"Smells Like Teen Spirit": The "Heathers" Connection

If you ask me (and almost anyone else who can remember the early '90s), Nirvana's video for "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is brilliant, a masterpiece, one of the greatest music videos ever, blah blah blah you get the idea. Some even consider director Sam Bayer a genius. I agree - to a certain extent. Hole's "Doll Parts," Garbage's "Stupid Girl, and Blind Melon's "No Rain," all directed by Bayer, are all legendary as well. And all have very original concepts, right? Well, in the case of "Smells Like Teen Spirit," I beg to differ.

You may wonder how I can possibly think that the pep-rally-from-hell concept isn't original. I'm not saying it's not original, and I'm not saying Bayer steals ideas. Rather, I think that in this case he just borrowed an idea and gave it a fresh (so to speak) reworking. And where do I think he got the original idea? From one of the best movies to ever hit theaters in the 1980s: "Heathers!"

Let's look at the evidence, shall we? (If you haven't seen the movie yet, stop reading *now* - you don't want to ruin it for yourself!)

*"Heathers" was released in 1989. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was filmed in 1991, so it may have been reasonably fresh in Bayer's mind. Heck, for all I know he could have watched it on cable a few days before the shoot.
*"Heathers" is a dark satire of teenage society. Kurt wanted the video to be based on two films about troubled youth, "The Blackboard Jungle" and "Over The Edge," which Bayer didn't want to do. Perhaps he was thinking of remaking something more recent?
*The pep rally sequence in Heathers includes close-up shots of students' sneakers in the bleachers. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" starts with such a shot.
*There are five (or six?) cheerleaders in each pep rally (it's hard to determine the exact number because of how the movie and video are both cut). The Westerburg High cheerleaders wear black halter-neck tops with the letter W on them in red, black skirts with red godets (you know - those triangular insets), red socks, black Keds, and have red pompoms. The video's cheerleader uniforms differ only in the cut of their necklines (scoop neck as opposed to halter-neck - hey, the video's cheerleaders *were* played by strippers, you know), the W being replaced by the anarchy symbol, and the skirts being solid black. I own a skirt that I'm 99% sure was used in the movie (I want to have it authenticated), and I'm 100% sure the skirts were made specifically for "Heathers," so exact copies would have been too much of a hassle to obtain. Yes, the video's cheerleaders have tattoos and generally gloomy appearances, but that's part of the joke...).
*The pep rally sequence includes a close-up shot of a cheerleader's rear end. The video includes a shot of a cheerleader's breasts bouncing across the screen. The cheerleaders in the movie and the video also appear to be in "slow motion."
*The first line of the song includes a gun reference. The pep rally sequence begins with Veronica confronting J.D. in the boiler room beneath the gym with - of course - a gun.
*Tension builds as both the pep rally sequence and the video go on. With "Heathers," we wonder if the students in the bleachers will be blown to bits; with "Smells Like Teen Spirit," we wonder how the riot will end. Ironically enough, Sam wanted the extras to stay in the bleachers...never mind that the Westerburg students didn't go anywhere until the pep rally was suddenly interrupted...in any case chaos is afoot.
*The gym has a rather smoky, dark, dirty appearance, and I'll be damned if any of the extras (or band members!) had even brushed their hair. After the pep rally, Veronica's skin and clothes are blackened by smoke and her hair is a mess.
*The end of the pep rally sequence includes a shot of the school's not-so-bright principal in sudden shock over the explosion outside. The video ends with a shot of the principal, tied up and wearing a dunce cap.

To put it simply, I think Bayer basically took a great scene from a great movie and made it into something the grunge generation would appreciate. And he did a bloody good job, too. I suspect that someday I'll watch the pep rally sequence and the video side-by-side on two TV screens for lack of anything better to do. Oh, one weird coincidence about my skirt: I bought it so I could dress as a Nirvana cheerleader for Halloween! (By the way, if you are in the Los Angeles area and know where I can find a uniform top to match my skirt, please email me.)

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