This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at American chapter.
I can quote Legally Blonde, Mean Girls, and Clueless without skipping a beat. These classic 90s and early 2000s teen movies were tokens of my adolescence, but they need to be remade because conversations about their problematic messages need to be discussed.
Legally Blonde is a 2001 romantic comedy that follows the character of Elle Woods. For those who have yet to see this classic, Elle Woods gets dumped by her boyfriend and decides to attend Harvard law school to show him she is just as smart and able as he is.
While this may sound promising, the movie has a prominent scene where Woods is inappropriately touched by her law professor, Professor Callahan.
Though Woods tells one of her colleagues and her love interest about this awful interaction, who both believe her, Professor Callahan faces no further repercussions. If a topic such as sexual assault is mentioned in a blockbuster such as Legally Blonde, steps on how to handle the assault and charges Professor Callahan would face should be detailed. Talking about sexual assault needs to be normalized in Hollywood.
Mean Girls : The inaccurate representation of sexual identities, gender, and race is problematic
The 2004 teen drama comedy Mean Girls portrays the story of Cady who has just moved from Africa to attend high school in the States. For the past 12 years, she has always been homeschooled and the movie details her journey of the ups and downs of American high school. These issues are what caught my attention while watching the movie with a more critical eye.
Grouping of people according to stereotypes: In the first scene, Cady is acquainted with her new school, and as an introduction to this high school, her new friends describe each clique in the lunchroom. The groups are “The Plastics,” “Cool Asians,” “Unfriendly Black Hotties,” and “Varsity Jocks.” “Cool Asians” is a problematic name as it groups one race together. Furthermore the label “cool” indicates that this group of Asians meets the standards made by the white people in the film to be expected. The name “Unfriendly Black Hotties” is a stereotype that alludes to the idea Black people are mean or scary. The name holds racist tones that are untrue.
Lack of representation: The lack of diversity among the main characters is problematic because BIPOC cannot see themselves represented on screen and the idea that the main characters should always be white is only further reinforced. Leading characters should be of all races.
The portrayal of the LGBTQ+ community: A quote from the film about a gay character is that he is “too gay to function.” The quote points to the idea that being gay, bi, or lesbian has some kind of negative side effect. The identity you align with does not determine your functionality, worth, or character. Being who you are should never be something to be shamed for.
Clueless : Incorrect language casually used to describe a group is apparent in the film
The 1995 hit comedy Clueless centers around the main character Cher and her life as a wealthy Beverly Hills high school teenager with her friends.
The use of a slur to describe disabled people is said by Cher casually to one of her best friends as a way to communicate that she thinks someone is not smart. Using slurs is not acceptable to describe a group of people, however, the slur still remains in the movie. The slur needs to be censured to ensure that anyone watching the movie knows that using this language is harmful and wrong.
Photo by Myke Simon from Unsplash
Though these movies have ridiculous plots and are just fiction, the language and rhetoric used in the films is still harmful and sends problematic messages to viewers. Movie fantatics can become desensitized or trained to think speaking, acting, or feeling a certain way is correct. Perhaps these films were made to make light of how problematic stereotypes are, but these films do not go further to explain why these descriptions are problematic and the handling of sensitive issues in the films needs to be rethought for the future of the film industry. The film industry today needs to work harder on representing and correctly describing all communities.
