okay and happy” song but a changed Veronica determined to right her, JD's, and the Heathers’ wrong; starting with befriending the friendless girl who has been one of the most affected by them. It's simple, it's sweet, and it's just the first step. Veronica's first change as “new sheriff” is being there for Martha, a girl she doesn't know. The change to Westerburg is not all rushed and shoved into a song, because realistically it would take time.
I believe it's better this way that Veronica wasn't initially Martha's friend, because it ties in with Veronica's arc that she slowly begin caring for others. Not just the people close to her, but the innocents caught in the crossfire and didn't deserve the pain it brought (like the little girl and Martha) *****
***** Edit: I need to add and change a few things here and there, but I have to get up in 5 hours so I'll polish this up later. Don't judge this mess for how it is currently, I just don't have time rn.
AGREED - can’t believe I read all that tbh 😂
The one place I'll disagree is that I'm Team JD on the Kurt and Ram murders. Veronica knew. They'd already "accidentally" killed someone and she chooses to go ahead with this scheme? The movie even has her say the line "so it'll look like they've been shot and killed, but really they'll just be lying there, unconscious and bleeding?" Which sounds CRAZY and obvious when you say it out loud. And then to top it all off, she DOES kill Kurt. So yeah, I'm basically with JD on "you believed it because you wanted to believe it". Only a moron would've gone along with that plot without suspicions, and we know Veronica's not a moron.
My excitement died the second you said you were using the west end version as reference 😭😭😭 (cool video nonetheless, but the off broadway version is superior lol)
Haha sorry!
Completely disagree, I LOVE the soundtrack for the off broadway but ….. the slime tut I watched for it I couldn’t get into , I adore Barrett and the rest of the cast but the JD (Dan in that ST ) I couldn’t ‘connect’ to him , and I got bored of him pretty quickly. But tbh I don’t even like the OG west end soundtrack really apart from I say no, your welcome as for some reason Jamie gives me the ick . Honestly now that I think about it , the only JD’s I like are Simon (I would die for that man 😂 ) and Ryan who is ovi the OG and you can’t beat him!
But they have the best JD!
@@nanalove3819 which does?
@@Heathersproshotedits1989 Jamie Muscato
Here’s the thing, I love Heathers and the music slaps, but, unfortunately, you can’t really make a Heathers adaptation now in a post-columbine world without losing the essence of the message. What made Heathers daring was that it was a response to the john Hughes style of portraying high school. And even worse, when the musical tried to make JD into a more sympathetic character, those changes made the message muddy. It’s an ick I have about the musical that will never go away as someone who’s had the Heathers movie as a special interest for about 4-5 years now. The point of JD was to show what happens when mental health goes neglected to the point of psychosis. He goes into (at least from what I can tell) a psychosis brought on by the reaction the school had to Heather C’s death. This is most exemplified in the scene where JD suggests a date of mini golf to Veronica and she responds by suggesting the off Heather D next. This response, along with the response of the school, proves to JD (in his very ill state of mind) that he is doing the right thing. JD genuinely has a disconnect with reality and believes hes doing good. The audience is grounded back to reality when we see a shot of Rams little sister mourning her brother right after JD makes a joke about how the parents would react if their son had been disabled. JD is in his own reality, while the camera shows us the guilt on Veronicas face, confirming that even though Kurt and Ram being dead might seem positive, they are also have family that will grieve the loss. The big difference is that in the movie, this is used to explain and help people understand, whereas in the musical, hes made into a bit of a “troubled teen boy that needs saving” type of character which is not the point of his character at all. He is a sick man, thats why he attaches the bomb to himself. What happens to someone in a state of disconnect from reality, they self-destruct. And he does that, literally. Also, I find it important to mention that there’s a very good reason Veronica didn’t start off as friends with Martha. The musical made Martha very akin to Betty Finns character, which defeats the purpose of Veronicas final decision in the movie. Her decision represents her seeing past and rejecting the social order, which Betty Finn respects. If Martha acts like Betty Finn ( which she does in the musical), then Veronicas takeaway from the events of the story becomes less nihilistic and more palatable. The exact thing which Heathers was criticizing. Heathers needs to be nihilistic, edgy, unpalatable, and thought provoking. Not to say the musical isn’t, but at least for me, the magic of a cult classic gets lost when the goal becomes how to make it more appealing (whether that be for a stage adaptation or in general). Anyways, I could write a whole thesis paper about Heathers but im just gonna stop now. The point is: JD is a sick man with a disconnect from reality, not a “smoll bean”( and im not saying thats what hes thought of as its just the musical tries to make him more sympathetic which ends up taking away the power to his character and how he fits thematically into the rest of the story).
Thanks for sharing! Very interesting 🤔
this is exactly what i think about jd too, I couldn't think of the way to describe it so thank you! while I love both the musical and movie so much I think that the movie did at least the characters better. heathers (in my opinion) should not have the happy ending that the musical gives. its a movie about fucked up people doing fucked up things.
i think Martha works so much better in the movie too, for the reasons you said and also I hated that in the musical her character basically revolved around wanting a guy who relentlessly bullied her almost all her life! like come on give her a bit of self respect. her suicide attempt being because she wanted to be in heaven with said guy and not because she was a girl bullied about her weight so much that she felt that was her only option was such a bad decision to make.
