Composers often transform texts to adapt them in a way considered to be more suitable for a desired audience and to convey new meaning. Jane Austen’s 1815 novel, Emma, has been transformed in Amy Heckerling’s 1995 film, Clueless for a modern Western teenage audience. Emma and Clueless both stand as reflections of their time; that of Regency England and postmodern America respectively. While the general plot line remains, Heckerling has adapted the refined country setting of Highbury, England to the fast-paced and commercialised society of twentieth century California, to reveal the changes in attitudes, values and beliefs over time, particularly in regards to the perception of marriage, social stature and propriety as well as the role of women
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Like Emma, Clueless focuses on the romantic matching up of characters, such as Tai and Travis, however places less importance on matrimony itself and more so on the idea of dating and casual intimacy. The social normality of intimacy is explored in the through Heckerling’s use of sexual references and crude humour in the diner scene such as the phrase“hymenally challenged” which shows that the society for which the text was composed has a more accepting understanding of a range of romantic and sexual relationships. This idea, however is foreign to Austen’s world whereby such relationships are constricted to marriage. Clueless also sheds light into the modern concept of divorce, and hence, subverts the permanence of marriage conveyed in Emma. For example Mel states,“You divorce wives not children,” a social comment showing that divorce is common in Cher’s world and hence in post-modern America. On the other hand, Clueless does present the idea that marriage is still commonplace, through the union of Miss Geist and Mr Hall. The mid-shot of a wedding arch coupled with Cher’s voiceover, “As if, I’m only 16” presents the idea, through colloquial language, that matrimony is a possibility for Cher later in life, unlike Harriet’s young marriage in Emma. Therefore, whilst Austen presents the concept of marriage as having high importance during …show more content…
Although Clueless presents a more gender neutral society where females have more freedom and independence through various aspects of life such as education, Heckerling still perpetuates stereotypical gender identities. For example, just as Emma relies on her father for financial support, so does Cher, reflecting the idea of the male as the provider and hence an overall male dominance in society. This could perhaps be Heckerling’s equivalent of Austen’s authorial intrusion, in that she is making a statement about the roles of women in modern society. Heckerling however does liberate the role of women slightly which can be seen through the use of sarcasm in the line “Whenever a boy comes, you should always have something baking” which is made comical by the imagery of burning cookie dough to symbolise that female domesticity is less prevalent. In some ways both texts can be interpreted as reinforcing gender stereotypes, rather than challenging them, however Heckerling does provide some insight into the steps towards gender
Like Emma, Clueless focuses on the romantic matching up of characters, such as Tai and Travis, however places less importance on matrimony itself and more so on the idea of dating and casual intimacy. The social normality of intimacy is explored in the through Heckerling’s use of sexual references and crude humour in the diner scene such as the phrase“hymenally challenged” which shows that the society for which the text was composed has a more accepting understanding of a range of romantic and sexual relationships. This idea, however is foreign to Austen’s world whereby such relationships are constricted to marriage. Clueless also sheds light into the modern concept of divorce, and hence, subverts the permanence of marriage conveyed in Emma. For example Mel states,“You divorce wives not children,” a social comment showing that divorce is common in Cher’s world and hence in post-modern America. On the other hand, Clueless does present the idea that marriage is still commonplace, through the union of Miss Geist and Mr Hall. The mid-shot of a wedding arch coupled with Cher’s voiceover, “As if, I’m only 16” presents the idea, through colloquial language, that matrimony is a possibility for Cher later in life, unlike Harriet’s young marriage in Emma. Therefore, whilst Austen presents the concept of marriage as having high importance during …show more content…
Although Clueless presents a more gender neutral society where females have more freedom and independence through various aspects of life such as education, Heckerling still perpetuates stereotypical gender identities. For example, just as Emma relies on her father for financial support, so does Cher, reflecting the idea of the male as the provider and hence an overall male dominance in society. This could perhaps be Heckerling’s equivalent of Austen’s authorial intrusion, in that she is making a statement about the roles of women in modern society. Heckerling however does liberate the role of women slightly which can be seen through the use of sarcasm in the line “Whenever a boy comes, you should always have something baking” which is made comical by the imagery of burning cookie dough to symbolise that female domesticity is less prevalent. In some ways both texts can be interpreted as reinforcing gender stereotypes, rather than challenging them, however Heckerling does provide some insight into the steps towards gender