30 years later Kevin Smith finally realizes why Clerks was so beloved

[@peaceofpiety]

"I'm not even supposed to BE here today!" Most relatable line EVER.

[@DS-182]

Every time I got called in to the restaurant to fill in for a cook after I drank the night b4 I'd tell the owner that i might be abit impaired and to anyone who talked sh!t that was, my response added with "I can go home whenever I want" I was also the floor manager at the time, good times way way back in the day 😂 restaurant life.. back when the movie "Waiting" was a reality

[@JnEricsonx]

I had to use that line a couple times today.

[@enjoi62137]

​@@DS-182Yo, Waiting and even the sequel were underrated IMO. Man... Clerks, Waiting, back to the years when comedy movies were actually great haha. Shit died IMO between like 2015 and 2020.

[@droth1031]

"This job would be great if it wasn't for the f*cking customers!" -every retail employee during the Christmas shopping season

[@JnEricsonx]

@@droth1031 Ironically, I worked at Toys R Us in 2017, and I prefer being there during the holidays to my usual grocery store work on any day. NO JOKE.

[@oddthequiet4868]

"Clerks is a movie about having a shitty job, and [almost] everybody has had a shitty job." Yeah. That's it.

[@krectus]

honestly, I'm not sure it is. I loved that movie BEFORE I ever worked a shitty job. It is enjoyable beyond that.

[@lincoln3x7]

@@krectus maybe because it captures a particular sentiment or view, a feeling of a time and place... inside the heads of these characters with irreverence and distain for the norm.

[@XxTaiMTxX]

@@lincoln3x7 This is more accurate for me. I've never worked a convenience store job, nor a "shitty job" like portrayed in the movie. But, the tone of the movie very much is "just passing the days away, looking for something to escape the drudgery and fill the remaining time.". It represents the time in our lives where we didn't know what we wanted to do with our lives, we didn't know how to move forward, and we'd find ourselves doing whatever it was we were doing... to pay bills or make it to the next day. A time when we didn't think life was that great, but when you look back on it, it was some of the greatest days of our lives. I miss my first job. We goofed off and talked all the time in the job. It was boring and stupid. To the point that you just showed up, put headphones in, and did the job as quick as you could. But, while I didn't much care for the job at the time, I miss all those times now with all the friends I made along the way and all the stupid conversations we used to have. Heck, I find that at nearly 40, I still identify with Randall so much. My friend made me watch Clerks 2 (it's the first of the two movies I saw) and I immediately saw Dante in him, and Randall in me. I went back to watch the first movie and it just clicked in the same way Clerks 2 had clicked with me. Sure, we get older and life more complicated, but we still pine for the old days. Dante turns everything into a crisis since he is a very rigid thinker. But, Randall could honestly do any job he wanted. He could work anywhere and be happy and probably above competent at the job. But, he works the low-wage menial jobs because his friend is there. Because those jobs don't demand much of him and he gets to goof off. He gets to mess with customers. I love the movies for that. Capturing of a time, a place, and some friends.

[@Rillip]

I think it's part of it, but it's not all of it. It's a movie about a shitty job AND it's comming from an authentic place. It's not Hollywood making a comedy about a shitty workplace because some focus group has told them that will play well. It's not even Hollywood making a comedy about a shitty workplace because some producer read a really authentic script, liked it, and green-lit it. It's a movie about a shitty job, made by people who have had shitty jobs, with their own money, and no oversight. It doesn't get more authentic than that. That is the magic.

[@andrewkielbasowycz1915]

I'm not sure it actually has anything to do with the job... its more about life in general.

[@Mike_and_Life]

Clerks is mandatory viewing for ANYONE that has worked retail. Just as Office Space is for any office job or Waiting for restaurant workers. It is pure genius and a window into the meaningless jobs so many of us started with.

[@1cr19]

Also, working retail for at least one year should be considered a necessary part of growing up. Not mandatory, just necessary.