@@feel_bad_inc YESSSSS!! Exactly! It needs to end on a nihilistic note in order for the story to make a complete arc as it’s one of the main themes throughout the movie! Another thing that I think the musical kinda missed is that it’s ok for a story to be like that and it doesn’t have to end on a good note. It just needs to conclude in a way that makes sense (it doesn’t even have to resolve in a traditional way, ambiguous endings have their purpose too). That’s why some of the greatest stories ever told are tragedies (think Macbeth or Romeo and Juliet), because thats what completes the story arc. Also, another thing that I think is worth mentioning about the movies ending is that importance of the blues rendition of “Que sera sera” that plays while Veronica walks off with Martha. The movie starts with the original version, which sounds very refined and high class, reflecting Veronicas position with the Heathers and the rigid conformity they adhere to and promote. While the blues rendition at the end reflects the wisdom gained from the trauma of the events of the movie. It’s a swing beat, emphasizing the shift in Veronicas point of view and her rejection of what she conformed to at the start of the movie. Another important thing about this rendition is that it’s put into a blues style, a style of music created to help ease suffering. And then finally, the lyrics themselves. Since there’s not a lot going on on the screen during the ending rendition, the audience is forced to pay attention to the lyrics and how they relate to the story just consumed. Also, I agree about how they should have kept Marthas backbone. As I said, she was combined with Betty Finn in the musical which doesn’t do her any justice because the characters represented completely different things (Betty accepts social hierarchy while Martha is forced to reject it entirely because of how poorly she’s treated and ostracized).
@@lachlainegordon806 couldn’t have said it better myself! As much as i love the musical i just think the movie writers knew exactly what they were doing, and executed it so much better. whenever i watch/listen to the musical i tend to to stop once i get to the seventeen reprise 😅
Excellent response. This is why I prefer the movie (also the musical "plays for laughs" some crucial moments--compare Heather M's suicide attempts). SMALL CORRECTION: You mention that "JD makes a joke about how the parents would react if their son had been disabled." In the joke you speak of, JD wonders how the dad would react if his son "had a limp wrist with a pulse." Being "limp-wristed" isn't about being disabled, it's actually a reference to a homosexual stereotype (gay men being seen as more effeminate). So JD is responding to the dad saying "I love my dead gay son" by saying "He wouldn't express this level of love for his son if his son was alive and came out as gay." So JD is actually making a fair point about the homophobia and double standards of the society around him, BUT that's not the point. As you point out so well, even though JD is "right" about some of the ways that society is screwed up, him cracking the joke in the face of the raw grief of the little sister shows how disconnected from reality he is. The movie is a MASTERPIECE because of those beautiful humanizing moments that show you that even when JD is right, he's wrong.
The bathroom party scene with Heather C is another one of those beautiful humanizing moments. It shows that even though Heather C is cruel and hurts people with her power, she is also victimized by the same power structures she uses to hurt others. Heather C is not what's wrong with the world, and murdering people like her and the jocks is not addressing the root of the problem. Those three clips--Heather C spitting water at her reflection, Kurt/Ram's sister's grief in contrast to JDs out of touch joke, and Heather M's suicide attempt--are probably my favorite in the whole movie.
7:24 in the off-Broadway version, Veronica also has the monicle, just for one scene!
Oh really? I love that!
@@annevanderelst247 I have liked many different incarnations of the musical, but the original with Barrett Wilbert Weed remains the best. As for comparisons with the movie (and yes I was alive in the 80s) I find they are going for two different tones. The original is more committed to the dark satire, but I'm not sure I'd hold one above the other for that.
In the movie JD said "We could have toasted marshmallows together" to "dead" Veronica - in musical he sings "We’ll watch the smoke poor out the doors, bring marshmallows, we’ll make s’mores!"
The movie made JD that dark because he was supposed to be a parody of the “dark and broody rebel” boyfriend character.
He’s callus, he’s murderous. I like movie JD more because you’re not supposed to root for their love, you’re supposed to root for Veronica. Veronica defeats her self-image, she makes good friends, she shots, stabs, and kills the boy who manipulated her.
It’s a triumphant end in the movie too.
Veronica's nightmare chorus chants "Very, very, very..." which keys off of "How very."
There was a rewrite between off-Broadway and UK. The original did have Veronica pretending to hang herself which JD believes then her mom walks in screaming and she has to be like "mom I'm okay stop screaming!' Instead of "You're Welcome" Ram and Curt sing "Blue" about their blue balls which is funnier and less backhandedly spelling out why they are bad. I did appreciate the addition of a Heather Duke song when she takes over. They also added an unnecessary late solo ballad for Veronica just to underline _again_ that she's not a bad person.
And I totally agree that Veronica should just temporarily forget about her BFF and want to be popular. it's okay for her to temporarily decide to abandon her friend. Veronica wants someone to protect her, JD, and to be popular and like she one-lines "our job is being popular" which is true - she's moving in the management hierarchy and her friend doesn't fit into either of her early decisions. It makes a better scene when she changes her mind later when she decides to protect her since Veronica _does_ remember what it is to be bullied - it's a better character arc.
The UK does also have Veronica pretend hang herself actually! That plot point didn't change at all or they would have had to change the end of Meant to be Yours ^^
I love Heathers the Musical, and it was actually my introduction to the movie way back when I was in high school, but GOD I love that movie!!! It quickly became my favourite and most watched film of my adult life, there's just something about it that I fell in love with and I can't really explain it lol. Tbh I think the musical is too soft -- which makes sense because it has to fit the bounds of musical theatre. And you have to remember that the movie was made in the '80s so a lot of the things that happen are a product of their time, for example not outright saying they support LGBT+ (although for the '80s I'd say the movie wasn't too bad on this front). Either way, loved the video, keep them coming!!
The film definitely has something intriguing about it, so I understand the obsession! ☺️
“I’m using the 2022 filmed version” what did J.D ever do to you
Unspeakable things
@@annevanderelst247I mean simon Gordon is hot so fair enough
13:26 its actully the "big fun" comes from the band who made "Teenage suidce" that was populer in the movie
Yes some one else pointed this out as well, I completely missed that! The t shirt must have been band merch
I always found it sad that in the movie while Veronica avoided the collage dudes advance, heather was basically asulted and forced to do what her college guy wanted. It always made that whole situation sad from their argument to heathers death.
