Clueless

Clueless was a film directed by Amy Heckerling. Filmed over a span of a few weeks in early 1995, the movie was released in the United States on July 19, 1995.

Related Topics:
Amy Heckerling - 1995 - United States - July 19

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The film is a modern update of the novel Emma by Jane Austen, the film tells the story of Cher Horowitz (played in what was a breakthrough role by actor Alicia Silverstone), a valley girl who, although happy in her somewhat self-centered world of shopping and fashion, longs to prove herself as an intellectual and do-gooder. She, along with her best friend Dionne Marie Davenport (Stacey Dash) decide to give a personality make-over to a "tragically unhip" new girl, Tai Fraiser (Brittany Murphy). Things backfire, though, when Tai's popularity begins to surpass Cher's, and she has to question what is most important in the life of a wealthy, gorgeous teenage girl.

Related Topics:
Novel - Emma - Jane Austen - Alicia Silverstone - Valley girl - Fashion - Intellectual - Stacey Dash - Hip - Brittany Murphy

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The film was co-written by (and co-starred) comedienne Julie Brown and co-starred actors Donald Faison as Dionne's boyfriend Murray Lawrence Duvall, Elisa Donovan as Cher's rival Amber Princess Mariens, Paul Rudd as Cher's "ex-stepbrother" Josh Lucas, Wallace Shawn as Cher's debate teacher Mr. Alphonse Hall, and Twink Caplan as Cher's mousy history teacher Ms. Geist. Caplan also helped produce the film.

Related Topics:
Julie Brown - Donald Faison - Elisa Donovan - Paul Rudd - Wallace Shawn - Twink Caplan

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The film was groundbreaking for a variety of reasons. Much of the teen-slang used in the film was researched by Heckerling during the four years in which she wrote the script. The success of the film caused much of this slang to carry over into real-life usage and it is still a major part of American slang at present date. The film can be attributed to causing the widespread use of the word "whatever" as a derogatory dismissal; an accompanying gesture forming the letter 'w' with one's fingers also crossed over from the film.

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Additionally it is one of the few times when the majority of the cast of teenage characters was portrayed by actual teenagers, with the exception of Dash who was 28 at the time of filming.

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