Emma gone Clueless
“The transformation of Emma into Clueless has been one of the most successful transformations in recent history.” – Prof. Collins from University of Princeton.
Amy Heckerling has shrewdly transformed a Regency England novel of manners into a contemporary Beverly Hills teen movie.
The result is stupendous and the parallels, witty and clever.
The novel, Emma was written by Jane Austen and set in early 19th century Regency England. Although Emma is enjoyed by many, obviously the novel would not relate to modern audiences as it did to those in Austen’s period. This is due to society’s changing values and attitudes over time.
Hackerling’s success arises directly from dealing with this issue and capturing on screen the essence of the original story of Emma, but with all the language, setting and lifestyle of the Beverly Hills teenagers in the 1990’s.
This dramatic transformation of Emma also highlights the hanging nature of society over time.
In particular social values and attitudes about marriage and status of women in society are extensively explored.
The independence of women is clearly evident in each text by their relationship with other, in particular, men.
In Jane Austen’s novel, the secret relationship between Jane Fairfax and Frank Churchill emphasises the male dominant nature of their relationship.
It was Frank who ma\de the decision of concealing their engagement, and although it went against Janes moral values, there was not much she could do. Even after seeing her fiancé repeatedly flirt with Emma in public.
In Clueless women are represented as strong and self-governing, in some cases more prevailing than the men e.g. when Murray decides to shave his head at the Valley Party, Dionne get furious and decides to call Murray’s mother. Here she is clearly represented as the superior characters as Murray is at her mercy.
The close similarities between both texts assure that Clueless can be identified as a transformation of Emma.
To those who are familiar with Emma, they appreciate the transformation of plot, character and settings even more so.
In most cases the adaptation of the little details of the novel are works of genious in its own right e.g. the secret engagement of Frank Churchill is replaced by Frank’s counterpart ( Christian) being gay.
This not only reflects the accepting nature of modern society but also adds humour to the clueless nature of Cher.
There are offcourse countless other similarities and parallels between both texts, they not only aid Clueless to remain loyal to the original plot outline, but also helps to assimilate the novel for modern audiences.
But not everyone is delighted with the transformation of Emma. Mark Gimmegood fron University of Kentucky said, “Emma is supposed to be a novel of manners and a glimpse into the past, what Heckerling has done is make a joke out of it”.
Well, all I have to say to that is “As if!’
If anything, the triumphant success of Heckerling has provided further insight into the original text. The transformation of Emma helps develop and mould new meaning in it’s counterpart and hence shed further light on both texts.
