Heathers Colour Analysis.

“Veronica! You look like hell!”

Heathers is a late 80’s satire, black comedy film.

The plot revolves around the protagonist Veronica Sawyer (Winona Ryder) and her lack of self identity.. She is stuck in the middle of trying to fit in with the popular clique known as ‘The Heathers’ and their treatment of the ‘Least Popular Students’ as well as her on and off relationship with boyfriend Jason (J.D) Dean (Christian Slater) who is far from the boy next door.. More often than not, the clothes in Heathers belie the characters true states of mind and their individual personalities. From (Red) Heather Chandler drinking a ‘blue’ coloured poison, to (green) Heather Duke announcing to be ‘red’ in croquet, (blue) Veronica gaining the red scrunchie, Heather McNamara's weaknesses (yellow) and Jason Dean's multiple colours of darkness, I have observed how the power dynamic shifts solely through colour psychology analysis. Below is the information I have calculated by studying the entire film, Scene by scene, Main character by main character, and looking into the meanings of colour!

Red.

Red is the colour of fire, power and blood, it is associated with energy, desire, and love. When used as an accent colour, it stimulates people to make quick decisions. In Heather’s sense, This includes decisions of Peer Pressure, Accidental murder, Murder, Relationships and even the film’s climax could be considered a quick decision, As Veronica has to act fast in order to save Westberg High-school from going up in flames. Here is my analysis of the four dominant colours featured in the film.

Heather Chandler dominantly wears red in the earlier scenes of Heathers.. She is the leader of the clique, Displayed by her power over the student-body and the red uniform and red scrunchie she wears.. The scrunchie in itself is a symbol of power whenever any of the characters wear it.. Chandler is fiery tempered and self centred, along with a controlling nature.. Ironically she is the total opposite without the hair accessory.. As seen with these two outfits below.. What has this got to do with colour you ask? Well.. In both scenes shown by the screencaps, In one way or another Chandler shows vulnerability. Pink is depicted as a colour related to gentleness and kindness, A side we as an audience don’t see in the character all that much.. As shown in the right photo, Her scrunchie is becoming loose and falling away from her hair.. Indicating she is about to lose her ‘Power’ entirely. The scrunchie is shown in two scenarios where she is weak-willed or forced to do something by others.. I.E when Veronica embarrasses her at the Remington University party.. This angers her to make a vow to destroy the protagonist’s reputation.. And the second time is when is forced to drink a “hangover cure." Intentionally it was supposed to be a mild prank, where Veronica makes a concoction of milk and orange juice that would make Heather violently sick.. While while J.D. made a more sinister liquid of drain cleaner with the intention of making Heather extremely ill. All is in shambles when Veronica takes the poisoned cup by mistake..

The two give Chandler them up which causes her to die on the spot, Scrunchie falling to the ground too.. She falls on a glass table, Which could symbolises the fracture in the relationship between the other Heathers and Veronica, Along with the mental collapse of the high school.. When Chandler dies, Many other the characters change.. Veronica becomes guilty. Heather Duke becomes the new leader and is just as vain and Heather McNamara feels her life is a mess. Veronica is the odd one out here, due to being blue.

The colours that the main three Heathers wear can also be considered like traffic lights. - Heather Chandler’s life stopped. Heather McNamara’s life almost stopped And Heather Duke’s life kept going. These three key descriptions of each light and their allocated colour.

Yellow:

Heather McNamara is the kindest and honest Heather in the group. Her dominant colour found in the film is yellow.. Yellow symbolises happiness, joy, optimism, jealousy and even danger.. A few synonyms that could describe McNamara.. She is loyal and dependant on others, Which could also be described as her downfall and the reason why she is sometimes doesn’t make decisions for herself and can act as a pushover..

At the same time, It shows cowardice since she likes to hide behind the shadow of the other two Heathers just so she isn’t considered an outcast or is disrespected by others.. Although, McNamara wishes to break away from the group to pursue her cheerleading and actually do things for herself. Yellow is also a unstable colour, Which would explain and fit with the character’s feelings and actions throughout the film.

When Heather Chandler passes, McNamara starts to be less attached to the colour yellow, Indicating her final escape from Chandler and the control she had over her life. However, When Duke becomes the new leader, It shows how quickly McNamara can fall under other’s influences.. Once again, matches up with the unstable connotations of yellow.. Not to mention it implies danger, Something that foreshadows an event that happens later on.. Even her bedroom despite being a ‘safe space’, It is filled with yellow, An oxymoron to suggest her vulnerability and that the world around her feels just as controlled as herself..

Another irony with her yellow colour scheme is the pot of pills she almost over doses on are yellow too.. With the mentions of danger surrounding the character, There is no surprise that the pills were the danger aspect involved in her life, leaving a far bigger impact on her than any high school mean girl.. The only time the character feels confident, Is shown by the colour red on her cheerleading uniform.. However the downside of it also being black may imply the darkness or depressive thoughts/nature she feels within herself.

Black is definitely her secondary colour.

