The Sour Sweetheart: A New Character Archetype

Heathers (1988)

She’s got a diary and a gun. She’s beauty, she’s grace, and she’s not afraid of getting a little blood on her Chanel lace. She’s a killer, a closeted lesbian, her high school’s very own Hester Prynne. She’s a newly discovered female film character archetype, and she’s called the Sour Sweetheart

When thinking of film tropes for female characters, the Girl Next Door, the Femme Fatale, the Damsel in Distress, the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, and the notorious Final Girl (among many others) likely come to mind. Thanks to pretty much every 80s coming of age movie, audiences know the Girl Next Door is smart and beautiful but not too smart that she’s a geek or too beautiful that she’s unattainable for the zany male protagonist. You’d have to go all the way back to the noir films of the 40s to find the origin of the Femme Fatale. When you do find her, you can be sure she’ll be wearing bold lipstick and a sultry dress, with a cigarette in one hand and a cocktail in the other. You’ve been hearing about the Damsel in Distress since childhood. The pure, ethereal maiden who for the life of her cannot manage anything without her Prince Charming. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl teaches the male main character to embrace his weird side and enjoy the quirky things in life.

Something shifted in the world of female film characters with the introduction of the Final Girl. Most notably accredited to the Halloween movies, the Final Girl ushered in a new way of viewing female protagonists in film. Audiences had grown accustomed to seeing beautiful women in film, but now the beautiful woman was the one doing the hacking and slashing. She was the one saving others and herself. Finally, a recurring female archetype that wasn’t based on appearance or even kindness. She was smart, and she was a survivor. By the end of the film, the Final Girl was a bloody mess, but she was still alive.

Aside from mainstreaming a new kind of female character, the Final Girl showed that cool, smart, funny, complex female characters aren’t rare or different from the other girls. They are realistic portrayals of women and the product of good writing. Emphasis should also be given to the fact that men wrote many of the realistic, well-written Final Girl characters, which even further indicates that the problem was always bad writing, not necessarily bad men. The creation of the Final Girl opened the door for the discovery of other well-written female character tropes like the Sour Sweetheart.

The Sour Sweetheart exists as a teenage girl in dark comedy films. The campy aesthetic of the Sour Sweetheart’s films set them apart from other dark comedies. Incidentally, the Sour Sweetheart and her films share a lot of common qualities. Both the character and the films appear feminine and predictable on the outside, while really being much deeper and darker below the surface. The stylization of both the character and the films lean towards feeling retro and have an obvious bubblegum pop essence. Like the Sour Sweetheart, her films balance between being crude and being cute. The characters in her films are beautiful and are wearing the cutest outfits you have ever seen while throwing around expressions like “Life’s a bitch, then you die.” The constant juxtaposition of total opposite elements in the Sour Sweetheart’s films help to create an atmosphere that feels uneasy compared to the hopeful slice of life/coming of age films the Manic Pixie Dream Girl exists in.

Heathers (1988)

One of the first inspirations for the discovery of the Sour Sweetheart was found in the 1988 film Heathers. The plot centers around Winona Ryder and Christian Slater’s whirlwind, angsty teenage romance that quickly garners a body count. Ryder’s character, Veronica Sawyer, at first glance appears to have the makings of a Final Girl. Still, as dark as it is, Heathers is definitely not a horror movie, and the Final Girl character trope exists in horror movies. Due to her overall characterization and the type of movie she appears in, the character of Veronica can only be characterized as a Sour Sweetheart, and she’s not alone.

Going into a movie about girls and women, audiences have been preprogrammed to assume they will find romance, maybe some glitz and glamour mixed among heartfelt moments. They do find all of these things in the Sour Sweetheart’s world, including in Heathers, but they also find blood, and violence, and slut shaming. There’s candy, slushies, and lip gloss, and there are gunshots, cigarettes, and explosions. Her films give us glittering proms, but in Jennifer’s Body for example, our Sour Sweetheart, Needy, leaves the prom early to go stab her boy-eating monster, her best friend, in the heart. In Jawbreaker, Sour Sweetheart Julie and her friends gush about how much they love their friend right before they accidentally murder her. So yes, sometimes she’s a killer in an extremely chic ensemble. Her films may contain darker subject matter, but she never harbors the seductive darkness of the Femme Fatale. Instead, her character masterfully forces together darkness and femininity in ways that haven’t been seen before.

