Aside from being one of the few worthy cultural ejaculations of the mid-'90s, Kevin Smith's immortal creation presents us with the Yin and Yang of leading men: Dante Hicks (Brian O'Halloran) and Randal Graves (Jeff Anderson). Both 22 and devoid of ultimate life goals, the men slog through their humble occupations as clerks: Dante at the now-infamous QuickStop convenience store, and Randal at the adjacent and lackluster RC Video. Best friends since childhood, the two have multiple interactions throughout the day, usually causing them to neglect their mundane duties in the service industry.
While Randal may seem like the more irresponsible of the pair (constantly leaving his post at the video store, casually insulting customers who irritate him, and using part of the work day to rent hermaphroditic porn at a higher-quality video rental store), it appears that he has a healthier outlook on life than his long-suffering best friend. Dante treats his job seriously, but does not cease to complain about it throughout the day. He sees himself at a higher level of maturity than Randal, and constantly acts burdened by the "massive" responsibilities thrust upon him. In Randal's words, Dante "overcompensates for having what is basically a monkey's job," and seemingly enjoys to present himself as an overworked and virtuously patient saint who deserves much more than he is given. However, he makes no attempt to leave his career at the QuickStop. Ironically, Randal proves that he is more morally sound than Dante, who is overcome with desire for his newly-available trampy ex girlfriend and plans on dumping his hard-working and supportive current flame. Randal verbally chastises Dante for this outlook.
In the highly entertaining but differently styled sequel, Clerks II, Randal refers to Dante as "the yin to my yang." And so he is. "Yin" represents the part of one's inner force that is pessimistic, dark, cold, and yielding. Dante is often in an irritable and self-pitying mood. "Yang" is aggressive, focused, and fast. Despite constantly slacking, Randal does so with relentless aggression and focuses on doing (and saying) anything that will make him happiest in the moment; namely, writing condescending comments on a paraplegic's blog, leaving work to ride go-karts at a fun center, and verbally expressing his incredible hatred of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
I think everyone has their Dante and Randal sides. As separate people, Randal and Dante are free to act independently upon their own callings, but it's quite different to have both their outlooks in your head. When the Randal Yang has an urge or an idea that is possibly a risk, the Dante Yin will shoot it down and pummel you with doubt. It's not easy to deal with them bickering up there, and occasionally brawling in the aisles of your brain waves like they were in the grimy Quick Stop once again. But we all have those sides, and they are rarely balanced. I guess in the end we must remember that they're still best friends, schlogging through a series of joe-jobs on their passage through life.
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