In the movie, Clueless, we see all the typical stereotypes of adolescents. The main character, Cher, is an upper class white teenage girl full of stereotypical representations. Although many of the judgments are brought on by their own actions, the adolescents of the movie are also criticized by those around them based strictly on their age and gender. Analyzing the movie though, we can see how the adolescents challenge the verdicts put upon them.
Within the first thirty minutes of the film we see how Cher and her friends are viewed as immature, careless and clueless. During dinner conversation, her father tells her he wishes she had some direction in her life. Later, her stepbrother, who is in college and given much more responsibility and respect, chimes in and asks “don’t you want to do something good with your popularity?” The conversations at home imply Cher doesn’t know what to do with her life.
When we see Cher at school her popularity is confirmed as she is part of the popular clique; another stereotype that all high school students are involved in cliques. In the clique is Cher’s best friend, Dee. Dee is in a relationship that Cher calls dramatic. The couple fights all the time but they continuously make up and stay together. Much like many of the high school relationships teens are involved in, they cannot be taken seriously.
When we see Cher at school her popularity is confirmed as she is part of the popular clique; another stereotype that all high school students are involved in cliques. In the clique is Cher’s best friend, Dee. Dee is in a relationship that Cher calls dramatic. The couple fights all the time but they continuously make up and stay together. Much like many of the high school relationships teens are involved in, they cannot be taken seriously.
Outside of school, Cher and her friends go cruising (without valid driver licenses), parties and shopping. These are very stereotypical hobbies of female teenager. When Cher says she needs a place to regain her strength from a stressful day, she goes to the mall. This implies all she is concerned about is looks and spending money.
Although the movie does an excellent job capturing all the stereotypes, the main character challenges many of them. Firstly, Cher isn’t as shallow and conceited as she seems on the outside. Although she has a computer to help her match outfits and her step brother asks her how much time she spends grooming, she also helps others. She is constantly worried about her father’s diet throughout the movie and tries to get him to eat and drink healthier. In her spare time, she doesn’t just go to the mall for herself; she helps the new girl she adopts by giving her a makeover. During the makeover she also helps her work on her vocabulary. Along with this project she helps two lonely couples at her school find love in one another.
When it comes to love for herself, Cher isn’t like her best friend Dee. Cher believes searching for love in high school is meaningless. When she is picked up by her date, Christian, her protective father scares Christian by threatening him if anything happens to her. On their second date, Cher and Christian are left alone. Cher works with Dee all day in preparing the perfect setting for the date, making everything romantic, even the lighting. Ironically, we learn that Christian is gay and Cher is actually a virgin saving herself for the right person. This challenges and redefines. It redefines the norm that female sexuality is connected with romance. However though, it challenges two norms. First, that all girls are boy crazy and in lust. The second norm being that all good girls want relationships since we saw Cher drinking and smoking at a party.
I think the character of Cher also refutes the idea of Harris’ can-do and at-risk girls. Cher lives in Beverly Hills, California with her father who is a very successful lawyer. Cher does her own version of charity work and receives good grades in her own way. At school, Cher talks her way into good grades instead of actually studying to receive them fairly. She attends parties where she smokes and drinks illegally. And she also drives without her license. But we never see Cher in jail or in a therapy session, she is perfectly healthy.
Although this movie was released in the mid 90’s much of the stereotypes are still held today. However, I do think more people are starting to realize the gray area between the can-do girls and at-risk girls. And more often today, female sexuality is becoming less and less taboo. Although it might not be recognized by adults, adolescents are practicing it. Analyzing this film could help understand one understand the stereotypes and resist against them, helping adolescents become their own individual and not categorized.
According to the article, can-do girls and at-risk girls have very specific characteristics that are in complete opposition of one another. But as you pointed out, Cher contains qualities that fit into both areas as do many girls. Cher drinks and smokes which is an attribute of an at-risk girl yet she comes from a wealthy, decent family. These two specific qualities do not coincide within just one area, making it difficult to completely categorize Cher as one or the other. Cher does fall within the gray area. I think most female adolescents join Cher here. I think girls should not be categorized into restricted, exact areas but should rather be understood on an individual level.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this movie does confirm the ideas about the can-do girl theory in the Future Girl article, but at the same time does exhibit at-risk behaviors. It specifically observes the can-do girls of Beverly Hills, California. These girls have the resources of having a plastic surgeon and can spend their daddy’s money to buy high fashion clothes from Calvin Klein. Though her father questions Cher’s seriousness about her future, Cher is very certain about saving herself for the right person. This shows her adult side to making a commitment and deciding for herself rather than being pressured into having sex like a lot of other teens. On the other hand, a majority of the movie suggests these girls are actually just girls who are still adolescences. Their language and use of phrases, like “as if” and “whatever,” suggest they cannot be taken seriously.
