Topic > Clueless – Modernizing Emma by Jane Austen

"Every original idea is believed to have been conceived hundreds of times before. The challenge of creativity is to transform a familiar concept into something that is unique to one's personal understanding. Pop - culture is full of established ideas, transformed into something completely new. Classic literature is a well of untapped potential that pop culture exploits, allowing creators to take tried-and-true concepts and turn them into something relatable in the present day. today. no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"? Get an original essay Jane Austen is the author of many such classics, one of the most famous is Emma, ​​​​one story of mismatches and youthful arrogance. Although adapted several times in period style, director Amy Heckerling has taken Austen's classic novel and transplanted it to the cusp of the twenty-first century, modernizing it for a new audience. By modernizing Emma, ​​Heckerling completely subverted the traditional methods of classical revisions. Film adaptations of Emma are typically period pieces set in the early 19th century that attempt to encapsulate the atmosphere of the period. They are meticulous in recreating the clothing, ways of speaking, and social norms of the original novel. Clueless deviates drastically from this formula, moving the setting almost two hundred years forward in time, to California, in the mid-1990s. By swapping the village of Highbury for Bronson Alcott High School, the story becomes relatable to Western audiences. Modern high schools closely resemble early 19th-century upper-class English society, serving as a familiar backdrop for social status battles and mindless gossip. Both Highbury and Bronson Alcott High School exhibit rigid social hierarchies in their self-contained spheres, which have a pronounced impact on the characters' lives. The titular personality of Jane Austen's novel, Emma Woodhouse, is reinvented in Clueless as Cher Horowitz, one of the future sixteen-year-olds living in Beverly Hills. Both Emma and Cher are portrayed as extremely rich, manipulative, and vain. As Austen first characterized, their fathers spoil them excessively, and without a maternal figure to temper them, both women reign supreme over their personal social circles. They are spoiled with a luxurious lifestyle: a cell phone, a high-tech wardrobe and a new Jeep for Cher, handmade clothes, beautiful carriages and picnics for Emma. Although modern interpretations of wealth and power seem different than they did hundreds of years ago, the concepts are the same, used by both Clueless and Emma to accentuate the protagonists' lack of restraint. While human personality has remained constant, social norms have evolved dramatically. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay In modernizing Clueless, Heckerling addressed the notable shift in social standards towards a progressive mentality. Heckerling makes his first change to Emma with the addition of Dione, Cher's best friend, who has no exact equivalent in the original novel. Dionne is a wealthy young African American, as is her boyfriend Murray. Heckerling uses these characters to show modern diversity while adding entertaining elements to the film, especially Dionne and Murray's tumultuous teenage romance. Additionally, Heckerling uses Asian-Americans, Hispanics, and those of Persian ethnicity to contrast the Caucasian society of nineteenth-century England, reflecting the American melting pot. In.