Jawbreaker (1999)

Like her complex archetype, the Sour Sweetheart’s films confront the idea of not only what it means to be a young woman but also what it means to make a film about young women. Serving as the films’ protagonist, unlike Femme Fatale characters, she undergoes the most amount of change and development. She’s not not like the other girls – in fact, she’s often very much into being one of the girls and fitting in with her peers. If the world was black and white, the Sour Sweetheart would still fall somewhere in the gray. She’s not unpopular, but she’s probably not winning Prom Queen. Emphasis on probably, since Sour Sweetheart Cady does win Prom Queen in Mean Girls. Consistently, the Sour Sweetheart is seen in a favorable light by her peers even if they don’t see her completely. On the outside, she can appear to be an average, run of the mill Girl Next Door. However, like the words “dark” and “comedy” contrast one another, she is also multifaceted and can be snarky, sarcastic, and impulsive.

Her ability to water down fragments of her more undesirable characteristics could have led to her becoming a worthy side character to a more typical type of protagonist. Instead, she serves as a different kind of main character; a more introverted, go with the flow until the flow becomes a tsunami kind of main character. Even though she’s only in high school, her ability to bite her tongue and pick her battles makes her seem wise beyond her years. She’s an old soul not fit for the absurd politics of high school. You get the sense that she knows this about herself, yet she still can’t help herself from trying out for cheerleading or trying to fit in with the cool kids. In this character, we get a glimpse into the mundane inner struggles teenagers face when they’re looking for somewhere to belong or for someone to tell them who to be. These mundane inner struggles seem minor in comparison to the life and death conflict she often faces, but they can be just as character-defining as some of her more volatile experiences.

The films she appears in cleverly use fashion to give insight into the characters’ personalities. The Sour Sweetheart’s style reflects her intuitive, introverted, and sensible personality. This occurs most notably in Heathers and Jawbreaker, in which Sour Sweethearts Veronica and Julie are associated with shades of blue. In a world of miniskirts and cargo pants, she falls somewhere in the middle.

While her wardrobe visually shows her morally good inclination, the Sour Sweetheart’s voice further develops her character. A common aspect of this character is the narration the Sour Sweetheart provides. This narration gives insight into both the world around her and the way she views that world.

Easy A (2010)

In the film Easy A, through her narration that is later learned to be a vlog, you can see that Olive has been put through a slut shaming ringer that has caused her to discover herself and reflect on her high school experience. Even before the film truly begins, Olive’s voice and perspective help the viewer to know and understand her character. From Mary’s opening monologue in Saved!, viewers are immediately given the inclination that Mary might not buy into her ultra-religious school’s idea of serving God as heavily as her friends and classmates. Even from a less reliable narrator like Needy from Jennifer’s Body, similarities can still be drawn between her and the other characters that fall under the Sour Sweetheart classification based on the way they speak about themselves and their lives.

The narration by the Sour Sweetheart further echoes her intuitive and introspective nature, especially once it becomes clear how heavily she is in her own head, alone with her thoughts. With this insight into the inner workings of her mind, the audience can see that she has a very true sense of self when she’s alone. This is especially evident when she goes from being alone to being around her peers. Her desire for a simple existence is strong, as she will often and within reason allow herself to be agreeable to those around her. It is through her inner thoughts during times of conflict that we discover how she’s headstrong and not afraid to forge her own path, if necessary, despite the glittering gold pull of the status quo. She’s a reflection of the age-old saying of not wanting to be the one to start the war but will be the one to finish it if she has to. 

In his book “On Film-Making: An Introduction to the Craft of the Director”, A. Mackendrick discusses the cinematic element of dramatic irony. Using various camera angles, filmmakers can strategically place viewers spatially within the shot to observe the characters’ interactions. When implementing effective dramatic irony in film, there are a few different angles filmmakers can use to ensure the audience is viewing the intended interactions and perspectives. Using a close-up shot allows the audience to concentrate on the thoughts and feelings of one particular character. This shot is used often throughout the Sour Sweetheart’s films to ensure the audience feels close and connected to her. She is the main character after all.

