*flexing* yeah i'm an INFJ, what of it?

I want to start this post off by saying that I love Heathers in all its incarnations, the film AND both musical versions. It’s one of my favorite films, and it’s easily in the top five of shows that I love. However, there are flaws in all media, regardless of what it is, and I’m here to discuss the flaws of one of my favorite franchises; more specifically, the failings of the musical adaptations. 

Now, there are four facets on which the musical fails as an adaptation, in my opinion, and while I would argue that only one of these issues is an actual problem in the story telling, the point still stands that, at its core, Heathers: The Musical is an adaptation and love letter to the indie film it derives its identity from, and thus, it owes it to the film to try and maintain some level of similarity to it. While I wouldn’t say it doesn’t do this, it can be argued as to just how effectively it does.

PART ONE: Tonal Dissonance

One of the most beloved aspects of the original film is its dreamy tone. There’s something strangely poignant about how detached and uninterested in its conflict it can be. The use of a made of slang to prevent the film from becoming dated, the quiet moments, the way most of the major events happen with little fanfare, such as the Chandler/Veronica confrontation being in isolation, the repetition of the line about oregano (which DID show up in my dreams, thank you very much!), that weird as HELL dream about Heather Duke’s funeral; they all contribute to the otherworldly feeling that oozes from the whole film. All you need is to see an abrupt wide shot of J.D. firing blanks, or Duke sitting in the window sill to know that this movie is something truly special. 

There’s something really subdued and subtle about certain events as well that simply isn't present in the musical; while the party in the musical is a rambunctious and flashy high school romp that ends in a massive conspiracy to prank Veronica’s best friend, the party in the movie is downplayed as just another get together, and one where Heather Chandler is in a rare position of vulnerability that we just don’t see in the musical at that; she’s the underdog, the one who has to prove herself, to the point that she is coerced into statutory rape with a college guy.

The ending also reflects a completely different idea than the film; in the movie, Veronica chooses to cease in engaging with the social hierarchy by hanging out with Martha, while in the musical, she boldly declares that everyone needs to be better to each other, a sentiment that is widely accepted by the school, who are likely exhausted at this point from all the drama. This cautious optimism is a welcome change, but for those who prefer the iconic imagery of Wynona Rider lighting her cigarette on the fallout of J.D.’s suicide-by-bomb and her walking off into the sunset with Martha admist a sea of uninterested, oblivious students, I can see why this change might sour the experience for you.

PART TWO: My Favorite Heather, Now In the Backseat

The next issue I take with the musical is a common complaint, and I will say that it’s the only issue that poses an actual problem with the storytelling. That would be the handling of Heather Duke’s character arc, or lack thereof. Duke is easily one of the most interesting parts of the original film; her transformation from sympathetic victim of Heather Chandler’s harassment to queen-bee Chandler 2.0 is a dynamic and well thought out arc. However, this is reduced to approximately 2 scenes in Heathers: The Musical; one is when she claims Chandler’s scrunchy and declares herself new top bitch, and the other is when she discusses her involvement with Martha Dunstock with J.D. Any other appearance is, arguably, secondary to the struggles or presence of another character or played for laughs. Hell, Chandler has a stronger presence, and she’s DEAD for most of the show. 

What frustrates me about this is that certain iconic moments are transferred to other characters; her most famous line, where she responds to Veronica’s question about why she’s so cruel with “because I can be”, is instead given to a dream apparition of Chandler, albeit in a different context. Other aspects of her character, such as her donning Chandler’s signature reds in a show of her new place at the top of the food chain, are simply left out. And then...there’s THAT thing.

I will preface this by saying that I am white, and therefore you should all take my opinions with a grain of salt on this, but I find it extremely strange that a character who gets the shaft in favor of her fellow Heathers is also the only Heather to be traditionally played by a WOC. The OG Duke is Alice Lee, who is of Korean descent, and notable follow ups Kristolyn Lloyd, who replaced Lee off-Broadway, and T’Shan Williams, of West End fame, are both black. Again, I am not a POC myself, so forgive me if I am out of line in commenting on this, but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth that they specifically cast WOC to play the Heather with the least amount of attention and likability, when the original Duke is white. I will not say that it’s a bad thing for the creators to cast folks who are not white to play traditionally white characters; it’s wonderful to offer representation like that. But choosing to relegate them to roles where they are almost set up to be seen as less than when compared with the other Heathers, who are traditionally white, seems extremely suspect to me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Luckily, this was remedied to a certain extent by the West End version (which is GREAT, y’all are just mean and hate things that are different), including a brand new song for Duke, a long overdue solo piece, “Never Shut Up Again”. This song, while certainly out of place in terms of style, certainly grew on me, and the inclusion of a reprise of “Big Fun” was a clever perversion and parallel to a moment where Veronica receiving sexual attention from guys was a GOOD thing now being turned sour in the face of an ugly rumor. This number also offers the insight into Duke’s character that “Blue (Reprise)” simply didn’t, and it also features my new favorite quick change in a musical (sorry Elsa!) when two chorus girls rip away her signature greens to reveal a red outfit similar to Chandler’ style. The song also gives Williams the chance to show off her vocals, which includes a raspy, vibrant belt that leaves me quaking tbh.

PART THREE: Meatheads One and Two; Predators Turned Comic Relief

The next issue I have with the musical, this time simply in terms of it being an adaptation, is Kurt and Ram. The Boys, as I will be referring to them as for simplicity’s sake, are relegated to comic relief for most of the show. This isn’t a problem in my opinion; there has to be someone to ease the tension, and two idiot jocks seem like the perfect candidates. The issue, though, is in the execution.

