A cynical satire of the dramas and hierarchies of high school. We see Veronica, the lead character, thrust in the frustrations of popularity and the stress it brings upon her life. J.D., the seeming rescuer, turns out to be a deadly psychopath with more problems than anyone else we see. It brings to light the various issues that come along with high school life, putting them into a view that is, in a way, frightening.
During the film, I felt that the lack of a stable adult presence contributed much to what the students were experiencing. Veronica's parents are made up of a mother who sounds like an informative recording and questionnaire and a father who is, as said by Veronica herself, an idiot. J.D.'s father is an egotistical madman who blew up his mother. Even at the school, the teachers' biggest worries when a students kills them self is when school should get let out early. What are the students supposed to think when all they have is a teacher telling them that they should embrace killing themselves.
Speaking of killing ourselves, a lot of the film focuses on teen suicide. Everyone talks about why they did it and how expressive their suicides are. In reality, no one actually killed themselves besides J.D. at the end. no one goes past the point of investigating what happened and instantly glorifies them. Even the police take a rather apathetic stance towards the deaths, just accepting what they find as reality. Now the students are also in a society that doesn't seem to care as well.
Both these and more allow J.D. to go on a power trip using Veronica. We try to see him as a good guy and yet he steadily drops into a being a darker person. His supposed desires sound someone righteous but his methods are insane and destructive. After he's gone, Veronica goes and takes the red scrunchy that's symbolized power in the film. However, instead of taking the place as "number one", she talks to the girl who's been mocked and shunned the entire movie. In a way, she can make J.D.'s goal of breaking down the school hierarchy a reality but in a useful, positive way.
This film brought forth some of the horrors of high school and in many ways, we could relate to it. The way in which this film hits home, is that it creates a story that is believable for the real world. Though over dramatized (or maybe not), the experiences in the film occur every day in schools. It lets us look back at our own high schools and think about them in a new light (or once again, maybe not).
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I completely agree with you on how the adults and authority figures were shown as a complete joke, mainly more immature and out of touch with reality than these teens. It was as if they didn't matter and the only thing that did were these kids in high school. They seemed to have the upper hand. I agree that J.D’s supposed desires/goals were righteous but his methods are insane and destructive. However, I personally do not feel that these goals were in deed the driving force for his actions. I rather felt that he was just a regular psychopath straight off the block that found a topic (restructuring the workings of school/society) in order to manipulate Veronica and gain a partner in crime.
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot that you said about this movie. The adults do seem like they're a complete joke and the students run everything. I also agree that J.D. might have had the right ideas of him wanting to help people but the way he went about doing it was completely crazy. I liked what you said about the horrors of high school too. Most of the movie was overdramatized but these situations happen in almost every school in some way.
ReplyDeleteI like that you say that Veronica has the power to break the hierarchy system, which was J.D.'s goal to begin with, although he went about it in the most psychopathic manner possible. I think that implies that J.D.'s character wasn't really pointless or useless at all. Without dragging Veronica through the mess along with him, she might not have had the strength to take her place as the number one of the school.
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ReplyDeleteI think the way the adults were portrayed is pretty in line with many other 80s films about teenagers: they're mainly on the periphery and fairly ridiculous. I liked that they weren't focused on or ignored too much, because like in other movies for teenagers, they have little to do with whatever's going on, which may or may not have some kind of comment on parenting in the 80s.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comment on how the adults generally ignored the bigger problem behind the suicides. I thought it was really interesting how the cops could barely bring themselves to really care about two dead teenagers when there were two teenagers making out nearby, but they were genuinely horrified when they found out the boys were supposedly gay.
I also think your point about the lack of stable adult presence in this movie is a good one. To what extent though, is that part of the social satire of this movie? Also, to what extent does this movie satirize 80s teen movies? To what extent does, or doesn't it, exhibit a postmodern aesthetic?
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