10 hidden meanings in Clerks that prove it’s more than just slacker comedy

Kevin Smith's Clerks is famous for its in-your-face humor, quotable lines, and honest look at lazy, lost young adults during the 1990s. But the film is more than jokes and rude talk. Beneath its humor, it expresses genuine thoughts and sentiments that remain relevant today.

Clerks is an imperfect film, and that's part of why it succeeds. The characters are imperfect, the plot leaps around, and the comedy is edgy. But it makes the movie real.

It displays the mundane lives of everyday people—how they gripe, waste time, and struggle in a world that doesn't present much hope. Those concepts existed in 1994, and they exist today.

When it was first released, Clerks was new and fresh. Critics adored how realistic it was. They were impressed by its witty dialogue, humorous moments, and the fact that it didn't shy away from discussing awkward or taboo subjects.

It was a festival favorite at Sundance and Cannes, and now it's even preserved in the National Film Registry, a repository for significant films.

Rolling Stone wrote in its 1994 review of the film:

"Smith nails the obsessive verbal wrangling of smart, stalled twentysomethings who can't figure out how to get their ideas into motion."

That is a huge reason Clerks is so relatable. The characters are trapped—they have opinions and ideas, but they don't realize how to transform their lives.

Due to the Clerks, there were more small, personal films produced during the next few years. Its influence can be seen in films such as Reality Bites and television series such as The Office.

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Existential crisis of the working class in Clerks

At its essence, Clerks is an exploration of the existential boredom of those trapped in meaningless jobs. The protagonists of the film, Dante and Randal, are not merely slackers; they are young adults struggling with the senselessness of their mundane routines.

The narrative’s “day in the life” structure, where “nothing happens,” is itself a commentary on the monotony and inertia that can define working-class existence.

Dante’s periodic wail, “I’m not even supposed to be here today!” becomes a mantra for frustration.

A user's review on IMDb reads:

"Shot on a ridiculously low budget, using mostly friends and relatives as the cast and crew (see the line in the credits where "Boom" is credited as "whoever happened to be holding the pole"), "Clerks" is such a great film just because it doesn't try to be more than it is. You get the sense that this movie is in black and white not to be pretentious, but just because it's a prosaic look at prosaic lives."

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Satire of consumer culture and capitalist drudgery

Based in a video rental store and a convenience store– symbols of 1990s consumer culture– Clerks leverages its environment to satirize the soul-destroying character of low-paying retail labor.

The constant march of customers, each more ridiculous than the previous one, accentuates the dehumanizing conditions of service work.

The grungy, disheveled look of the film serves to underscore the atmosphere of economic vulnerability and the impossibility of mobility for its protagonists.

The grimy, low-budget aesthetic of the film serves to illustrate how poor and stagnant the main characters are.

The Baffler wrote in their 2019 article titled "Why Clerks Still Works":

“Clerks is a deeply sardonic but secretly thoughtful take on the daily grind...the general callous disregard for people who are perfectly aware of the precarity of their work lives.”

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The illusion of choice and societal expectations

Dante's inner conflict–to pursue a "respectable" life or stay in his comfort zone– is representative of the conflict between personal happiness and social expectations.

The movie is a critique of the notion that success is defined by career progression or financial gain, rather than fulfilling relationships and self-acceptance. Dante's indecision reflects the paralysis felt by many when faced with life-altering decisions.

As one Redditor suggests in the review of the film:

"Dante is torn between the life he loves, which while unglamorous allows him be with the people he cares about, and the life he thinks he should have (settling down and getting a good job)."

"You could also say that the movie is saying "it's not the destination, but the trip". Life isn't about achieving some end goal its about living a life that makes you happy. And a life with friends will make the journey better."

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Friendship as an anchor in an uncertain world

The friendship between Dante and Randal is the emotional core of the movie. Their arguments, banter, and support of one another are proof of the value of friendship as a stabilizing force in times of chaos and uncertainty.

Flawed as they are, their devotion to one another provides a counterpoint to the isolation of contemporary life.

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Coming-of-age under the shadow of stagnation

Although Clerks is typically referred to as a slacker comedy, it is actually a coming-of-age film, one in which the protagonists are already adults.

The movie deals with issues of maturity, responsibility, and self-discovery, but does so in terms of arrested development.

Dante and Randal's refusal to "grow up" is both a coping mechanism and a commentary on the narrow choices available to them.

Hollywood Insider writes:

“It is a story about love, opportunity, maturity, and many other encompassing coming-of-age themes...the struggle of the common man as they attempt to navigate a world dominated by hatred.”

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The absurdity and banality of everyday life

Smith's screenplay is full of dialogue about pop culture, s*x, and petty annoyances, which serve to highlight the surreal nature of everyday life.

The characters' arguments– over Star Wars, hermaphroditic p*rnography, or the morality of "snowballing"– are both side-splitting and profoundly human, capturing the way people employ humor and distraction as a means of dealing with boredom and discontent.

One more IMDb review reads:

"Not just great dialogue but superb timing and delivery - an unshuttered view into the self derived complexities of adolescent adults trying to make sense of the comical world they inhabit (don't we all) including the wildly diverse and often quite obscure characters they encounter during their day."

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Rebellion against authority and social norms

Randal most specifically represents a rebelliousness against authority and social norms. His irreverence, refusal to offend customers, and dismissal of workplace protocols illustrate the humor in blind obedience.

The gratuitous use of profanity and taboo subjects themselves in the movie is an act of rebellion against the sanitized treatment of youth presented in mainstream cinema.

A passage on RogerEbert.com reads:

“The movie has the attitude of a gas station attendant who tells you to check your own oil. It’s grungy and unkempt...their encounters with customers feel like a series of psychological tests.”

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Pop culture as a language of connection and alienation

The film's non-stop references to film, music, and comic books are more than merely comedic props, they are the lingua franca of the generation.

For Dante and Randal, pop culture serves both as a way of connecting and expressing their frustrations.

But it also serves to underscore their feelings of alienation, as their encyclopedic memorization of Star Wars or esoteric p*rn films serves in no way to enhance their actual circumstances.

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Death and the quest for meaning

Through its tongue-in-cheek humor, Clerks is troubled by the specter of mortality and the uncertainty of life.

The film's notorious necrophilia subplot, the onetime death of a patron in the restroom, and the characters' speculations about fate all serve to nod toward an underlying concern with mortality.

These instances cause Dante and Randal (and the viewer) to grapple with the question: What, if anything, imparts meaning to life in a universe where death can strike so unhesitantly?

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The strengths and weaknesses of independent cinema

Lastly, Clerks itself is a meta-reflection on the potential and limitations of independent filmmaking.

Filmed on a shoestring budget in the actual store where Smith used to work, the film's do-it-yourself spirit reflects the resourcefulness and ingenuity of its characters.

Its success was able to redefine what was possible for indie filmmakers by demonstrating that tales about ordinary individuals, presented in a genuine and humorous manner, could appeal to a broad audience.