Heavenly Creatures

Heavenly Creatures is interesting because of the fact that it dramatises a local historical event and the varied audience reactions to it. For a start, there is a lot of material on the murders articles, books, and even a play.it is a very famous case. most people alive at the time remember it and usually comment on how dreadful it was at the time. So Jackson had to be very careful as to how he portraye the events as a lot of people were going to be comparing it to their memories and facts. This is a problem for most film makers who dramatise real events but in this case the event was so shocking that the need to get it right and not annoy a lot

of people was even more important.They ended up producing a film which celebrates the girls as passionate and creative people stuck in a conservatice time as well as warning us of the dangers of too much fantasy and not enough reality. we can see both sides to the issue which makes the film a very effective one. it seems like they themselves couldnt decide what to thinkof the girls in the end. we are made to sympathise with them(the fun they have and the fun they poke at people like the priest and teachers) and find them repulsive (the murder). 1950s society is certainly parodied in the film. All the authority figures (except, ironically, the murder victim, Pauline's mum) are ridiculous. The priest is disturbing , the teachers are pathetic and powerless, Juliets parents hopeless. So we are shown a boring society where authority is not worthy of respect and the only fun ot be had is in fantasy. some people have found this unconvincing, saying that the 1950s might have been conservative but there was still plenty of room for freedom and exression. and is it fair to poke so much fun and 21st century disdain at a doctor's hopeless efforts to cope with a difficult child? to us, the doctor's comments are outrageous but he is a product of his time.

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