Bare with me while I state the painfully obvious: all movies have color – unless it’s in black and white, of course, and even then there’s something to be said about shades and lighting. In any case, color is an inherent aspect of film and television, and one I feel deserves to be talked about. Color is a valuable tool for setting the mood, it can define the aesthetic for an entire work, it can even serve to develop character.
If we’re going to talk color in film, we have to talk Heathers. I can think of few films that are as heavy handed in their color symbolism. That isn’t to say the use of color in Heathers isn’t visually stunning or interesting; it only emphasizes how significant color is as a narrative device to this movie.
In the world of Heathers, only four colors might as well exist: red, blue, yellow, and green. These dominate the movie’s palette and each is associated with a different character. Continue reading →
Mostly Harmless 