[@VinceFanghella]

The Holy Trinity of shitty job movies

[@wapoalbigdaddy3502]

Don't forget Falling Down if you've been fired from your job

[@1cr19]

@@wapoalbigdaddy3502 Does it matter what kind of job? I’ve been downsized from two music stores but never really fired.

[@psycold]

If you want a lesser known modern interpretation check out a show called Corporate, it ran for I believe 3 seasons on Comedy Central and was canceled.

[@CB-ke7eq]

I would add to Kevin's comments on Clerks that it also just holds a special, endearing place in the hearts of all of us who were teens in the 90s.

[@alpineprojectsgarage]

You're so right about that!

[@TheGreatAtario]

Or in our 20s in the 90s

[@CB-ke7eq]

@@TheGreatAtario Definitely! 👍

[@shaneanigans440]

Clerks and Mallrats both nailed what it was like living as a teen or 20 something during the 90s.

[@Deltron6060]

Clerks, Mallrats, Dogma & Jay/silent bob, this dude is legendary!

[@michelleneeds4165]

Chasing Amy?

[@michelleneeds4165]

Chasing Amy?

[@Rocky-or4rz]

Enduring the same way Office Space was, never thought of that, it is true.

[@enjoi62137]

So true. "I have 8 different bosses, Bob" What's hilarious to me is that I loved those movies before I even had any jobs like those at all. They just made sense to me and I loved the humor.

[@lonestranger]

I might throw "Waiting..." in there too, but Office Space for sure.

[@doodaddy1454]

@@lonestranger You mean like in Office Space where Jennifer Anniston worked at Applebees and had to have more flair!?

[@lonestranger]

@@doodaddy1454 I meant that the 2005 workplace comedy movie starring Ryan Reynolds named "Waiting..." endures the same way that Clerks and Office Space have for the same reasons.

[@TheRealCobraBurnout]

Clerks definitely one of my favorites.

[@heroclix0rz]

Kevin Smith makes Kevin Smith movies like nobody else.

[@jmackmcneill]

Nails it... 90% of the world have had a job like that at some point, felt trapped like that at some point, even if only for a little while. Most people haven't been a farm boy, or an aspiring actor, or an ex-cop on the edge looking for redemption... but everyone has had that one shitty job.

[@marcussavina2726]

I feel like it's the Genesis of the office, parks and rec, relatable work comedy genera

[@beenschmokin]

There were many many sitcoms for decades about work life and garbage jobs. You just weren't born yet.

[@IronMan3582]

Nailed it, it's an extremely relatable movie

[@geeeunit]

Is it weird that I always WANTED Dante's job? It seems a lot less soul crushing than, say, the jobs depicted in Office Space.

[@ivanterrible7362]

30 years ago, I was working at a convenience store by best friend was working at a video store. We had the same day off one week, so we went to the local arthouse theater to see this little black and white film by a director neither of us had ever heard of. Thank you Kevin gor 3 fucking decades of laughs. It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

[@merickful]

The world would not be the same without you and those you brought into your family! The lives you've affected are unparalleled. Thank you, Mr. Smith for pulling us out of the Matrix!

[@maestromecanico597]

Holy crap! Kevin’s turned into everyone’s eccentric uncle.

[@deanm9652]

No, he turned into a shill idiot.

[@DSMTheEditor]

Roger Ebert: "Hardly anybody ever works in the movies, except at jobs like cops, robbers, drug dealers and space captains. One of the many charms of "Clerks" is that it clocks a full day on the job. "

[@jonjonr6]

I think he's only partially right. I also think that people related to how Dante wasn't able to see the great things he did have, and was constantly dreaming of this mythical greener grass. And I think it's possible that people connect with different aspects of a movie as they grow older. When you were younger, you wanted more pay, and a better job. Preferably one where you didn't have to deal with customers. But as you get older, maybe you do move to a different job or career, only to realize how much fun you had back in the day that you don't get to have now. But you can never go home again. So we hold these memories close.

