"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 self-preservation 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.