The Legend of Billie Jean

No one can preach about non-conformity and cool rebellion against a rotten system as convincingly and intoxicatingly as the rotten system of conformist Hollywood studios. In some respects, The Legend of Billie Jean is generally likable and progressive – particularly as a flick for teenage girls that isn’t afraid to include talk of menstruation and thematise harassment by sleazy older guys. It is not entirely appropriate to criticise the film for its lack of cohesiveness, as the filmmakers clearly wanted to evoke certain feelings rather than build a standard narrative. This approach enabled them to step back from causality and logic at key moments and build, for example, an impressive music-video sequence illustrating the title character’s growing legend. On the other hand, the naïveté of this and other sequences in the second plan reveals the film’s dubious core. It preaches queerness only within the boundaries of decency and traditional gender norms and roles. Instead of fully attacking more fundamental and systemic problems, such as harassment and the roles predetermined for girls in society at the time, it focuses attention on the banal details and the captivating charm of Helen Slater with her cool tomboy haircut. (07/08/2022)