As if!

I thought the part in the reading about the movie "Clueless" was a very good example of language moving eastward from California. When this movie came out, Val Girl speak was already well intergrated throughout America, but the influence this movie had (especially on teenage girls) was still amazing. After the release of this movie, more and more girls throughout the nation were spouting out phrases such as "Whatever" and "As if!" This example illustrates a major reason language trends sprout from California - Hollywood/the media. When Americans see young, wealthy, beautiful characters in a movie speaking a certain way there is a tendency to imitate the language. I believe this is so because the language is shown to be not only an acceptable way of speaking, but also as "cool."