[@sleepydragonzarinthal3533]

Its not just that we've all had a shitty job, we've also pined for a terrible ex, took a great SO for granted, love-hate our hometown, and we all know a Dante, Randall, Jay and Silent Bob. Its relatable on so many levels, and it never tries to be anything but real

[@geotard]

At the time my greatest pleasure was getting friends and anyone I knew to go and see Clerks. Then the laugh and stories that came later. Years later I tried the same with Short Bus, not the reaction I expected 😂

[@mrjjwwjj]

The setting is relatable and the characters interact with the patrons in the way anyone who has worked a similar type of job wish they could. We all wish we had the balls to be Randall and the wit of Dante.

[@mikefeltner4216]

Clerks 1 and 2 is all You Need. Clerks 3 WTF was that. Lets be Depressed

[@scottblanco5991]

That’s how I felt. Clerks IMO was a story that didn’t deal with life and death. I really wanted a happy ending for Dante’s family and Randal. With some funny happenings in between.

[@sird2333]

Clerks II ended it f me.

[@mrquirky3626]

I can never rewatch Return of the Jedi without thinking about Clerks when the Death Star in on screen.

[@JetForceFive]

Clerks & Swingers were the two movies that first made me think being a writer/filmmaker is totally achievable. I remember borrowing my dad's camcorder for an entire weekend soon after. To me, it just looked so fun and accessible - like all you had to do was get a camera and all your friends together. Obviously, I've learned about all the nuance in filmmaking since, but Kevin Smith and Jon Favreau were major inspirations for an entire generation of Gen X filmmakers. So I think the overall shelf life of Clerks is because of the "working at a bad job" angle, but the execution has made Kevin the image of "hopes & dreams" for any aspiring filmmaker with a camera and some friends.

[@stevescotthiphop]

Gotta love Kevin Smith. He's still ego driven enough to have spent 90% of his career talking about himself.. but he's usually right about himself

[@andrewtaylor9704]

Oh Kevin looks great ❤

[@AprilStacey-mp6ng]

From NJ and my sister lived 2 blocks down from where clerks was being filmed… moved out of state within a couple years of the movie was out but if I want a laugh and nj feel this is the movie to watch and I use Dante’s line all the time when I work extra…

[@JCKtube]

He's in my top fifty list!

[@youtubeisinconsistent9169]

I literally quoted Dante today when I went in on my day off to cover a shift 😂 "IM NOT EVEN SUPPOSED TO BE HERE TODAY"

[@TheKylekazooie]

When I’m running around like mad trying to put a project together I always think to myself, “all this because I watched Clerks?” Can’t underestimate how powerful it is to see something as otherworldly as a movie and think for the first time I could do that.

[@lindamawdsley6130]

He’s definitely doing his dream job🙂

[@mikenike97L6]

My first job was a Convenient worker, and it go to the point where MY life DID become Dante. The whole movie has a checklist of things that happened and things that we saw.

[@andrewtaylor9704]

Clerks get a lot of love but Dogma!!! Come on that for me is definitely top 50 of all time.

[@1TightMinute]

Not what makes clerk good was the dialogue was so real and tight. Jeff Anderson killed his roll. It also was a low fi anti establishment movie at a time period in which that was really being appreciated. 90s we’re all about what are people outside the mainstream doing. It was the perfect movie at the perfect time.

[@jokerz7936]

Kevin reminds me of John Waters when it comes to career.

[@Rorschachqp]

Reasons: 1) In manga we call this "slice of life"; 2) Like Swingers, it captures a certain time so well except the audience of those who can relate is much bigger and wider than Swingers; 3) This came out early in the 90s when movies like this and Reservoir Dogs dialogue and unusual storytelling and guerilla cinematography charmed us; 4) the characters are endearing, which again, is so 90s cinema.

