Beyond Clueless: Crash Course In The Teen Movie Genre

Beyond Clueless is an excursion through the archetypes of teen films from the 90s through the early aughts, breaking it down into satisfying lumps of teen pudding. Directed by Charlie Lyne and released in 2014, Beyond Clueless uses the footage from the likes of Ten Things I Hate About You, She's All That, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and ten other Freddie Prince Jr. movies (jk). It features the comedies, horrors, dramas, and romance movies we all know and love, all under the umbrella of teen film. Dividing the experience into five chapters, or stages of development, Beyond Clueless pairs similar scenes and imagery from the selected films in order to express a collective cultural experience.

Jennifer Love Hewitt in Can't Hardly Wait (1998)

It's quite uncanny how formulated these movies appear to be, once set side by side. Of course the existence of a formula shouldn't be too much of a surprise considering the release of 2001's Not Another Teen Movie, which gets the tropes spot on. Beyond Clueless makes the comparisons so fluidly, it's scary. It's not just the themes, it's the mis en scene. It's like watching one image strobe in front of you, only to realize they were slightly different images to begin with. That's exactly the point trying to be conveyed about high school itself.

Rachel True, Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell, and Robin Tunny in The Craft (1996)

Fairuza Balk narrates, kicking off the film with her 1996 hit The Craft, explaining succinctly how high school cliques function. The Craft is the perfect starting example of teenage behavior, in the way that it uses the metaphor of a coven and magical powers to represent the strength of teen girl camaraderie and antagonism. Beyond Clueless breaks down the collective teen experience, while analysing how these movies - burned into our brains from youth - mirror our experiences, or convey fantasies of perfection based on desires and expectations.

A strong comparison can be made to Simon Pummell's 2003 found footage film, Bodysong. They both exclusively use unoriginal footage, and break the films up into stages of life. Both have pretty great "sex" scenes. The only difference is Beyond Clueless's narration. Bodysong doesn't feature a single word, as it is scored by Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead. (Side note: you might recognize one of the pieces from Bodysong in the film There Will Be Blood). I digress.
 
What really puts all of these teen films on the same level for analysis and comparison is the sound track. Created by the band Summer Camp, any trace of the pop music from the original films is washed away. No Fatboy Slim to be reminisced over, no Britney Spears - at least not her music. We get a short clip of her in Crossroads, dancing to the sounds of Summer Camp. This removes the implication of time period. While clothing can be a good indicator (and boy is this filled with some late 90s gems), music is much more telling since we can reference the exact date the song was released. Summer Camp's "21st-century alt.pop" style sounds comfortable amongst the 90s and early 2000s film clips. Their sound is more of an homage to 80s pop and 90s alternative, with a certain amount of darkness that heightens the impending doom. Summer Camp is like a cross between The Go! Team and Sleigh Bells. With lyrics that skew toward teen angst, it was a treat to hear lines from The Virgin Suicides in their lyrics (a film which also makes an appearance).

Kirsten Dunst and Josh Hartnett in The Virgin Suicides (1999)

In the opening shots, you might see snippets of movies you loved and cherished. I saw a shot of Laura Palmer from Fire Walk With Me, and got really excited. But there is only one other clip, with Donna Hayward laying down and talking about something dreamy. Some films are only given those seconds, while others are directly referenced and dissected. Beyond Clueless is a psychological, pop-cultural, anthropological dream.