Clueless

Looking back at viewing Clueless as a film I watched as a pre-teen over and over again, I was glad to have an opportunity to gain a better appreciation for the film, and realize actually how GOOD the film is. I have not seen the movie in years and viewing it again I expected to view a dumb movie that I liked as a kid. But taking a different perspective on viewing the film I also realized how much it had to offer. It has a good story line and many coming of age lessons as well as acknowledgement to different socio economic classes.
There are lessons the main character Cher learns about giving to others, about what is really important in life, general growth, and selflessness. The inclusion of class issues in this film is really interesting also because in this type of teeny bopper film such serious issues are not usually addressed. But Amy Heckerling does a good job of incorporating such a theme into a movie about that deals with high school. American High Schools students are generally categorized into cliques or crowds. The way the crowds are formed has largely to do with the socio economic circumstances that the student lives in.
We are aware of these issues throughout the film many times. Dress, or here costume, can portray what class someone belongs to. For example, the new girl Tai is transformed form “clueless” to “popular” when the popular girls gave her a makeover and she was clearly dressed in clothes more expensive and generally spent more time and money on her looks. The teachers costume throughout the film are always messy or in dreary clothing or with old cars. Another example is the “Roadies” at school are the druggies that do lots of drugs and don’t go to class are looked down upon by the “Popular” crowd. They are portrayed as aloof and dirty. I think that this was an interesting and smart way to address an important issue such as class differences.


Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alicia_Silverstone
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/5342/Clueless.htm