Zeit der Vergeltung

The British historian E. J. Hobsbawm developed the idea of the "social bandit," the peasant youth who becomes an outlaw after his honorable resistance to some outrage by the landlord ends with a landlord henchman dead. He calls to others who share his anger at injustice to follow him to the hills where they will lead the outlaw life, stealing only from those whose wealth comes from oppressing the poor, respecting the peasants and righting wrongs on their behalf, and seeking to restore a former condition when the great and powerful behaved decently and treated the poor equitably. (This equitable treatment is also close to what E.P. Thompson called "the moral economy of the poor:" the Honest Loaf, the Fair Day's Wage for a Fair Day's Work--a slogan of early labor unions--etc.)

The social bandit *isn't* a revolutionary--he has no vision of a transformed society, because his horizons are too narrow. He wants the Good Old Days back. He doesn't have a social or political theory; he wants simple decency and justice. He isn't Joan of Arc, fighting to restore a legitimate King, he's much closer to Robin Hood, resisting the oppression of a King who's forfeited the loyalty of the people by not acting as a good King should.

Billie Jean is a social bandit. The events that launch her "career," the actions she performs, and above all her simple watchword "Fair is Fair" clearly put her in the category that includes the Brazilian Lampiao, the Sicilian Salvatore Giuliano, and others. Hardly surprising, since this teenage cult script was written by a formerly blacklisted old Lefty in his seventies, Walter Bernstein, who surely had read Hobsbawm and Thompson and found, I think, a very ingenious way to illustrate their ideas in a 1980's US setting.

In Texas, the hot teenager Billie Jean Davy (Helen Slater) lives with her brother Binx (Christian Slater) and her mother in a trailer. In a hot day, she rides with Binx on his scooter to swim in a lake. However, the bully Huble Pyatt (Barry Tubb) steals the scooter with his friends. Billie Jean goes to the police but Detective Ringwald (Peter Coyote) does not give much attention to her. When Binx tries to retrieve his scooter, Huble trashes the scooter and beats Binx up. Billie Jean goes with her brother Binx and her friend Ophelia (Martha Gehman) to the store of Huble's father Pyatt (Richard Bradford) with the repair bill and the old man lures Billie Jean and brings her to his office. Then he harass and tries to rape her. Meanwhile Binx finds a gun in the cash register and her accidentally shoots Pyatt. Billie Jean, Binx. Ophelia and their teenage neighbor Putter (Yeardley Smith) flee from Ophelia's car. They meet the teenager Lloyd (Keith Gordon), who is the estranged son of the D.A. Muldaur (Dean Stockwell), he proposes to be their "hostage" so that the runaway teenagers could get some money for their journey. When Billie Jean watches Otto Preminger 's "Saint Joan" at Lloyd's television, she cuts her hair short and makes a video with her explanation and demands, becoming and icon worshiped by the teenagers. Meanwhile Detective Ringwald finds the mess, he realizes that he should have listened to Billie Jean and tries to fix the situation.

"The Legend of Billie Jean" is a super-cult movie from the 80's and maybe Helen Slater's best film in her career. The plot entwines action and drama and it is delightful to watch. In the 80's, many viewers believed that Helen Slater and Christian Slater were siblings since they have the same last name. The story of a wronged teenager that cuts her hair in Joan of Arc's style and becomes an idol of the youth has not aged and is still wonderful to watch. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "A Lenda de Billie Jean" ("The Legend of Billie Jean")

I sort of look at this film as a cult classic. I see it as sort of a 1980s Rebel Without A Cause. Helen Slater is another actress who has really never been given just credit. She made her film debut the year before in Supergirl and it was a film everyone made fun of. I don't think thats fair to her, because she is a fine actress and proves it here. Unlike James Dean's character, she does "have the right to be angry" and fights back against a corrupt system. Some people may say this film condones vigilante activities, but I think this is a film with a positive message. I also loved Pat Benetar's song "We Will Be Invincible", it should have gotten an Oscar.

I recently purchased the special edition "Fair Is Fair" DVD version of "The Legend of Billie Jean". Partly because I thought it was a fun flashback to the 80s when I thought this movie was so cutting-edge cool when I was still a teenager, partly because it had a soundtrack commentary by stars Helen Slater and Yeardley Smith. I wasn't disappointed.

I will say I've watched this movie more than a few times. Each time I am kinda in awe of how blonde and stunning Helen is. She was (still is) a beautiful actress. "City Slickers", "The Secret of My Success" both cast her as the sexy co-star and for good reason. Her sexiness is without question in this movie. This is one of Christian Slater's (no relation) first movies and he's exactly what you'd expect him to be at 15 years old. Yeardley Smith is and always has been a gifted ugly duckling that is as adorable as they get. This is no different. Priceless casting.

The story is fairly silly and formulaic. A teenage girl and her brother have their motor scooter trashed by some bullies. The girl goes to the bully's father and demands money for the damages. The dad is worse than the son. They struggle. An accident occurs. The kids go on the lam. Good cop who can read between the lines trails the kids like a bloodhound. Kids become famous outlaws. Big climax at the end. Standard teenage 80s stuff. And it's worth every second of screen time!!!

Watching the DVD with the voice-over soundtrack by both Helen and Yeardley made me laugh out loud a few times. It was hilarious listening to these two friends banter back and forth about who did what when and where, the horrible 80s styles and hair now that they're mothers themselves, how their daughters won't even watch it out of sheer horror their mothers were rebellious teenagers (Helen - "We're five minutes into the movie and my daughter has already left." - funny stuff), etc... The fact Helen didn't remember the real actress' name of her own mother character in the movie (Mona Lee Fultz) tells you how raw this audio take is. No editing, just middle-age friends talking into a microphone. It's genuine and even better than this classic 80s flick by itself.

The movie is dated, even ridiculous in some cases, and totally awesome (yes, an 80s term)! How can you not sing a few bars of Pat Benatar's "Invincible" in this fantastically cheesy movie? It's self-consciously teeny throughout. Even the adults act more like enabling or overbearing parents than real adults. It's cheerful, uplifting, cool and just plain fun to watch. The writing is irrelevant. Holes in the plot are beside the point. Sit back, slide this piece of 80s nostalgia into your DVD player, put on your headphones, pump up the volume on the headphones at all the right places, and just enjoy the experience.

Billie Jean RULES!!! :-)

I saw this movie when I was a kid, and it instantly became one of my personal favorites. Helen Slater's performance is unforgettable about a young girl and her instant rebel/outlaw status. This is definitely a cult favorite, and appropriately so. For some undescribable reason, this film grabs at you in a way that most movies never do. You seem to care a lot for Billie Jean, and want her to get the justice she deserves. Every rebellious youth should see this film so they can see what happens on both sides of the law, and for a highly entertaining movie. Full of 80's music (especially the kick-ass Pat Benatar theme song), The Legend of Billie Jean is truly a remarkable film that was overlooked by too many people for its brilliance.