The Legend of Billie Jean (movie)

I know, this is supposed to be a book review site. And here I am reviewing a movie instead. Well, I wasn't going to do that! But, I thought it was an important movie, so I decided to write about it.

The Legend of Billie Jean, starring Helen Slater and Christian Slater is about a revolution of sorts. Billie Jean and her brother Binx, along with their friends Putter and Ophelia, never set out to start a revolution. They just wanted a fair shake, they wanted something owed to them, not because it was owed to them, but because it was fair that they should get it. It was the right thing to do to ask for it, and it would've been the right thing to do for the person who owed them to give it to them. But, that's not how it worked out.

What am I talking about? Well, the premise is basically that Billie Jean and her brother, Binx, have a run-in with some teenage jerks. Among them is the apparent leader, Hubie.

Hubie thinks he's all that and decides to show off to his friends and come onto Billie Jean in a way that is less of a come-on and more sexual harassment. Billie Jean refuses his advances, and her brother Binx throws a cup of ice cream in Hubie's face. This is what starts things off.

Hubie is feeling angry and humiliated, so while Binx and his sister are taking a swim and later relaxing on a raft, Hubie and his small gang of thugs show up and trash Binx's prized possession. A motor scooter that was bought with some of the insurance money left over from their father's death. Hubie and his pals steal the scooter, humiliate Binx and Billie Jean, and take off with it.

Figuring that Hubie will eventually return the scooter when he gets tired of being a jerk, they go home and wait. However, returning the scooter is NOT what is on Hubie's mind and Binx is young and impetuous. He can't just sit around and wait to find out what, if anything, they're going to do with that scooter. So, he leaves that evening to track down Hubie and his gang of morons and find his scooter and bring it home.

Billie Jean tries to get the police involved, for both her brother's safety and the safe return of the scooter. Unfortunately, the officer she speaks to pretty much tells her that boys will be boys and she's a pretty girl. So, in a way, its her fault. He was trying to show off to her, got humiliated, and now Hubie is just being a bit of a dick, but he'll come around. And he sends her home with his card.

However, as I mentioned, Hubie didn't intend to stop being a dick. What she finds when she gets home is a destroyed motor scooter and a very beaten up Binx.

Instead of going back to the police, however, she does something a little more gutsy. She gets an estimate on the scooter, on how much it will cost to fix it. Then she takes that estimate and goes to the store Hubie works at (which is owned by Hubie's father), and hands him the estimate, telling him she expects the money.

Naturally, Hubie is a jerk so he refuses. And he tries again to come onto her. She takes matters into her own hands this time, and knees him in the ground. While he's writhing on the floor, his father comes in and a couple of customers run out.

Instead of cowering or running away, Billie Jean stands up for herself and what's right with Hubie's father, too. Unfortunately, its quickly easy to tell where Hubie gets his attitude. The father pretty much runs Hubie out of the store, and at first it looks as if he's going to pay off the money for his son. But, no. He asks her to go upstairs, where he's got the money.

Billie Jean is aware that this is not kosher, but she goes up anyway. She really wants that money. Her family is not rich, they live in a trailer park and her mother is the sole breadwinner as far as I can tell. If this money is not repaid to them, they will never be able to fix Binx's scooter.

Naturally, I'm sure you can tell where this is going. Billie Jean finds herself being sexually assaulted by Hubie's father. However, she manages to get away before he can get anything done, and her brother and a couple of friends enter the store just as they were both running down the stairs.

Finding a gun, Binx attempts to come to his sister's rescue. Hubie enters the scene at this point, as well, but he refuses to do anything to help his father, simply because he doesn't know what to do about Binx having the gun. Convinced by Hubie's father that the gun must not be loaded, Binx examines it and it accidentally goes off, shooting Hubie's father in the shoulder. Hubie calls the police, and Billie Jean, Binx, and their friends get out of there and drive away as fast as they can.

Billie Jean is the obvious leader of this gang of misfits right from the start. She's the one that decides they're going to leave, she's the one that decides who goes with them and where they go and every move they make.

There is a lot of symbolism in this movie. I'm going to only talk about two pieces of symbolism. The first is Joan of Ark.

While they're in hiding, they have a chance to watch a movie about Joan of Ark. The scene the movie is on when they come into it is the scene where Joan of Ark is testifying on her own behalf, telling the people in attendance what she did and why she did it, and why she believes it was the right thing to do. This scene is followed by the burning of Joan of Ark at the stake.