[@Geeksmithing]

I love how Kevin didnt bother reacting or responding to anything Michael said.

[@KellyAlbright-tg9kz]

All due, Mr. Smith - the movie isn't about having a shitty job. It's really about the joy and freedom of knowing that you have a shitty job and you have zero expectations that it will be more than what it is at least at that point in your life. You want to go and play hockey on the roof with your boys you go - you want to read comics while wasting time at the video store you read. You analyze the construction of the Death Star with vigor and surprising insight. There's that moment in your life in your late teens and early twenties where you're just feeling the joy of being alive. Life is simple and you are drinking up every special stupid moment with you pals and something in you knows your life will NEVER be this simple again - broke, owning nothing and all. THAT is what Clerks was about for me.

[@michellemitchell3640]

Kevin Smith is my Steven Spielberg. I feel in love with him the 1st time i paid eyes on Silent Bob, such wisdom. Most all Smith's movies r great classics (I'm sorry, Chasing Amy chased me away) & Red State 🤯 my mind was blown 4 days. Even Yoga Hosers had me passing myself😂. Kevin Smith, keep running with my funny bone, but don't b afraid 2 get serious somewhat also, I love u man.

[@itscalleddesign9940]

At this point I don't trust any of his takes because he is so detached from any idea of what made his movies so great.

[@halycon404]

He stopped being witty. Clerks had vulgar humor but it was wrapped inside an interesting idea or situation. All of his movies now the fart is the joke. There's no exploration of something. It's just "Fart, haha, laugh at the fart.".

[@eschultzz]

Kevin smith discovers allegory

[@kmoecub]

Clerks still reminds me of my days spent washing new cars on a dealer's lot. Pointless because 90% of those cars MIGHT be blessed with a wash once a year after they were sold. The only perk was the rare opportunity to take a fun used car (Firebird Formula, RX-7 GTU, or the occasional Corvette) to pay bills around town for the food orders from the prior week.

[@4biz]

love kevin smith.hes a visonasry.he makes movies thats he feels great about&he dont cares about big hollywood.

[@richferguson6860]

Clerks wasn't a comedy it was a documentary All that shit really does happen.

[@GavinRamonShow]

He does not do what he wants. He DID

[@Dilapsor]

It took him 30 years to figure out that people liked his movie because it was relatable?

[@haruruben]

Wow 30 years. Clerks is about wanting something more but not knowing how to get it, same thing as when Luke looks out into the horizon at the two setting suns and the music swells. It’s not literally about having a crap job, cmon Kevin

[@williamdixon-gk2sk]

Sorta. Clerks never made me tear up with frustration and empathy when I was 15 like that scene (and score) in "a new hope," however. Good comparison, though.

[@rigsby1454]

Clerks is still watchable.

[@jaspdx63]

The Clerks trilogy speaks to GenX like Stand By Me, American Graffiti, and The Big Chill speaks to their (our) parents' generation.

[@Me-qp8vz]

37 in a row?

[@nl-oc9ew]

Clerks is everything. That said, Kevin i'm a little worried, i know what you are working against, and your struggles. I'm still concerned.

[@wordupninja]

Kevin smith not knowing why clerks was beloved makes total sense

[@roysmith770]

especially considering his later work. Due has the Shyamalan Curve.

[@bluntone2273]

Smith started out strong with clerks and did pretty good early on… then… not so much. I lost a lot of respect for him when he was saying how great the new Star Wars movie were…this was a guy that used to call out bad cinema.

[@Mechadondada]

My love for you is like a truck *BERSERKER*

[@brianrobinson8903]

True a large aspect of it's broad appeal is that everyone's had a shitty job but also don't discount how many can relate to having a buddy who seems to get away with everything.

[@albertoblanco1256]

I don't know what he personally thinks of his own work on Red State but I thought it was an amazing film

[@thomasjj1976]

The movie was discovered by young people, Gen X and Xenials, at just the right time. Being the person who discovered the movie and then renting it for your friends on VHS from Blockbuster was part of the thrill. Plus it was an immensely quotable injoke.