Saved! (2004)

Outside of her head, the Sour Sweetheart’s dialogue also goes a long way towards her characterization. She is sarcastic and sardonic but able to walk the line between coming off as clever rather than coming off like an asshole. She doesn’t initially tell her antagonist to fuck off and/or die, instead she calls them beautiful with a deadpan delivery. Her kindness is especially apparent compared to the darkness that surrounds her. Like most humans, however, her way of speaking to and about others starts to curdle when the stress is really on or the bleakness of her situation is realized. Her dark sense of humor is fitting considering the films she appears in and doesn’t feel jarring in her world. In another, simpler life, she could have been another Girl Next Door due to her naturally kind personality. In a lot of ways, those two tropes exist as two sides of the same coin. The Girl Next Door is the sun shining over the male protagonist’s world, while the Sour Sweetheart acts as the Moon in her story, lighting her own path through the darkness.

She’s a character with a soft spot for the outcasts, but she is relatable in the sense that despite her efforts, she is human and can’t be kind all the time. Even so, one of her most defining elements is the way she is able to keep from straying too far from her down to earth kindness. Her sense of self and morality keep her from never venturing too far into the darkness. So, while she does grow like any teenager would, the character the audience meets at the beginning of her films does not drastically differ from the girl that they end with. If anything, she is more of herself than she had previously allowed herself to be. She never leaves her audience wondering what’s next for her or where she stands. Her films are very full circle with endings that feel like proper endings. She always finds her way through the madness.

Mean Girls (2004)

The female antagonists that wreak havoc throughout her films serve to reflect the darker sides of femininity. With the blood of a budding Femme Fatale running through their veins, the antagonists are striking. They ooze a natural confidence and charisma that is admired and feared by many, including the Sour Sweetheart. In many cases, the antagonist is initially the only character able to bring out any sort of passion from the comparatively chill Sour Sweetheart.

In true teenage girl fashion, sometimes the people you hate the most are those who are everything you wish you could be. These antagonists see something in her that drives their connections. Female relationships are different, and the Sour Sweetheart’s dynamic with her antagonists play on this fact. Their conflicts don’t take place from opposite ends of a battlefield. They’re up close and personal. When it comes to a battle of words and wit, the Sour Sweetheart can hold her own. She stumbles when the antagonist goes low and forces her to go lower, something that doesn’t come naturally to her. It’s the antagonist that really puts the sour in Sour Sweetheart. This dynamic creates an important female vs female conflict that is rarely seen in film. The conflict these two characters share contributes to a lot of the growth and development the Sour Sweetheart experiences. From these antagonists, she learns to play the game of high school which lets her become able to realize for herself that it just isn’t the sport for her.

Jennifer’s Body (2009)

The scheming, ruthless, and harshly honest antagonistic characters that oppose the Sour Sweetheart could have easily been left as one-dimensional mean girls, but instead are written to be more than that. Jennifer from Jennifer’s Body did turn into a murderous, boy eating monster, but her transformation was the result of being attacked and murdered by a group of men. The film and Needy never let the audience forget that Jennifer’s actions are a direct result of what happened to her. It would be crazy to say Heather Chandler (Heathers) and Regina George (Mean Girls) weren’t terrible people – that was made pretty clear in their respective films – but they’re also girls who struggle with eating disorders and the way boys treat them.

After the sometimes literal dust settles, an interesting thing occurs at the end of all of the Sour Sweetheart’s films. She comes to understand or at the very least sympathize with the other young women because, at the end of the day, they’re all still young women trying to find their ways no matter how misguided. This element of the films says much more about the Sour Sweetheart since some of the antagonizing female characters might not be deserving of forgiveness or understanding. Through her conflict, the Sour Sweetheart gains the confidence and self-actualisation that allows her to recognize the growth these other young women provided while also being able to acknowledge that she doesn’t need their conflict. Cady didn’t push Regina in front of that bus. Instead, she chose to exist in harmony despite their past. Some additional examples of this antagonist would be Hilary Faye from Saved! and Courtney Shane from Jawbreaker.