ReplyDeleteCher is a great example that girls can't really be categorized as either at risk or can do. Every girl has characteristics of both. She is wealthy, popular and smart, yet Cher parties, drinks and drives illegally. I think it's also really interesting that Cher equates sex with love. It reinforces the image of girls only wanting to have sex for love and not their own pleasure. Girls are constantly shown to be nonsexual unless it is for love or to keep a boyfriend. I feel that this makes girls who are sexually active feel like they are wrong for it. In the media, girls who are sexually active are often portrayed as sluts while the guys who do the same thing are glorified.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned Dee as being Cher's best friend. It is important to look at their relationship in terms of race. Cher is white, while Dee is black. Dee is seen as being loud, aggressive, and always fighting. There is a scene in which the girls compare their low grades with one another. Although they both do poorly, Cher gets a C and Dee gets a C-, Dee still does worse. In other words, Cher gets graded as average and Dee gets graded as below average. Throughout the movie, Dee is seen as Cher's sidekick, standing beside her and doing what she wants. The black character is continuously seen in the shadows of the white character, which sends dangerous messages to viewers regarding social status; even though both females are wealthy and popular, being black puts one at a lower standing.
ReplyDeleteClueless is a great example of the lines between can-do and at-risk girls. And while Cher and her friends do exhibit traits of at-risk girls with their illegal partying and driving, because they have the resources to keep them out of any real trouble, they can still be considered can-do to a certain extent. Cher's eventual spiritual makeover puts her back safely inside of the can-do girl category, as she finally starts to see how trivial most of her concerns have been.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, Clueless is a great movie and it is a great choice for media to look at adolescents. While there are definitely stereotypes in this film, it really does do a good job fighting against stereotypes of adolescent girls. The fact that Cher is a virgin doesn't really surprise me because I would definitely say that she is a can-do girl. Despite her illegal activities she is raised in a well to do family and has the help of being pretty and white. I think that Clueless is a very good way to look at adolescents and race. I strongly agree with the points made in a comment above about Cher and Dee's relationship.
ReplyDeleteI feel that the movie also speaks to the fact that all teenage girls find self-worth in their consumerism. Cher and her friends define their identity based on the clothes they wear and the cars they drive, displayed by their constant journeys to the mall. Also, in order for Cher to be considered a good person, she has to give an “ugly” girl a make-over. This implies that teenage girls are only worthy if they have their hair died and eyebrows plucked, showing that girls are only capable of being consumers rather than producers.
ReplyDeleteYou picked the perfect movie to analyze. This movie is full of stereotypical representations. You have Cher, the "dumb blonde" who is spoiled off of her daddy's money, then there is the new girl who is weird and no one likes until Cher and Dee make her popular. I think you pointed out something good though, that Cher really does have a good heart, she is always worried about helping out her friends and watching her dads diet and health. This shows what most girls are like. They may want to look good on the outside but most girls still care about others and not just themselves.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie Dee loses her virginity first in the movie, which by fault transfers her to impure. And the fact that she's black and in a relationship that Cher thinks is "unstable" makes Dee lose the air of privilege and puts her into the category of an at-risk girl. When Cher makes over the new girl and then she in turns goes demonic and biting off the hand that feeds her she becomes the girl to hate. Cher is the can-do girl. Sh makes it a point, to help others, academically stable, and doesn't standard her life based upon a male. While she may be "Clueless" she is the one of the main 3 girl characters that has her act together.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I have never seen Clueless, I can certainly see how Cher exhibits both "At-risk" and "Can-do" girl discourses. However, one item that really interested me from this blog was the comment about how Cher went to the mall to calm herself down after a stressful day. To me, I think going shopping to de-stress shows us that material items make Cher feel safe and represent her as a materialistic youth. This being said though, I agree with the fact that the adolescents in this movie are represented as immature and not to be taken seriously by those around them.
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting how movies like Clueless and Mean Girls and Legally Blonde all run together in my head. There's always the extremely pretty white girl as the main character that is surrounded by her less pretty/smart friends. These characters always make the main character look a lot better in the viewers eyes. I also find it interesting that in Clueless that Cher's friend Dee is also black and less smart. This makes Cher look a lot better. This also makes her look like she is the at risk girl because of her being promiscuous and Cher as being the can do girl. I can see where Cher can be both though. She is very privileged but she is only interested in shopping and boys it seems like. She cannot be taken very seriously at all.
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