[@inkonpaperhero]

If Clerks 3 taught me anything, it's that Kevin has no idea what makes his movies good.

[@devonsiel4000]

I've seen a lot of movies that sucked, somehow that one takes first place for just how personal it makes it that it's such horribly written needless garbage.

[@nicholasjackson8709]

May not be a top 50 director, but the clerks series are in my top 5

[@derekbroestler7687]

When Clerks came out I and ALL of my friends from HS had jobs like retail, service, delivery, hospitality, and the minute Randal said "This job would be great if it wasn't for the F'n customers" that was it... That was all ANYONE needed to say, because holy crap YES... Most of our jobs were actually pretty awesome, ESPECIALLY for broke teens living on their own for the first time.... The CUSTOMER'S however.... SMDH...

[@robbiehatfield7234]

I love a good Kevin Smith movie, but what Indy statue is that?

[@serendipityguy]

So True

[@littlejimmy7402]

I rented "Clerks" from the video store I worked at.

[@RodCornholio]

Similarly to _Office Space_ and _Christmas Vacation_ . Relatable/relatability. Your job might not be exactly like those or your holiday but, at least in my life, there’s something relatable. And that’s what’s missing in 99% of what I’ve seen in, especially recent, Hollywood shows/movies. Why? If I had to guess, it’s: writers with very limited or no _average life_ experience. Certain movies _deeply resonate_ with a wide audience. I suspect that many can do so because the creators had a connection with real life AND were great storytellers. I suspect a modern creator’s education is more about studying formulas or analyzing what made XYZ movie great. So, when they apply that knowledge, it results in stories that feel more like facsimiles of a good tale. They lack connection to a common person’s experience.

[@John-nv5zy]

I remember when I first heard about his movies and how they were so good and wondered, why haven't I heard of these movies? Then I watched them and was like, oh, these movies suck. No wonder I hadn't heard of them.

[@AverageJaysMoviesAndTV]

Kevin Smith is the ultimate "bet on yourself" guy ... I think people respect him for what he did to get Clerks made. - Jay Thomas / www.youtube.com/@AverageJaysMoviesAndTV

[@Magooch86]

It's a movie with a lot of swearing and pop culture talk and a huge gross out revelation at the end, those were few and far between at the time.

[@mikewhite8663]

I love it because of how real it is I knew people that looked like the people in the movie and I loved shit like Degrassi Star Wars comics I knew what it was like going into the store being one of those people that ending of silent bob robbing the store after Dante is killed makes the movie better but it would have been a whole different universe if he had died at the start

[@willshaw3493]

His magic trick explanation is why I have no interest in seeing any future Smith movie but would pay to see him give a talk and maybe Q&A.

[@jessechristman4454]

He could have figured it out before Clerks 3.

[@redfive5856]

Dogma was his last good movie.

[@IffyJottere]

Yes, everyone, me and everyone I know has either been exactly in a job that shitty, or simply had shitty days like those in their jobs. I also relate personally to Clerks in the bored overthinking of nerd shit that goes on in my job when no one else is there and it's just us who work there. Scenes similar to the "Death Star contractors debate" have legit occurred in my life. Hell, if you want to get REALLY meta and go down another layer, even the act of mentioning the Death Star contractors debate *is* a Death Star contractors-level of random geeking out when the job's dead, when you get right down to it!

[@mikeyfrazshow]

Can somebody get this man some fuckin food?

[@godevils1982]

Fr, this isn’t what healthy looks like

[@mycenia]

This is what waiting till you're older to lose a bunch of weight looks like. Your skin isn't capable of bouncing back. His weight is fine. He's just stuffed in an old skin suit that's impossible to take in.

[@mikeyfrazshow]

I wonder if I can get him on my show...