Among the stench of rotting bodies, a faint hint of love lingers in the air of the Sour Sweetheart’s films. Another element used to determine if a character fits into the Sour Sweetheart trope is the importance of her love interest, or more specifically, the lack of importance. Almost all Sour Sweethearts are desired and admired by a nice boy who is not nearly as important to the plot as she is. This can be seen Mean Girls when Aaron Samuels likes Cady even before she turns plastic. Another prime example would be Patrick from Saved!, who likes Mary so much that even the fact that she is carrying another boy’s child does not deter his crush. Both of these boys, among others, add relatively no drama to the plot of their respective films and only serve to enhance our protagonist. There are even boys like Zack from Jawbreaker and Todd from Easy A who actively help our protagonist achieve her goal no matter how insane that goal may be (i.e. getting her best friend arrested for murder at the prom). If the Boy Next Door trope was a thing, the boys who pine for the Sour Sweetheart’s affection would neatly file into that archetype. However, that would probably need its own separate article.

But I’m a Cheerleader (1999)

This element of the Sour Sweetheart takes what we’re used to seeing from female characters and flips it on its head. Unlike the male characters who are changed for the better because of the Girl Next Door or the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, the Sour Sweetheart’s journey is one that she can take herself. She might let her crush tag along, though. In most cases, the Sour Sweetheart finds love, but compared to the rest of her story, her love is simple and uncomplicated. Compared to the chaos and conflict her antagonist and her own actions bring her, her love comes easy and exists mostly in the background while everything else implodes around her. There are outliers, of course, like Veronica from Heathers and Megan from But I’m a Cheerleader, the latter who does have a nice partner, but that partner just happens to be another girl.

The boys and girls she ends up with are often similar to her in the way that they are kind and introspective. It’s rarely the captain of the football team that sweeps her off her feet, but she might just ride off into the sunset with the team mascot. Her love interests notice her early on in her films, usually long before she is developmentally ready to accept any form of romantic love. It could be that like her antagonists, the characters she eventually ends up with were able to see her even before she could see herself. Films like Mean Girls and Saved! give some validity to this theory. Overall, it would make sense. The Sour Sweetheart notably has to go through a lot of growth and struggles before she can find her true self. Again, she is very much the main character.

Much like the Final Girl and regardless of how nice her respective boy might be, not every Sour Sweetheart ends her film attached to her love interest, and that’s okay. In the cases of the Sour Sweetheart losing her love interest, she usually develops a new purpose that seems much greater than just having a boyfriend or a girlfriend. This can be seen in Jennifer’s Body when Needy’s sweet boyfriend is murdered, and she sets her sights on avenging herself and her friend by hunting down the men who killed Jennifer. In Heathers, Veronica watches J.D. blow himself up, which effectively ends their relationship and thus gives her the freedom to make friends with people she might actually like. If she was a Damsel in Distress, this loss of love could send her into a catatonic state, but she’s not another poorly written female character that needs saving. In the case of Sour Sweetheart Veronica, she takes killing your darlings to new levels and is relieved to have that psycho out of her life. The dimensions of the Sour Sweetheart’s love life help to usher in a new era of women in film. Despite being a female-led film, love, romance, and relationships are never the forefront.

It would be easy for the Sour Sweetheart to fall into the trope of misunderstood girl who needs a great love to save her and give her direction. It would be easy to have good boys like Todd from Easy A swoop in and save Olive and her reputation. It would be easy to let everything fall apart around her so that she could fall into the arms of the boy who paid his dues and was nice to her. Except the Sour Sweetheart doesn’t need love, and she doesn’t need to be saved or guided. Instead, she needs to stop her boyfriend from blowing up the school or to ensure her BFF doesn’t get away with murder. Consistently, the Sour Sweetheart is much more concerned with finding herself (Olive from Easy A), escaping from a conversion camp (Megan from But I’m a Cheerleader), restoring the peace in her world (Cady from Mean Girls, and Mary from Saved!), or getting away with murder (Needy, Julie, and Veronica from Jennifer’s Body, Jawbreaker, and Heathers, respectively).

Unlike many of the female character tropes discussed previously in this article, the Sour Sweetheart is an empowering and complex one that feels deserving of being explored and recognized. Some say studying and overanalyzing film has the ability to ruin actually watching. To some extent, that could probably be true. In this case however, a certain comfort can be found in discovering that such a character has quietly existed in dark comedy films for decades and will hopefully continue to appear in films to come. 

Written by Jessica Grassano

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