In the face of today’s action/science-fiction/superhero blockbusters, the teen movie is a genre that doesn’t get quite the attention it used to. Director Charlie Lyne aims to rectify that with BEYOND CLUELESS, an experimental documentary which describes itself as “part adolescent fever dream, part roving visual essay”. Narrated by cult teen star Fairuza Balk, it examines the common tropes and trials depicted in the average teen movie, in a series of chapters which pay tribute to an enduring and oft-overlooked genre.
The documentary’s very concept is a courageous one, and Lyne manages to produce an impressive piece of work given that it features no original footage. But its aims are perhaps too ambitious, the scope too broad. The film can’t seem to make up its mind as to whether it wants to adulate these movies or analyse them and consequently, it doesn’t particularly excel at either. In fairness, this isn’t necessarily the fault of the filmmakers – as Lyne himself points out, the genre itself is so broad and ill-defined that it becomes difficult to pin down the exact definition of a ‘teen movie’. A teen movie can be almost anything, from a fantasy romance (TWILIGHT) to comedy (AMERICAN PIE), straight-up horror (JEEPERS CREEPERS) or even a superhero tale (SPIDERMAN). However, BEYOND CLUELESS achieves its primary aim of pioneering an insight into the genre, making a decent and largely successful attempt at identifying common overarching themes amongst this diverse plethora. One of these themes is that of ‘order beneath chaos’, and the strict social hierarchies teens are bound to maintain. A notably clever sequence has a character from DISTURBING BEHAVIOUR outline each of the ‘moulds’ that all teens find themselves in, or at least witness to. The audience is given a basic introduction to the jocks, the nerds and the most popular girls in school, just to name a few.
“teens are faced with two versions of themselves, barely sure of which is real.”
It’s these types of well-known truths that BEYOND CLUELESS is adept at identifying. In other instances, Fairuza Balk’s calm, disinterested narration tells us that “teenage life is founded on the open secret of being dependent on approval from others” and that “teens are faced with two versions of themselves, barely sure of which is real.” The film is full of pithy nuggets of wisdom like these, and they are almost universally relatable, regardless of background or upbringing. On this, it is to be applauded.
However, the documentary rarely expands beyond these basic concepts. Instead, it invites its audience to connect the dots themselves, as Balk knowingly intones the core observations. Although this can be in one sense intriguing by openly giving us freedom to draw our own conclusions, it can be conversely frustrating as it precludes the film itself from providing any meaningful discussion. An exception to this is in one of the final chapters, ‘Moving On’, which focuses on the crisis of identity many suffer as they make the transition from school to university – or ‘college’ in the movies’ own vernacular.
Herein lies the documentary’s finest example of critical analysis. The film ‘13 GOING ON 30’ is generally perceived to be a romantic comedy, starring Jennifer Garner as a teenage girl launched several decades into the future by ‘magic wishing dust’. There, she finds herself to be working her dream job at her favourite teenage magazine, with an apartment on Fifth Avenue. However, her adult persona is apparently duplicitous and shallow. She abandons her job and apartment to be with her teenage sweetheart, living in a house modelled after the dollhouse he gave her as a child. Although at first glance a feel-good ending to the fantasy tale, Balk’s monotone narration highlights the actions of Jenna as teenage impulses, rather than the rational decisions of an adult. It concludes that she ultimately lives her life ‘as an eternal teenager … abandoning the career and independence she fought so hard to acquire, she lives out the impossible childhood fantasy of adulthood … complete with a life-size dollhouse for a home’.
It’s an intriguing alternate take on a traditional successful formula. Balk’s pessimism contrasts sharply with the bright cheeriness of the film’s final scenes to create a juxtaposition which is quite chilling. It goes to show that BEYOND CLUELESS is capable of some novel insights into a genre which the makers clearly know inside out – if they could only bring themselves to commit. This is where the documentary’s broad aims let it down. If it were to cut the homages and tributes and focus more on the analysis, there would be scope for endless fascinating insights into the genre of the teen film. It identifies classic recurring themes and characters, but it would have been even more interesting to see them delve deeper into the mechanics and motivations behind their creation.
“the impossible childhood fantasy of adulthood … complete with a life-size dollhouse for a home”
For example, in SHE’S ALL THAT, Freddie Prinze Jr makes nerdy outcast Rachael Leigh Cook into a perfect prom queen. The movie itself completely glosses over the fact that Cook is stunningly beautiful even in her guise as kooky glasses-wearer, instead trying hard to sell us on the concept of inner beauty. It’s easy to see why. Nerdy outcast to stunning prom queen is a much more interesting transformation story than ‘already pretty girl is now dressed in pretty clothes’. It would undermine their whole premise. It’s an unwinnable situation for the studio – if they cast a plain actress, they risk losing their audience, but if they cast someone pretty, their film doesn’t make sense. For the team behind BEYOND CLUELESS it would be a perfect chance to dissect one of the most popular teen films of the 1990s, but the opportunity is ignored. They seem more concerned with keeping up the numbers, stuffing as many teen films into the 90-minute running time as possible without providing nearly as much insight as there could have been.
Despite its shortcomings, BEYOND CLUELESS is far from a bad film. The central premise combines with its unique method of storytelling to create a novel (if divisive) experience, and there is demonstrable skill in the edited montages that knit each chapter together. The presence of Fairuza Balk certainly achieves the desired ‘fever dream’ effect – her delivery sounds almost omniscient. But you don’t have to be a teen movie fanatic to enjoy BEYOND CLUELESS. Even for those who won’t recognise her status as a teen movie icon, the documentary’s source material is diverse enough for there to be something for everyone.
Meet Charlie at the screening of BEYOND CLUELESS at the Cambridge Arts Picturehouse on Tuesday 13 January – or visit http://www.beyondclueless.co.uk/ for information on other screenings.
httpvh://youtu.be/DEz8pdxslYU