Lewis Cunningham

Critical Analysis of Clerks

The following essay will attempt to critically analyse how the film Clerks (Kevin Smith, USA, 1994) can

be considered postmodern.

Clerks tells the “story” of two do nothing convenience clerks Dante and Randal. The film does not

involve a plot as such but more shows the various events that unfold during the two protagonist’s

day. The film uses a diurnal format where narrative drive, enigma and climax come second place to

character development and witty dialog. Below is a quote on from Bill Reading’s book on Lyotard

and the crises of narrative.

“Lyotard has written of postmodernity in terms of a crisis of narratives. This crises means that we

can no longer tell a new story (begin another modernity; it means that our understanding of the

place of narrative is itself in crises because we no longer believe in metanarratives “(Readings, 64)

The audience are given expectations of a narrative at the beginning of Clerks when the protagonist

Dante agrees to work on his day off providing that his boss relieves at noon but this quickly breaks

down into a loose accumulation of comedic scenes involving strange customers in and around the

store.

“The breakdown of metanarratives positions culture as a patchwork of little narratives. For Lyotard,

scepticism has led us to understand culture as discontinuous and fragmentary; cultural

representations are too disparate to permit a universal point of view” (Readings, 65)

One of the few recurring plot elements is Dante’s conflict between staying with his current girlfriend

Veronica who he is bored with and restarting a relationship with Catlin his ex who cheated on him.

“There is a ‘major dramatic event in Clerks (involving a traumatic encounter between Caitlin and a

dead man’s erection but this too wilfully absurd and deferred, to serve anything like the usual

central and defining narrative purpose of such developments” (King, 81)

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Lewis Cunningham

By examining the characters we can get another idea of why Clerks should be considered a

postmodern film. Director Kevin Smith has said that he nerdy Dante represents his id and the foul

mouthed Randal represents his ego (Levy, 210). Dante at first seems to be the by-the-book

everyman who works his hardest but over the course of the film is revealed that he is directionless

and disillusioned, He constantly blames others for the problems in his life and despite hating his job

refuses to make changes because he is comfortable. Randal on the other hand is the exact opposite;

He shirks his responsibilities, is rude to customers (even going so far as to spit water in the face of

one) and spends most of his day annoying Dante. He quips that his job would be great “if it wasn’t

for the customers” and it appears that he is the very definition of the word slacker but as the day’s

events unfold he becomes the voice of reason, He understands and accepts his place in society and

wants for nothing more. Both characters clearly reflect the attitude of the disenfranchised and

apathetic youth in the early 1990’s, they are media fixated spending their days discussing the

morality of Star Wars and care more about their own personal lives than running the establishment

for whom are in employed in a way that society expects and with no social moor to keep them in

check, Smith claims that they are free.

The use of Ironic humour also makes Clerks postmodern, below is quote from Sconce on irony.

“Mobilizing Irony as a tactic of disaffection, a certain social formation (defined perhaps more by

bohemian aspirations than generational boundaries) created by a culture of semiotic exile during the

1990s, reading ‘against the grain’ of so-called mainstream culture while cultivating a new voice of

cynical detachment” (Sconce, 356)

Events such as necrophilia are treated in matter-of-fact manner and the dullness of the dead end job

is brightened with odd bits including an elderly customer asking to use the staff toilet and if he may

borrow a pornographic magazine. At no point does the film question if the way Dante and Randal

live is right but is content to show us there lives as they unfold.

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Lewis Cunningham

“A centrepiece of the 1990’s smart film might best be termed ‘blank’ style, Blankness in this context,

does not refer to ‘invisibility’ (as frequently discussed in relation to classical Hollywood editing) but

can be described as an attempt to convey a films story, no matter how sensationalistic, disturbing or

bizarre, with a sense of dampened affect” (sconce, 359)

The films aesthetics also make it a postmodern film. Shot on 16mm film and the in black and white

due budget constraints, Smith photographed on one camera on a limited amount of stock. The films

grainy image, poor sound quality and use of long static takes almost gives it a documentary feel, and

the hiring of inexperienced actors and extras off the street helped to provide a fresh and realistic

feeling. The films extremely low budget was exploited during distribution; with advertisings claiming

that in terms of budget to box office ratio, Clerks was one was one of the most successful films in the

history of cinema.

Clerks is also very ambiguous, the ending provides no closure except in the literal sense. It is left

unclear as to whether or not Dante and Randal have learned anything after the day’s events and or

whether the or not they will continue as they are. Dante remains optimistic that he will resolve his

issues with Veronica but the audience are never shown how this will play out and are simply left to

make up their own minds.

I believe that by discussing the Ironic humour, the ambiguity, the aesthetics of Clerks, this essay

proves why the film should be considered post-modern.

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Lewis Cunningham

Filmography

Clerks (Kevin Smith, USA, 1994)

Bibliographies

Readings, J., (1991) Introducing Lyotard: Art and Politics. 1st Ed. London. Routledge

King, G., (2005) American Independent Cinema. London. St Martin’s Press

Levy, E., (1999) Cinema of Outsiders: The Rise of the American Independent Film. New York. New York

Sconce, J., (2002) Irony, Nihilism and the New American Smart Film Screen, 43:4 December, pp. 349-369.

Pierson, J., (1995) Spike, Mike, Slackers and Dykes. London, Hyperion.

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