History Film / Clerks

* UnbuiltTrope: ''Clerks'' was one of the first films with a main character in a SoulSuckingRetailJob, making Dante suffer [[ButtMonkey all the indignities]] that come with being a convenience store clerk. But the film also shows that while retail does indeed suck, [[HisOwnWorstEnemy the person most responsible for Dante's misery is Dante himself]]. For all his pretensions of intellectualism, Dante is a snide, passive, lazy, self-pitying {{Jerkass}} who chooses to stay in a job that makes him unhappy. While Dante complains a lot, he never tries to improve his station, nor does he quit the job. It's even pointed out to Dante that although he was asked to come in to cover a shift, he could just as easily have said "no" to the request. Towards the end of the film, Randall chews out Dante with a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech for Dante [[NeverMyFault sneering at the world around him while blaming everyone but himself for his misery]], [[SmallNameBigEgo making it seem like a job at a convenience store is way more important than it really is]], and calling out all of Dante's complaints as [[{{Wangst}} pointlessly antagonistic self-pity]]. Randall even highlights Dante's refusal to get over [[TheLostLenore Caitlin]], as Dante has no reason to care about Caitlin any more and really should have gotten over her by now. Randall's speech ends with an ArmorPiercingQuestion to Dante about what he's doing working at a convenience store if he's really as smart as he thinks he is. Dante doesn't answer, yet [[JerkassHasAPoint the film makes it clear that Dante doesn't want to admit that Randall has a point]]. And yet, most films after ''Clerks'' depict retail workers and/or those at the bottom of the corporate ladder as some kind of unsung heroes who are being kept down by the system, when the movie that did it first argues that while Dante's job might suck, a lot of his problems could be avoided if he made the most of what he had instead of constantly complaining.[[invoked]]

* InsaneTrollLogic: In the extended edition, Randal persuades a customer to rent ''Film/SmokeyAndTheBanditPart3''. When the man complains that Creator/BurtReynolds isn't in it, Randal replies, "Well, he wasn't in ''Film/{{ET}}'' either and that was a good movie".

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Randal's name is correctly spelled with one L, not two, but many fans still add the extra letter.

** Completely averted with Randal, who has no problem watching hermaphroditic porn.

-->"Oh, '''[[PrecisionFStrike fuck you! Fuck you,]]''' '''pal!''' Jesus, there you go [[NeverMyFault trying to pass the buck]]. ''I'm'' the source of all your misery. Who closed the store to play hockey? Who closed the store to go to a wake? [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Who tried to win back his ex-girlfriend without even]] '''''[[NiceJobBreakingItHero discussing]]''''' [[NiceJobBreakingItHero how he felt with his present one?!]] You wanna blame somebody? Blame '''''yourself!''''' "I'm not even supposed to be here today." ''You sound like an asshole!'' Jesus, nobody twisted your arm to be here. You're here of '''your own volition!''' You like to think the weight of the world rests on your shoulder like this place would fall apart if ''Dante'' wasn't here. Jesus, you overcompensate for having what's basically ''a monkey's job''; '''''you push fucking buttons!''''' ''Anybody'' could waltz in here and do our jobs! You--you're always so obsessed with making it seem so much more ''epic'', so much more important than it really is. Christ, ''you work in a convenience store, Dante!'' And ''badly'', I might add! I work in a shitty video store, badly as well. You know, [[DumbassHasAPoint that guy Jay's got it right]], man. He has no ''delusions'' about what he does. Us, we like to make ourselves seem so much more important than the [[SurroundedByIdiots people that come in here to buy a paper, or, god forbid, cigarettes]]. We look down on them as if we're so ''advanced''. ''Well, if we're so fucking advanced,'' '''''[[ArmorPiercingQuestion what are we doing]] working [[SoulSuckingRetailJob here?]]'''''"

Filmed in 1993 but not theatrically released until 1994, it cost $27,000 to make, roughly the same price as a new car at the time. The film's final cost was $230,000 after the rights to its grunge- and punk-oriented soundtrack were added in, making it one of the few films in history where the rights to the soundtrack actually cost more than the film.

''Clerks'' was shot in the [[SarcasmMode scenic]] [=QuickStop=] convenience store where Smith worked at the time and featured a cast made up of Smith's friends (such as Jeff Anderson, [[Series/ComicBookMen Walt Flanagan,]] Creator/JasonMewes and Scott Mosier) and family (in various small roles), Smith himself, and a few local actors (such as Creator/BrianOHalloran, who plays the lead role of Dante Hicks). When released, the film made its budget back several times over. Its success enabled Smith to make [[Film/{{TheViewAskewniverse}} several more films with some of the same characters and settings]].

Surprisingly for a film with a large amount of profanity and vulgar references, it manages to stay quite intelligent and upon release, it was well-received by critics such as Creator/RogerEbert and Creator/LeonardMaltin. The film's success helped jump-start the modern independent film industry (which actually began with ''Film/StrangerThanParadise'' and ''Film/ShesGottaHaveIt'' but was given a big kick by ''Film/SexLiesAndVideotape'' and ''Film/{{Slacker}}'', the latter of which Smith claimed was his direct inspiration for this film) and turned [[Creator/MiramaxFilms Miramax]] into a major distributor for said independent films, rivaled only by Polygram Filmed Entertainment and Fox Searchlight.

The first part of Film/TheViewAskewniverse (though ''Mallrats'', which came out later, [[{{Prequel}} depicts the events of the day before]] the events of ''Clerks''). With the obvious exception of Jay and Silent Bob, Dante and Randal are the most frequently recurring characters in the verse, having starred in an AnimatedAdaptation, ''WesternAnimation/ClerksTheAnimatedSeries'', several comics, and in 2006, a true sequel in ''Film/ClerksII''. A third film was eventually picked up by Creator/{{Lionsgate}} and released in 2022.