about genderbending JD
Genderbending characters is always fun in fan spaces, but this has been an officially recognized portrayal of the character. This has been gnawing at my brain for a few days now, to the extent that I have gone to bed thinking about a queer JD multiple times. I feel haunted. And am considering my incoherent posting a way of exercising it from my mind.
Let's talk about Stanford Theater's 2021 portrayal and official licensing of the female JD. They got into contact with the musicals writers and then produced an official rewrite of the play (with smaller tweaks that also officially debuted on the West End in 2022 btw). Even though there are literally only scraps for us in the articles I read ( 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7), these articles got my mind working over time.
Shoutout to Ram's Head Theatrical Society and Emily Saletan (who is a musician currently releasing music, by the way) for this portrayal of JD and getting the playwrights involved with it. While JD had been played by female actors in the past, this was the first production to change the character to a female one. And to make the love story explicitly gay.
And when they rewrote the script they did more than change the pronouns. I am still trying to find info, but here's what I know.
Janie Dean is the official name put out in the production
There was changes to lyrics and songs for "consistent characterization"
J.D. becomes even more of an outsider, and her relationship with Veronica becomes something the two of them cling to even more desperately.
Kurt and Ram's harassment is specifically rooted in homophobia
How masculine JD is threatens Kurt and Ram
Bud Dean raised her as a son, remarking that he was wishing for "a real boy"
However, they also made sure that JD retained enough femininity to disrupt power dynamics and beauty standards at Westerburg
Both Veronica and JD are subjected to homophobia, and it sounds like it ties in to multiple plot points
anyway i will for sure be posting more thoughts on genderbent jd, sexuality in heathers and gender in heathers but this is all i can think to say for the moment i mostly just wanted to show everyone this stuff
^ The same links as above but on my tumblr blog (in case any get lost or paywalled): No. 1, no. 2, no. 3, no. 4, no. 5 , no. 7
Link #6 is just a page to purchase tickets. It says: Heathers is a satirical take on the cultural norms of high school, following the protagonist Veronica Sawyer through a glittery, dark, and murderous senior year as she tackles color-coordinated mean girls, hypermasculine jocks and an unhinged boy (or in this case girl...) with painted nails.
