Rating Rom-Com Adaptations: Clueless & Emma

Emma's character is described by Jane Austen as 'handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and a happy disposition'. 1995's Clueless follows Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone) as our Emma and she matches the character description very well as a popular teenager in Beverly Hills.

Both Emma and Cher have lost their mothers and live at home with their fathers. Both can’t resist meddling in the lives of their friends and enjoy some not so subtle matchmaking. The heroines' 'unpopular' friends, Harriet/Tai,  are also very similar characters and are used as examples of Emma's and Cher's big meddling projects in the narratives.

All Images from Clueless Paramount Pictures

George Knightley, Emma's family friend and eventual love interest in the novel, takes form in the character Josh (Paul Rudd). George and Josh have no problem calling out Emma and Cher respectively for their interferences in the lives of others. However this adaptation differs from the source material in a way you wouldn't expect; in Clueless, Josh is Cher's ex-stepbrother. Ironically, the controversial plot point is a detail the modern adaptation added and not in the 1815 novel. The protagonist is also a minor in the 1995 version and Josh isn't! Fascinating choices made all round.

Another way in which the adaptation differs is with the character Frank Churchill. Yet thankfully, this change makes more sense when modernising the original text. In Emma, the Frank we see enter the story is a romantic interest until it is revealed that he has a hidden engagement. Christian (Justin Walker), Frank's modern counterpart in Clueless, enters the story as a romantic interest for Cher as well, but instead the twist is he's gay. This is fitting for an updated version of the story because secret engagements aren't something that really happen in high-school and Cher as a character would be forgiven for not suspecting such an outlandish secret. Christian being gay whilst Cher is totally oblivious to it and (superficially) in love with him, highlights Cher's naïve and self-interested disposition. Cher's realisation of the truth is effective to her character arc. This achieves the same turning point for Emma's character in Austen's story but in a more believable way for the 1990s.

Whilst narratively, Christian's secret is a clever and apt choice, the execution can be considered a little problematic. Christian is portrayed as a surface-level antagonist, intentionally and cruelly misleading Cher. Therefore there is area to accuse the film of villainising homosexuality by making the character so one-note, when a more nuanced and honest approach about being closeted in high-school would have been far more appropriate and realistic without homophobic undertones. It also would not interfere with the main storyline at all, only de-villainise Christian's sexuality and character.

Overall, despite some problematic choices, Clueless is a very true to the original adaptation! This is an impressive feat especially because Clueless still delivers the 90s rom-com excellence, complete with an original aesthetic and iconic eye catching fashions. I also think the casting is perfect. Silverstone delivers the most Emma-ness I've seen compared to other films and series based on Jane Austen's Emma. Rudd is also terrific and so likeable he almost gets you to forgive the incest-vibes, almost! But not quite! 6.5/10.