Away from the box office mojo of “Jurassic World Rebirth” and “Superman,” the movie world in July also has focused on a 30-year-old coming-of-age teen comedy. “Clueless” opened in theaters 30 years ago, and it introduced America to Cher Horowitz, the well-meaning — and impeccably dressed — Queen Bee of society at her Beverly Hills high school.
In the Bay Area, a planned screening July 25 night of “Clueless” at the San Jose Civic theater, and a Q&A with Cher herself — Alicia Silverstone — was postponed. But elsewhere, San Francisco film writer Kevin Smokler is promoting his new book about famous, groundbreaking female filmmakers, leading off with an interview with Amy Heckerling, the director of “Clueless.”
As Smokler writes in “Breaking the Frame: Conversations with Women Filmmakers” (Oxford University Press), Heckerling came up with the genius idea of adapting Jane Austen’s classic 1815 novel “Emma” into a contemporary comedy of manners, setting it in the world of affluent teens in 1990s Los Angeles.
In penning the script and overseeing the film’s confectionary look, Heckerling infused Cher’s misadventures in matchmaking with fully realized teen and adult characters, sparkling dialogue and memorable lines that have become part of the contemporary lexicon: “As if!” “Whateverrr,” and Cher offering excuses for staying out late: “A watch doesn’t really go with this outfit, Daddy.”
In fact, when Smokler tells Heckerling that she wrote one of the most quotable movies of all time, Heckerling replies. “I think that should go to ‘Casablanca,’ but thank you.”
Then there’s the fashion in “Clueless.” Cher’s unique spin on the Catholic schoolgirl look and her flair with Calvin Klein and Alaïa remains culturally impactful, with her instantly recognizable yellow plaid suit inspiring Kim Kardashian’s 2023 Halloween costume, among other things.
In explaining the legacy of “Clueless,” Smokler said in an interview with this news organization: “I think its influence is just profound.”
“Without ‘Clueless,’ there’s really no ‘Legally Blonde’ or ‘Easy A’ or the entirety of the CW Network, or‘ To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before,’” continued Smokler, who previously penned “Brat Pack America: A Love Letter to ’80s Teen Movies.”
“Like, there’s none of those movies that have a teenage girl as the protagonist and that treat her as more than just sort of an embodiment of young femininity,” Smokler added. “‘Clueless’ paved the way for all of them.”
In his book, Smokler makes the case for why Hecklerling is just as influential as certain male directors of the past 40 years. When it comes to stories about teens and coming of age, John Hughes tends to get the bulk of the credit for pioneering the high school comedy genre in the 1980s. For some, “Sixteen Candles,” “The Breakfast Club” and “Pretty in Pink” remain beloved partly because Hughes made his teen-girl muse Molly Ringwald the focus of these movies. But even Ringwald admitted in a 2018 New Yorker essay that some of the gender politics of Hughes’ movies have not aged well since #MeToo.
Directed by Amy Heckerling
Shown: Phoebe Cates (as Linda Barrett), Jennifer Jason Leigh (as Stacy Hamilton)
Meanwhile, Smokler’s book points out that Hecklering directed not just one, but two, movies that defined their respective generations. Before “Clueless,” she made “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” in 1982 — which also preceded Hughes’ works with Ringwald. In 2005, “Fast Times” was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” Feminist scholars credit “Fast Times” with with bringing strong female perspectives to the screen in a genre often associated with raunchy, teen boy fantasies.
Based on book by future director Cameron Crowe, which as inspired by his year going undercover at a Southern California high school, “Fast Times,” was an ensemble film that introduced movie fans to up-and-coming stars like Jennifer Jason Leigh and Phoebe Cates and future Oscar winners Sean Penn, Forest Whitaker and Nicolas Cage.
“The theme of the movie was the characters were growing up too fast,” Heckerling tells Smokler.
Penn’s happy stoner surfer dude Jeff Spicoli immediately became the movie’s poster boy and comedy focal point. But the film’s narrative arc centers on a 15-year-old girl, played by Leigh, who actively seeks to gain emotional, sexual and intellectual maturity over the course of a school year.
As a low-budget film, “Fast Times” has some of that gritty, authentic feel of a ‘70s movie, even though it was made during the early years of Ronald Reagan’s America. The characters all live in regular, unglamorous suburban tract homes and work at the local mall, whereas “Clueless,” 13 years later, takes place in a fantasy land of Cher’s wealth, privilege and designer clothes.
But like Jane Austen’s heroine Emma, Cher is basically a kind person who means well. She just has her blind spots.
In her way, Cher is force of nature, the kind of person who can walk down a hallway “and pull the attention of the whole movie toward them,” as Smokler points out in his conversation with Hecklerling. Heckerling agreed that Cher manages to stay “likable” despite her pretensions. She said, “We got to take our hats off to Jane Austen because she created a character in a time when women were not so strong, who was a very strong character and not perfect, but (who) grows and never doubts her abilities and her strengths.”
As with “Fast Times,” Heckerling showed a gift for casting actors for “Clueless” who would go on to enjoy various levels of film and TV stardom. In addition to Alicia Silverstone, the film also stars Paul Rudd, the late Brittany Murphy, Stacey Dash, Donald Faison and Jeremy Sisto.
Smokler got his idea to interview Hecklerling and other female directors – Julie Dash, Barbara Kopple, Mimi Leder, Debra Granik and Aline Brosh McKenna – when he realized that some of his favorite films were made by women. Smokler told this news organization that, unfortunately, women still remain under-represented in the industry as directors, even after Kathryn Bigelow, Chloe Zhao and Jane Campion won best director Oscars, and after Greta Gerwig helmed the $1.5 billion cultural phenom “Barbie” in 2023, and women make up about half of all film school graduates these days.
“I’m not saying every movie directed by a woman should have a special designation to indicate as much, but I think it’s important for those of us concerned with such things to keep an eye on favorite directors, and support them in their work,” Smokler told this news organization. “If you think it’s important that women direct movies, it’s our obligation as fans to see them prove the lie that no one is interested in or not enough people are interested in seeing movies directed by women.”