This movie and Joan of Ark herself resonate heavily with Billie Jean. By this time, they've been on the run for a while and people are spreading vicious lies and rumors about her, Binx, and the two friends they're traveling with. But, because they're on the run and in hiding, more or less, they've never had any opportunity to speak for themselves or set the record straight. Its hard to do that when you can't let anyone know where you are.

However, she comes up with an idea. Getting a boy who is a new friend and new addition (and later a love interest of Billie Jean's) to their group, who is good with making movies to help out, she decides they will set the record straight. Their new friend will tape her doing just that. But, she wants to get ready first.

What she does is a little cringe-worthy. She had beautiful long blonde hair, but in the bathroom of the house they're camping out at, she cuts it off into a short crop cut. She changes her clothes so that she's dressed more like a boy than a girl. The effect is that she looks very androgynous and its a very good look for her. This is inspired by Joan of Ark. In the movie she watched, in the scenes she watched, Joan of Ark had short hair, and it was explained to her that this woman had dressed as a man to lead an army. And that she had won, even if she was later captured by the French and burned at the stake.

In effect, this movie takes Joan of Ark and brings her into the modern world. And it does so in a very inspiring way, and a way that many people, young and old, can relate to.

During the time they're on the run, this does start a bit of a revolution, as I mentioned. Many people, young and old (but we really only get to see the young people most of the time) begin to take sides. The majority seem to be on Billie Jean's side, though. Fair is fair, is her motto. They will turn themselves in, they know they've done something wrong even if it was an accident. But, fair is fair, they want the money owed to them in exchange for their giving themselves up.

Fair is fair becomes a rallying cry for the People in this movie. And, in fact, if not for the help of many people along the way, Billie Jean and her brother and their friends would not have gotten as far as they did without getting caught. Friends who are virtual strangers help them out of sticky situations. Many people ferry them around towns in their cars and on the backs of motorcycles, avoiding police and road blocks, to get them to where they need to go undetected, allowing them to stay at least one step ahead of the police at all times.

Now, that second bit of symbolism I wanted to address. Fire. At the end of the movie Billie Jean has a chance to confront Hubie's father face-to-face with a large crowd behind her, watching. Including Hubie, a dirty politician who had had it out for her, and the detective who had turned her away in the first place but ever since had been her biggest (and perhaps only) supporter in law enforcement.

This man, Hubie's father, Lloyd, has never come clean about what REALLY happened in the upstairs room that day, what he tried to do. But here it all comes out. He's been profiting off of Billie Jean, too. He's erected a large wooden (at least I think its wooden) statue of her to act as a sort of mascot and is selling all kinds of posters, pictures, and t-shirts with her image on them. They sell like hotcakes, of course.

Lloyd finally, after all this time, agrees to pay the money. He gives even more than she asked for, way more. But, by this time, its gone far beyond the point of the money. She doesn't want it anymore, especially not more than she had asked for. And she knows what this money really is. Its hush money. He sees the writing on the wall and he knows she has more power than he does now.

Billie Jean tells the truth about what happened, what he tried to do, the dirty things he'd said to her. The whole crowd hears it. Including Hubie. There's a small struggle, Lloyd wants the damage to be minimal, he insists she's lying, and during the struggle she knees him int he groin and shoves him down. When he fell, so did a lantern and it starts a small fire. While that's burning, she tells him where he can put his money and throws it in his face, then walks away. Hubie runs off, and does not answer his father's cries for help to save the remaining things from the fire. No one is hurt in this fire, unless you count Lloyd's pocketbook and reputation.

But, as the fire burns, all of the memorabilia Lloyd was using to profit off of Billie Jean goes up in flames. And, along with it the large wooden mascot that was the image of Billie Jean, dressed in her new Joan of Ark look, goes up in flames, too, falling atop the rest of the memorabilia, fueling the fire.

The fire represents many things, but I'm only going to mention a few. First, its an obvious reference to Joan of Ark's burning at the stake. Its also a reference to cleansing fire, righteous fire, and an ending and new beginning.

Throughout the fire, the theme of the movie is playing, Invincible by Pat Benatar.

This is a definite must-see movie for anyone who hasn't seen it. Its not overly long, its filled with symbolism and its just an overall important movie if you ask me. Its got great acting, a great soundtrack, and a great plot. The writing is good. Despite the fact that the movie is from the 1980s, it has a message that carries over even to today and is relevant to today's world and today's people, especially today's youth.