Plot
Billie Jean Davy (Helen Slater), a Corpus Christi, Texas high school girl, rides with her younger brother, Binx (Christian Slater), on a Honda Elite to a local lake to enjoy a day of swimming and relaxation. A group of teenage boys, led by Hubie Pyatt (Barry Tubb), who sexually harass Billie Jean on a regular basis, start trouble with them, but Binx humiliates Hubie and they get away. Later at the lake, Billie Jean tells Binx about Vermont, and Binx expresses a desire to go there. During their conversation about travelling there, Hubie and his friends arrive, apparently looking to get revenge for Binx's humiliation. They find Binx's scooter and steal it.
Billie Jean, and her friends Putter (Yeardley Smith) and Ophelia (Martha Gehman) go to the police about the scooter. They speak to Detective Ringwald (Peter Coyote) about it, but he doesn't take them seriously. He assumes it's just a harmless squabble between some kids. When Binx goes to get his scooter back on his own, he comes home severely beaten, with his scooter trashed.
Billie Jean, Binx, and Ophelia go to Mr. Pyatt's shop to get the money ($608.00) to repair the scooter. While initially appearing helpful and understanding, Mr. Pyatt then propositions Billie Jean with a 'Pay as you go, earn as you learn' plan by which he will have sex with her. He then attempts to rape her.
Meanwhile, Binx has discovered a gun in the empty store and attempts to taunt Mr. Pyatt with it. Mr. Pyatt tells him the gun is unloaded, but Binx accidentally fires it, wounding Mr Pyatt in the shoulder. The kids race away from the shop and become fugitives.
By the time Detective Ringwald realizes that he made a mistake in not listening to Billie Jean, the situation is spinning out of control. Throughout it all, Billie Jean wants only the $608 to fix her brother's scooter and an apology from Mr. Pyatt. With help from the disgruntled teenaged son of the district attorney (who voluntarily becomes her "hostage"), Billie Jean makes a video of her demands, featuring herself with her long, blond hair chopped into a crew cut as a sign of her rebellion. As media coverage increases Billie Jean becomes a teen icon – a symbol of youth empowerment and the evidence of the injustices adults are capable of, and young fans follow her every movement. Facing uncertain dangers, both physical and legal, Billie Jean is forced to turn her friends Putter and Ophelia into the police for their safety. When Ringwald and the police arrive and he demands to know where Billie Jean is, Ophelia proudly and defiantly replies, "Everywhere!".
Mr. Pyatt issues a bounty for her apprehension, and Billie Jean realizes the best plan is to put an end to the extraordinary circumstances and to bring herself in. To avoid attracting too much attention, she and her brother Binx both arrive in disguise. But the disguise will be blown and the consequences descend into a violent riot, which results in Binx getting shot. As Binx is taken away in an ambulance, Billie Jean confronts Mr. Pyatt and gets him to admit his actions that led to him being shot in his store. The onlookers (including Hubie), seeing how Billie Jean was exploited and their indirect involvement in it, destroy all the Billie Jean merchandise and leave in disgust. At the end of the film Billie Jean and Binx find themselves far up in Vermont seeking some recuperation and a fresh start. Binx (after complaining about the cold) admires a red snowmobile.
Read more about this topic: The Legend Of Billie Jean
Famous quotes containing the word plot:
“We have defined a story as a narrative of events arranged in their time-sequence. A plot is also a narrative of events, the emphasis falling on causality. “The king died and then the queen died” is a story. “The king died, and then the queen died of grief” is a plot. The time sequence is preserved, but the sense of causality overshadows it.”
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