It suggests it’s almost as representative of her emotions as her dominant yellow colour scheme. Wearing black along with some grey shows how depression and self-loathing is a constant reminder to McNamara that she is lacking confidence within herself and identity outside of the Heathers clique, Highlighting she is in a constant state of feeling trapped by society and those around her.. of her lack of confidence in herself.

Green:

Heather Duke is originally portrayed as a timid, quiet character.. However, behind her love of books and preppy uniform, Duke is green with envy of Heather Chandler’s power.. When Duke is later in position of being ‘Head Heather’, She becomes as vain and disrespectful as her predecessor.. Dark green is her original colour.. It is representative of greed and jealousy.. These two synonyms are very inline with the character and their arc in the film..

She becomes consumed by greed when she acquires the red scrunchie.. Along with green, she wears black on-screen as well, Indicating she’s hiding behind a facade.. Duke also has worn pale green as well, This could symbolises her naivety that soon is corrupted by her transition to being the lead Heather. The attire includes a pastel green blazer with a chrysanthemum flower, silver buttons aligned on either side. Underneath is a white turtleneck, the colour often denoting how naïve she is to the working of the society,

falling victim to it. Once converted to her new self, Her innocence has been stripped away. However at the movie, Veronica takes the scrunchie and claims it for herself; Indicating a change in the ‘Heather’s system’ and therefore someone responsible and self-aware withholds the power uses it in a positive way, As she makes friends with ‘Martha Dunnstock.'

A character previously bullied by the Heathers, A complete parallel to Veronica's past ‘friends’, 'enemies and peers who all were all at one point or another, antagonists.

Blue:

Veronica Sawyer is the protagonist of the 1989 film. She is portrayed as the outcast of the popular clique yet still decides to follow in their footsteps as if she wasn’t a Heather, Otherwise she feels she would be mistreated and never get anywhere without being a pushover, Much like Heather McNamara. She too fell under the trap of ‘Influence.’ First the Heathers and then by her boyfriend, Jason ‘J.D’ Dean. Veronica’s main colour throughout the film is blue.. Whether it be light, dark, pastel, bright or navy, even off black is considered blue. The colour blue is a manifestation of her depression, as well as her being dissociated from her actions; I.E accidental poisoning Heather Chandler and being influenced by J.D to kill two high school bullies by shooting them with blanks.. However it is later revealed a lie. Fun fact, , J.D states in German: ‘Ich lüge.’ when describing the bullets, Which in English means ‘ I lie.’ Or being untruthful. Again, an example of Veronica’s naivety towards fitting in with others.. Naivety is a word and trait associated with the colour blue. She is very disaffectionate, cynically unmotivated and disregards connections with others.. Easy prey for others to take advantage of her nature. However during the movie’s climaxed, She is motivated to save the highschool from being blown up... Blue’s association with sadness arose came from the look of the body when it’s in low energy or low oxygen state. -

Veronica’s mood could be considered low in many scenes of the film.. Or it could also be her loneliness, Another indicator of why she latches onto people so quickly, as she feels like she doesn’t fit in. Veronica also wears grey as well, Grey can imply misery or boredom. There is a sadness to Veronica’s character, She feels isolated, alone and inclosed within her own mind.. However the end of the movie shows her covered in soot.. She seems at her happiest here. Hell is a metaphor for her problems.. Heather Duke’s last line, “Veronica! You look like hell!” - Veronica responds with: “I just got back.” Implying that all her problems, Along with Jason Dean have been taken care of. Finally the school can start to change, Veronica can move on and become a better person, find better friends and find peace.

The symbolism of evil.

"The extreme always seems to make an impression.”