Exactly. Heather Chandler just came from being sexually pressured into something she didn't want to do, only to find Veronica out there refusing to do the same and (from Heather's pov), basically saying "i'm better than that and better than you". Her frustration at Veronica not following the "rules" the rest of them felt forced to is a constant undercurrent in that scene.
Pretty sure JD tricked Veronica into thinking it wasn't a real gun when they were going to shoot Kurt and Ram
He tricked her into thinking the bullets were fake. The whole "Ich Luge" spiel of how they were just tranquilizers meant to look like real bullets.
I feel like you missed the point of the scene around “Lifeboat”. Like so the teacher is encouraging these kids to open up, not because she cares about them, but because it makes her feel important and less guilty. But she clearly didn’t expect any of them to have real issues nor was she prepared to actually help any of them. As seen by the way she just like dips when McNamara opens up about the pressures and anxiety she feels. Also I don’t think that song is about being suicidal (I could be wrong) but it’s about all the pressure she feels to stay popular because it’s such a precarious position. Which Duke proves immediately by turning their peers against her. Duke is absolutely obsessed with being popular and uses this opportunity to completely take McNamara (a possible competitor for Duke’s new Queen Bee status) down when she was weak. And everyone joins in with Duke because of the fear that if they don’t they will be the next one kicked off the “Lifeboat”.
Veronica always had a sh thing going. It wasn't just the cig lighter but also at the party she tried to but got scared dropping it into her glass
Oooh, I didn't make that connection! Interesting
This is a situation where I actually can’t choose, I love them both equally 😭😭
Haha, it’s like choosing between your children 😅
I feel like Heathers, Movie and Musical are both good as stand alone pieces, but best as companion pieces. If a person has seen both in some way they get a better experience from both. While one might do certain things better than others, I think they work off each other so well that a fan is well serviced watching and enjoying both.
Yes definitely agree!
9:01
Not only drama but well done because we can see a magazine titled “The Fall of the American Teen” not sure if it’s its intentional or not, but if it is that’s so good
Oooh well spotted! Definitely intentional!
I love how the musical gets 17 points when it has a song called seventeen (which is a banger)
Woooow, didn’t even realise this 🤯
Heathers content in 2024????! Count me in!!
I got you, babe
point for the film for the funeral scene !! it was so iconic I loved it
3 things: 1. Merging Betty Finn and Martha into the same character ruins aspects of the plot and Martha’s character (and has a better impact at the end in the movie). When JD is blackmailing heather duke for being friends with Martha years ago, it doesn’t make sense for that to be a serious threat if they literally just let Martha’s more recent bestie to join the heathers. Also Martha is supposed to be a complete social reject (hence suicidal), whereas although she wasn’t popular, Veronica still had a social life before joining the heathers. The ending when Veronica becomes friends with Martha at the end is so much more meaningful and satisfying, especially since she never really stopped being friends with betty, she just spent less time with her. It would mean candy store would be changed slightly but it could easily be recontextualised to be about betty instead and would still be a banger.
2. I agree Veronica becoming a heather in the musical is way too quick and doesn’t really make sense but I love that being how/why the heathers became interested in recruiting her into their clique.
And 3. I actually love the characters being more messy and bad in the movies than their softer film counterparts, they’re more fun.
The Broadway version of the show is actually fairly different from the West End version. I never knew! His motive in the Broadway version is more similar to the movie. Interesting right? I knew they changed the song Blue to a newer song, but I didn't realize they changed the script too
Ooooh ok, I didn’t realise this either!
Wait, there’s no blue in the West End?
OMG I always want an analysis video about different versions between movie and musical heathers and i finally got one which was way too awesome, what a suprise!
Yay, happy you liked it! xx
You imitating jd is hilarious 😂
🤓
I love your channel so much. I watched your mean girls video and absolutely love these comparisons
Thank you so much for your support! Honestly means the world to me ❤️
Veronica in the movie actually has JD's gun! He left the gun behind while hurrying out the window after he saw Veronica "dead" and heard her mom coming. In the musical JD doesn't bring a gun at all so Veronica attacks him with the stick
Oooh nice catch!
In the film JD tells a joke to Veronica at Kurt and Ram's funeral and after Veronica laughs at it she is noticed by Kurts younger sister who looks disappointed and sad, which makes Veronica feel bad and it's better because she sees that her and JD are hurting people.
I also hate how the whole part of the father saying "I love my dead gay son" was turned into a song. It feels wrong and takes the attention off the main topic off the deaths of Kurt and Ram and onto something that wasn't even important up to that point, this also takes away from the point of Veronica realising she's doing a very bad thing
Actually, there's another scene in the musical where she realizes this. The scene where she's singing to her diary, and reflects on the deaths of kurt, ram, and heather c. She definitely learned what she's doing wrong, just not then and there
@@reinamishimanumber1fan Tbh the only thing I remember from it was candy store and dead girl walking
@@Leon.K69 oh
18:30 - wasn't it actually his gun he put away for a moment?
I personally love the movie better, as its so iconic, and shaped my personality.
Yeah it's undeniably iconic! x
@@annevanderelst247 i know! i keep re watching it because its a cult classic, and chaotic, but chaos is what killed the dinosaurs!
I love JD's death in the movie far more than in the musical, I'm sorry it didn't seem to have much of an impact on you. With the movie, it's all in the subtle implications. JD recovered alone in the boiler room, he had every opportunity to restart the bomb there and carry out his plan. He instead chose to kill himself because Veronica had earned his respect by challenging his method of curing society. He understood that although he was a lost cause, although he had tried to destroy their world and failed, Veronica might just be able to build it into something new.
"Pretend I did blow up the school. All the schools. Now that you're dead, what are you going to do with your life?"
