The film Clueless, written and directed by Amy Heckerling, is an version of Jane Austen's book Emma and strongly parallel the story in conditions of character progress and accomplishment. Even though Emma was written in 1816 and developed ideas and issues of that period in time, we can still be familiar with and recognize the exact same issues. This just proves that regardless of all the essential social changes that have taken place since Jane Austen's time, people and life haven't really changed all that much. The universal life issues of money, love, friendship, class and finding ones place in the world take place both in the novel and the film.
From the very beginning of both the novel and film, there are similarities between the two main characters. Emma Woodhouse, the leading role in Emma, is part of the rich, expensive civilization of a large and heavily populated village called Highbury, in nineteenth century England, while Cher Horowitz lives in rich, upscale Beverly Hills, U.S.A. In both Clueless and Emma, both of the main characters, Cher and Emma, are spoiled, high class snobs who are looked upon with esteem and popularity by most. Cher and Emma are among the artistic privileged and because of their wealth and class they are spoiled and tend to think too highly of themselves.
Relationships are one of the key issues raised and explored in both the novel and film. One of the relationships is that between the daughter and her father. Both Emma and Cher have a close yet out of the ordinary relationship with their father, as each girl can do no wrong to them. And both Emma's and Cher's fathers are very generous with not only their love but also their money and constant compliments. But with these compliments and cash comes a certain amount of snobbishness and maybe it is the fathers greed in their daughters that has caused this.
Both Emma and Cher have the habit of getting rather too much their own way and a nature to think a little too highly of themselves.
