The
1995 film Clueless, gives Jane
Austen’s novel a satirical look on teenagers in a Beverly Hills high school.
Cher and her best friend Dionne are both upper-class girls and are at the
highest on the popularity scale at their school. Cher decides to use her
popularity for good throughout the film. She brings together her two
introverted teachers and helps the geeky new student Tai get as popular as
herself. After comparing this film against the representation test, Clueless earned eight points, which put the
film at the “B” range.
The
representation test is separated into six different categories. The first
category pertains to women. Clueless
scored four points in this category. The protagonist of this film is Cher as it
centers around her life and every scene involves her. The film also earned a
point for including a woman of color in speaking who was not reduced to racial
stereotypes. The character Dionne, Cher’s best friend, is African American and
was not presented in stereotyped manner in the film. The final point this film
earned in the women section was that it passed the Bechdel Test. There are
numerous scenes where Cher and Dionne and talk about school work and shopping.
Although there is a lot of talk about men, the few scenes that don’t help this
film pass the test.
There
are several criteria in the women section Clueless
fell short on. The protagonist, Cher, is not a woman of color nor over the age
of 45. Also, the film does not include women in speaking roles with diverse
body types. All the women in the movie are slim and fit teenagers. Although
Cher is strong female character, the film did not earn a point for the
criteria, “Does the film represent women as more than “objects for the male
gaze”?”. The whole film Cher is altering
others looks to get the attention of men. Also, there is a scene where Cher
herself is trying to get the attention of the new guy in school. She shares her
secrets such as drawing attention to her mouth and showing skin. Cher says that
by showing skin it, “reminds them [men] of being naked and then they think of
sex.”
In
the men section, Clueless was one criterion
short of earning all four points possible. The film avoided glorifying violent
men as none were seen. Cher stands her ground against the men that come on to
her. For example, Elton tries to kiss her multiple times while in the car and
never once did she let him get his way. The film also earned a point for
avoiding perpetuating an extreme and unhealthy body ideal for men. All men in
the film had an average body size for males. The third point in this category
was rewarded because the film included a man in a non-stereotypical role.
Cher’s father is her only parent figure in the film. He is the one that
interacts with her about grades, driving, boys and such. Since many times women
are seen as the main caregiver, the films offers a different view on the gender
roles related to parents.
The
film also did not earn any points for the LGBT people and people with
disabilities categories. However, the film was written and directed by a woman
so it earned two bonus points for aspect.
The
only criteria that the film did not meet in the men section was regarding the
question “Does the film include one or more men of color, in speaking roles,
who are NOT reduced to racial stereotypes?” The film did not earn this point
because of the presence of the character Murray, an African American man. Murray
is introduced in the film with his loose pants hanging down to his feet and
talking in a vernacular or slang that is stereotypical of African Americans.
Because of this, the film did not earn the point in the race, ethnicity and
culture category which asked, “Does the film avoid celebrating offensive
racial, ethnic, and cultural stereotypes?”.
In
my opinion, the Representation Test is a fair scoring system and should
continue to be used along with the Bechdel Test. The Representation Test is
should be used along with the Bechdel test because the issues in films are not
only the lack of representation and stereotyping of women. Films also tend to
trivialize certain groups such as people of color and with disabilities along
with the LGBT community. This test elicits a spark in conversation about
representation both on and behind-the-scenes is the next step towards in
getting a wider range of representation of all groups of people. According to
Joy Schaefer from the International Journal of Feminist Approaches to
Bioethics, women only accounted for 15% of protagonist, 29% major characters
and 30% of speaker characters in 2013’s top 100 grossing films. What’s even
more surprising is that these numbers have barely changed since 1940s. Because
of the underrepresentation of women and other groups in films in this day of
age, us as viewers should continue to advocate for change. For this reason, the
Representation Test is relevant.
I am giving Clueless three out of five pickles. Although the film has a good representation of women and men, the film fell short in incorporating other group of races, LGBT community and people with disabilities.
No comments:
Post a Comment