The Sixth Annual James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 15

1995 teen comedy Clueless just happened to come out when I was still a teenager, so I was quite possibly its target audience at the time. I tended to be more into action movies back then, but I did see this a few times and I quite liked it. It also meant that when I re-watched it recently, I was able to enjoy it from a nostalgic perspective and not worry too much about being considerably older than the target audience, because if I am now, I wasn’t then.

Anyway, Clueless is a pretty good movie. It is definitely of its time, but it holds up pretty well today. I think. Although that could be because I am also of its time and I think I hold up pretty well today. Which is contrary to most of the available evidence.

Clueless is loosely adapted from Jane Austen’s Emma, which perhaps gives it a little more gravitas than many a teen comedy, but it mainly works because, while the movie is clearly mocking the overprivileged teens that make up the central characters, it does so affectionately throughout. We probably shouldn’t like Alicia Silverstone’s ‘Cher’, but the fact that she is so endearing in spite of herself, is really what gives the movie its charm.

And, perhaps unusually for a teen comedy, Clueless is pretty funny too.

Score for Christmasishness

Another one that takes place over a period of time that happens to include Christmas. Predominantly Christmas features as the backdrop of what looks like a pretty dreadful party. But it’s about 15 minutes of the movie, it definitely looks Christmassy for the duration and it contains several plot points that are pretty important to the narrative as a whole. Certainly Christmas(ish) enough for my purposes.