The characters of Jay and Silent Bob (played by Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith) were drug dealers that staged themselves outside of the Quick Stop convenience store where Dante manned the counter. Jay cursed, offended everyone and anyone he could and generally did whatever possible to guarantee Clerks enjoyed a solid R-rating. Silent Bob doesn't do much, but his silence somehow added to the crudeness and the comedy. However, 90s society saw Jay and Silent Bob as a little more than crude in a goofy sort of way. Clerks was initially slapped with an NC-17 rating despite there being no violence or onscreen sex in the entire movie. The rating was purely for language and most of that offensive language and sentence construction came from Jay and Silent Bob. They were actually considered that shocking when they hit the scene in 1994. Comedies today are generally rated R and most Judd Apatow produced films are more "shocking" and envelope pushing as far as language and themes than the famous 90s duo ever dreamed of being. What was once shocking and surprising is now the norm in comedy films skewed towards adults. Jay and Silent Bob are perfect examples of the slightly more politically correct 90s culture they were born into. Do you think Clerks defines the 90s? Better yet, which other movies do you think define the decade of Nirvana and Blockbuster Video? Sound off in the comments below!