Christian Slater’s J.D. (Jason Dean) stands out and is very much a stark contrast to the Heathers and Veronica, In personality and in costuming. While the other characters alter clothes throughout each scene, J.D. is far more subdued, clad mainly in trenchcoats, faded blue jeans, beat-up boots, a single hoop earring, and simple tees and button-ups obscured by a calf-length duster. The coat is the thread that ties his look together, worn in every one of his scenes. It also raises the question of whether the pressure to conform to visual stereotypes feeds back into behavior and shapes personality, After all, The teen misfit, Considers himself an outcast to society, So much that he’s crazy enough to try and blow up the school. J.D is convinced that society is unable to change, move or alter beyond the cliques and archetypes that dominate most high schools, So he devised a seriously dramatic solution. J.D uses Veronica as an emotional surrogate for his mom in regards to how quickly he becomes emotionally dependent, how fiercely he tries to defend her from that which he believes was her undoing, and how thoroughly her “Fake Suicide” breaks him. In short, Veronica is the first real emotional attachment he’s had since his mother’s death- He doesn’t feel like he’s doing anything wrong when he kills, He believes he’s ridding the world of those who would hurt people he cares/cared about, like his mother and Veronica. So, That’s what makes it so difficult for Veronica to attempt to get through to him that what he’s doing is evil. To him, Veronica’s (fake) “suicide” was further proof that he failed to protect her from the cruel society and that she ends up ‘following’ the example of the popular students. The root of J.D’s trauma (and thus mental issues) is his mother’s suicide. It is heavily indicated that he views the event as proof that society is hostile towards the “good” people in favour of the “bad”. In many ways, J.D uses Veronica as an emotional surrogate for his mother in regards to how quickly he becomes emotionally dependent within their relationship. When J.D first. meets Veronica he wears a green shirt. Green is a secondary colour, unlike the other three Heathers; Such as green signifying Heather Duke’s envy and illness (bulimia). For J.D., the green seems to mean that he wants something.. A need for something - and at that point in the story, I don’t think he himself is certain of what that is. - J.D.’s primary colour is black, which initially seems he wears it because he's : "The cool one."However It is really because he's the villain of the piece’. The next ‘morning’ J.D still wears green when he and Veronica go and kill Heather Chandler. J.D. hesitates before serving Heather a cup of drain cleaner and is “a little freaked” immediately after her death - But it turns out he welcomes that a Westerburg bully is dead. These two goals seem to be what J.D. has now discovered he wants: Veronica and Murder. After Heather Chandler’s funeral, We are shown J.D in a new outfit. His secondary colours are now both dark green (he wants more, and craves more power) and blue jeans instead of black. This is because he’s incorporating Veronica’s signature colour blue, As if to coordinate with their ‘Bonnie and Clyde.’ Aesthetic. -In his tenth scene, The character is in a pyjama style look. He wears a blue plaid shirt, a blue-grey undershirt, and blue jeans. - J.D wears blue to match and blend in with Veronica’s blue bedroom.. Perhaps it’s a metaphor of him hiding his true nature.. Keep in mind, This is the high point of J.D.’s and Veronica’s relationship, where they’ve firmly established themselves as a couple and Veronica has not yet realised how psychotic her lover is.

Scene ten alone is the only time J.D doesn’t have consistency or uniformity in his clothing, Whereas with the rest of his wardrobe shows he simply has one view of looking at the world, with no open mindsets to change it. In scene 12 through to fourteen, The character wears red.. This symbolises that he is now at the height of his power, having got away with it. Red as I’ve mentioned before symbolises power in 'Heathers’, Especially the infamous red scrunchie. J.D.’s undershirt is now red, and Veronica is wearing purple (i.e. red mixed with blue), the only time that she wears purple. - Those shows she is stuck in between her life as a Heather and that she is starting to think about her relationship with J.D. Red obviously for ‘Power’, J.D and Heather Duke are now consumed by it and Blue represents Veronica who’s stuck in the middle with convicting feelings about where she stands in the situation. Something I picked up on when watching the last few scenes, Is the less J.D is shown wearing blue, The less he loves Veronica.. And looking at his last scene.. His clothes one hundred percent comply with this conspiracy. J.D’s last scene shows him no longer wearing red or blue, But in all black.. This show his most villainous look, As he is consumed by madness and darkness, An outward statement of his crazed mind.. He has no regard for anyone now, as he has lost Veronica’s affection and is aiming to blow up the school.

Veronica puts an end to the plan by using a gun to shoot off his middle finger and firing two bullets into his torso. In the course of all this, J.D. regains his “red” secondary colour - Only this time, the bloodstains on his face, shirt, and hand for once doesn’t symbolise power, but rather that he is about to die. When J.D. blows himself up, he darkens Veronica’s colour scheme with the smoke. She is covered in black as well as blood.. Together with blue, This colour scheme symbolises “black and blue” which is an idiom for someone who’s been beaten up. Veronica has literally and symbolically been beaten up. Her mind has been through a lot because of her former spouse.. He convinced her to kill others who wronged her.. But now she has broken away from J.D’s controlling and psychotic nature, It shows a sort of irony that it's his turn to get a taste of pain.. Veronica pulls a cigarette from her pocket and uses the explosion to light it.. J.D feeds off of Veronica's pain, Now she is feeding off of his.. - This a parallel to scene eleven, When Veronica burns herself with her lighter as punishment for killing the three students.. Fire has been used symbolically a lot in the film as sometime to erase the past.. Veronica does the same here when trying to forget or harm herself for the bad things she has done/and/or caused.. J.D uses her (physical, but could also be physiological) pain to light his own cigarette, The same one that Veronica uses at the end to signify she’s glad he’s feeling the same pain. They share this pain symbolised by the lack colour shown on both characters.. J.D only went after the people who hurt Veronica and got more unstable as time goes. She's the reason why he's willing to take down the school; Her pain fuels him and she only made this worse by giving him ideas to murder two guys who tried to harass her . It's possible that if Veronica didn't have a fallout with Heather Chandler, her relationship would be "normal". While Chandler's accidental death proved that it was easy to get away with murder, it's Veronica who enabled J.D to crave more of his ‘newfound power’ .. As J.D’s blows up and the ash covers Veronica, It shows she literally is being covered by the remains of her sins.. A representation of their dark natures..

Once the cigarette is lit in the last scene, She immediately crushes it under her feet. -

She is going to use their mistakes and his pain to make the school a better place and to become a better person.

The red scrunchie that she takes from Duke at the ends suggests her character change.