PG-13 | 1h 37m | High School Comedy | 1995
None other than William Shakespeare and Jane Austen inspired the best teen romance movies of the 1990s and early 2000s. “10 Things I Hate About You” reimagined Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew.” Amy Heckerling’s smartly written-and-directed screenplay “Clueless,” which satirized teen life in Beverly Hills, was an adaptation of Austen’s novel “Emma.”
This year marks the 30th anniversary of “Clueless,” which, other than the antediluvian technology (pagers, bread-loaf-sized mobile phones) holds up admirably. Because high school is always high school. And Alicia Silverstone achieved a high-school-movie perfect storm by being in the right place, at the right time, with the right stuff.
Silverstone had only been in a few things prior, most notably rock band Aerosmith’s 1994 cult-classic music video “Crazy,” along with the then still unknown Liv Tyler. The seeds of “Clueless” were sewn in “Crazy.” It depicts two naughty Catholic school girls ditching class and going on a road trip adventure. Along the way, they use their youthful beauty to beguile a 7-Eleven clerk and shamelessly shoplift with his cheerful benediction, blithely deflect leering dirty old men, and hide a tractor-driving farm boy’s clothes while skinny-dipping in a pond.
It’s all accompanied by Liv Tyler’s rock star dad Steven crooning on the microphone to lead guitarist Joe Perry’s nostalgic, lovelorn musings. One year later, Silverstone delivered the archetypal sweet-16 Valley Girl Cher Horowitz in “Clueless,” which put Silverstone on the fast track to stardom.
Cher
Cher is the penultimate, stereotypical California Valley Girl. By far the most popular girl in school, her scary litigator father (Dan Hedaya) is the nightmare dad no high school boy ever wants to meet when picking up her for a date at the Horowitz mansion.
Given her family’s considerable wealth, Cher is spoiled, entitled, and clueless about anything not having to do with fashion and high school social status. She is, however, a whole lot smarter than she looks, being, after all, a lawyer’s daughter.
She knows she can afford to not pay attention in class, because if, heaven forbid, she gets a bad grade, she’s got the brains, charm, flattery, and looks to wrap teachers around her little finger and talk her way from a C- to an A. Her legal shark dad thinks this skill set is every bit as good as Cher actually doing her homework.
The Report Card
When Cher delivers the following “debate” monologue in class, her resulting grade is not exactly to her liking. The topic is more current and apropos now than it was in 1995:Mr. Hall (Wallace Shawn): “Should all oppressed people be allowed refuge in America? Amber will take the con position, Cher will be pro—Cher, two minutes.”
Cher: “So, okay, like, right now, for example, the Hate-ee-yins (Haitians) need to come to America. But some people are all, “What about the strain on our resources?”
But it’s like, when I had this garden party for my father’s birthday, right? I said, “RSVP!” because it was a sit-down dinner. But people came, that, like, did not RSVP. So I was, like, totally buggin'. I had to haul *ss to the kitchen, redistribute the food, and squish in extra place settings. But, by the end of the day it was, like—the more the merrier!
And so, if the government could just get to the kitchen, rearrange some things, we could certainly party with the Hate-ee-yins! And in conclusion, may I please remind you that it does not say “RSVP” on the Statue of Liberty. Thank you very much.”
Dionne
Although affluent and educated, Murray affects saggy, ghetto, pants-below-butt style, and calls Dionne “Woman,” which she despises:
Big grins, kiss and makeup.
Josh
While Cher can date anyone she wants, she seems to enjoy the nonstop bickering and squabbling with her annoying, collegiate former step-brother, Josh Lucas (Paul Rudd). Their mutual dad divorced Josh’s mom but explains to Cher that you don’t divorce children. Josh takes potshots at Cher’s ego every opportunity he gets, but when a classmate (Justin Walker) takes Cher to a party, Josh is suddenly overcome with a deep and perplexing need to chaperone.“I’ll watch her for you” he says to litigator stepdad, who, organizing depositions for an upcoming trial, suppresses a smile and says, faux-absentmindedly, “You do that.” Josh is planning to be a lawyer, after all.
Josh’s newfound, still perplexing appreciation of Cher skyrockets while picking her up one night. Cher got herself stranded in the middle of nowhere after a party by a date who drove off and left her when she wouldn’t kiss him. Josh fetches her with a pretentious, beret-wearing co-ed girlfriend in tow, who gives Josh patronizing life advice: “It’s like Hamlet said, “To thine own self be true.” From the back seat Cher pipes up:
In Conclusion
What will happen to Cher and Josh and all this bickering? Will Cher and Dionne’s new project of giving new student Tai Frasier (Brittany Murphy) a makeover work a bit too well, and see Tai become more popular than Cher? Will Cher prove Josh’s prediction wrong—that her only direction in life is ... towards the mall?
Amy Heckerling’s update of Jane Austen’s “Emma” was a once-in-a-generation comedy. It must be said that, while charming, very funny, and adorable—the 1995 PG-13 rating would have easily rated at least an “R” in the 1960s, ‘70s, and ’80s, due to the X-rated sexual concepts flying out of teen mouths with a fair degree of regularity.
Best not to worry about all that. It’s best to focus on how Cher, due to Josh’s teasing, decides to become a better, more altruistic person. Hope springs eternal!
