After watching Pretty in Pink about a week ago, I was all ready to come into this movie thinking how it's going to be the sterotypical teenangers learning a lesson at the end of the movie and everything works out in the end. Not. I did really like this movie but it wasn't at all what I had expected. From the beginning I thought we would be thrown into the happy materialistic 80's. The first few scenes were thrown back to the 80's; big hair, huge scunchies, shoulder pads, the whole works. Very quickly however, this movie is going to turn to the dark side.
At first, I loved JD's character. He was the cute 'dark horse' in the high school. From the beginning I was routing for JD to be the 'hero' in some way and save Veronica from the Heathers or do something right by the end of the movie. As he starts to get weirder and weirder throughout the movie, I was still routing for him and was a little disappointed at the end of the movie when it didn't work out right. JD ended up being this creepy character to me who was basically just psycho. I mean, who really does stuff like him? The relationship he had with his father was just as creepy and disturbing. In the one scene where they are talking about his dad blowing up his mom they make it seem like any normal conversation that would happen to pop up at the dinner table. It's creepy.
I thought it was interesting too how when Veronica was around JD she couldn't control herself and would basically do whatever he told her to do up until the end of the movie. I'm not sure why she just let all this happen for so long. If anyone throughout the movie could be defined as the hero I think it would be Veronica, but that would be a long shot. I wanted the hero to be JD but that was an epic fail on his part. Veronica didn't really do anything I would have found heroic per say, but I liked how she caught the one girl just before she committed suicide and stoped her. I also liked how at the end she talks to the girl in the wheelchair and they go off together. But, is it relly that Veronica wants to be her friend or more that the only was to be popular is by being friends with Veronica like someone said in class.
I liked our conversation on basically stupid and pointless objects being turned into something there not at all, a.k.a. the scrunchy. Also, after yesterday's class discussion I have a much better idea of what post-modernism is. I think it's interesting how at one point in time everything stood for something much larger with a bigger message and now theres really no point behind a lot of things anymore.
I have to agree with you about liking JD's character at the beginning. Veronica was miserable about her life and he was like an escape from the Heathers. But JD just kept spiraling out of control, but she still liked the break from the popular kids and wanted to trust him. And I still liked him and wanted to trust him too. He just turned out to be a total creep though.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting too how Veronica couldn't control herself around J.D. She was so easily manipulated and became his puppet almost without effort. When she was hanging with the Veronica's she still had a voice. I'm not sure why she just let all these murders occur for so long without taking a stand. I felt as though she was like every one else in the school following Heather's lead but with J.D instead. I thought she wouldn't have been so nieve and blinded.
ReplyDeleteI forgot about how she stopped the one Heather from killing herself. I think that might be one of the only "heroic" moments in the film. I agree with what you said about J.B., by the end I was almost trying to find something he did that at least didn't make him look so bad. But, he really was just messed up it seems.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering why he was referred to as a dark horse. At first I thought it was because he was supposed to be the tall dark and handsome man come to save her on his high horse, then he turned into something more than a horseman of the apocalypse. ...anyway...
ReplyDeleteI think Veronica is the "hero" in the film for lack of any other better candidates, but I don't think her actions are motivated from a desire to help people but out of guilt. I don't think she wanted to be friends with Martha but wanted to make sure her actions didn't permanently ruin her life. If Heather had made it to the top without the suicides, I doubt she would have been much nicer than the Heathers, and if Martha hadn't tried to kill herself, I think she would have remained invisible, and Veronica would have walked away with the old friend she had been ignoring maybe.
Even though Veronica is a perfect angel when she's right next to JD, in her own right she's nothing great.
Interesting discussion, and I really like your outline of the film, and how it plays against teen movie conventions. I also like the discussion about whether or not Veronica is truly heroic, or just trying to look better in comparison.
ReplyDeleteI'd have liked to see you play around with the question of whether, or how, this movie is postmodern.