Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

‘The Gays And Jews Are Over’ In New ‘Heathers’ TV Trailer

In the TV remake of the 1988 cult-classic bildungsromurderous movie “Heathers,” times have changed. In the first trailer for the Paramount Network series, high school is run not by a ruthless squad of preppies but by a threesome that includes a genderqueer student, a black student and a plus-sized ringleader. “Asian kids can be popular now,” marvels a school administrator in the trailer. “Obviously, the gays and Jews are over,” a colleague muses. The three “Heathers” dominate the school, torturing their rosy-lipped, flaxen-haired peer Veronica (Winona Rider in the original film) until her floppy-haired Adderall addict boyfriend inspires her to murder them. The whole thing is supposed to be a powerful satire about popularity and revenge and violence.

One can only assume that Paramount purchased this “Heathers” on a sunny day during the Obama administration, perhaps after a week-long cleanse from human interaction. If the intent of the reboot to suggest that in this brave new world of transgender tolerance, body-acceptance and anti-racism we must remember that even the most disenfranchised among us can be cruel, then that makes no sense because this is not a brave new world of any of those things (it’s the same terrible old world and we’re going to be stuck here we’d like to have Winona Rider.) I think that most gay and Jewish teens in America’s public schools would tell you that conventionally attractive blonde girls do still have more fun. Of course, we hope we’re wrong! This is a satire, obviously. The question remains — a satire of what?

We’ll find out what the damage is on March 7, when the show premieres.

Brilliant satire or liberal bubble-lunacy? Decide for yourself here:

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.

In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.

At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.

Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly. 

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.