Analysising how "Clueless" and "10 Things I Hate About You" work with the conventions of the rom-com genre

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Rom coms have always been seeped in genre conventions from across history. Peter William Evans and Celestino Deleyato say they “all belong to an artistic tradition which embodies a very specific and relatively unchanged view of love, sexuality and marriage which was already put into circulation four hundred years ago” (1998: 3). Therefore, despite changes in iconography, the genre still maintains narrative traditions in all its varying forms. One such subgenre is the teen rom com, starting with the release of Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Amy Heckerling, 1982). Claire Mortimer states “the teen audience continues to be a lucrative market for Hollywood, with romantic comedy being a significant genre for this demographic” (2010: 145) hence the popularisation of characters of similar ages, albeit “filtered through the adult perspective” (Shary, 2002: 2) of the filmmakers. Two such examples are Clueless (Amy Heckerling, 1995) and 10 Things I Hate About You (Gil Junger, 1999), based on Austen’s Emma (1815) and Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew (1590-1592) respectively. Using Thomas Schatz’s definition of genre, that being genre “involves familiar, essentially one-dimensional characters acting out a predictable story pattern within a familiar setting” (1981: 6) both these films can be defined as teen rom coms using these aspects.

For all rom coms, the conventional narrative can be viewed as “boy meets girl, various obstacle prevents them from being together, coincidences and complications ensue, ultimately leading to the couple’s realisation that they were meant to be together [and] concludes with a happy ending, with the final union of the couple” (Mortimer, 2010: 4). For Clueless this is Cher (Alicia Silverstone) meeting Josh (Paul Rudd), who, despite initially being uninterested in love and instead focusing on manipulating the lives of her friends Dionne (Stacey Dash), Tai (Brittany Murphy) and her teacher Ms. Geist (Twink Caplan), Cher confessed her love for Josh, and they become a couple. For 10 Things I Hate About You this is “bad-boy” Patrick (Heath Ledger) meeting the anti-social Kat (Julia Stiles), originally being paid by someone who liked her sister, Bianca (Larisa Oleynik), to only date Kat so her father would let her Bianca date too, but after falling in love for real, and then Kat finding out about the manipulative backstory, Patrick is forgiven and they kiss. As Robynn J. Stilwell states about this simple plot: “part of the joy for the audience is knowing that no matter the contrivances to the plot, the couple will end up together in the end” (2009: 27).

Although, the narrative structure detailing the main character’s falling in love is not the only key theme. Stacey Abbott argues that rom coms have “a preoccupation with social acceptance” (2009: 52-53). Abbot mentions “Clueless [is] more focused on exploring the complexity and hypocrisy of high school social hierarchy” whilst “10 Things I Hate About You [has] closer consideration for youthful insecurities and the presence of social standing and individual identity upon budding relationships”. This is clearly shown as Clueless’ main narrative drive isn’t Cher wanting Josh, rather it is her teaching the shy, new girl Tai how to be one of the popular ones, which, when achieved, replaces Cher from her social hierarchy position with the now mean and popular bully she created. It is only when Tai wants to ask Josh out, and calls Cher “a virgin who can’t drive” that Cher not only realises that she likes Josh, but also her mistake in valuing social hierarchy. 10 Things I Hate About You is more focused on the love side of the story, notably by the love triangle between Bianca, the new kid Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who makes the plan to involve Patrick, and the rich, popular, and self-entitled Joey (Andrew Keegan) who is persuaded to pay Patrick to take Kat out. Although, the focus is also on the two social outcast’s identities, Patrick and Kat, both of whom fake their personas to an extent due to their past and the social standings they have. Patrick accepts he can’t disprove crazy rumours about him so goes with it, and Kat, once a popular girl, was secretly in a relationship with and was pressured to have sex with Joey, thus vowing to never follow a crowd again. In both cases, this social drama causes the “suffering [that allows] the narrative process of self-discovery and transformation” (Mortimer, 2010: 8) being the anthesis to love that makes the happy ending all the sweeter.

A second key convention for teen rom coms is the setting and props formulating the mise-en-scene. Erin Nicole Ford states since the subgenre began with Fast Times at Ridgemont High the iconography is “a clear continuation of the teen film genre, containing many of the same elements” (1999: 11). These include the “high school setting” (11), usually with school lockers, canteens and classrooms, the “shopping mall setting” (11), where characters interact in a more public environment, letting them be more of themselves, and the “high school party or dance (often the prom) [which] signifies the end of the school year as well as the film itself” (25-26) usually being the setting for the narrative climax of the film. 10 Things I Hate About You illustrates this by making Bianca’s desire to take a date to the prom, and both Cameron and Joey wanting to be that date, the goal that puts the narrative in motion. Therefore, nearing the end of the film, the prom becomes the setting where Cameron and Joey face off, and where Kat finds out Patrick was paid to date her. However, Clueless does not opt for the iconic prom setting for its narrative climax. Instead, both Cher and Tai’s argument, and Cher and Josh kissing, occur within Cher’s mansion house. Stanley Cavell argues rom coms need this personal and homely setting as “the pair have the leisure to be together [in a setting] of luxury [where] work can be postponed without fear of its loss” (1989: 116-117). This has even more emphasis in Clueless, as the scene where Cher and Josh finally get together occurs from Cher ruining notes for her father’s co-worker, for an important lawyer case she was helping with, causing Josh to protect her against the insults, before comforting her as they stop working.

