"How does Heckerling challenge some of the values of the

1990s context through her film 'Clueless'?"

The 1990s context was characterised as a period of amelioration amidst
the escalating divergence prevalent within gender roles and class
distinctions. As the advancement of technology and the economy
compounded with the resulting alteration in both the physical and social
environment, the lionization of pop culture led to a subsequent surge of
consumerism and consumer culture.
Amy Heckerlings film Clueless (1995) challenges these values through
the Post-Modern world of Cher, whose tactless demeanour and
embarrassingly forthright speeches provide insight into the notions of
individualism and postmodernism.
Beverly Hills Los Angeles, where Clueless is set, is heralded as the
epicentre of postmodernist exigencies, where fashion obsession and
consumerism reach a pinnacle for all societal groups alike. The mall is
manifested as a metaphor of the eras obsession with image and
consumeristic affluence. We witness throughout the film Cher retreating to
the mall in times of hardship; the shopping mall offers focus, not the
church. However, Heckerling denounces these values through Chers
transcendence of the contemporary societal norms, as shown through her
moments of epiphany (self-realisation) and enhanced by a close-up look of
surprise and cognisance.
The juncture where Cher discerns her own reality is a critical point of the
film and serves as Heckerlings main point of remonstrance. Throughout
the film Cher has been a pawn to societys values an obsession with selfpreservation and self-image and mandatory affluence for respect. Her
journey into self-realisation constitutes the basis of Amy Heckerlings
objection against the cultural values during the 1990s. The ironic
disposition of Cher herself being clueless is highlighted during the
mugging scene, which satirises the technological advancement
prevailing during the period; Chers habitat is global, due to the spread of
technology, yet still confined and impotent, exhibited as she attempts to
reach for help in her very own post-modern city.
Overall, Heckerlings approach is effective, ubiquitous and sagacious the
endearing quality of Chers world embodies many other pervasive
concepts during the era, which are then rejected in her moment of lucidity
as she grasps for an authentic sense of control and direction in both her
social life (Tai and Josh) and professional life (Pismo Charity Donation).
Amy Heckerling objects to the concepts of consumerism, pop-culture and
obsession with self-image through Chers renouncement of the mall during
her period of soul-searching, accentuated by the non-diegetic music and

train of thought dialogue. Thus, she thereby definitively challenges the

values of the 1990s context in and throughout her film Clueless.