Movie Review:Clueless

Reece Houser, Staff Writer

The hit teen movie “Clueless” made its box office debut in 1995. This film launched many great actors we know and love today, like Alicia Silverstone, Brittany Murphy, and Paul Rudd. Even though this teen Romance Comedy won noteworthy awards, some may think it’s time to start questioning the reality of these 90’s productions. This film and others like it, center around teenage experience and are therefore targeted at that same group. However, how relatable are these films? Do any of the scenarios actually holdup in today’s society, or is it all a cliché?

It is revealed early on in the film that her father is a lawyer and she was gifted with his talent of manipulation. She used this tactic to make her grades go up, and her life easier while those around her were, ironically, clueless. Soon she is introduced to another ¨project¨. A new girl who doesn’t wear the right clothes, have the right accent, or enjoy the right things. So our main character, Cher (played by Alicia Silverstone), feels the need to fix this. Since this new girl, Tai (played by Brittany Murphy), is ignorant to the facts of this scheme, she goes along with it. This chaos aside, we are introduced to even more trials and tribulations where numerous love interests are introduced. In the end, there is only one appropriate match for everybody. 

Many people believe these teen dramas and see it as a cheat sheet on how teens interact with each other, the truth is, that’s not reality.  Many teens actually don’t experience any of these events described, most people are more concerned with the next math test or big game. Also, in most areas the rich do not dominate or take power over their peers that don’t have as much wealth. With that being said, Clueless is still one of the better rom coms of its time, but should never be taken as a true representation of young people’s lives. Quite frankly, it seems that the producers of this film were the clueless ones and it may be time to cast out this cliché and prove its inaccuracy. However, this film is still iconic in the realm of teen rom coms and laid a base for many other great movies of the time. The real question is no longer the logistics of the movie but does the film make the audience watching it laugh, cry, root people on etc. and the answer is, yes. “Clueless” is both engaging and entertaining, as long as the audience recognizes the film is intended to be fiction not a documentary.