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'Clueless' Essay

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'Clueless' Essay
“How has Amy Heckerling used film techniques to portray the transformation of ‘Cher’ in her film, ‘Clueless’?”

In the hit film of 1995 -Clueless, director Amy Heckerling effectively uses film techniques to further portray the deep meaning of the story. The film tells the story of a selfish teenage girl who transforms into a responsible woman. In the beginning of the story, the main protagonist, Cher, is depicted as a narrow-minded, extravagant teenager. Heckerling uses vivid colour and extremity to show Cher’s unique characteristics. For her own interests, Cher begins to help others but begins to find more than just her own outcomes in the process. The director uses indirect actions to show the change in Cher’s character. At the end of the film, the main character shows strong traits and this is Cher’s real post-transformation personality. The storyline which made Clueless a hit film is very easy for youth to relate to and share something in common with it.

Clueless tells the story of the transformation of a shallow teenage girl –Cher Horowitz. Cher’s transformation is based around her drive to find happiness for herself, by making others happy. These acts become more of an interest to Cher than she first thought, and she transforms into a more mature woman. Cher’s best-friend, Dionne, is very much like Cher –self-indulgent. Cher’s journey to finding her true character leads her to many obstacles, including competing with another girl for a boy and getting over finding out that her intended boy-friend is actually homosexual. “She’s my friend because we both know what it’s like to have people jealous of us” said Cher to Dionne. This quote perfectly shows Cher’s arrogance. Also, the quote show’s Cher’s view of her friend, Dionne; she sees Dionne as being at Cher’s level, above the others. At the beginning of the story, Cher is a far from the average teenager.

“I actually have a way normal life for a teenage girl” Cher expressed before walking around her

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