Such a great line and perfect callback to Chandler's lunchtime poll. JD was the alien that came to blow up the world, the world was their high school. Every student answered the poll question with self-centred motivations on how they'd spend their money. Nobody said "I would try and stop the alien". Movie JD was clever, suave and powerful right up until the end because that's what he represented, he was supposed to be an inevitable destructive force; except he wasn't inevitable, all the violence wasn't inevitable and Veronica proved that playing by her own rules could make it so she'd never have to resort to his way again.
Musical JD died as a tragic, doomed lover. Movie JD died as an enemy force that decided to lay down their weapons grudgingly but respectfully. Whichever you prefer is a matter of interest, but I much prefer the latter.
I definitely prefer movie JD's death as it was actually a part of the movies message but musical jd's work because it's a sappier version which is also fine, especially since it's a musical it's all about that motivation so digging into more of his feelings is expected.
But preferably I'm a sucker for story telling so sending a message with a great ending gets me ofc!
@@ohwowitsme8548 Honestly, agree to disagree here. I'm more into story telling as well, and i do think that his death scene is well done, but i think a lot of the poor pacing and odd writing choices were what not made this scene work for me. What a lot of people seem to misunderstand about the musical is that JD was most certainly not a tragic, doomed lover. He was also a psychopath, and Veronica knew this. Before JD dies after he says, "our love is god", veronica doesn't say it back to him. This IS an example of character growth, and the propelling of the musical's themes is there. I feel like some people think that being given a few redeeming qualities to add a little more depth in JD's case is making him LESS complex, and i don't understand?
13:00 But it does nicely mirror the scene in the end where Veronica uses the explosion that blows up J.D to light her cigarette, showing that she’s in power now.
When I first saw the Heathers movie it was on a Saturday morning when I was a kid and my dad just put it on. I'd never heard of it, had no concept on what to expect, and knew Winona Rider from Little Women and Beetlejuice. At first I thought it was a teen movie like any other I'd seen up until that point...and then the first murder happened, and murders kept. happening. and I loved it. For me this movie was an incredible satire, it was absurdist, and it was wonderful. When I recently saw a production of the musical I went in with an open mind and was excited to see how they interpreted the story and was so disappointed. My main problem was this: the softening of the characters and stories makes for a very messy handing of the themes of teen suicide for me.
The movie is makes relatively no statement on suicide or mental health, beyond the idea that revenge actions can have unintentionally bad consequences. The movie provides an incredible satire of the feel good teen brat pack movies of the 80s. The musical tries to make a real statement on mental health and suicide that feels weird with the absurd reality of the world. For me, there is not a good handling of this theme. Additionally, I think the movie's handling of Martha's suicide was more interesting as it is a stark contrast to the rest of the movie and feels heavily grounded in reality. Implying that the world we see through the eyes of Veronica, the Heathers, and JD is disconnected from the actual wider world with them having no regard for other around them...until Martha's suicide attempt which results in the two worlds smashing together.
Additionally, I think adapting this movie in an age when school shootings/bombings are a horrible norm is difficult if not impossible, for me the climax of the movie worlds because of the context of the movie being a pre-columbine movie. At that time the idea of a teenager bombing their school was just as ridiculous as the rest of the story...today it's not and so it just doesn't work for me.
Finally, for me all the changes that the musical makes makes the story just another stale teen movie with broadly the same beats as any other. I like that we don't see Veronica join the Heathers, I like that Veronica isn't actually that nice of a person at her core, I like that JD is just this ridiculous parody of the broody bad boy. For me nearly every change that the musical makes weakens the story and the verisimilitude of said story. This was very long winded but the movie has a very special place in my heart (which I will acknowledge makes me very biased) so I have a lot of thoughts.
Either way I love this new series as it's really interesting to see side-by-side comparisons of adaptations and originals (even if my opinions differ of which I like better)
14:12 ITS FOR COMEDIC BREAK PLEASE WE JUST GOT BACK FROM INTERMISSION
Maybe it’s just me, but I like the musical changing JD to be more justified in killing Kurt and Ram, and the fact that Veronica is still trying to fix and help him or salvage the relationship even by the end of the movie. I think it hammers home the “emotionally dependant toxic couple” aspect in a different but equally effective way from the movie
Around 9:40... Veronica taking a shower was her feeling guilt over what she'd done by killing Chandler and trying to wash herself clean. It wasn't supposed to be sexual. As a Gen X teen I got it straight away. Maybe it's lost in generation translation? I don't know.
But yeah, it's a different way that Veronica shows her guilt, but it's there.
Honestly, I like both a lot, and this video helped me see the smaller changes more clearly. I see what you mean with how the musical has the clunky transitions, (the phone call and Heather Mac’s confession) and how Heather C. was being rude to Veronica’s mom for some reason??? The only thing I think is that how the double-date went in both the movie and musical should have been switched. Like you and others have been saying, Heathers the musical does soften and humanize the characters. Also like you said, the fact that Heather Mac and Duke literally volunteered Veronica for Date r*pe was WAY cruel that not even the Heathers themselves would do something like that, especially in the musical where again, the characters are softened so they can be redeemed by the ending. I highly doubt that Heather Mac and Duke would ever pull something like that on Veronica, as neither seemed to be that cruel to anyone. What we've seen from them so far is really just the whole bullying Martha thing, which she absolutely did not deserve, and was pretty mean. Not say saying the bullying had nothing to do with those two, but anything they did earlier on in the film seemed to be heavily orchestrated by Heather Chandler. That said, without a queen bee, pre-power trip Duke and (most likely depressed at this point) Mac pulling a stunt like that seems like a bit much. On the other hand, Veronica literally ditching Heather Mac while she is (maybe?) being assaulted by Kurt or Ram (whichever one that was) doesn't make sense for her character in the musical either. This, however, is ultimately my opinion. (Don’t fight me please) What do you guys think would have made more sense? Does the musical’s double date work? Also, am I the only one who this Elle (Heather Mac, Off-Broadway cast) sounds different on Shine a Light Reprise then all her other songs?
