Morality in Exchange for Popularity

  20 December 2017

Morality in Exchange for Popularity

In a society where all forms of expression are not equally embraced, trends and taboos serve to shape one’s perception of what is considered desirable and undesirable. Under such a system, acceptance and popularity are perhaps some of the more sought-after aspects of life. Validation by society can grant a person a feeling of power and control. And vice versa, people feel inclined to avoid and shun things that do not align with societal expectations. Works such as Heathers, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Carrie (The Musical), The Crucible, “A Rose for Emily”, and “Popularity” embody this idea by displaying how seeking power through conformity can inevitably lead to dilemmas of morality resulting in a character’s ultimate demise. In order to gain societal acceptance, one must succumb to certain impositions, such as being outwardly attractive, meeting particular standards for behavior, being of a certain social status, as well as desiring the acceptance of one’s peers. These ideals seem to constantly loom over individuals and thus undoubtedly lead to internal and external conflict, as a desire to conform to such standards ultimately skews an individual’s sense of morality, and leads to their inevitable destruction. 

These skewed morals and societal impositions are depicted within the high school setting of Heathers. The film takes place within the walls of Westerburg High School, where the Heathers, a clique of popular girls all named Heather, with the exception of Veronica, reign. Veronica and the Heathers frequently reject their sense of right and wrong in order to maintain their status in the hierarchy of high school. Heather Chandler, the leader of the clique, serves to embody the ideals of outward attractiveness, behavioral standards, status, and peer acceptance that are imposed upon individuals by society. Heather Chandler acts as a kind of embodiment of these ideals, which are clearly represented by her clothing.

Heather Chandler is always depicted as wearing red. The red in her clothes, particularly her scrunchie, represents the power she gains through popularity, as well as her ability to disregard morality because of her deemed status. While she is alive, Heather Chandler is the sole person to wear red because she alone is perfection in the eyes of society. Meanwhile, Heather Duke, who starts off wearing green, frequently tries to claim red as her own. The green represents how she feels pressured to surpass Heather Chandler in order to fit in as well as her envy. However, Heather Duke is consistently shut down by comments such as, “Did you have a brain tumor for breakfast? First you ask if you can be red, knowing that I'm always red” (Heathers).  When Heather Chandler dies, Heather Duke is able to steal the red scrunchie, as well as the power it represents. 

Veronica wears blue, a color that represents her succumbing to society. She does so by abandoning her true friends and sense of goodness in order to adopt the ideals of the Heathers. Veronica is restored to her former principles through her relations with Jason-Dean or JD. JD wears black and white, colors meant to represent his conflict against society and his awareness of the divide between social classes. He believes “The only place different social types can genuinely get along with each other is in heaven” (Heathers).

JD’s brass rejection of high school society leads Veronica to realize that the cause of her demise was her rejection of morality for the sake of popularity. JD kills the people who he feels embody the ideals that society imposes on its members. Through this, JD represents how the ill-treatment of others for the sake of popularity will cause a character’s ultimate demise. He eventually attempts to destroy the school entirely because he believes ‘the school was society"  and that as a collective society, the school is ultimately doomed by its inability to maintain morality (Heathers). This violent outburst against societal impositions leads Veronica to discover that her sense of ethics had been skewed due to her desperate craving to conform to fads and gossip, and her becoming one with the Heathers. 

After stopping JD from destroying the school and society, Veronica realizes her faults and abandons her longing to fit in, and becomes friends with Martha. Veronica realizes the dangers of conformity and chooses to live without caring about her status. Thus, Veronica reestablishes her sense of integrity and abandons the impositions of society. Not only has Veronica reestablished herself through her friends, but her previously blue clothing has also been burnt up in her attempt to stop JD. 

Veronica’s initial ability to succumb to society came from her attractive appearance. Through her appearance, Veronica was given the opportunity to sell out her true friend in exchange for joining the hedonistic Heathers. Much like in Heathers, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian Gray’s handsome exterior grants him the ability to give up his righteousness in exchange for extended youth. Dorian Gray gives in to the societal imposition of being outwardly attractive. Dorian Gray does so because of the persuasion of Lord Henry. Lord Henry represents the idea that meeting certain standards of beauty is more important than a person’s internal goodness. Lord Henry expresses this belief through comments such as, “Oh, she is better than good – she is beautiful” (Wilde 57). 

Lord Henry causes destruction to righteousness and believes in the value of beauty and youth over being a kind and decent person. He teaches the susceptible Dorian Gray that once you lose your youth, life will not be worth living. Lord Henry exploits Dorian Gray. He sees Gray as “All the candor of youth was there, as well as all youth's passionate purity” (12). To Lord Henry, Gray is simply something beautiful enough to corrupt. When Dorian Gray falls victim to this tainting of the soul, his painting grows uglier. He begins to demand beauty in others the way society does. Through Lord Henry’s advisement, Gray adopts the idea that “It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances” (17). He puts this into play when he abandons his love, Sibyl Vane. His focus on his exterior, as well as surrounding himself with people who will elevate his status, ultimately leads to his perpetual isolation and loneliness. Gray grows into a person without righteousness to the point where he eventually kills his friend, Basil. This abandonment of morality leads to Gray’s undying guilt and inevitable downfall. Dorian Gray’s abandonment and harassment of Sybil and Basil reflect his walk down the path of injustice and dilemmas of morality.

