Emma in Clueless

I remember watching Clueless growing up and thinking how funny it was.  Here was a girl that, essentially, wanted life and everything about it to go how she wanted it to.  The minute it doesn't she whines about it, and I mean WHINES!  I watched it again last year, and I couldn't stand Cher's whinnyness.  I never knew Amy Hekerling's movie, though, was an adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma.  After reading the novel, I was amazed at all the similarities there were.

Emma is a girl who gets everything she wants.  She is held so highly in her fathers mind, that she can do no wrong.  The only person who sees her faults (and calls her out on them) is her childhood friend, Mr.  Knightly.  Emma has been told she is perfect and all knowing all her life, and now--whether she admits it or not--she has come to believe it herself.  She thinks she knows what is best for herself and everyone around her.  She is the stereo-typical "spoiled rich girl", she is extremely self-absorbed, whinny, and thinks of herself as a god(dess)--again, whether she admits it or not.  How does she see herself as a god?  Well, she think she is so important that people should always want to be in her presence (when she hadn't gotten the invitation to the party, yet, and couldn't understand how it was possible).  She thinks she knows what's best for everyone (encouraging the marriage of Mr.  Weston to her nanny, and discouraging Harriet from marrying the farmer, encouraging Harriet and Mr.  Elton to get together--even though she was wrong in the end, etc.).  Her intentions all along are to make her happier, no one else, she is always looking out for herself.  At times she thinks it is to help others, but it is for her own enjoyment that she does the things she does.

Cher is the same way.  She is one of the rich kids at her school which makes her popular, and inflates her ego more than it should.  Her father doesn't care how she gets by in life, as long as she can argue her way out of anything (or as long as he THINKS she can argue her way out of anything).  He thinks she is the best thing in the world, and what father doesn't!  The only person who sees her going down a path she shouldn't is her ex-step-brother, Josh, and he pokes fun at her with it.  She has all she could ever ask for and wants others to be like her, because they will be better people if they are.  She isn't looking for another friend like Emma was, but she was looking for another project.  She was bored and that is why she befriends Tai, saying to Dionne,  "don't you want to use your popularity for a good cause?"  She morphs Tai into a replica of herself, but doesn't see the effects till it's a little late.

Emma's pivotal moment came at Box Hill when everyone was out for a picnic.  Emma makes a remark at Miss Bates' expense and--knowing herself what she has done, so the movies make it seem--makes excuses for why she did what she did.  Trying to justify it to herself saying, "she didn't know it was about her anyway."  After Mr.  Knightly confronts her, however, she has no choice but to face her situations head on.  She can't pretend anymore, or sweep things under the rug.  She has made a mistake and needs to untangle all that she has tangled up.

Like Emma, Cher has a turning point.  I believe it comes when Tai is at her house and saying how she really likes Josh, and ends up calling Cher a "virgin who can't drive."  That hurts Cher to the point she starts thinking about her life and asking, "what have I created?"  Tai had said something to her that she would have said to anyone else, but because the situation was flipped she realized how awful it was.  Tai had transformed into Cher, Cher's mission was complete, and she felt awful.

(The part I want to focus on in this clip is from about 15 seconds to 33 seconds)

How many times in our lives do we do the same things?  We use people to get what we want.  We don't think about the consequences of our actions till the tables are turned.  We just look out for ourselves.  We live in a "me" culture, but as Christians we shouldn't live like that.  We shouldn't be Chers or Emmas, we should be like Christ.  We should be looking to help others, not ourselves.  We should build others up, not bring them down.  We all are "clueless" to a certain extent, and we will all have multiple Box Hill moments.  It is learning from these situations and remembering other persons lessons, too, that keep us from staying Emmas and Chers.