Yeah, neither versions nail that part of the narrative, agreed!
I honestly prefer the movie over the musical. The movie just feels more meaningful and has stronger themes, while the musical feels like a dumbed down version of the movie.
BTW in the 2014 off broadway(the better) version Veronica also fakes her s(u1(1de and there is a hilarious scene where her parents are screaming and she says ITS A JOKKEEEE
The big fun song was named after a band that somehow fits into the Heathers the movie
also in the Movie they are in junior year and in the musical in senior year
Oooh, well spotted!
@@annevanderelst247 thanks
I know this is late but just to mention. Veronica did not suddenly resort to self harm in the movie. In the college party scene when she was by herself on the couch she lit a match and was trying to burn herself there. She ends up not able to go through with it and she puts it in her drink, the drink then lights on fire and she throws it out of the window. It starts a fire in a trash can outside which you can see in the argument between Heather C. and Veronica. It shows she was already into some self destructive behavior before hand which I think shows in her character development.
Also, this isn't relevant but I think her doing that saved her from being drugged because you can see in the movie Heather C. got drugged by that guy's (the one that tried to sleep with Veronica) friend. But that's just a theory.
Edit - Fixed spelling error
Actually in certain musical films, it also shows Veronica hanging herself. So technically yea, people do talk to dead corpses about their plans to blow their school. I know I did
I have been a huge fan of heathers since I found out about it in middle school. I personally prefer the movie, the musical is great, but I never knew about the show due to just how universally despised it is. When I had found it, binged it, hated/loved every second of it, and went to find any reviews of it, I found only one by a popular RUclipsr going over just how truly devastating it really was. Like you see mean girls being compared between all three versions, and people compare the heathers movie and musical very often. But Heathers (2018) will never be apart of the discussion. Not that I don’t think it’s deserved, since it is virtually the first Velma in terms of what they did to the plot (took a memorable franchise and just put a new story ontop) but I wish it was compared to the other two, despite how horribly different it is.
I’d say in terms of “watching” the series, you have to ready yourself for 2018 humor. And like, bad humor. Really bad. It is unknown who the writers were even trying to appeal to with the style. It can even be viewed in some (a lot.) scenes as ‘conservative’. Beyond just its humor, the plot HEAVILY derives from its source material. Without spoiling it to much, because it truly is a whole different story, the way they portrayed Veronica is nothing like she is portrayed in either movie or musical. She is very unlikable, which makes the show difficult to watch since you are suppose to dislike most of the school, and JD. So if you dislike every character… rooting for anybody in the show is impossible. There is no one person you want to ‘side’ with even a little. The amount of creative liberties they took strays farrrrr off course from the others, the way The Heathers are introduced and slain, the way JD acts, Ram and Kurt’s stories are completely different. Overall as I said, if you want to watch something that can only be compared to Riverdale or Velma in terms of IP destroying series, by all means.
And I know I had mentioned I loved/hated the show. I couldn’t help but watch like a horrific car crash. I almost want to call it camp, but it’s too bad and no where near self aware enough of how horrible of a show it was to probably truly be deemed camp. Watching all of these teenagers be horrible to each other with comedic levels of dramatic situations they’re put into, they truly did ‘try their best’ to remake Heathers.
I really enjoyed this video(!), even though I definitely prefer the film to the musical. I think it comes down to whether you like the changes to Veronica and JD as characters, or whether you prefer them the way they were.
If you ever find the time to compare the Beetlejuice movie to its musical, a similar thing will happen where characters are changed and some people will like it more or less for that reason (I like the musical more than the movie in that case).
this is such a fun video! if you continue this series i'd love to see it with little shop of horrors!
Oooh good shout!
I really love both so much but I think they tell two different stories. As someone who watched the movie first I totally got the vibe of psychopath JD who doesn’t care about Veronica and is more of less finding a “high” through insane acts like murder and the school explosion. I love this story because it is so (I can’t really think of the right word here so I’ll make do) edgy. The musical is also so compelling though because it has a little more comprehensive story instead of how the movie feels like your popping into Veronica’s life- the musical feels like a beginning, middle, and end. I also LOVE the songs and that is one of the main reasons I watch the musical anymore. Over all, my bias is the movie as I watched it first and will forever and always love Wynona
Ryder. Awesome video though.
Personally, I prefer the movie but I still love them both
I heard somewhere that the scene of Veronica taking a shower fully dressed is her doing an impulsive and confusing thing to show that she feels like she's going crazy.
I guess that sort of makes sense😅
I did an analysis of the movie for media studies a while back and thought I'd add these on:
IMO the opening croquete game is meant to parody the aesthetic of other 80s teen movies at the time, but at the same time show how it sets itself apart.
The university party could represent what Veronica and the Heathers futures could look like if they stayed 'friends'.
Thematically J.D is meant to represent Veronica's inner rage, it's why he appears immediately after she writes that angry entry in her diary, almost like she summoned him.
The shower scene is meant to be a symbolic representation of Veronica washing away her guilt.
Martha's 'Big Fun' t-shirt is a reference to the in-universe band of the same name, whose song is used throughout the third act.
Veronica carrying the b•mb in the musical is a reference to the movie's original ending where it goes off on her and everyone ends up in a heavenly prom - which was recycled in the Heathers tv show.
So interesting, thank you for sharing! I had no clue the movie originally had a different ending! X
15:30 I've watched 3 or 4 versions but in off Broadway she just suddenly confessed to wanting to kill herself and tbh that's so much better than west end where that seems like a decision she's thought over
"I've thought about killing myself😊😊" and staying positive while talking like she usually is (in all versions shes a very cheerful character) in west end
vs
"I'VE THOUGHT ABOUT KILLING MYSELF!"looking scared and unsure whether that was a good decision in off Broadway
I feel like I'm seeing a lot of misunderstandings in the comments about the musical. These are very much two different stand alone pieces that compliment one another, but at the end of the day the musical is an adaptation that made major changes to better fit the medium of musical theater. I don't think it was made softer or more palatable to be entertainment (considering the topics covered and depicted it is still very dark and unpalatable for a lot of people frankly!) while the movie was some artistic masterpiece. They are BOTH for entertainment and they also both have deep and impactful meanings.