In contrast to Dorian Gray, Carrie, from Carrie (the Musical), was a victim rather than a bully. She is bullied by her peers due to her inability to conform. Her eventual demise is brought upon by her desire, and the desires of those around her, to fit in. Throughout the musical, the characters are desperately fighting to fit in, deeming it more important than anything else in their lives. The characters are constantly stressing over their abilities to conform, saying things such as, “I worry what can I possibly do to fit in? Perfect clothes. Nose. The perfect skin, face, all ace!” (Cohen Web). They value meeting the standards of appearance, as well as behaving in an expected way, and being accepted by their peers above all else. 

Carrie’s school represents society as it is pushing its members to conform. In the physical education class, the girls are taught that being “Overweight is a sin!” and that they should work to meet certain body standards (Cohen Web). This demonstrates how the school is pushing upon the students an ideal appearance that is required in order to fit in, and the students chanting this demonstrates how willing the students are to conform. 

Those who meet societal standards often cause emotional and physical distraught to those who do not meet said standards. The most popular students bully Carrie and exaggerate her lack of place in their world. They believed they have a right to harass those beneath them because “Ever since the world began same plot, everyone's been dumping on a fellow man. Pounding people they feel better than” (Cohen Web). It strengthened one’s status to harass those they believed beneath them. They bully as a way to cement their social status and continue the high school hierarchy. 

Less popular students bully Carrie because bullying is part of the behavioral standard which they needed to achieve to fit in. These actions demonstrate a lack of human decency which resulted from the skewed sense of morality gained from wanting to fit in. Their ultimate demise, and the destruction of the school, came as a result of their actions. Carrie burned down the high school during the prom because some of the more popular boys switched the ballots to make her prom queen, and then proceeded to drench Carrie in pig’s blood. Their aggressive attempts to cement their status above Carrie lead to her inexorable outburst.

Carrie was chosen as the victim because she represents those who cannot meet the expectations of society. She is seen as unattractive and does not behave similarly to the rest of the students. Much of the distinction in her behavior comes as a result of her religious upbringing since she is raised by an exceedingly religious mother. Carrie’s mother abuses Carrie because Carrie’s mother believes it is her religious duty. The abuse and strict religious upbringing prevent Carrie from being able to meet social standards, and her longing to be accepted causes her to lose her integrity and kill her fellow peers, as well as her mother.  

While it was dangerous for Carrie’s religious upbringing to isolate her, the religion-based community in The Crucible was the danger. The Crucible takes place in the town of Salem where strict, religious social norms prevented anyone from doing things to relieve themselves. Thus, the citizens of Salem were left to vent their frustrations through the trials.  Similar to Carrie’s mother, the people in Salem believed in upholding tradition and collective submission to the words of God believing “We are what we always were in Salem” (The Crucible). Because of their collective beliefs, Abigail had no way to feel okay with her participation in Proctor’s affair, and, due to the strictness of the religious, and societal prejudice against sex, she was driven mad.

The obsession with fitting in with the town led the citizens to blame each other. They accused each other of performing witchcraft in an attempt to alleviate their own status, gain social power, as well as ease their guilty consciences. As a result, the citizens of Salem who provided sources of food and protection were killed off, leading to the ruination of Salem. The behaviors represent the violent extent to which people are willing to go in order to succumb to the will of society. The characters are then led to a fanatic obsession with reputation. The people of Salem were collectively more concerned with maintaining a reputation that meets the standards and expectations of society than with doing what is morally right. 

In Abigail’s case, her desire to be reputable and socially accepted was in part due to familial obligation. Due to the death of her parents, Abigail was taken in by her uncle Paris. Her obligations to her uncle further obliged her to conform to the religious standards of society. Her place in Salem reflected herself, as well as her uncle. Thus, the pressures for her to conform were from religious society, as well as from her family. 

In “A Rose for Emily,” Miss Emily Grierson’s unfortunate ending comes from her family pressuring her to maintain the family’s social status. Similar to how Abigail had to meet societal expectations under familial obligation, Miss Emily had to as well. Miss Emily had to maintain the image of her family and was seen as “a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town” (Faulkner 1). Miss Emily was born to continue her family’s position in town. Miss Emily was unable to find a husband due to her father’s belief that“None of the young men were good enough” (4). The Grierson family rejected men for Emily because by marrying them, Miss Emily would lower the family’s status. 

Eventually, Miss Emily’s immediate family died off and she was left to live in isolation, a situation which likely caused her to grow mad. Her family’s attempt to preserve their place in society and maintain their status leads to their ultimate demise. Because Miss Emily was unable to find a committed partner, the Grierson family line would end with her and be disgraced by Miss Emily’s actions. In her loneliness, Miss Emily found love with a man below her class named Homer, who was “a Northerner, a day laborer” (6). Homer eventually sleeps with Miss Emily and refuses to marry her. Since Miss Emily strives to meet the societal ideals for behavior, she is disgraced and turned blind to her sense of morality. 

