A film I have become very familiar with is Amy Heckering’s 1995 film Clueless. Amy’s film became a rapid best-seller, particularly among young teenage girls who were the primary target audience. Being a contemporary Hollywood film, explicitly addressed to a young audience, it highly constructed gender, race, and class dimensions. Moreover representing the nation tied to commodity consumption, class, and gender “cluelessness” that is seen in most cinema today. As the film goes on Cher’s identity is constructed through her relation to privileged commodities, that are abundantly provided for by her upper class father. As well as both implicitly and explicitly to the labor of developing world workers. Clueless distorts the different real-world …show more content…
While lavishly depicting the upper class, the lower class is also seen throughout this movie. As Cher decided to devote her considerable energy, imagination, and resources into bettering the social standing of Tai, the slightly grungy, somewhat declasse new girl at school. Tai is portrayed as a druggy, delinquent character as she uses a low vocabulary, references drugs, and dresses differently than the rest of the upper class. Clueless highly differentiates between class, exaggerating the so called stereotypes between the upper and lower standings. The higher class characters refused to have anything to do with the lower class characters, as if they were unworthy of their time. Her transformation, conducted by Cher, allowed her to conform to their schools class and gender norms. With her new feminine look, Tai can now pass as high class, attract men, and become relevant to others in school. Using imagery and appearances, the film sets a standard between the classes and depicts the upper class as the so called “better” class. Giving viewers, specifically young adults, the idea that class determines worth in society …show more content…
Women were viewed to be more ditsy and self-centered. Cher even sent herself flowers in one scene. While the men were viewed to be empowering and successful. Despite the gender differences being very prevalent throughout the film, you see a shift at the very end in the women's roles. They take a turn in being more independent and overtaking the typical ditsy view that women were expected to be in that time period. Cher gains a sense of independence by coming to the realization that she doesn’t need to have a boyfriend to be complete. That she can be intact on her own. It used the technique of logos, by persuading the audience that women can also be empowering and successful