In 1995, Clueless, a new-aged teen “chick flick” was released that shone a new light on feminine teen culture. The film follows the adolsent life of beautiful, popular, and rich Cher Horowitz. Through the ups and downs of classic high school tropes (driving, boys, etc), Cher learns how to see past material objects and open her heart to love. Alive Leppert (2014) states, “Marking a shift away from the mainstreaming of [80s] grunge fashion and music, Clueless’s engagement with teen magazines and teen fashion paved the way for the ascendancy of a late-1990s teen culture marked by the "happy," "whatever" attitude that begat a return to preppy, ultra-girly fashion and squeaky clean pop stars, all despite Cher's (Alicia Silverstone) own eventual revelation that she, herself, is clueless.” (p. 132)
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This film is described by Emily Timbol (2014) as “…one of the most culturally resonant high school movies of all time.” Character Cady Heron moves to a new high school and tries to manipulate and take down the most popular girls in school. Mean Girls portrays teen girls in a comedic yet aggressive light. The main characters are illustrated as either overly dumb, overly cruel, overly vindictive. This exaggeration is a cultural reflection that is parallel to real life teen girls’ perspectives on high school; their whole lives at that point are basically focused on high school and they inevitably blow small life road blocks out of proportion because it is all they know. This paralleled exaggeration makes the film funny and relatable for teen girls. As the new millennium began, Mean Girls was key in jumpstarting the concept of female characters being socially
This film is described by Emily Timbol (2014) as “…one of the most culturally resonant high school movies of all time.” Character Cady Heron moves to a new high school and tries to manipulate and take down the most popular girls in school. Mean Girls portrays teen girls in a comedic yet aggressive light. The main characters are illustrated as either overly dumb, overly cruel, overly vindictive. This exaggeration is a cultural reflection that is parallel to real life teen girls’ perspectives on high school; their whole lives at that point are basically focused on high school and they inevitably blow small life road blocks out of proportion because it is all they know. This paralleled exaggeration makes the film funny and relatable for teen girls. As the new millennium began, Mean Girls was key in jumpstarting the concept of female characters being socially