The opening scene shows Cher as the centre of attention and manipulating the adults around her, an example of this is when she tries to get her father to take his vitamin C. In a youth picture genre the generation gaps are a typical feature and carry on throughout the film.
I am looking at the tennis scene where Tai is introduced to Cher and her friends as an example of the ‘mise en scène’, i.e. all the elements of the film, what’s going on in the background, the costumes what the characters wear, the weather, and what people, all these reflect elements of the youth picture genre. The setting, the school tennis courts on a cloudless day is very typical of the youth picture film, as are the props used e.g. mobile phone holders, the post-plastic surgery plasters, tennis rackets and even the clothes Cher and her friends are wearing. Instead of P.E clothes they have very trim and co-ordinated black and white, little shorts and tops which wouldn’t look out of place at a disco. In the background, there was a small clique of cheerleaders practising and completely involved in what they are doing, a complete contrast to Cher’s attitude to P.E. The background music reflects the plot of the film which is very pop and girly. This is another example of what might be found in a youth picture film, groups of young people standing out because they want to be known as popular, and different individuals, and not a group that all do the same thing.
Cher’s reaction was one of disgust when the tennis ball flew past her face, she shouted, “That’s just a law suit waiting to happen”; this is typical of the kind of thing in a youth picture genre by blaming something Cher done, on someone else. Cher’s friend’s body language and their facial expressions when asked to take part in the lesson show utter disdain, it gives the impression to the audience that there is a barrier of ‘plastic surgery and nail varnish’ between them and the real world, another element of the youth picture genre film.
Cher provides the voice-over throughout the film ‘Clueless’, in diary form, telling us her thoughts, feelings and interpretation of life and the ‘real world’. We identify with Cher more though her voice and this develops our understanding and our acceptance of her character. We experience and example of dramatic irony through the voice-over, because we, as the audience, are aware quite early on of Cher’s feelings for Josh, because they are always flirting, but Cher only realises how she feels about him at the end when someone else is attracted to him. What Cher says is sometimes completely different to what we are seeing on the screen; one example of this is when she is telling us she is a normal teenage girl, but what we are actually seeing is her playing on her computerised wardrobe and talking about her maid being scared of her dad. The purpose of this contrast is to show us how ‘Clueless’ Cher is about reality; she really does believe what she is saying, in the tone and expression of her voice. Right from the beginning of the film, the effect on the listener is that we are made aware of the unreal world and the bubble that surrounds Cher and her friends, this is very typical of the youth picture genre.
The music in the film has to appeal to the young generation, and so in the case of Clueless, the music is closely linked to the storyline throughout. This is an important element of the film which reflects the youth culture of the 90’s. For example when Kristin enters the classroom, there is romantic music but this gives us a false impression because actually he is gay and unlikely to go out with Cher.
Cher is surrounded by friends who think the same as her and attach great importance to looking good, giving little thought to anything outside their worlds. For example when Cher is watching the news about the war in Bosnia she said she thought they had declared peace in the middle east, she thought she would impress Josh but she can’t change her knowledge of the world.
The makers of Clueless have tried to reinforce the self centeredness of Cher’s personality through the camera shots. In the close-up shots they concentrate on her hair, make-up and all the things that she is most concerned about. Cher believes that she is a trend –setter, when she’s walking into school we are led to believe everybody’s following her because of the way the camera is pulling away from her, but actually they are just coming into school the same as she is, this is another important element of a youth picture genre film because Cher thinks that everything revolves around her.
I am comparing two of the characters; Josh and Cher because of the differences between them. Notably Cher is a very shallow person and Josh is a very deep intellectual, Cher is mostly interested in herself, clothes, fashion and other people’s love life, where as Josh is interested with the world, the environment and unconcerned with his image. Although, they see through these differences and are attracted to each other because of them, Josh likes Cher’s ‘Cluelessness’, her naivety and the fact that he feel protective towards her, Cher likes Josh because he’s reliable and accdepts her for what she is, she also likes the fact that he helps her to grow up and that’s the whole plot of the film to watch someone turn their life around and change their whole view of it. This is often found in a youth picture genre.
In the last few minutes of the film Clueless Cher and Josh finally realise and admit their feelings and talk about their respect towards and acceptance of each other. Josh tells Cher she is gorgeous and popular and they kiss, we can then hear Cher’s voice-over saying “you can guess what happens next...,” this then cuts to the wedding of the teachers and Cher finishes by saying “ As if, I’m only 16 and this is California not Kentucky!” At the wedding, Josh is fitting in as “one of the lad’s” and Cher and her friends are discussing their weddings. Cher then goes to catch the bouquet, there’s a lot of shrieking and jollity, and the film finishes with Cher and Josh kissing once again. This is a classic happy ending with everything being tied up and resolved, Cher and Josh are together, the teachers are married, Tai and Travis are also together, so overall everybody is joyful and feeling good about themselves and everybody else. This is typical of youth picture genre as nobody is left out and they are included and involved with the ending.
From watching the film and writing about all the elements, I have learnt a lot more about all the main ingredients that make up a youth picture genre. A youth picture genre focuses primarily on the age of the characters, the locations used, the interests of teenagers and in my opinion the film Clueless includes these. Such as the love dilemma between Cher and Josh, the general settings(e.g. the local high school)and that all the main characters are aged between 13-25. I think that Clueless includes real teenage issue and the interests e.g. fashion, relationships and music, it also shows the transformations of people growing up and also learning to accept other people for whom they are, or want to be. That is why it is strongly evident that Clueless is a youth picture film.
