Five dollars to see a musical is a deal, so when I heard the Penn State Thespian Society was putting on a production of Heathers: The Musical last week, I knew I had to carve out the time in my schedule.

The story takes place in 1989 and follows high school senior Veronica Sawyer, an Ivy-League hopeful who resides at the bottom of her Westerburg High’s food chain.  In an effort to make a name for herself and avoid the torment of The Heathers, the three queen bees who run the school, Veronica forges a note that gets the Heathers out of detention for skipping class.  Thus begins the story of Veronica’s rise to power, downfall, psychological spiral, and eventual character growth.  But I won’t spoil the whole story if you haven’t seen the musical and/or movie (but there are some spoilers ahead).  To put it simply, it’s kind of like Mean Girls, just a lot more killing and toxic romance.

So why is Heathers: The Musical, a gruesome dark comedy about high school, still relatable and enjoyable to audiences today?

First, it tackles several difficult topics like suicide, sexual assault, violence, and bullying behind the veneer of catchy songs and outlandish humor (both the musical and movie are highly quotable, but perhaps a bit inappropriate for this blog).  Although critics have condemned the way Heathers: The Musical approaches these topics, I think it was effective in capturing people’s attention.  It is difficult to attract the large fanbase and cult following both Heathers and Heathers: The Musical has with a work that is overly dark.  Great stories balance the building and releasing of tension throughout the work, keeping the viewers on the edge of their seats.  Any movie or musical has me hooked when it can make me laugh uncontrollably in one scene and make me want to cry or scream in the next.

Additionally, the musical is an interesting commentary on the psychology of morally bad actions.  Veronica was a no-name nerd who had stayed below the radar for all of high school.  She, like the rest of the school, put her head down and endured the Heathers’ wrath.  Then, a new student named J.D. captivated her in the way he stood up to the Heathers and the popular jocks at Westerburg.  Their seemingly harmless infatuation quickly turns south when the two accidentally give Heather Chandler, the lead Heather, drain cleaner instead of a hangover remedy.  J.D., who is not remorseful, pressures to Veronica to cover their tracks by having her forge a suicide note for the deceased Heather.

Veronica is sent into a psychological tailspin as she battles between seeing the good and bad in the popular kids.  On one hand, she sees and experiences the negative effects of the Heathers’ torment, but she holds onto the sliver of hope that these kids could learn and be better one day.  Despite these internal conflicts, Veronica and J.D. continue to commit atrocious actions as they see how much happier everyone is at Westerburg is with the popular kids gone.  Those who commit what they perceive as “morally bad actions” find ways to justify their actions to avoid cognitive dissonance.  In other words, they have to believe they are right because everyone is the hero of their own story.

Overall, Heathers: The Musical is a captivating story that maintains a cult following despite its absence from the Broadway stage.  It has a wide appeal to many audiences because it tackles difficult topics in a form that’s relatively easy to swallow.  It’s also a great Halloween movie because what’s scarier than psychological turmoil and nonconsequential murder?