PopHorror Let's Get Scared
When asked to name a movie that was way ahead of its time, the first that comes to my mind is Jawbreaker (1999). Confused by its sweet, bright, candy-coated marketing campaign, moviegoers didn’t clamor to theaters to see it. But in the past 25 years, this pitch black comedy of a high school prank among frienemies gone wrong has created a legacy to rival The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975).
When writer/director Darren Stein sat down to write Jawbreaker, he thought of the girls in his high school who had played pranks on each other, and he thought, what if one of those pranks had gone very, very wrong? What he intended was to write a horror movie. What he ended up with was a brilliant comedy, too dark to be considered just a comedy. One filled with characters as vivid and commanding as their wardrobes, and a story that gives Mean Girls (2004) a run for their Starbucks.
My best friend and I were two teenage girls who knew the moment the credits rolled that this movie was a cultural phenomenon because we couldn’t put our finger on a single thing about it. You cannot simply categorize any aspect of Jawbreaker, no matter how hard you try.
The wardrobe, designed by Vikki Barrett, is inspired by the bright colors and patters of the 1980s, the lines and patterns of the 1950s, with a little bit of fetishism mixed in with use of tight corsets and leather. The music is a mix of pop, metal, alternative, and remixed oldies.
The “Flawless Four” rule the school. Courtney Shane (Rose McGowan, Scream 1996) is the leader, described as “Satan in heels,” by unassuming outcast, Fern Mayo (Judy Greer, Carrie 2013). I have no doubt that Courtney Shane would obliterate Mean Girls‘ Regina George (Rachel McAdams, Red Eye 2005). Courtney is flanked by followers Marcy “Foxy” Fox (Julie Benz, Dexter 2006-13), Julie Freeman (Rebecca Gayheart, Urban Legend 1998), and the very picture of innocence herself, Elizabeth Purr (Charlotte Ayanna, The Rage: Carrie 2 1998).
It’s Liz Purr’s birthday, and the girls are going to play a very special birthday prank. They’re going to pretend to kidnap her. They burst into her bedroom, tie her up, shove a jawbreaker in her mouth, and throw her in the trunk of Courtney’s car. Unfortunately, by the time they reach their destination, Liz has choked on the jawbreaker and died.
Rose McGowan was elated to play a budding young sociopath, and she did it perfectly. Courtney Shane is a true villain in every sense of the word as she schemes to get the heat off of them. Sweet-natured Julie wants to call the police immediately, but Courtney calls the shots, and the girls take Liz’s body back home to be put back in bed. What Courtney didn’t plan on was Fern Mayo seeing Liz’s lifeless body being posed by her so-called “friends” when she arrives to deliver Liz’s homework.
Courtney promises to give Fern a whole new life as one of them as long as she swears never to tell anyone what she saw that day. Fern is given an elaborate makeover, from frumpy weird girl with bad skin and mousy brown hair to the ethereal Vylette, a vivacious blonde.
After getting a taste of the life she’d been denied for so long, Vylette becomes a monster, herself. Turning her back on the good girl she once was, it’s only when Courtney who will not be dethroned, destroys her reputation by outing her as the awkward Fern Mayo, that Vylette comes to her senses and remembers the girl she truly is inside.
Julie, having more emotional intelligence than any of her peers, knows from the moment they find her dearest friend dead at the hands of Courtney (technically), that she will no longer be led around by a sociopathic bully, even if it means losing her social status. Haunted by the memory of Liz Purr, Julie sets out to tell the truth, even if she goes down with the ship.
At the heart of Jawbreaker is a solid tale of self-empowerment. Knowing who you are, what you value, who your real friends are, what you know to be right and wrong, and standing up for those truths when others try to knock you down. When you’re young and all you want is to just fit in so that no one gives you a hard time, it’s difficult to understand that ultimately, what others think about you doesn’t matter in the least. While every teen movie seeks to spell this out, none do it with the panache of Jawbreaker. And that, my friends, is why this movie has a cult following that will keep it alive and kicking (sorry Liz) for decades way beyond this past 25 years.
Jawbreaker broke boundaries by appealing to more than just one simple audience. It’s not just mindless fun for teenage girls. It’s far from just eye candy for teenage boys. Nor is it just for the horror audience. By being ambiguous in every way, Jawbreaker has something for everyone.
The film is available to rent and own on digital platforms.
