How does the Blue/'You're Welcome' song change affect the Heathers musical?

 By TJ Christovich 

   Heathers in an American musical based on the 1983 film by the same title. In the musical, Veronica is the counterculture geek who is given opportunity to be popular but she hates all the jock and bitch types she’s now surrounded by. Veronica meets JD, the depressed, homicidal bad boy and they fall in love. JD and Veronica take it upon themselves to cleanse Westerberg high school, and society at large, of the superficial hierarchy of jock and nerd. One night, Veronica gets a call from the two remaining Heathers asking her to meet them at the cemetery but it’s a set up. She’s greeted by a locked car with the Heathers inside and Kurt and Ram, two football players, who are feeling frisky. 

   In the original Heathers sound track the song that ensues is called Blue and is Kurt and Rams metaphor for Veronica not having sex with them, i.e. She makes their “balls blue”. Though the boys were unsuccessful and only lied about having sex with Veronica the next day at school, this caused a lot of controversy in the audience due to the scene portraying an attempted rape. Because of this, the West End soundtrack replaces Blue with ‘You’re Welcome’ where Veronica is plotting how to take out the boys and defend herself. It features lines such as “stay friendly then gently sweep the leg” and “what was that move from my self defense class”. The change of song was intended to give Veronica more power and strength in the situation, but these changes may have had an adverse effect. Veronica is a very sarcastic character in the original and some of that still holds true in west end, but her sarcasm is especially exemplified in Blue. One could say this sarcasm is what gives her power. She’s aware that she’s not like her peers and much deeper and more intelligent than they. By taking this sarcasm away from her, it gives her the mindset of someone on their level, at least from her perspective.

   Of course, rape isn’t anything to be scoffed at, and it’s imperative to think on your feet when in danger and use self defense as Veronica does in ‘You’re Welcome’, but this is a story. You can substitute realism for character; but you can’t always substitute character for realism. The change certainly affects the dynamic of Veronica and JD's relationship. Where in the original Veronica is JD’s sort of savior from himself, the dynamic flips in the west end version. After Kurt and Ram embarrass Veronica by telling everyone at school that they had sex, Veronica and JD decide to kill them both. If Veronica was really afraid and traumatized, tranquilizing Kurt and Ram (the original plan, Veronica thought), to embarrass them would be short of just. The point of the ensuing scene isn’t supposed to be justice. It’s meant to show the drastic lengths JD will go to to protect Veronica, but if Veronica is genuinely traumatized, killing the jocks is a measure less drastic and some could say not drastic at all. JD has no reason to lie to Veronica about their plans; Veronica has no reason, or less plausible reason to grieve Kurt and Ram as she does in the original.