Heathers: The Musical (ANALYSIS)

Heathers: The Musical started as a movie created in the 1980s, written by Daniel Watters which quickly became a cult classic. It was far more gruesome than the satirical musical, with more violent and prolonged death scenes, explicit sex and language earning it an R rating. Despite its R rating, it is still extremely important to society, especially right now as the world grows even more divided. The original movie was written as a satire to poke fun at social norms and cliques in high school but quickly turned dark as J.D turns into a grotesque killer, obsessed with the idea of changing society. Surprisingly this movie was created just before the era of mass school shootings in America, which makes it much more important now than ever due to its representation of how horrid teenagers and cliques can really be. The musical keeps many of the same scenes from the movie, just with more humour and singing to make it more of a musical people would want to see. The musical was recreated after the school shooting era began, as mass bullying and suicide were finally pushed into the public eye, which may have been Lauren and Kevin’s inspiration for bringing the cult classic back for an encore. 

Without having to look deeply into the play or the movie, it seems to display the satirical analysis of human morals and a strive to be loved, it’s about the cruelty and pain of the world in a dark comedic environment. The first song of the musical “Beautiful” is about Veronica looking back on all these teens she knew as toddlers and wondering how they became the monsters they are, and saying

"But I know, I know, life can be beautiful. I pray, I pray for a better way. If we changed back then, we could change again. We can be beautiful…” (Beautiful, Heathers: The Musical).

She still believes that society could be a beautiful thing if we tried, but it is proven at the end of the musical that change is hard. In both the musical and the movie it shows that we are willing to destroy everything to keep something the same or change it, it’s human nature, and I believe that is the main message of the movie.

{Written in my grade 11 year of high school.}