Heathers (1994)
By Karen Kilimnik
Karen Kilimnik's video Heathers, produced in 1994 and presented in an austere and sepulchral physical environment, is based on the cult American satire Heathers (1989), directed by Michael Lehmann and starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater, who were at the time idols to a generation of angst-ridden youth. The original motion picture is a dark and humorous story of teenage conformity and rebellion in picket-fence America. The title refers to three girls of the same name who, with their friend Veronica (Ryder), are at the pinnacle of the high school hierarchy. Just as Veronica begins to question the wisdom of her association with the Heathers she encounters and becomes lovers with a deterministically named juvenile delinquent called J.D. (Slater), whose anarchic and irreverent attitude to responsibility and authority results in a trail of bloodshed, starting with two of the Heathers. As an acid dramatization of the social and sexual confusions of adolescence and young adulthood, the original Heathers chimes with Karen Kilimnik's fascination with the uncanny nature of white American mainstream society, trash culture and the emotional, fragile world of teenagers. Kilimnik's arti…
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