Jay and Silent Bob: American indie cinema’s slacker heroes
Throughout the course of American independent comedy cinema, there have been a handful of characters who have transcended the realms of the movies from which they come and established themselves as genuine cultural icons, and only a fool would argue that Jay and Silent Bob do not deserve of being placed in such a category.
Created by indie cinema legend Kevin Smith, Jay and Silent Bob are the epitome of slacker/stone culture and have lovingly established themselves in Smith’s View Askewniverse, beginning with the director’s feature debut, 1994’s Clerks, a true classic of stoner comedy if there ever was one.
One half of the hilarious duo is Jay, played with a ferocious and contrasting form of aggression by Jason Mewes. Known for his offensive language and tendency to bully those around him, plus his swishing blonde hair, Jay’s very first word was “fuck”, and his penchant for smoke and outlandish humour creates the perfect counterbalance to his partner in crime, Silent Bob.
Played by Smith himself, as Bob’s name alludes, he rarely, if ever, speaks. Donning his long coat, draped in a black mess of hair and white baseball cap, there’s nothing that Bob loves more than hanging out with his good friend Jay and making his way through several packets of cigarettes. While Bob’s voice is hardly ever heard, preferring to communicate in wry facial expressions and hand gestures, when it finally is, he reveals a shocking amount of emotional intelligence and wisdom.
The pair arrived on screen for the first time in Clerks, dealing out weed to those who come by looking for a good time. The film doesn’t really focus on the two friends, but rather on Dante Hicks, the worker of the Quick Stop convenience store, but they left such an impression on the audience and the comedy cinema fans of the time that Smith knew that he had to continue to incorporate them into his future efforts.
In the following years, Jay and Silent Bob rocked up again to deliver their humour and antics in Mallrats, Chasing Amy and Dogma, by which point, they had graduated from mere side characters into main players in their own rights. In 2001, the pair finally got their own movie, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, which saw them head across the United States to prevent the making of a movie based on their own likenesses.
Perhaps what’s most impressive about Jay and Silent Bob is their personal growth. In the early days, Jay was a heterosexual womaniser, but by the time the Chasing Dogma comic book series rolled around, he had changed his views and, at one point, gave an impassioned speech about gay rights and the importance of tolerance.
Silent Bob himself also came out as gay, but it was his physical transformation that marked the biggest difference from his early appearances. In Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, it was clear that Silent Bob had lost a lot of weight, but in reality, this was because Smith himself had suffered a heart attack and, after going vegan and making several lifestyle changes, adopted a much slimmer figure.
Jay and Silent Bob are true icons of the screen, known and loved for their memorable physical appearance and their borderline offensive comedy. As flawed as they are, though, it’s fair to say that the pair possess an unrivalled authenticity and are truly themselves. From their first appearance outside the Quick Stop on to Hollywood and into mediums beyond cinema, the creation of Smith will always remain in the history of comedy cinema.
