All I knew about The Legend Of Billie Jean (1985) was the title and the Pat Benatar song ‘Invincible’ (Theme from The Legend Of Billie Jean), which was used in the first season of Netflix’s GLOW. Helen Slater is the lead character living in a small Texas town who comes to her brother’s defence (a young, blonde Christian Slater) when no-good bros total his red scooter, and while trying to get financial restitution for the damage is sexually harassed by the gang leader’s business man father. After an accidental shooting, Billie Jean, her bro and her friends (including the Voice of Lisa Simpson, Yeardley Smith, as the comic relief) hit the road on the run from the law. The movie takes time to get going but really hits its stride when Billie Jean sees Jean Seberg as Joan Of Arc on TV, cuts her hair short and becomes an iconic rebel for all the disaffected white teens out there, pumping her fists and yelling “Fair is fair!”, inspiring an Underground Railroad rebellion of teens with similar buzz cuts. It’s also the kind of movie where the nerd from John Carpenter’s Christine, Keith Gordon, is treated as a hunk (he plays the video camera rich kid who allows himself to be taken hostage). Perfect Eighties score by Craig Safran and just pumping with 80s anthem hits (Divinyls ‘Boys In Town’, Billy Idol’s ‘Rebel Yell’). This felt longer than its 96 minute running time, but was entertaining and a little bit ahead of its time with its feminist themes. A bit like Pump Up The Volume, in that it’s a cheesy teen movie, but it also feels like it’s actually about something – as much as an eighties teen movie with a pumping soundtrack can be about anything
VHS Tracking 