Clueless

I would now like to share with you all a film that had a tremendous effect on my development and may in fact have been my first foray into TG. Clueless (1995) starred Alicia Silverstone as Cher Horowitz, a teenager living in Beverley Hills. The film was a take on Jane Austen's Emma and one night in 1995 I went to see it. I was in my late teens and cut a lesson in school to catch the film on its last day. No-one wanted to come with me so I went alone and ended up being the only person in the cinema. Even one of the ushers came in and sat with me for a while and I felt ashamed of watching such a girlie movie.

So why did I watch it? Well it just hit something in me; the language they used and their overall look. Plus I was crushing a little on Silverstone. In the following weeks I started to draw myself as the characters from the film using their poses on the main poster - so that was basically my head on their bodies. I actually made myself sick doing it; such was my excitement that I gave myself a cold. Of course being a teenage boy I should have had another, um, outlet for that energy but I was a bit late in that area. I loved those drawings but these days I don't know what to do with them. They're hidden away in a folder and I'm torn between destroying them lest someone find them or keeping them preserved because they are pieces of my past.

Clueless (1995) main theatrical poster

In addition to the drawings I tried writing letters as Cher, using all the language and loved repeating lines from the movie into the mirror. A year later the TV series started with Rachel Blanchard making a fine replacement for Alicia Silverstone as Cher. It was quite a shock to see her later turn up in Peep Show. For the time that it was on, Clueless was my dirty little viewing secret but further exposure to that world was welcome. If I could do any cosplay at all, it would be Cher's yellow suit from the movie. I would love to wear that outfit for a while and pretend to be a hip Californian teen.

Perfect in Plaid

Last Friday I went to a quote along showing of the film and it was so much fun to be watching it on the big screen again. In the intervening years it has become such a well loved film and it will always hold a place in my heart and such a big influence in developing my desires.

Ok, so that's me audi!