After researching some common representation issues found in films in my genre, I decided that in order to fully understand how representation is portrayed I needed to analyze a scene from within the movie; not just the opening sequence. This excerpt from Clueless (1995) gives the audience the impression that women are emotional, superficial, and stupid, while it portrays men to be insensitive and immature, yet somehow still in control over the situations they are in.
Mise-en-Scéne
Various elements of mise-en-scene are used in the excerpt from Clueless in order to show gender representation. When the excerpt opens, we see Cher wearing a bright yellow shirt with a matching cardigan and a white tank top underneath the cardigan. We also see her friend Di, who is wearing a black and white skirt with a matching blazer, a red shirt, and a very prominent white and black hat. Their hair and makeup are simple, yet beautiful. The women clearly care about their appearances. This directly contrasts with Di’s boyfriend, who is wearing jeans that sag so low you can see his underwear and a green beanie. He doesn’t look as presentable as the women, which shows that he doesn’t care at all about how he looks.
The blocking in the debate class scene shows Cher to be at the front of the class, which the rest of the class watching her speak. Cher fills the frame with her confidence, however this blocking is meant to be ironic. Cher sounds ridiculous when she is debating, and by showing the rest of the class together and her separate, it gives the impression that she is being laughed at for her stupidity.
The most important prop in this clip is the report card, which Cher claims to have received a C- on. This shows that she isn’t the brightest, which adds to the idea that women are stupid.
Cinematography
As for cinematography, a high angle over the shoulder shot was used to when filming Di in the conversation between her and her boyfriend. This shows Di to be inferior to her boyfriend. A low angle over the shoulder shot was used in this same scene when filming her boyfriend. This shows that he is in control of this situation. Based on the elements of costuming mentioned earlier, it is clear that he is too immature to even dress nicely. So it is kind of odd to see him in control/having power over another person. This use of high/low angle shots also makes women appear weak.
The push in on Cher when she is debating is kind of ironic. Usually push ins indicate some sort of revelation, but when we are watching Cher and listening to what she is saying, we are not getting that “Aha!” moment; in fact, we begin to see her as kind of stupid.
Editing
The editing in this clip during the debate scene helps to create the ideas of gender listed above. It begins with Cher, who is speaking in front of the class. Then the clip cuts to the class, who is clearly not paying attention to what Cher is saying. Then the editing takes us back to Cher, who is continuing to speak (these cuts could all be considered match cuts because they preserve continuity in the scene). Then it cuts to the male teacher, who is clearly unimpressed with Cher’s speech. Finally, it cuts back to Cher who is finishing her tangent, and then back to the class, which erupts with applause. The match cuts used in this clip, especially the cut to her teacher, serve to further the assertion that Cher, while seeming confident, clearly has no idea what she is doing. This emphasizes the point that women are stupid.
Sound
Dialogue is the most useful aspect of sound employed by this clip. Cher’s friend Di says to her boyfriend,”I do not wearing polyester hair!” and “…cheap Kmart hair extension”. This gives us the impression that she is superficial because she is judging things based on their apparent quality. Di’s boyfriend says to her,”Is it that time of the month again?” and the male teacher tells a student,”Could the suicide attempts be postponed until next period?” These lines of dialogue show that men, who are in power over the relative situations they are in, are insensitive and even demeaning.
A Lot To Learn 