Further Evidence for my Heathers Theory
Further evidence to support the concept of Veronica being a moral Slytherin and J.D. being a corrupt Gryffindor.
Slytherin traits include charisma, leadership, resourcefulness, determination, and cunning. Veronica is an excellent example of all of these.
Veronica is clearly driven by ambition. Several lyrics and lines allude to this, including her references to several ivy league colleges in the opening number.
Her determination is one of the guiding forces in the show.
She’s shown to be very charismatic when she wants to be, smooth-talking the jocks into meeting her at the graveyard, lying seamlessly when she needs to, and of course, talking the untouchable Heathers into letting her onto their team.
Despite the fact that it’s not fully explored in the musical or the movie, Veronica shows signs of being a great leader. This is more apparent in the musical, with the Shine A Light reprise.
And she’s definitely resourceful, as shown in the scene where she fakes her death for J.D.
One of her biggest talents is forgery, so cunning is a given.
On top of this, Slytherins are often shown as being slow to act in ethical situations, hesitating to pick a side for certain until they are sure of the outcome. Veronica’s indecision about her choice to join the Heathers and later, her choice to enable J.D. are essentially the two primary struggles of the story.
Gryffindor traits include bravery, chivalry, daring, idealism, and will. J.D. embodies all of these to a t.
Although he may be a coward morally at times, he’s unarguably brave and daring to a fault. His complete willingness to throw himself into danger and his disregard for his own safety and the safety of others are ultimately what get him killed in the end.
Although he does take a bit of a...turn during act two (literally in the musical, proverbially in the movie), he is undeniably chivalrous, often in a charming manner. He’s repeatedly seen standing up to bullies (not just the jocks, but also his own father) and his immediate instinct is to go after anyone who hurts Veronica.
Idealism is what really sold me on the vision of J.D. as a Gryffindor. He is rolling in idealism. He sees things not just for what they could be, but for what they should be. The big difference is, where some Gryffindors would see possibility, he sees failure.
Instead of being driven by innovation, J.D. is driven by bitterness and a deep set sense of injustice. Personal responsibility for injustice is intensely Gryffindor.
And boy oh boy is he willful. J.D. never gets much of anything from his family, so it seems almost as if he’s set out to get whatever he wants from everyone else. He generally does, too. From blackmailing Heather Duke into signing the petition to the stunt he pulls with Veronica’s parents and that copy of Moby Dick, J.D.’s will is a force to reckon with.
Anyway, making a courageous, willful, and idealistic hero and an ambitious and cunning villain: tired, overdone, boring, kind of insulting
Making an ambitious and cunning hero and a courageous, willful, idealistic villain: nuanced, sexy, clever, amazing
Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
