Filmsane

Raise your hand if you have seen Clueless more than 50 times? I know I have.

And you’ve probably heard the news. Paramount is in early development on a Clueless remake, with Girls Trip writer Tracy Oliver producing and GLOW writer Marquita Robinson penning the script.

And you’re probably thinking yaaaay right? Well, not quite. I have a feeling that the studio will totally miss the point of the movie and focus its modern twist on politics, agenda pushing and climbing social media celebrity ladder. I have a feeling that Cher Horowitz will become the modern day Kardashian.

Yes, Cher (played by Alicia Silverstone) was rich, spoiled, superficial but good-natured girl who wanted to do well in the world. Yes, sometimes to benefit her own goals (like getting A’s by playing Cupid with her teachers) but otherwise being Mother Theresa from the Valley was her virtue not her flaw.

Clueless was a sleeper hit because it didn’t take itself too seriously. Yes, it was a loose adaptation of the classic Jane Austen novel Emma, but the 1995 version was done in a sweet and very 90’s way. With the slang, with the 90’s style and with the 90’s music. That decade exploded in every scene and it’s still amazing to this day.

The Amy Heckerling movie put emphasis on themes like staying true to your beliefs, popularity, wanting to fit in in high school, finding a path without the help of your parents, and eventually growing up.

I’m eager to find out what that new take, a new spin on the new film will be. If you’re worried about making it „a feminist“ agenda pushing movie, don’t be. You’ll be wasting your breath. The movie (like the novel itself) were feminist works,  very much ahead of their time, and promoted feminist ideas before every tween back in the 90’s knew what feminism was.

I mean…. Just read this….

Murray: Woman, lend me fi’ dollas.
Dionne: Murray, I have asked you repeatedly not to call me “woman”.
Murray: Excuse me, “Ms. Dionne.”
Dionne: Thank you.Murray: Okay, but, street slang is an increasingly valid form of expression. Most of the feminine pronouns do have mocking, but not necessarily in misogynistic undertones.

I’m just worried if the planned remake misses the mark and becomes a shallow and pointless piece of work that will go the drain very fast.

My biggest concern is that the writers and the rest of the team behind the remake are Clueless about what made Clueless such a classic. No it wasn’t the cute outfits that Cher, Dionne and Tai wore. Not it wasn’t the hilarious yet accurate 90’s representation of the privileged kids in Beverly Hills.

It even had one of the sweetest loving scenes involving Cher’s maid. You know, in which Josh (Paul Rudd) made things clear to his ignorant step-sister that her maid is not from Mexico (she’s from El Salvador – FUI a totally different country). I bet that if this movie was made today, some of the characters would have been mocking that same maid, not defending her.

But hey… Time will tell, if this turns out decent. The Clueless remake that nobody asked for, but hey… That’s true for all of the remakes and spin- off that are currently in development.