In an attempt to regain her status, and exact revenge upon Homer for diminishing her ability to meet the ideal for behavior, Miss Emily poisons Homer. The people in town believed that she acted this way because she sought to maintain her family’s status. By disregarding morality and killing Homer, Miss Emily doomed herself to spend the rest of her life in loneliness, with her social status diminished. Despite her attempts to stay at a higher status, in Miss Emily’s state of isolation, disgrace, and pauper “She had become humanized”(Faulkner 5). No one was beneath the Griersons anymore. Miss Emily strived to cement her place in society and this desire ultimately lead to her lonely death. Through Miss Emily’s later years, she began to push away attention. She wished to hide from her town in an attempt to conceal her shame. 

Once a character fails to meet the societal impositions they tend to shy away from attention out of embarrassment. However, when attempting to meet said impositions, gain status, and increase in popularity, characters often crave attention as a confirmation of success. The song “Popularity” depicts the obsession with fads, gossip, and fitting in, which may lead to a character’s demise and the extent they are willing to go for attention. The line, “Look at me more I’m a suicide girl” depicts the notion that characters will abandon their morals in regards to suicide, and act a certain way to get recognition from their peers (Moon).

This abandonment of morals for the sake of attention can be seen throughout Heathers. In Heathers, Veronica is willing to abandon her true friends in exchange for popularity and acceptance amongst the Heathers. By doing this, she was able to heighten her status. Her status and place amongst the clique lead to her isolation and her befriending JD. Similarly, in The Crucible, Abigail, and the other girls accusing people of witchcraft, were willing to sacrifice the lives of their fellow townsfolk in an effort to avoid social rejection for having danced in the woods.   

This fear of social rejection tends to lead characters to fall susceptible to the social ideas which may lead to their demise. Julian Moon sings about how if she is able to meet a certain image, she would be able to gain popularity and social recognition. By singing, “If I could only be the girl I see, I’d be the one that they wanna be” she demonstrates how one must succumb to being outwardly attractive in order to gain societal acceptance (Moon). Focusing solely on meeting standards for appearance can be dangerous. Dorian Gray demonstrates that focusing on the aspect of appearance can lead to moral corruption. Dorian Gray’s obsession with his youth leads him to perform acts of lust, greed, hubris, and murder. His loss of ethics and obsession with his exterior, lead to his eventual hatred of the painting and death in trying to destroy it.  

Many are blind to the consequences of such trivial focuses because of the belief that with popularity “Everything, would all be worth it. Everything, would all make sense. My whole life, would be so perfect” (Moon). The belief that one’s problems would be solved because they are accepted by their peers causes the inevitable downfall of a character. For example, in “A Rose for Emily,”  Miss Emily’s loneliness and relationship with Homer were a result of her father’s inability to allow Miss Emily to date men below their status. In Heathers, Veronica was lured in by the Heathers to her demise because Veronica had sought popularity so desperately. 

The characters in Carrie (the Musical) sought popularity to their demise as well. In their struggles to fit in, they failed to maintain basic human decency and created an environment in which Carrie was led to kill them all. Their ultimate downfall came from their inability to see past their own desire and act kindly towards others. Similarly, in the Crucible, the accusers in the witch trials, led by Abigail, were unable to see past their desire to be acknowledged by their peers. Their inability lead them to moral corruption and a dysfunctioning town as they killed off vital members of their society. 

The destruction of towns is a result of the citizen's failure to create an environment in which its members feel free from the pressures to conform. Similarly, the demise of an individual comes from the individual’s inability to cast away their desire for admiration and acceptance. When an individual focuses on their place within a community, their attention is drawn away from the moral principles which protect them. Therefore, the notion that succumbing to societal impositions, and gaining the favor of society would make life “be worth it,” leads to moral corruption that destroys the lives of people (Moon). Succumbing to the expectation that one must look, act, and be accepted in a certain cause of the decaying of a person’s life. Once an individual succumbs to the societal standards for appearance, status, desire, and behavior, and their morality is skewed, they are doomed to inevitable conflict.  

Works Cited

Cohen, Lawrence. Carrie The Musical. Archive. https://archive.org/stream/pdfy-IvGOvM2t8v-

     GMNAY/1988%20Carrie%20the%20Musical%20London%20Work%20Script_djvu.txt..

     Accessed 8 December 2017.

The Crucible. Directed by Nicholas Hymer, performances by Winona Ryder and Daniel 

     Day-Lewis, Twentieth Century Fox, 1996.

Faulkner, William. “A Rose for Emily”. A Rose for Emily and Other Stories, edited by Saxe 

     Commons, Random House, 2012, pp 1-7.

Heathers. Directed by Michael Lehmann, with performances by Winona Ryder and Christian Slater,

     Cinemarque Entertainment, 1989.

Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. Digireads, 2017.

Moon, Julian. “Popularity”. Good Girl, Warner Bros. Records, 2015.