One is just more nihilistic leaning and the other is more hopeful leaning, which is a fascinating way to do the adaptation in my opinion and allows for a different look at the core themes and characters. By doing it that way it does update to modern values, but I think it adds nuance to both the musical and the movie for a compare and contrast.
That all said, I just wanna gripe for a second about a common comment I'm seeing here.
The musical isn't more romantic, nor is it trying to have a more romantic set up at all.
That JD is more sympathetic (I think to show that anyone can be a monster and to help explain why Veronica is willing to give him a second chance), but he's lying to himself. He THINKS he's doing all this out of love because he has a twisted idea of what love means, JD thinks he's being romantic, Veronica doesn't. She's attracted to him but I think she also has a "I can fix him" attitude. And as someone who has been in a bad situation because "well he's a good guy underneath it all, and if I'm just patient and understanding he'll come around", it was god damned powerful to see the way Veronica tries to justify his actions to herself while literally being haunted by the consequences of it. At the end JD sacrifices himself, but considering this is all his fault it's not really a sacrifice and I don't think Veronica really sees it that way either considering she tells him to say hi to god instead of calling back out love to JD. In the musical his death feels like an apology for who he is, not what he's done, which he uses to be selfish and self centered. It feels like one last manipulation to be remembered fondly when his love isn't returned and he realizes he has no control over Veronica anymore.
Not sure if that makes sense or not, but JD had to be changed to tell a story about someone who is a fundamentally good person who is choosing to make every wrong, mean, awful choice she can to seemingly protect herself. (I know that mileage varies between theater versions, the one I'm most familiar with really emphasizes that Veronica joins the Heathers to survive high school and that being popular is just a side benefit. Which is great because it quickly turns into Veronica sticking to this horrible path because she is now scared of JD and thinks she can either change or placate him until she's safe again.) When they made the choice to make Veronica a nicer person from the start, it necessitated making JD just sympathetic enough that you might, for one moment, believe his lies and manipulations before realizing that doesn't justify shit.
I'm personally a sucker for stories that show how good people can do bad things and bad people can do good things, I like how complex the musical makes it's leads in that respect. JD could've been a good person in a different life, but left to fester in the ways he was, he became delusional and now believes he's doing "good things" out of "love". And we watch how close Veronica gets to becoming a bad person, she has the chance to use his willingness to kill and even goes along with it before turning away.
I don't know, TL;DR, I have a lot of big feelings about how realistic some of the abuse is in the musical version, love seeing people make and compound and recover from mistakes, and it comes with banging tunes on top of it. Huge fan of the musical lol.
Very interesting! X
One great thing about the musical and the movie is that they adapt the story to fit their mediums and tones.
A lot of the changes from the musical were to take advantage of the “emotional and introspective” factor of the format, so they made it more emotional and tragic.
The movie is much more cynical and subtle in some ways, in the movie Veronica has to learn to be empathetic and kind and JD is a one-note psychopath who is basically the devil on her shoulder, almost all the characters have arcs but are generally unsympathetic or have dry endings like Macnamara and Duck.
The musical is more upbeat and emotional, but partly because it needs to be to work in the format, a lot of its changes were to make the characters more sympathetic.
They made their toxic relationship with JD the driving force of the story more than before at the expense in part of the Heathers arcs because that relationship works better to have a musical development throughout the play with leitmotifs, Veronica in the musical is already empathetic from the beginning, She doesn't need to learn to love another, that's why things like the girl at Kurt and Ram's funeral are skippable. she joins the Heathers for the same reason she falls in love with JD, she's a fragile girl who needs to feel loved and protected. She supports JD not because she agrees with him, but because she is emotionally dependent on him. That's why Betty doesn't exist and Martha is her only friend (a girl that Veronica abused and betrayed, and she emphasizes the fact that Veronica was very low on the social ladder), that's why she's a virgin before meeting JD. She's never met anyone who made her feel like JD, something that as someone who has studied psychopaths and a bit of domestics violence is more real than it may seem.
For these same reasons JD is more human and multifaceted besides hiding his dark side better, you don't know to what extent he feels a twisted version of love or uses Veronica as an excuse. It’s still a subversion of the “bad boy” archetype but in a different way, in the movie he’s a psychopath who takes the archetype to the extreme while in the musical he subverts the “beauty and the beast” or “i can fix him” tropes. His bond with Veronica doesn’t save him, it’s the catalyst for him to start expressing his psychopathy when he feels validated. Because your boyfriend only having you as his only emotional relationship is not very healthy. Although he says he’s dying for love, he really just wants Veronica to say that she still loves him because he has no way out of the situation or a reason to live. Leaving Veronica alone to carry a closet with now 4 corpses. She doesn't love him anymore, she feels sorry for him but she doesn't forgive him because in the end he didn't learn anything and he went too far.
It’s because of these things that although some of the changes bother me, seeing what the musical could have told with the time and means they had, It’s very difficult for me to say that the changes were simply poorly chosen or absurd, Betty being Martha creates some plot holes because should there be some relationship between Duck, Veronica and Ram? Yes, but it works because it helps explain Veronica's loneliness and fragility. The arc of the musical Veronica is about learning to fight your own battles, escaping a toxic relationship, and that while people can improve, not everyone will be able or willing to do so.
The real criticism that could be leveled at comparing both versions of the story is that the musical is not Heathers.
