This article contains spoilers!
Amy Heckerling’s Clueless garnered major success as one of the most iconic coming-of-age films of the ’90s. This film adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma follows beautiful, wealthy, and well-liked Cher Horowitz. Daughter of a tenacious litigator, she has a penchant for argument and rarely takes no for an answer. After receiving a poor grade in one of her classes, she resolves to pair her teacher with another teacher in the hopes of sparking a romance between the two and making his grading less rigid. Her efforts are largely successful, and seeing the fruit of her efforts, she decides she enjoys and wants to continue doing good deeds. She resolves to take on the newest transfer student, Tai Frasier, and transform her originally insecure and shy self into one of confidence and grace.
Both Heckerling’s film and Austen’s novel share multiple similarities in their principal characters. Each protagonist is wealthy, attractive, and considers themselves skilled at the art of matchmaking. Clueless is entirely narrated by Cher, offering viewers the best understanding possible of her worldviews and ideals. While naive in some of her behavior, this form of narration best conveys her well-meaning nature at heart. This is a more advanced version of the third-person omniscient narration seen throughout Emma. While the book largely focuses on her thoughts and actions, the story is not told as intimately as the film adaptation.
In addition to the narration, both Mr. Knightly in Emma and Josh Lucas in Clueless serve as the voice of reason throughout their respective stories. While both are considerate and affectionate towards the protagonist, they simultaneously serve as her only true critic. Cher and Emma each pride themselves on their self-sufficiency and rarely find themselves questioned or judged for their actions. Because of this, these men help challenge the ways the two women see the world and push them to improve and develop as their stories progress.
In the same vein, Tai and Harriet Smith each serve the role of the “project” for the protagonists in the midst of their moral awakenings. Cher transforms Tai’s clumsy and crude nature into one of poise and elegance. While Tai is initially attracted to equally clumsy but well-meaning Travis Birkenstock, Cher steers her towards the handsome, reputable Elton Tiscia. Cher strives to improve her character with yet another successful matchmaking, just as Emma did with Harriet and a similarly portrayed social climber by the name of Mr. Elton.
Despite originally intending to matchmake their “projects” with Elton Tiscia and Mr. Elton, both women find themselves ultimately falling for the men they first vowed to despise. They each grow to love the men brave enough to question their actions and push them to improve themselves. Additionally, neither Cher nor Emma come to fully realize their feelings until the women they’ve transformed into the image of grace declare their love for Josh and Mr. Knightly, respectively. However, both women are permitted to indulge in their “happy endings” by swallowing their pride and admitting their feelings to these men. Cher and Emma choose to put their egos to the side and surround themselves with partners that continuously push them to improve their character and ways of living.
The modern adaptation that Clueless offers of Austen’s work allows her stories to live on and grow in reach and recognition. While both works serve as social commentary on vanity and the artificial nature of social classes, the movie adaptation is able to do so in a more relatable setting for today’s audience. Clueless was able to honor Emma’s lessons on humility and the dangers of ego by embracing the point of view of one of Austen’s most complex characters.
