The XX Factor: What women really think.

All Singing, All Dancing, All Heathers

The Hollywood Reporter posted last night about a musical version of Heathers, the 1988 black comedy film (oh, has a genre epithet ever seemed more inadequate?) starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater. I'm dubious and excited at the same time. This is sacred material we're talking about here: What slightly offbeat, sorta-smart girl in the late '80s to mid-'90s didn't identify with Ryder's Veronica Sawyer? She was like a proto-Daria, only less acidic and with a higher body count. Girlfriend rocked a monocle!

On the other hand, the thought of finally seeing a fully choreographed version of "Teenage Suicide—Don't Do It!" fills my heart with gladness. Just take a look at all these great Heathers quotes that would make excellent song lead-ins:

Heather Chandler: Corn Nuts!
Veronica Sawyer: Plain or BQ?
Heather Chandler: BQ!

Veronica Sawyer: This isn't just a spoke in my menstrual cycle.

Veronica Sawyer: I just killed my best friend.
J.D.: And your worst enemy.
Veronica Sawyer: Same difference.

Meanwhile, I'm happy to report that while researching my "Explainer" today about the global uses of the mother-incest insult, I discovered that Heathers is offered as an example in the Oxford English Dictionary of "f-ck me and elaborated variants: expressing astonishment or exasperation." The linguistically significant quote—and if you're a fan, you've probably used it a dozen times yourself—"F-ck me gently with a chainsaw. Do I look like Mother Theresa?" That's lyrical gold right there.

Is It OK If the President Uses the N-Word?

In the audio version of his autobiography, Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, Obama takes on the role of his best friend in high school, "Ray." At upscale Punahou School in Honolulu, Obama and "Ray" were among the few multiracial students, and their friendship was an important one in terms of shaping Obama's racial identity in the making.

If you're interested in finding out what it sounds like when Obama swears, "Barack Obama is @#$% tired of this @#$%!" offers an earful. Between "Sorry-ass motherfucker ain't got nothing on me" and "Sure you can have my number, baby!" I think I just found my new ringtone.

Amid the motherfuckers and the shits, though, there's another provocative line: "You ain't my bitch, nigga! Buy your own damn fries!" So, I'm wondering: Is it OK if this POTUS uses the N word?