I really hate to raise the prospect of sexism, but...
...I see so much unjustified blaming of, dislike for, and annoyance with Heather's character that I'm really starting to suspect that there is a sexist element to it.
I honestly don't see where she did anything wrong in this film. I think the main thing that most people will point to is that there's an appearance that she's bυllshıtting about knowing where she was going and that she got them lost. I will repeat what I wrote in another thread on this matter...
While this may be the case, it's impossible to know for sure given that they were apparently not walking through normal time and space. The fact is that, under normal circumstances, she may very well have been directing them in the right direction. When that didn't pan out as expected, she may have been confused but still confident that she knew the right way to go. It eventually became undeniable that they were lost, at which point she may have believed she screwed up, but again, she may have indeed known the way and therefore her confidence and insistence that they weren't lost at the time were justified. Had the witch not interfered with their reality, she may have directed them exactly as anticipated.
A key moment in the dialogue is when they're trying to find the graveyard on the second day and Mike says to Heather, "Let me tell you what you said to us, 'It's like two miles away. Then it's like two hours away, three hours away...'" This might sound contradictory, but it really isn't. Anyone who has hiked in the woods knows how long it can take to cover ground. It's not the same as walking down the street. You're going up and down hills, stepping carefully over rocks and roots and all manner of debris, crossing streams, all with a big, bulky pack on your back. Under certain terrain conditions, two miles can easily take two hours. Furthermore, judging by the crude look of the map, it's even more understandable that these notions of distance and location were fairly imprecise to begin with, so what looked to be about two miles on the map could have potentially been three or even four, depending on the paths taken (and bear in mind that they're not walking on trails at this point, so that opens up the possibility for meandering which would add even more time). Again, anyone who's done any considerable hiking knows how notoriously shıtty maps are of even well-established trails. A map of some obscure backwoods that nobody really goes into would likely be even worse.
Another reason people probably feel justified in laying blame on her is when she confesses to being responsible for everything in her solitary apology segment:
I just want to apologize to Mike's mom, Josh's mom, and my mom. And I'm sorry to everyone. I was very naive. I am so so sorry for everything that has happened. Because in spite of what Mike says now, it is my fault. Because it was my project and I insisted. I insisted on everything. I insisted that we weren't lost. I insisted that we keep going. I insisted that we walk south. Everything had to be my way. And this is where we've ended up and it's all because of me that we're here now - hungry, cold, and hunted. I love you mom, dad. I am so sorry.She takes responsibility for leading them into this whole nightmare, which she did, but obviously she's not at fault for that because who could have had any reasonable expectation that things would happen like they did. I think the key sentence in here is when she says, "I insisted that we weren't lost." This might appear to some an admission that she didn't know what she was doing and kept it a secret. Again, while this might in fact be the case, we have no way of knowing that based on what we're shown. She could have known perfectly well what she was doing and where she was going, but had no chance of success due to the supernatural influences. At this point, she's been completely broken down mentally and still doesn't fully understand what's going on, but in light of the absolute nightmare that she's dragged these two guys into, she feels responsible and extremely guilty. Even though she may have not done anything wrong, the bottom line is that they were there in that situation because of her and she felt responsible for that. That's a sign of a conscience and is, in my opinion, a testament to her character.
So, perhaps the negativity towards Heather is a lack of understanding of the things I pointed out above, but to me, that only explains it to a certain degree. I definitely sense a deep, intrinsic dislike of her as a person. My theory for this is that she's a woman who's in charge of men. I think whenever a woman attempts to exert control or authority over a man, some people just have a deep, immediate, reflexive negative response. They're seen as bossy and/or arrogant, whereas if a man were to do the exact same thing in the exact same situation, he would be seen as taking charge, remaining confident in the face of adversity, and being a strong leader. There is definitely a double standard when it comes to this. I'm not saying this is the root of why everyone dislikes her, but I strongly believe that it's the reason for a large proportion of it.
Personally, I really liked her. Assuming she wasn't lying about knowing where she was going, I find no fault in anything she did. Furthermore, she seemed like a really intelligent, fun, engaging person. share