La Légende de Billie Jean

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.

This is an excellent movie for young people, in general. It shows how one has to fight for one's principles, as it's the case with Billie Jean, a girl living in the Texas coastal town of Corpus Christi. As directed by Matthew Robbins, this film will never cease to amaze.

After he brother's motorcycle is trashed by a group of rough teenagers. Billie Jean wants the father of the boy who gave a beating to her brother, to pay for the repair of the bike. This is a man who, knowing where Billie Jean comes from, tries to abuse the girl sexually. He doesn't know who he is messing with.

The movie deals with the way Billie Jean goes about in getting her revenge against all odds. In doing so, she becomes an instant celebrity to the young population in the area, who easily identify with the wronged girl and make her a folk hero.

Helen Slater makes a sunny appearance as Billie Jean. She is a girl who believes in justice, and demands it from the man who wanted to take advantage of her. A young, blond Christian Slater is Binx, the young brother. Peter Coyote is also seen as the chief of police who Billie Jean goes to present her complaint, but doesn't have enough sense to pay attention to her.

Never underestimate a determined woman who is wronged. Whoever thinks otherwise will probably get his own Billie Jean to her point.

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 have seen this movie so many times it's ridiculous. I have never rented it, but I know all of the lines because it comes on so often. I forced my husband to watch it with me once, and now he has to watch it whenever it comes on. After seeing this movie once it becomes strangely addictive. It's not even that good. It's actually very cheesy, especially when the movie compares Billie Jean to Joan of Arc. But it's a perfect example of a great 80's movie. The music is good and very catchy. Plus, it features a young Christian Slater. And remember, "fair is fair!!"

I can't believe I've never watched this show before when I was younger. I just saw it on cable. I won't say it has the best plot, story, characters or anything, but there's just this mysterious element that draws us to Billie Jean. All those kids in the film were incredible. My father was watching with me he smiled when he saw that little boy who sent the tape to the police. How cute!

This film does reflect some truths. Some adults simply think that fairness is not for kids. Children are not entitled to justice. But few do stand up against this false belief. That is why Billie Jean is a heroine.

To add, Helen Slater is just so beautiful.