#xnotpossible

In films, American high schools are traditionally depicted as treacherous battlefields with popularity and social acceptance being the ultimate symbol of superiority. Such is the case in Michael Lehmann’s dark comedy, Heathers. However, the 1988 film could also be interpreted as a microcosm of the Marxist society in which the popular and beautiful take on the role of the bourgeoisie, and the remaining population of Westerburg High School – namely the characters of Betty Finn, Jason “J.D.” Dean and Martha “Dumptruck” Dunstock – adopt the role of the proletariat.

In Heathers, the proletarian revolution - which will always fail due to the overwhelming power of the Marxist society – takes the sinister form of Veronica and J.D. killing off the bourgeoisie (the popular but exploitative Heather Chandler, Kurt Kelly and Ram Stoker) and making each murder appear to be a suicide. Such a revolution appears unsuccessful in breaking the mould of the bourgeoisie and proletariat segregation, as another member of the Heathers – this time, Heather Duke – merely takes Heather Chandler’s place as the head of the Heathers clique. Although Heather Duke was seen as the least acknowledged of the Heather clique at the beginning of the film, she is the one to take over after Heather Chandler’s death, and is even more ruthless than her predecessor. In one scene, Veronica asks Heather Duke why she is “such a megabitch”. Heather’s reply is simply “because I can be”, showing how the power of the bourgeoisie, and the power of a capitalist society in general, can corrupt the seemingly naive into becoming ruthless

Heathers presents high schools in general as microcosms of the Marxist society. In the scene before he and Veronica murder two of the bourgeoisie of Westerburg High School – Ram and Kurt – J.D. says that throughout seven schools and seven states, “the only thing different is my locker combination”. This can be interpreted as the politics present across all American high schools are the same – the popular and beautiful hold all the power and the “regular” students are just there to make life easy and fun for them. After all, for there to be a bourgeoisie, there has to be a proletariat.

The first scene of the film, in which the three Heathers are playing croquet in a colour co-ordinated fashion, displays the mould and exclusivity of the bourgeoisie. A sport commonly associated with the upper class and the elite, it only seems fitting that we would see the Heathers playing croquet. This parallels a later scene in which Betty Finn – a minor character much lower on the social ladder of Westerburg High – plays the game with Veronica. Though Veronica comes from a wealthy family and is a half-hearted member of the Heathers clique, seeing Betty play the game seems out of place, as she isn’t a member of the popular clique, nor is she high in her social standing. When told to knock Veronica’s croquet ball out, Betty states “Nice guys finish last. I should know.” Betty’s statement emphasises that to become the bourgeoisie, one must exploit others, and the proletariat must remain passive and, as Betty Finn puts it, “finish last” as the “nice guys” do.

Furthermore, the beginning scene of Heathers also depicts Veronica Sawyer as an obstacle in the Heathers’ croquet game. In the critical anthology, Marx states that “capitalism thrives on exploiting its workers”. As an outsider but also a member of the Heathers clique, Veronica reflects the exploitation of the proletariat. Although she is a member of the clique, Veronica is only part of it to be used by Heather Chandler, Heather Duke and Heather McNamara to humiliate and degrade the other students of Westerburg High School. Later used to forge the suicide notes of hers and J.D.’s victims, the Heathers use Veronica’s skill of accurately forging other people’s handwriting to humiliate Martha “Dumptruck”, a classmate much lower down on the Westerburg social ladder. In this sense, Veronica Sawyer is merely a tool for the bourgeoisie – the Heathers – and is only given the taste of being a Heather because they want to exploit her and use her for their personal gain, much like the bourgeoisie want to use the proletariat for their personal gain in a Marxist society.