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Clueless in the Neocolonial World Order

Clueless in the Neocolonial World Order While scholars have recognized the status of US films as global commodities (i.e., commodities whose paths of dissemination mirror the paths of global capital), mediating the production of national narratives for "foreign" as well as domestic audiences, they have been reluctant to interrogate how notions of nationhood and national identity circulate in films that do not explicitly promote jingoistic fantasies of US global supremacy. At the same time, they have often failed adequately to theorize the gendering of nationalist discourses in US cinema, overlooking in particular the possibility that these may be voiced, embodied, or symbolized by female protagonists whose sphere of influence is more likely to be the home than the boardroom or the battlefield. Yet while Clueless, a clever adaptation of an English comedy of manners, would seem quite remote from the innumerable Hollywood action and suspense films that wear their nationalist desire on their sleeves, primarily calling upon women to establish the heterosexuality of male heroes, this essay argues that it is no less likely a site for the production or negotiation of national narratives and fantasies.' Rather, what we find in Clueless is a representation of national citizenship that is inextricably tied to, and http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Camera Obscura Duke University Press

Clueless in the Neocolonial World Order

Wald, Gayle
Camera Obscura , Volume 14 (3 42) – Jan 1, 1999
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Publisher
Duke University Press
Copyright
Copyright 1999 by Camera Obscura
ISSN
1529-1510
eISSN
1529-1510
DOI
10.1215/02705346-14-3_42-50
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

While scholars have recognized the status of US films as global commodities (i.e., commodities whose paths of dissemination mirror the paths of global capital), mediating the production of national narratives for "foreign" as well as domestic audiences, they have been reluctant to interrogate how notions of nationhood and national identity circulate in films that do not explicitly promote jingoistic fantasies of US global supremacy. At the same time, they have often failed adequately to theorize the gendering of nationalist discourses in US cinema, overlooking in particular the possibility that these may be voiced, embodied, or symbolized by female protagonists whose sphere of influence is more likely to be the home than the boardroom or the battlefield. Yet while Clueless, a clever adaptation of an English comedy of manners, would seem quite remote from the innumerable Hollywood action and suspense films that wear their nationalist desire on their sleeves, primarily calling upon women to establish the heterosexuality of male heroes, this essay argues that it is no less likely a site for the production or negotiation of national narratives and fantasies.' Rather, what we find in Clueless is a representation of national citizenship that is inextricably tied to, and

Journal

Camera Obscura – Duke University Press

Published: Jan 1, 1999

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