ANALYSIS OF THE MAIN GROUP'S COLOURS IN HEATHERS
RED:
Heather Chandler's colour is red. The colour red symbolises power and aggression, and it is used in the smallest details throughout Heathers to show just how power hungry everyone is. Chandler being associated with red symbolizes that she is the Queen Bee in the entire school. The only time you will ever see Veronica interact with the colour red is when Chandler is still alive. The boy ‘Dennis’ who we see throughout the film also wears red at times, and he tries to show that he does ‘good deeds’ but in reality they are self serving, he does these for his college application. There is also the guy who tries to get Veronica to sleep with him in the party scene. So less red = less power. During the party scene Chandler goes into a blue bathroom when she wasn't able to use her power over a guy. We also have the principles board room which is obviously the authorities figure head of the school. Then after Chandler's funeral we have the geeks red glasses when he is trying to stand up to the jocks. When his glasses come off, it shows his powerlessness. JD wears red when he feels empowered with the effect his plans have affected the school, and tries to seduce Veronica. When Veronica lets Betty Finn play croquet with her, Sawyer gives Betty the red stick until Duke comes and takes it away. The scrunchy really shows who has the most power.
YELLOW:
Heather McNamara's colour is yellow. This makes perfect sense for her since yellow is often associated with happiness, McNamara is the only cheerleader in the heathers trio. She is also the friendliest of the group, during the funeral she asks God to send Chandler to heaven, which is the complete opposite from Heather Duke whos thankful that Chandler is dead. She also wears a lot more black and grey colours after Chandler's death, much more than Duke, this makes sense as yellow is associated with green, so she's much more affected by tragedy. Yellow is also associated with cowardness, McNamara does whatever Chandler asks. She doesn't even question it when Duke takes over Chandlers place as the red Heather. Yellow is also an impulsive colour for example when she walks out of class to go to the bathroom suddenly this is actually the only time we see McNamara wearing red. She seeks power over her own life vs other people. In the bathroom is the only time we see McNamara make her first decision by herself. McNamara's colour is very interesting because even though it's associated with happiness we find out she’s actually not happy.
GREEN:
Heather Duke's colour is green. Green is the perfect colour for Duke as it is most often associated with envy, from the very beginning duke is jealous of Chandler's power. She even asks if she can be red during their game of croquet. Green is also associated with resentment. Chandler is more cruel to Duke than she is with any of the others, so it makes sense that she is bitter towards Chandler. She’s also afraid of Chandler and struggles with her body image and self esteem. It’s only when Chandlers gone she feels free enough to eat again. Green is also associated with selfishness. We find out that Duke literally prayed for Chandlers death. Instead of morning with McNamara, duke prompts herself on TV and talk about the clothes that she shared with Chandler, not chandler as a person. Duke also laughs at the pain of others, lastly green us the colour of ambition, we see this in her early on when in a game of croquet she challenges Chandler by not passing up a difficult shot. She's also more than happy to become the new leader,and is even willing to lie to JD to get JD's petition to succeed. She becomes red that symbolises power she literally just baskes in it, what's interesting about duke is that she knows how bad it is to be treated poorly by someone in power, yet she doesn't have any empathy when she does the exact same to others (for example, McNamara) she asks Chandler “why” in a game of croquet and Chandler response “why not” Veronica asks her why she's such a bitch, Heather Duke says “because I can be”. Green is also the only one in the group whose wearing a secondary colour representing that she is not her own individual.
BLUE:
Veronica's colour is blue. In the beginning of the film, she only wears hints of it, but after Heather Chandler's death she embraces it more, because now she feels more free now that Chandler's gone to express herself more. This makes a lot of sense for Veronica because the colour blue is associated with intelligence, she has a high IQ and is more mature than the rest of the Heathers. She already has the awareness that being popular doesn't mean that you have to be cruel. Shes also highly crusactive, and points out lots of flaws in JD's plans (for example when she was forging Chandlers suicide note JD says to use the word ‘myriad’ but Veronica disagrees sayings that chandler missed it on the vocab list the week before, therefore she would not use it in her note, but JD tells her that she WOULD use it because it would be a “token for her mistakes”) Blue is also associated with being creative and a deep thinker. Veronica expresses herself through journaling and is constantly reflecting on her morals. Blue can also be an emotional colour. Veronica is a bit emotionally unstable and when she feels wronged by others, Veronica tends to seek vengeance. lastly, blue is los the colour of loyalty and trust. Sawer is still kind to Betty fin even after she joins the heathers, she comfort McNamara and befriends Martha Dunnstock. Veronica's colour is a direct contrast we see in the movie.
