A rant about the Jdronica introduction in Heathers (2018)
Rewatching the Peathers pilot and despite its flaws—mainly not being obvious/campy enough to let the audience understand what it's doing from the get-go (IMO)—the number of micro aggressions is crazy. I totally forgot about it. Not just from the Heathers, who are directly called out as mean girls using bigger issues to bully people, but from Veronica and J.D. themselves. It's crazy how Veronica was charmed by his hateful monologue that he spewed as an introduction.
**In the movie**, J.D. didn't show off his worst side to Veronica right away. He was charming, flirty, interested in her and not in whatever high horse he yearned to ride. His red flags appeared right after, sure, but towards other people, people who deserved it. Veronica didn't have much to fear. She didn't disagree. It sets the scene for the two of them: J.D. is a violent person, far more than the bullies, and Veronica approves of it, likes it. They're cut out of the same cloth but Veronica doesn't show it. (Her mocking Kurt and Ran afterwards shows her Heather/bully side. Even Chandler herself didn't approve. Duke was busy and MacNamara went with the flow.) J.D.'s actions could somewhat pass off as justifiable or not that bad, he was defending himself without harming anyone.
In the show though, J.D. rants, unprompted, about what might be micro-labels and the harm of wanting to put everyone into a box but is in reality about people being accepted for who they are. The end of his monologue gives it away and suddenly, though subtly, destroys any good point he could have made:
"A little self-hatred is good for the soul."
Excuse me? Once you pay attention, you notice how it doesn't seem to match what he was saying. The audience was exposed to Veronica struggling with being put into a box, or needing to fit one, a little before. It was also shown the Heathers using "woke issues" (sorry, couldn't think of a better, short way of saying it on the spot) to hurt others, framing the whole "identity politics" as a bad thing. This puts us in Veronica's shoes, no matter how informed we are on these things (phrasing it this way because I'll mention her position later), and so we too miss the giant red flag at the end of his speech. We're predisposed to focus on the label things and somewhat agree—Westerburg does seem to have a huge problem with that. I mean, who cares that Dylen Lutz is one sixteenth First Nations people? Why is it a known fact about him to the point where the popular people know it? But when you pay attention to J.D.'s rant, it's very pointed. He goes after race, after LGBT+ stuff. His speech is charged. Veronica on the other hand talks about him being "an overdramatic loser". With that remark, it's implied that she misses the implications of his speech, the dog whistles. The audience, too, might be inclined to miss it because of how she reacts. It also implies that she sees these boxes as something else entirely, that her version of one's identity isn't the same as his. It's wider. Veronica is surrounded by little things pointing out that particular struggle, especially in the pilot. It's directly mentioned, it's the majority of her character in that episode. Her locker has an identity sticker! Later episodes then bring it up occasionally. This exchange sets up a big divide between the future couple: their core values aren't aligned. They might look like they do but they fundamentally aren't.
J.D.'s speech is violent and hateful. We later learn that it's less actual hatred but more of wanting to be different and edgy. He wants to be the guy going against the grain. Plus his father is, well, a huge piece of shit so I wouldn't be surprised if the way he speaks was influenced by him rather than from his personal hatred. But it's still a piss poor introduction—and it's telling that it works on Veronica. J.D. here is more violent, in my opinion, simply because he's not even trying to hide his worst. Veronica, though in a spot where she could ignore his bad side at that point, should have known better. She hangs out with enough "woke" people that she should know better. She's stated to be smart, multiple times, she's observant, she's not a bigot.
But the truth is likely that she doesn't care nor does she care much about any actual issue. J.D. got her thinking. "What does she think about" you may ask? Well to her best friend Heather Duke, a genderfluid gay person by the way, everything J.D. was talking shit about:
"What if the next truly revolutionary thing was to be... Normal?"
To which Duke snaps and changes the subject. Oh my God. Homegirl went and called everyone in the LGBT+ community, probably any POC too, "abnormal". She didn't mean to, obviously. She wasn't saying cis straight rich (white) people should be on top again—this is disproven when it actually happens and she's the only part of the couple upset about it—but she words it in such a terrible way that it sounds like she is. Her argument was to drop the box thing. "Just be yourself" (which is also a poster in Ms. Fleming's office!). Veronica... Isn't very sensitive. Despite everything, she's not very knowledgeable about this stuff. That can be chalked up to her privilege, another thing that is a big part of her character, but still. You don't say that shit. However, this does confirm that Veronica did not clock J.D.'s language and got something completely different from his speech. It's also the first sign of her aloofness and lack of caring about societal issues. Kind of like how she doesn't care about the classism her friends display despite thinking she's better and kinder than them. Or when there's actual discrimination going on, she doesn't do anything. Veronica never cared that much so she never learned to notice it and she doesn't care to stand up for anything (despite wanting to and her character being about wanting to be heard). It's only at the end of the series that she finally takes a stand. Which is the arc Veronica had in the movie, just with different results. In the movie, despite starting off as recently disagreeing with the Heathers, she didn't care to actually do anything. When shit hits the fan, she still didn't do anything. Her going after MacNamara was the first time she cared to take initiative. Her going with Martha at the end was her taking a stand against the social hierarchy at Westerbug—even if it's possibly by leaving (up in the air as she took the red scrunchie, finally seizing power). The movie was about Veronica shaking off her aloofness and learning to care, to have empathy and act on it. So really, it's not surprising that the show does something similar, even if it turns it on its head.
Back on topic, Veronica doesn't care enough to be better or know better. Therefore, she completely missed the flashing warning signs in J.D.'s speech and so did the audience. His point was that people should hate themselves but it's hidden behind talk of micro labels and a focus on race and sexuality.
It's so strangely strong for an introduction. There's no easing us into it, it happens right off the bat. J.D. displays many worrying signs afterwards—the nazi memorabilia, the immediately violent plan against Chandler (who was more justified in her anger than her movie counterpart), the reaction to her waking up and having to cover up her death. I had completely forgotten how immediately violent and harsh the TV show made his character. It immediately showed us that he was a terrible person and kept adding more on top of it.
I'm not sure it completely works for the pilot. His monologue was too soon. I find that the series hadn't established its tone or concept yet so it's very easy to take him at face value and question why the ever loving fuck they would make a right-wing Heathers rather than him being a parody of edgelords in teen dramas and being clearly and completely the bad guy. The writers were too hopeful, too nice, by assuming that the audience would watch it with their own values and not be tricked/that it would understand what they were doing. The audience did not, in fact, think "no you're just a bigot, do you hear yourself rn loser?" but instead "no way this show is bigoted what are we doing here??". In my opinion, the main issue was that the Heathers weren't shown in a positive light yet. They were absolutely terrible and there was no moment that pointed out that what they fought for was right, the things they did weren't, like the rest of the show did. A few throwaway lines before or after J.D.'s rant could have eased the audience's fears. Maybe Duke pointing out Veronica's language in the bathroom scene to which she babbles on about wanting to get rid of boxes then Duke jokes about what it sounded like, unknowingly mocking J.D.'s speech? Pointing out that J.D. might be a violent loser, on the nose foreshadowing but reminding us that he should not be listened to? I'm not sure but I do think the pilot got too ambitious at times and without the rest of the series it can give off the wrong impression. But to be fair, it's a pilot. Of course it won't be the best episode or do everything right. It was meant to test the waters. The second episode is an immediate follow-up that clarifies the series' stance.
Doesn't mean I'm not shocked that they decided to go for jugular with J.D. right off the bat, especially during a time where the musical was the most popular form of Heathers media and heavily softened him.
