Rest in peace,Shannen Doherty the quintessential Hollywood bad girl of theNineties, the Heather-est of the Heathers.
Yet she faced her health struggles with the same fighting spirit she brought to everything she did.
But she wore it proudly.
Mario Casilli/“TV Guide”/© Aaron Spelling Productions/Everett Collection
I have a rep, she said in 2010.
Did I earn it?
Yeah, I did.
She always had that wonderfully cocky grin, from90210to herLets Be Clearpodcast.
It was that grin, more than anything, that made her controversial.
Thats what America could not forgive her for shelovedbeing Shannen Doherty and refused to apologize for it.
Nothing she went through, even in her final years, could break that grin.
She was the jagged little pill that America could not swallow, and it got her crucified in public.
But its why so many of us idolized her.
InHeathers, Winona Ryders Veronica Sawyer asks, Why do you have to be such a mega-bitch?
Doherty, as queen bee Heather Duke replies, Because Icanbe.
Only Doherty could give that line such a stiletto twist.
I saw her last year making a rare public appearance at a Nineties pop-culture fan convention in Florida.
What a Brenda Walsh power move.
Shes dressed to kill, in black gloves and a royal-wedding hat.
She kneels by the casket to pray over her dead friends body.
I prayed for the death of Heather Chandler many times, she tells the Lord.
And I felt bad every time I did it, but I kept doing it anyway.
Now I know you understoodeverything.
Her sadistic smirk is still shocking after all these years.
She credited him for inspiring her combative streak.
But she became a household name withBeverly Hills, 90210.
And you have totally turned it around.
Brenda and her twin brother Brandon (Jason Priestley) had just moved to Beverly Hills from Minnesota.
Shed probably put a dress over this bodysuit to hide herself.
Brendas more apple pie, girl next door, Americas sweetheart.
That wasnt Dohertys style.
Brenda had drama with practically everyone at West Beverly Hills High School, dating the bad boy Dylan.
(Green and Doherty had a laugh about this last year on her podcast.)
The tension blew up with the Brenda/Dylan/Kelly love triangle.
Doherty made it a classic TV moment even though Dylan reallydidbelong with Kelly, sorry.
Brenda became the most hated character on TV.
It came with an I Hate Brenda T-shirt riddled with bloody bullet holes.
When Doherty hostedSaturday Night Livein 1993, it became a horrifyingly misogynistic get-the-guest episode, sadly typical of thatSNLera.
When her name came up onThe Simple Life, Hilton just sniffed, I hate that girl.
Like Brenda, she was judged by ridiculously hypocritical double standards, sexualized and then demonized for it.
Yet she refused to back down or play nice.
(When this movie comes out, shes 21, hes 53 2.5 times her age.)
Its full of normal people living their hypocritical lives, all agreeing thatshesthe problem.
But she doesnt see it that way and wont play that role.
Its the Alanis Im not quite as well and I thought you should know brought to life.
Doherty moved on toCharmed, in a threesome of witch sisters with Alyssa Milano and Holly Marie Combs.
After three seasons of conflict with Milano,Charmedfinally killed off Dohertys character and replaced her with Rose McGowan.
She also had a great 2006 reality show on the Oxygen web connection:Breaking Up With Shannen Doherty.
A perfect use of her skill set: the emotional assassin.
But she always lived up to that answer she gave Winona inHeathers.
Why did she have to be Shannen Doherty?
Because she could be.
