21 Things We Learned from the ‘Heathers’ Commentary

Going to high school in the 1980s, I was the perfect age to connect with a film like Heathers. Knowing a friend who struggled with suicide and together rolling our eyes at the idiotic depiction of it in many films made it hit even closer to home. Extremely daring for its time, Heathers challenged and threatened media stereotypes of teenagers and high school. Long before Diablo Cody gave an edgy pop vocabulary to high schoolers in Juno, Daniel Waters’ script introduced moviegoers to a particularly colorful jargon that we all licked up. The commentary from Waters, director Michael Lehmman and producer Denise Di Novi on the original DVD release was recorded nine years after the film was released, revealing a look at the film only recently after evolving into a full-on cult classic. Fortunately, the hindsight adds to the darkly sardonic experience. Heathers (1988) Commentator: Michael Lehmann (director), Denise Di Novi (producer), Daniel Waters (writer) 1. Heathers was one of the final films released theatrically by New World Pictures. Because of this, the studio would not buy newspaper advertisements for many of the markets. Producer Denise Di Novi offered to pay for a newspaper ad in Los Angeles, but New World Pictures refused. 2. Lisanne Falk, who plays Heather McNamara, is wearing a wig in the opening scene because it was shot after production and her hairstyle had changed. 3. Heather Duke (Shannen Doherty) reads “Moby Dick” throughout the movie, but it was scripted to be “Catcher in the Rye.” […]



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