Thank you for such an in-depth analysis, so interesting 🧐
@@annevanderelst247 Thank you for responding to my comment. I just wanted to emphasize one point: whether we like the adaptation or not, we have to try to understand the changes and the most important thing is that they work within the internal logic of that version.
I really enjoyed this video! I love both the musical and the film. Recently I've gotten multiple of my friends in LOVE with the musical, this is just further fueling the obsession. Thank you!!! :)
Oh, great! Thanks! ☺️
Finding out both of the actors for Joyce in Stranger things AND Prue from Charmed were in Heathers is just the thing I needed to know to make me watch Heathers. Two actors from my favorite shows in one other show/movie? yes. That is all I need in life.
Oooh two shows from very different times!
Thanks for compiling this: the movie "Heathers" does have a personal effect on me because I personally know three women who look just like...
Winona Ryder's "Veronica Sawyer" : a current acquaintance who is very well aware of the fact!
Shannen Doherty's "Heather Duke" : a former neighbour across the street, she was "the girl next door" as I grew up.
and most notably as Lisanne Falks' "Heather McNamara" : one of my aunts by marriage from Québec, no less!
I think the musical that you watched was a more softened down version than the one that was made in 2010, not by a lot but there very noticeable changes than from the one ive seen. Esp in the bomb scene since veronica and jd have a fight scene while the pew pew is ready to shoot (idk the term for that) and it goes off and neither of them know who got shot and i think its a nice feature to add bcs they both freeze for a while and it leaves suspenve bcs the audience doesnt know whos shot, also with quotes from the movie theres a few thats in the musical that arent songs such as “did you eat a brain tumour for breakfast” “grow uo heather bulimia is so 87”
I also think that the scene where it shows heather dukes ed is gone (also in the tuneral scene it shows how hesther d prayed every day for this day to happen as she smiles above the cascet) shows just how much of a manipulator heather chandler was and the way heather d had now felt freedom and i think her wanting to become the new lead heather shows how much a traumatic event can change you and so fast
Ah also i think that veronica being worse in the movie kinda tells ppl how far love can change you or again the trauma heather c put onto everyone can change someone and make them do things to be “free” from her in a way
I think that in the movie where heather m says on the phone she feels like shes being haunted kinda implies that shes not quite free from heather c
Apparently climbing into people's windows does exist.
My neighbor upstairs has kids and one night they were sneaking two boys into the house, I know because I was trying to sleep and I heard bumping outside my window and found them sneaking the boys through their window using some sheets.
Oh well, there you go! Mystery solved!
If you were to make another episode, I would love to see Matilda the movie vs Matilda the musical vs Matilda the movie musical!
HELP- my sister said that JD in the movie looks like REPTILE 😭
Hahaha i think that is a very accurate observation 🤣
Completely agree 😂
*choking* corn nuts *collapses onto table*
I’d love to see a video like this for legally blonde. The movie and musical are so similar in so many ways but also very different.
Haven’t even gotten 2 minutes into the video yet but I wanted everyone to know my favorite English teacher in college was the guy from the heathers movie who was like “Save the speeches for Malcolm X, baby”
i love your channel and heathers sm, thank you
🥰
Dinosaur born in the 70s; I gotta keep my original. Heathers is not a musical. Also, VOTE BLUE.
Haha, that is fair!
funnily enough, I prefer the movie for the reasons you prefer the musical. JD's character was supposed to be a satire of the stereotypical bad boy. I feel the musical cheapened the drama and rebelliousness of the film by making it more like Mean Girls rather than the movie's dark comedic response to other teen films of the time. Great video
Yeah I get that! X
I don't understand? I feel like the musical still does a good job of this? Like it's not like he's an 100% played-straight character,
I love the darker characters of the movie, but it didn’t satisfy me the way the songs in the musical did. I also personally prefer musical JD’s (sort of) love-driven motive.
Yeah totally get that! It makes him more relatable
Girl I watched the mean girls musical movie and then watched your mean girls video afterwards and YESTERDAY i watched heathers and THIS shows up
Insane ! Keep doing your videos,very nice and entertaining
Ooh great, what are you watching next haha? x
9:40 actually, it took me a while to realize but the scene of veronica in the shower is a depiction of s3lfh4rm, it's supposed to be boiling water, Veronica "punishes" hersfelf in different scenes using fire (the candle at the party and when she burns her hand after k1ll1ng Ram an Kurt)
Ooooh, never realised that
You stole my idea for a very long blog post about this >:0 Just kidding, really excited to see another point of view about this since you probably have seen other differences. Really love seeing new Heathers content!
Haha sorryyyy! Xx
Honestly i love the musical because the songs are a banger
the songs have been in my mind for 3 months now i have always been humming them in school
buuut I do also like the movie because of veronica's clothes like i wanna steal her closet
but i still like both bcuz the plot and jd's character is just so interesting when i first watched heathers i thought it was going to be like mean girls but i never expected them to kill 3 ppl
Anyways i love the video and since heathers is my favorite (+ since i don't see a lot of video essays on heathers) I'll subscribe to u ^_^
(Also sorry if my grammar is bad 😭)
Thank you! 😊
In the musical doesn’t Heather try shooting Ram and Kurt but miss? Like she’s still corrupted, but she doesn’t actually murder anyone, just like with Chandler’s death. It might be a difference with the musical I watched, but she also doesn’t mean to give Martha the letter. She’s writing it before they tell her who, and when she gives the note to Martha it’s more of a spur-of-the-moment decision made out of care for Martha and fear of the Heather’s. Maybe I’m looking at it or remembering wrong too.
i like the darker aspects of the movie and how the characters are kinda unlikable BUT I ALSO really love how the musical portrayed the characters…
Did I stream the Heathers Musical just so I can come back and watch this video that randomly popped up on my RUclips feed? Yes. Yes I did.
Great video! I thought the movie and musical were great in their own ways.
