In the opening sequence, she insists she lives a “way normal life for a teenage girl” but she says this while using a computer to pick out her school clothes, which are housed in a closet large enough to serve as a residence for four. When we first meet Cher she is … not exactly trying to do that. But above all other things, it’s a story about trying to be a better person, and specifically about a privileged young white woman trying to be a better person. Yes, Clueless is a love story and a coming-of-age story. Heckerling has fun with all those shiny trappings, but she also, just as Austen did, uses irony to show us what it looks like when a self-involved person with every advantage realizes she needs to stop thinking she’s right about everything and entitled to tell other people how to live. As played by Alicia Silverstone with ebullience and charm exuding from her pores, Cher can seem aspirational. There was and still is a giddy feeling that one derives from looking at all its eye-popping, girlish luxuries, the endless fashion ensembles, the nice cars, the pens with fuzzy poofs on the ends. I will admit that if you approached a white woman of a certain age mid-tantrum over some perceived injustice and said, “Hey, have you seen the movie Clueless?” there is a strong chance she would pause, mid-meltdown, and go, “Oh my God, I love that movie!”Ĭlueless has always existed in a tricky space. There are some who probably think of Clueless as a Karen movie, the story of a privileged Beverly Hills teenager who would probably have grown up to be the sort of privileged suburban woman in 2020 demanding that salons reopen so she can finally get her roots done. After all, we are currently living through what Hank Stuever at the Washington Post characterized as the summer of Karen, a season that has produced video after video of entitled white women losing their shit over such calamities as having to wear a mask at Trader Joe’s or put their damn dog on a leash. While the movie continues to generate conversation - about its ’90s aesthetic, its impeccable high-meets-low fashion, how it serves as exhibit A in the ongoing investigation into why Paul Rudd doesn’t age - it is less commonly discussed in this context.įor those who have always admired Clueless for its surface pleasures without considering what lies beneath them, this particular moment may seem like a strange time to revisit it. But she also crafted a clever piece of satire. She created a fun, escapist rom-com that, 25 years after its release on July 19, 1995, remains one of the most beloved teen movies of all time. When writer-director Amy Heckerling adapted Emma, taking Austen’s material and giving it a makeover that resulted in the sunny, sharp, and stylish Clueless, she did her own version of the same thing. In her novel Emma, she did both of these things: Spun a swoony story with multiple love triangles while also calling out her protagonist for her sheltered and blinkered view of the world. But she was also a satirist who highlighted societal and economic inequities in a tone so wickedly wry that it could render most would-be boasters mute. Jane Austen is widely considered an author of romantic comedies. Head to Vulture’s Twitter to catch her live commentary, and look ahead at next week’s movie here. This week’s selection comes from TV critic Jen Chaney, who will begin her screening of Clueless on July 10 at 7 p.m. But we don’t talk enough about how it cleverly critiques Cher’s obliviousness.Įvery week for the foreseeable future, Vulture will be selecting one film to watch as part of our Friday Night Movie Club. We go back to this movie over and over because it’s fun.
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