“Blue”, while being a glorious display of comedy, was a mistake; even the creators admit that. In a post #MeToo world, there simply isn’t a place for a song that makes light of a potential sexual assault. There’s an argument to be made that The Boys are mostly harmless here and that Veronica was never in any real danger to begin with; after all, she’s got Duke and McNamara accompanying her, though they offer no help, and The Boys are far too intoxicated to stay standing most of the time, much less try anything unsavory. They also mostly leave Veronica alone during all this, relatively speaking, circling her occasionally but otherwise keeping a reasonable distance; they’re almost more focused on each other rather than her. The trill of Kurt’s “hey ‘Ronica” and their slurred, less-than-clever quips come off as more pathetic than threatening, and by the end, they’re happily sleeping in a pile on the ground after Veronica easily slips away. The next time she sees Duke and McNamera, she seems more angry that they tricked her rather than livid that she was put in danger. The spreading of a rumor involving a threesome with her also comes off as less mean-spirited than the film; in the film, I always got the vibe that there was a malicious intent with the rumor, like they wanted to punish her for rejecting them, while the off-Broadway version shows that it’s mostly Duke who is using the rumor to embarrass Veronica, The Boys simply wanting to appear cool by having slept with a hot girl. 

The inclusion of a new song to replace Blue, “You’re Welcome”, is a nice change of pace; everything, from the inclusion of the subtle preemptive victim blaming Veronica for her own assault (“how can you expect us to control ourselves when you look like that?”) to the darker tone of the music makes for an appropriately uncomfortable experience. The song still allows itself to get goofy at times, such as The Boys’ ridiculous beatboxing and Veronica side sweeping them into cow manure, but it offers insight into just how threatened Veronica feels throughout the ordeal. In “Blue”, she got maybe five entire lines, and she always seemed more annoyed than scared, but in this new number, she morosely reflects that she’s “a rat in a trap”, before deciding that she’s actually the bait. She also quickly takes inventory of all the factors in trying to escape, a feeling many women alone with a threatening man know all too well; she realizes that they have her keys, and she notes that trying to get to tree to climb it and wait until they get bored and leave wouldn’t work, as they would just catch her. She wonders about what moves from her self defense class would save her, and eventually she settles on not fighting or immediately fleeing at all, but rather “accidentally” knocking them over into manure so that she can get away. Her quick thinking saves her, but a less intelligent woman might not have been so lucky as to think of this; what if McNamera had been in her place? Would she have tried to get away immediately or fend them off? And what would they have done to her if that failed?

In “Never Shut Up Again”, they also make a point to invade Veronica’s personal space in a way they didn’t in “Blue: Reprise”. Again, they almost seem more focused on each other, lending validity to interpretation that, maybe, J.D. hadn’t missed the mark with the whole “gay forbidden love” thing. They seem to really like being around each other more than they like getting girls’ attention, and their escapades often come off as performative and less genuine for it.

There’s one line that really gets me, though; in “Our Love Is God”, Kurt tries to apologize for calling J.D. Bo Diddley and seems confused as to why he’s being hunted like this. There’s almost an air of them being too stupid to understand why he’s angry at them, which is a vibe that carries throughout the show. This line, however, is replaced in the West End version by him apologizing for spreading the rumor about Veronica sleeping with them, showing that Kurt is somewhat aware that what they did was objectively Horrible and feels no real remorse until he’s held accountable by an unhinged J.D. It can be assumed that Ram would share this mentality, as they seem to be on an identical wavelength.

Ultimately, I actually prefer using The Boys as comic relief and playing them up as too stupid to fight the system that rewards them rather than enjoying their own cruelty and privledge outright, but that’s just because I have a soft spot for the way they’re written in the off-Broadway show. In terms of adapting the film, the West End version is clearly superior, and it offers an interesting commentary on toxic masculinity and male entitlement.

PART FOUR: J.D...Psychopath or Misunderstood Rebel?

The last point I want to make is, yet again, not what I personally consider a problem, but instead a failing of the musical as an adaptation as opposed to a fault. And while Kurt and Ram’s character changes can be overlooked, as they’re pretty minor characters compared to the power players of the show, the bastardization of J.D.’s character simply cannot be.

It’s not clear if the musical wished to deviate from the movie’s portrayal, or if they just REALLY missed the point That Badly, but either way, the J.D. we know and love to hate is gone. There’s glimpses of him, such as a professionally filmed clip when Ryan McCartan hesitates following his final lines in “Freeze Your Brain” and seems to register that he’s freaking Veronica out by showing his true colors, thus carefully reeling it in so as to not scare her off, and his unhinged screams of Veronica’s name in “Meant To Be Yours”, which is again followed by an attempt to appear calm again, but otherwise, he’s mostly played as deeply troubled and misunderstood rather than outright predatory. Pulling a gun on two bullies and firing blanks is now a fist fight where he isn’t the aggressor; trying to blow up the school comes off partially as an act of grief for losing Veronica rather than a strange, twisted form of vigilante justice. Gone is a forced kiss and grope; now he cradles Veronica’s face in his hands and reassures her when HE’S the one who got the shit beat out of him. And when he finds Veronica hanging, he’s nearly driven to tears for the first time in the entire show, rather than revealing to her corpse that he intended to kill her when he came over if she didn’t agree to his insane plan to blow up their school.

It’s clear that musical J.D. worships Veronica, as he so eloquently claims in “Our Love Is God” and “I Am Damaged”; after all, their love is God in his eyes. But the only God that movie J.D. worships is chaos.

PART FIVE: Conclusion