Before I get to today’s blog…

Thinking about doing more with your writing? Why not join me in Paris June 2-7 for my Masterclass in Screenwriting? Come be part of a dynamic community of writers and literary agents to learn, to write, to network, to energize your literary goals—and just to have fun in the City of Light!

The Paris Writers Workshop is the longest running literary program of its kind. This program offers 6 masterclasses by renowned authors, each a specialist in their field—and I’ll be teaching the Screenwriting Masterclass—in English, of course.

The workshop will be held at Columbia University’s beautiful Reid Hall campus in the heart of literary Paris—Montparnasse.

Registration is now open: https://wice-paris.org/paris-writers- workshop

We’ll have a great time getting your story ideas off the ground!!

Coming of Age Films—Clueless

From the ridiculous to the sublime. Ridiculous being the last blog’s Dazed and Confused to this week’s sublime offering—Clueless [1995] by Amy Heckerling.

On first glance, these movies seem to have a lot in common. Both are about teens, both are about high school, both are about relationships, both have characters who seem to be on the light side in terms of intelligence… but wait. The main character in Clueless, Cher, might SEEM to be an airhead, but Cher is hiding her intelligence and perceptiveness under the stereotypically breezy teen she’s supposed to be. And not only does she have a few smarts, she has a lot of heart as well.

Take a look at the trailer for Clueless: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mgjwq1ZzdPQ

One of the most interesting things about the trailer is that it tells you nothing about the plot of the film. It shows the main character and her girlfriends talking in superficial ways and it showcases the cool music. And that’s about it. But the film does way more. At its heart, it’s a story about matchmaking.

Amy Heckerling took the idea for Clueless from Jane Austen. In Austen’s 1815 novel Emma, the title character, uses her insights to try and find the right spouses for her friends and acquaintances. And Cher does the same thing in Clueless.

So why is the film called Clueless? I think it’s because although Cher has the answers for bringing others together with their true loves, she’s got zero insight into herself and who she loves until someone wakes her up on that score.

Why was Clueless such a big hit? Because it totally was. It’s the film everyone was talking about the week it came out. And there was just a sweetness to it. Sure, it had a fun score, it got the lingo down big time—so it was uber-current. But it was just plain fun. Like a carnival ride. And at the end of the ride you got a kiss. Sweet.

But one of the BIG things to realize about the film is that point about how current it was. The writer capitalized on the so-called Valley Girl lingo, she capitalized on the fashions of the times and the upper class high school insanity. It’s like she had a vision—very early on—of what all these trends would mean, of how people would embrace them.

So that’s vision, isn’t it? And how do you get that?!

Ask yourself, if you’re thinking about doing a contemporary story, can you see the beginning of a trend that’s coming. Because you need to pretty much see it before anyone else does in order to have time to write and sell the film. That vision is crucial if you’re working on a contemporary coming of age story.

A final thought on Clueless—it centered around women, not men. And SO many coming of age films focus on men. And that alone was a breath of fresh air.

Copyright © Diane Lake

19Sep21

Email Diane a question to Diane@DianeLake.com