The final key convention is the stereotypical characters. Firstly, there is the independent, entitled and feminist main female character (Cher from Clueless and Kat from 10 Things I Hate About You). This powerful image where the character doesn’t immediately look for love can “be explained to a great extent by the rise of the girl power and its omnipresence in media culture” according to Betty Kaklamanidou (2013: 69). She explains that during the 90s “the backlash against second-wave feminism […] the publication of Mary Pipher’s Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls […] the ‘Riot Grrrl’ bands [and the] British pop singing group, The Spice Girls” (2013: 70-71) allowed this emergence, hence its Hollywood representation in films aimed at young women.

The male main character (Josh from Clueless and Patrick from 10 Things) is there to “demonstrate conflicting character traits […] clashing, and then gradually working through the tumultuous progress of their relationship, until equilibrium is found” (Mortimer, 2010: 8). Josh is a mature and sensitive, and constantly bickers with Cher (the immature, selfish rich girl) at the start of the film. Patrick is cold-hearted, relentless and a smoker, which disgusts Kat when he first tries to get her attention. This “battle of the sexes” (Mortimer, 2010: 4) forms the romantic tension that eventually attract the two characters together.

Friends also play a significant role, being “a source of advice, commenting on the relationship, and being a repository for the confidences of the couples” (Mortimer, 2010: 8-9). Dionne, Tai, and even Josh points out Cher’s character flaws, leading to her true selfless act of charity work. Although, more notably, Michael (David Krumholtz) from 10 Things more accurately portrays this vital role, as he is the character which designs the plan for Cameron to find a date for Kat, allowing Cameron to be with Bianca, and is the one who realises Patrick’s potential, and enlists Joey’s help, effectively putting the plot in motion.

The final notable character is the father. Kaklamanidou mentions “the relationship between a father and a daughter was almost always represented as a dichotomy between law and disobedience, and absolute control and desire for freedom” (2013: 74). This is certainly true in 10 Things where Kat and Bianca’s father, Walter Stratford (Larry Miller), refuses to allow them to date due to his fears around teenage pregnancy. However, Cher’s father, Melvin Horowitz (Dan Hedaya) from Clueless, does not act strict. Whereas Walter refuses to let his daughters go to parties or meet up with any men, Melvin gives Cher almost full independence, only being slightly hesitant of Christian (Justin Walker), Cher’s first crush of the film, and to question Cher’s whereabouts when she is at the Valley party late at night. Apart from that, Melvin does not enforce much control. Instead, he acts more as the aforementioned ”friend” stereotype, supporting Cher’s decisions, and reinforcing the belief she has always been a good person.

Overall, both Clueless and 10 Things I Hate About You are compatible with the rom com genre, and the teen subgenre.

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Bibliography

Abbott, Stacey (2009) ‘Prom-Coms: Relieving the Dreams and Nightmares of High School Romance’ in Abbott, Stacey and Jermyn, Deborah (ed.) ‘Falling in Love Again: Romantic Comedy in Contemporary Cinema’, I.B. Tauris

Cavell, S. (1981) ‘Pursuit of Happiness: The Hollywood Comedy of Remarriage’, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press

Evans, Peter William and Deleyato, Celestino (1998) ‘Introduction: Surviving Love’ in Evans, Peter William and Deleyato, Celestino (ed.) ‘Terms of Endearment: Hollywood Romantic Comedy of the 1980s and 1990s’, Edinburgh University Press

Ford, Erin Nicole (1999) ‘Fast Times: The Rise and Fall of the Teen Romantic Comedies of the 1980s’, University of Tennessee

Kaklamanidou, Betty (2013) ‘Genre, Gender, and the Effects of Neoliberalism: The New Millennium Hollywood Rom Com’ Taylor and Francis Group

Mortimer, Claire (2010) ‘Romantic Comedies’ Routledge

Schatz, Thomas (1981) ‘Hollywood Genres: Formulas, Filmmaking, and the Studio System’, Temple UP

Shary, Timothy (2002) ‘Generation Multiplex: The Image of Youth in Contemporary American Cinema’, University of Texas Press

Stilwell, Robynn J. (2009) ‘Music, Ritual and Genre in Edward Burn’s Indie Romantic Comedies’ in Abbott, Stacey and Jermyn, Deborah (ed.) ‘Falling in Love Again: Romantic Comedy in Contemporary Cinema’, I.B. Tauris

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Filmography

10 Things I Hate About You (Gil Junger, 1999)

Clueless (Amy Heckerling, 1995)

Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Amy Heckerling, 1982)