I very much liked Clueless as a teenager when it came out. I adored Alicia Silverstone in real life and wanted to be her. But, there was always something a little weird about Cher hooking up with her older stepbrother in Clueless. Maybe it wasn't a great message for teenage girls.
As an adult, I HAVE to call out the statutory undertones. Cher is 16! Josh is in college working for his lawyer ex-stepfather, so we assume he's not a freshman. Even if he were (which is not convincing), a college kid dating a high school student is still bordering on pedophila, I'm sorry.
That aside, I still think Clueless is incredibly entertaining. I never read Emma, so I don't have the knowledge to compare the literary references that others have mentioned, but it certainly wouldn't be a new concept to update an old classic (or even that particular classic).
Truthfully, the reason I think this movie is still so relevant is purely cultural. Not that it's not entertaining or well done It's just that for many people like myself, it occupies a place in our memory associated with a particular time (and perhaps we even integrated it into our identities as kids of that time). Part of me wishes that Paul Rudd and Alicia Silverstone and gotten married and lived happily ever after in real life.
Another aspect of this film to note is the "dumb" blonde that is actually smart. It was done better in Legally Blonde, but Clueless really made that trend / trope mainstream. In some ways, it could be considered feminist (if one can overlook the incest / statutory plot), by showing a stereotypical female and giving her depth. Not sure if that relates to the Emma parallel.
As an adult, I HAVE to call out the statutory undertones. Cher is 16! Josh is in college working for his lawyer ex-stepfather, so we assume he's not a freshman. Even if he were (which is not convincing), a college kid dating a high school student is still bordering on pedophila, I'm sorry.
That aside, I still think Clueless is incredibly entertaining. I never read Emma, so I don't have the knowledge to compare the literary references that others have mentioned, but it certainly wouldn't be a new concept to update an old classic (or even that particular classic).
Truthfully, the reason I think this movie is still so relevant is purely cultural. Not that it's not entertaining or well done It's just that for many people like myself, it occupies a place in our memory associated with a particular time (and perhaps we even integrated it into our identities as kids of that time). Part of me wishes that Paul Rudd and Alicia Silverstone and gotten married and lived happily ever after in real life.
Another aspect of this film to note is the "dumb" blonde that is actually smart. It was done better in Legally Blonde, but Clueless really made that trend / trope mainstream. In some ways, it could be considered feminist (if one can overlook the incest / statutory plot), by showing a stereotypical female and giving her depth. Not sure if that relates to the Emma parallel.
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