[@Sknit]

It's a damn shame that you can't release a thirtieth anniversary edition "Clerks xXx" as it's already been done. 🤯😜😂😅😂😅🤣

[@redrick8900]

Nah. that's not it. Up until Clerks every movie was set in a parallel universe where people didn't talk about movies and TV. That's why the dialogue comes off so real compared to other movies. Kids don't get why Clerks is special and it's becuase they grew up in a world where this is normal.

[@jonfishmacon]

jay and bob was the best

[@geneawisea2708]

ROWDY RODDY PIPER!!!!!!!! GODDAMN RIGHT!!! F-ING LEGEND!!

[@andydufresne8034]

He's wrong. He already answered it correctly when he said he made Clerks because he believed Jason Mewes needed to be on film. It's the characters. People love Jay and Silent Bob.

[@joshb8105]

I think there are many aspects to clerks but his dialog used to be better in his earlier movies

[@Mattnoble80]

My shitty job was security guard of scheduled substances but I didn’t have a gun, how am I going to stop drugs from being stolen? I will help you load your truck as long as you don’t kill me

[@archangelo536]

why Clerks was so beloved? Simple, Jason Mewes (Jay)

[@thatpunkcatte]

It was the relatability to Randal and Dante for me.

[@warren218]

Whispers in the wind...

[@jgrey8959]

30 years. In a row?

[@williamdixon-gk2sk]

I loved clerks when i was 13. The only job i'd ever had was a paper route. That is a shitty job, though.

[@static1217]

Clerks & MALL RATS

[@mlongpre100]

was it though ?

[@nunya3607]

It took him 30 years to realize why people liked it is because it's relatable? Why lie about this?

[@jshadowhunter]

Because he sold his soul to Hollywood, the thing was constantly complaining about 20 years ago.

[@brandon2618]

Shitty jobs are the great unifying experiences of modern life.

[@DMalltheway]

Ben Affleck owes a lot to Kevin Smith having a career.

[@redrick8900]

Like Smith wrote Good Will Hunting.

[@DMalltheway]

@@redrick8900 Chasing Amy dude.

[@thedarksiderebel]

The fact that Kevin didn't realize what made Clerks so great is also why he never really flourished as a director or a screenwriter after a certain point. He just devolved into a crowd pleasing hack, instead of continuing to develop the success in a way that meant he could grow. Tarantino started off being a better writer than director, but he leaned into it as a craft and now he is just a master of both. Smith is just stuck trying to please all his little fanboys instead of writing new and interesting stuff

[@RabidSloth77]

I hardly recognized the guy.

[@stevereber3358]

So Kevin robbed his daughter of the "shitty job experience?" I am so much luckier than these Nepo-babies and all the incompetent nephews at EVERY LAST job I have ever had ( except paper route and drywall truck driver)

[@bloodeagle6458]

😮 is he sick or something?

[@MoviesFirearmsandGear]

I said same thing

[@vangoghskye]

I love good movies, but I never loved or liked clerks. He has done some movies that I do like though.

[@DS-182]

Did mike jack devon Sawa's Roddy Piper hoodie?? 😂 jk devon was on recently and Mike took notice of the hoodie

[@User8vfjhejf]

Need another 30 years for him to realize how terrible his He-Man netflix series was

[@charlesdaugherty321]

Still doesn't understand why people liked He-Man

[@gigatronicdeth]

Kevin stop wearing your hat backwards, you’re not a kid.

[@HouMat-if5fi]

I don't know why anyone is interested in anything Kevin Smith has to say.

[@lasertivo]

I think portrayal of a crappy job is certainly one aspect. I think the other is that, Star Wars was essentially "secular religion status" in the 90s. And to have people onscreen talking about it, in that self-referential way made people feel seen as there was literally no other Star Wars content released for those people in that 16 year gap between Jedi and Phantom Menace.

[@mackjones8409]

It's been 30yrs.............'Wow Really congratulations"......on What? I hate most interviewers so so fake