Ooh great! Thank you 😊
I love both the movie and the musical, but one thing I really like about the musical is how they flesh out JD. Sure, he's edgy from the start, but you can see him growing more and more corrupted throughout the musical, while movie JD largely stays the same throughout. I also really like that musical JD almost grows obsessed with Veronica as the story goes along, leading to him use her as an excuse for all the people he kills or tries to kill. Heather Chandler treated Veronica bad, Kurt and Ram made her cry, and once she leaves him he needs to blow up the entire school because "those assholes are the key, they're keeping you away from me. They made you blind, messed up your mind, but I can set you free". He's actively arguing that there's a reason why he keeps killing and why he wants to keep killing, meanwhile movie JD is mainly just doing it for fun. That's also what makes his sacrifice at the end work, he's once again killing for Veronica, only this time the one he's saving her from is himself. He still doesn't get why she wants to save her classmates when they've hurt her, but he recognises that if he kills them he'll be the one hurting her, so he saves them while making sure he can never hurt her again. This is also what makes the end of 'I am damaged' so good, he repeats that their love is god, desperately wanting Veronica to acknowledge and reciprocate his supposed love for her, but instead of amusing him, Veronica's only answer to him is to say hi to god.
That's the one thing that didn't make sense to me in the movie: why JD decides to blow himself up outside the school. I get that it's a last grasp of attention and to make a statement, but there's no clear reason why he's decided to be "kind enough" (if you could call it that) to not blow himself up while in the school. It just doesn't fit with his characterisation in the movie to suddenly take himself out alone, when it would have been a bigger statement and spectacle if he took the school down with him. Musical JD has a purpose behind his final act, movie JD sort of just does it.
you are not missing anything by not watching the series, trust lol
anyway im so hyped to watch this, heathers is my 2nd favorite musical 👀
Ok phew! Glad I didn’t waste my time! 😅
Oh no. You mentioned my special interest. Que Sera, Sera.
Heathers the Musical is really wonderful, but absolutely fails as an adaptation. The movie isn't a tragic love story, but the musical basically needs to be to justify itself. Because of this, the musical necessarily misses the point of the film, but succeeds at making something new.
Many choices are just inherent to transitioning something from movie to musical. The dream sequences in the movie serve to provide a point of contrast - Veronica's real world is as surreal as a dream, her decisions and the decisions of the people around her will be nonsensical, ethereal, and all-too-real. The musical is a musical, and therefore a Brecht epic (which is to say surreal by nature. The gun changing to a fist fight is another example of this. So is J.D. loving Veronica.
Other changes are made to account for the change in the story's goals. The movie is about how the structure of society is damaging everyone in it - from the bottom to the top, and how high school is a microcosm of society at large. J.D's approach is to burn it all down, despite seeing regularly that that approach won't have any impact, while Veronica's arc is to stop living her life within the framework society tells her to engage in. In the musical, her arc is to stop letting other people manipulate her and her life, I guess? That's why Heather Chandler becomes almost more popular in death.
There are plenty of things that the musical has to leave out as a result. Chandler despises what she feels like she has to do to maintain her image at the college party, showing that even she isn't free of the system. Eating disorders are often the result of a loss of power, and in order to be popular, Duke had to sacrifice her autonomy to Chandler - when Chandler dies, Duke is no longer bulimic. J.D. criticizes the father for the line "I love my dead, gay son," because he would have hated his alive, gay son. The musical does everything it can to re-contextualize old events into the new narrative, but things like Duke's bulimia and the Act 2 opener are odd artifacts, representing the overall change. "That school was society," completely falls flat in the musical because that's not what it's about. The TL;DR is that the change in theme makes it difficult to talk about the differences, because in my experience, most people (myself included, usually) aren't examining the themes of their media.
A couple random notes: While most of the changes are done to alter the themes or facilitate the change in medium, combining Betty and Martha was just an all-around amazing choice. Martha's "Big Fun" shirt is for the fictional band who write the in-universe song "Teenage Suicide, Don't Do It," and one of my biggest gripes with the musical is that that song isn't the Act 2 opener instead of "I Love My Dead, Gay Son."
I really liked the video and the format. Can't wait for the next one! I just can't figure out if I want to put a vote towards Waitress, Beetlejuice, School of Rock, something by Starkid, (please imagine that I'm trailing off)...
Hey thanks for sharing, so interesting all of this. Definitely hadn’t considered the fact that the themes are just completely different between the two. Makes a lot of sense why some things felt a bit off xx
Am I the only one that gets super hyped when I notice a new Anne Vanderelst video gets posted, I just love musicals okay!
Oh yay!!! ☺️
9:26 Idk I love that scene its shows the HC effect on HD
9:34 I could be wrrong but i thought the showering thing was to do with grieving
I think the showing scene was to showcase Veronica's first s*lf-harm instance due to how intense her emotions were, since the water was boiling hot, followed after by her sticking the car lighter into her skin
Anyway, great video, it's amazing to see there is still content about this musical I love so much
I mean I love both the movie and musical but I do prefer the movie more. My reason is kinda just because I like the actors more and I like how evil and irredeemable the characters are in the movie (which in my opinion makes them more interesting because like why?) compared to the musical who made some the characters more relatable than just an edgy school shooter bad boy. But again, both are still amazing and I love heathers with all my heart.
5 months later and I’m rewatching this ✨ICONIC✨ video !!!!
Oh yay, glad you like it so much! ☺️
@@annevanderelst247 all your videos are amazing, I have a few I need to catch up on 🙈
I watched the musical with my mum who was a teenager when the movie came out. She enjoyed both but said she preferred the movie.
I feel like the fact that changing veronica to no longer be popular makes so little sense that they need to make her popular again within literally ten minutes should be a point to the movie
Wait Winona Ryder isn’t a household name to you.?
Now i kinda want a comparison between heathers the movie, heathers the musical, and heathers the show