Clueless by Amy Heckerling

Clueless by Amy Heckerling
Teen Coming-of-Age Comedy-Romance Film
Paramount Pictures, 1995
97 min
Suitable for 13+

Readers Annotation: Cher, a very popular, wealthy, and superficial girl, spends her time at Beverly Hills High School making fashion choices, playing matchmaker, and looking for a boyfriend.

Plot Summary: Cher is a very popular and witty girl who has a touch of good-nature in her but is mostly very superficial. She goes to Beverly Hills High School and of course, is wealthy and into fashion and going to the mall along with her best friend Dionne. They innocently try and play matchmaker for two of their nerdy teachers. They also befriend a new student, Tai, and show her the ropes (and fashion) of the school. The only person that sees through Cher's vanity is her socially aware ex-stepbrother, who has little arguments with her. Cher also tries to play matchmaker with Tai, which back fires as they usually end up trying to go with her. Cher also tries to find the perfect boyfriend for herself, which also backfires. Relationship problems, sex questions, and arguments eventually arise between all three friends, which lead them to finding themselves in the end, but not without being clueless first.

Critical Evaluation: With Cher narrating, its obvious that this film is about her, which works well since on the surface, Cher seems very vein and superficial; it should be about her! But then again, she's a teen going to Beverly Hill High School and some scenes are not to be taken seriously but more as a valley girl parody. However, look behind Cher's shallowness and you will see intelligence, wittiness, and good intentions. That's what makes her character so likeable. Cher has a nice character arch as her ex-stepbrother throws some sense into her by the end where she seems much more genuine and not so fake. She learns through experiences, friends, arguments, and that everything is not about her; especially when she gets the cold shoulder (gasp!) from a guy. Dionne seems like the wise woman as Cher really learns about boys from her while Tai's innocence makes her character so likeable; she might have changed the most going from homely to fashion girl to genuine. This is a parody but with a dose of reality as sex, money, popularity, fashion, and friendship are discussed at length throughout. And though the ending wraps everything up nicely as any PG-13 movie should, it is not without shock value!

Author: Amy Heckerling was born in 1954 and studied film at New York University. She is one of the few female directors to have made many box-office hits. Her first film she directed was the teen cult favorite Fast Times at Ridgemont High. She also directed National Lampoon's European Vacation and Look Who's Talking before directing and writing Clueless.

After Clueless, Heckerling directed Loser and has recently crossed over in horror. She recently wrote and directed the horror-comedy Vamps, starring Alicia Silverstone once again. Heckerling is also a liberal and environmentalist. She helps environmental charities whenever she can.

Booktalking Ideas:
1) Sex
2) Popularity
3) High School Drama
4) Homosexuality

Challenge Issues: Though not done on such a serious level but done more innocently, teen sexuality and homosexuality may be challenge issues.

A librarian should state that the ALA mission is "to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all," which is embodied in the Library Bill of Rights, the Association's basic policy on free access to libraries and library materials. Librarians must act as an extension, making sure that they educate the general public, and themselves, about the nature and importance of intellectual freedom in libraries.

Why Included: Though I'm a guy, I remember watching this film in the theatres and just liking the innocent fun in it. If you look deeper, there are really some big teen issues involved, but they are masked by the parody feel of the film, which always intrigued me. Plus, I love the party scene where Brittany Murphy is sadly singing, "Rollin' with the homies." That scene always cracks me up!