The Mean Girl’s power is in maintaining appearances; a very specific appearance at that. For the film’s thirtieth anniversary rerelease, I wrote about how, behind all the quippy quotes and mayhem, it’s about how easy it is for us to ignore real teenage pain unless it is shown in excruciating, exaggerated form. The enduring power of Heathers, the source of its timelessness, is not the fashion or the colors: it’s the fear. Even watching it as an adult, I’m kind of scared of the Heathers.4
