History Film / TheLegendOfBillieJean

* ChekhovsGun: Putter's marbles, which she packs as they run away. She uses them to delay the police when escaping from the mall.

* AbusiveParents: Putter's mom, and the father of a little boy, Kenny, that Billie Jean rescues.

[[caption-width-right:350:''"We didn't start this, we didn't mean it to happen, but we're not givin' up til you pay. Fair is '''fair'''!!!"'']]

->''"Fair is '''fair'''!"''

* {{Bathos}}: Putter getting [[spoiler: her first period]] (see below) is both played for drama and comedy.

-->'''Mr. Pyatt:''' Hubie and the truth have a way of not gettin' along with each other.

* HollywoodHypeMachine: Helen Slater was being groomed for a leading lady push in the early 80s, thanks to being cast as the title heroine of ''{{Film/Supergirl}}''. Unfortunately for her, the Box Office failures of that as well as ''Billie Jean'' saw her ending up in supporting roles and turning to television instead.

-->'''Putter:''' Hubie won't bring [the scooter] back.
-->'''Ringwald:''' How do you know?
-->'''Putter:''' 'Cause he's a [[PrecisionFStrike fucker]], that's how I know!

* EveryoneHasStandards: [[spoiler: Even Hubie seems to be disgusted by how his father exploited Billie Jean by the end. He smiled when Billie Jean stood up to Pyatt in the climax and joined the rest of the onlookers in walking away from him.]].

** Hubie and, later, his father.
** Lloyd's father is a minor one. He's a DA and while he has no doubt that Lloyd is far from an innocent kidnapping victim (assuming immediately he's a willing accomplice) but he can't bear bad publicity, and uses this to show publicly that he's unwilling to bend to criminals to get his son back.

The film has nothing to do with ''Music/MichaelJackson'' nor his hit single "Billie Jean'', nor does it have anything to do with tennis player Billie Jean King.

A 1985 film starring Creator/HelenSlater and Creator/ChristianSlater (no relation in real life), about a small group of teens from Corpus Christi, Texas, who become outlaws after they are accused of attempted murder.

* [[LowerClassLout]]: How the Pyatts try to paint Billie Jean and Binx in order to win sympathy. At one point Hubie tells his father not to believe Billie Jean's version of events because "she's from the trailers!"

* [[LowerClassLout LowerClassLouts]]: How the Pyatts try to paint Billie Jean and Binx in order to win sympathy. At one point Hubie tells his father not to believe Billie Jean's version of events because "she's from the trailers!"

* LotsOfLuggage: A scene contrasts Billie Jean's hasty-but-practical packing with Putter's (Billie Jean grabs a backpack of clothes and a sleeping bag, while Putter stuffs everything in her bedroom, including [[ChekhovsGun an aquarium full of marbles, into a duffle bag as big as she is]]).

The film has nothing to do with ''Music/MichaelJackson'' nor his hit single "Billie Jean''.

* TheLegendOfX

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Well done, Binx, pointing a gun with the safety off right at Hubie's father. And Lloyd's father, [[spoiler: bringing in the SWAT team that shoot Binx by accident]].

* TagalongKid: Putter appears to be much younger than the rest of the teens [[spoiler:(young enough that she gets her first period in the course of the action). If she isn't, she's definitely a wee bit more immature than them, so she still fits.

* LowerClassLouts: How the Pyatts try to paint Billie Jean and Binx in order to win sympathy. At one point Hubie tells his father not to believe Billie Jean's version of events because "she's from the trailers!"

** Billie Jean is showing lazing on a float in the creek while wearing a tiny cut-off tank top and bikini bottom. In the DVDCommentary, Yeardley Smith asks Helen Slater if she felt exploited doing the swimming-hole scene. Helen replies, "I'll never look that good again."

* AttemptedRape: A leering Mr. Pyatt offers to repay the six hundred to Billie Jean and Binx with installments, in exchange for... well, he calls it "lessons." She resists, and it turns into a struggle, which ends up with Binx intervening and shooting him in the shoulder by accident.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Billie Jean and her friends break into Lloyd's house, and Lloyd (wearing a monster mask) sneaks up on her, and she gives him a GroinAttack. Without having the realization that she broke into this guy's house, she bitched him out for scaring her.

* ClusterFBomb: Putter likes to curse a lot, which is a little startling - as she's the baby of the group.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Hubie steals Binx's scooter and trashes it because Binx threw a milkshake on him when he made frequent passes at Billie Jean.
* DyeOrDie: Subverted. Billie Jean cuts her hair (see ImportantHaircut below) while on the run but then immediately films a video of herself with her new hairstyle and sends it to the police.

** Both Billie Jean and Binx get a scene where they're both in swimsuits relaxing by the creek. Also as it's in the middle of a hot summer in Corpus, mostly everyone else is wearing summer clothes too.
** On the DVDCommentary, Yeardley Smith asks Helen Slater if she ever felt exploited doing the swimming scene. Helen replies "I'll never look that good again."

* KickTheDog: When Billie Jean goes to turn herself in, in exchange for the money owed for the scooter, Mr. Pyatt instead get Hubie to [[WouldHitAGirl sneak attack her]] right there in the mall. They couldn't not be {{Jerkass}}es for that one meeting? A furious Ringwald tears Pyatt a new one for that little stunt as everything could've ended right there.

* SympatheticInspectorAntagonist: Lt. Ringwald, who just wants to help Billie Jean come home. The mess would have been solved by him sooner - if not for Mr Pyatt's KickTheDog moment in the mall.
* TagalongKid: Putter who appears to be younger than the rest of the teens. If she isn't she's definitely a wee bit more immature than them so she still fits.

* ConsummateLiar: As Mr. Pyatt himself said:

* {{Fanservice}}: Both Billie Jean and Binx get a scene where they're both in swimsuits relaxing by the creek. Also as it's in the middle of a hot summer in Corpus, mostly everyone else is wearing summer clothes too.

* {{Jerkass}}: Hubie and, later, his father.

A 1985 film starring Helen Slater and Creator/ChristianSlater (no relation in real life), about a small group of teens from Corpus Christi, Texas, who become outlaws after they are accused of attempted murder.