![\"Editorial](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/PRI_87930538-42d5-e1750686552896.jpg\")
\n\t\tAlicia Silverstone stole the show as Cher Horowitz in Clueless (Picture: Paramount)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tAlicia Silverstone stole the show as Cher Horowitz in Clueless (Picture: Paramount)<\/p>\n
Clueless director Amy Heckerling has called out \u2018nonsense\u2019 complaints from fans who have suggested that the legendary 90s film is actually \u2018problematic\u2019.<\/p>\n
The hit teen romantic comedy<\/a> was released on July 19, 1995, and introduced us to ditzy and lovable spoiled teenager Cher Horowitz \u2013 played to perfection by Alicia Silverstone<\/a> \u2013 and her equally-wealthy friendship group, with Paul Rudd, Stacey Dash, Donald Faison, Breckin Meyer, Brittany Murphy and Elisa Donovan also making up the cast.<\/p>\n The ridiculously quotable flick, a loose adaptation of Jane Austen\u2019s Emma, followed the yellow plaid-wearing Queen Bee of Beverly Hills<\/a> as she set two teachers up in the hopes that her grades would improve, before directing her matchmaking attention to school<\/a> newbie Tai (Brittany).<\/p>\n While she had her own sights set on Christian Stovitz (Justin Walker), things took a turn when she realized that she was truly in love with her stepbrother Josh (Paul), whose mother was briefly married to her father, Mel (Dan Hedaya).<\/p>\n Despite the movie being a total classic for millennials<\/a> all over the world, many new watchers have called out the plot twist on social media in recent years, with countless posts and think pieces slamming the love story as \u2018incestual\u2019 and \u2018problematic\u2019.<\/p>\n Unpacking the 30-year anniversary of Clueless in an interview with Metro<\/strong> \u2013 ahead of a planned TV reboot<\/a> \u2013 Amy was having absolutely none of it, and swiftly blasted the criticism.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2018Well, that\u2019s nonsense. First of all, in Hollywood, people have many marriages, and they wind up with their children [having] to act like, \u201cWe\u2019re all a family\u201d with some other children that, in a couple of years, they\u2019re not going to have to [see] at all,\u2019 she told us.<\/p>\n \u2018She says, \u201cMy father was married to his mother for five minutes and now I have to see him all the time\u201d.<\/p>\n \u2018Cher\u2019s father is actually very gruff but he\u2019s basically a really good guy. He says, \u201cYou divorce wives, not children\u201d. Which means if you get a child to respond to you emotionally, you don\u2019t just dump them because you\u2019re getting divorced.<\/p>\n \u2018Cher, who wants to be the center of his world and not have to share him with anybody, actually hates Josh at first. In Jane Austen, it\u2019s her sister who\u2019s married to his brother<\/a>. So, they are, in a way, in-laws and stuck being in the same family, but they have no love for each other.<\/p>\n \u2018And, by the way, my grandparents were stepbrother and stepsister.\u2019<\/p>\n \t\t \t\t Although three decades have passed since Clueless was released, the debate over the storyline hasn\u2019t eased. In fact, a quick search on Reddit shows that the \u2018incest\u2019 discussion is still going strong.<\/p>\n Commenters are seemingly still enraged over the nature of Cher\u2019s relationship with Josh, leaving many questioning why his position as her \u2018ex-stepbrother\u2019 was written into the script.<\/p>\n \u2018I just finished the movie and all I can say is WHAT THE HELL. The movie was doing great\u2026. Up until Cher revealed that she had a crush ON HER BROTHER,\u2019 one complained. \u2018And the last 5 minutes of the movie are just her and said brother making out. I mean, girl, I get it, Paul Rudd is a hottie but THATS YOUR BRO, BRO.\u2019<\/p>\n In a separate post, user Menthol_breath said they were \u2018weirded out about the relationship\u2019, fuming: \u2018The movie ends with (spoilers) Cher realizing she\u2019s in love with Josh. I get they aren\u2019t blood relatives, but isn\u2019t their situation incestuous, or at the very least weird?\u2019<\/p>\n \t\t \t\t Pendragoncomic agreed: \u2018OMG, how did I not know about the creepy incestuous undertones?! I know this movie is an iconic depiction of 90\u2019s culture, and it supercharged the careers of its stars.<\/p>\n \u2018But I can\u2019t get over the fact that the movie is basically about it being okay to fall in love with your brother. Are we supposed to be okay with this?\u2019<\/p>\n As Antipinballmachines added: \u2018It has stepsiblings becoming a couple, and I\u2019ve barely seen anyone bring it up. Just because they aren\u2019t blood related doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s okay \u2013 I myself have stepsiblings (who have kids some of whom are only a matter of years younger than me) and found it disturbing.<\/p>\n \u2018Couldn\u2019t they have just been childhood friends or something?\u2019<\/p>\n \t\t \t\t Amy explained that she clarified their relationship at certain points in the script, insisting: \u2018I have her say, \u201cOh, my father was married to his mother for five minutes, and now I can\u2019t get him out of the house\u201d.<\/p>\n \u2018But she never calls him her stepbrother \u2026 He\u2019s just Josh who she can\u2019t take, his mother and her father were married for a minute. So that\u2019s that.\u2019<\/p>\n That\u2019s that indeed\u2026<\/p>\n Much of the film leads up to those critical few minutes where, after a failed driving test, a slightly more successful shopping trip and an argument with Tai \u2013 where she was quite rudely informed that she\u2019s \u2018a virgin who can\u2019t drive\u2019 \u2013 Cher realized her true feelings.<\/p>\n \u2018Oh, my God, l love Josh,\u2019 she announced in a voiceover during a heartfelt montage. \u2018l am majorly, totally, butt crazy in love with Josh!\u2019<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Instead of coming clean, she threw herself into fundraising for the \u2018Pismo Beach disaster relief\u2019, donating canned good, tennis rackets and skis \u2013 because, as she wisely declared, \u2018some people lost all their belongings, don\u2019t you think that includes athletic equipment?\u2019<\/p>\n In the final scenes, she revealed how she felt and they passionately kissed at the top of the staircase, blessing us with one of the sweetest scenes in the movie.<\/p>\n While we were all totally bugging over the pair finally getting together, Amy admitted that the footage gave her the most stress because she was \u2018so worried\u2019 about ensuring it flowed properly.<\/p>\n \u2018It wasn\u2019t that it was difficult to get right, but I was just very worried that it had to become right,\u2019 the filmmaker said. \u2018You don\u2019t want to be hokey, but you don\u2019t want to make it dismissive. You want to give it what it\u2019s worth without milking it.<\/p>\n \u2018I was rewriting it a million times.<\/p>\n \t\t \t\t \u2018I was seeing an actor at the time, and I showed it to him, and he looked at it and said, \u201cRight over here is where I\u2019d kiss. This other stuff, no. Once you get to there, that\u2019s where it has to be\u201d. And he was absolutely right, because he\u2019s an actor and he felt that.<\/p>\n \u2018It was just purely based on the emotion. So, I changed it, and we did it that way. Paul and Alicia were just so wonderful<\/a>, and sweet and earnest but silly.<\/p>\n \u2018I was always rereading chapters of Emma and going, \u201cWell, what would Jane Austen do here?\u201d That\u2019s better than any production executive [to] listen to.\u2019<\/p>\n Got a story?<\/strong><\/p>\n If you\u2019ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk<\/a> entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff<\/a> page \u2013 we\u2019d love to hear from you.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow![\"Editorial](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/SEI_58159573-cba0-e1750686580522.jpg\")
\n\t\tCher ended up dating her ex-stepbrother Josh, played by Paul Rudd (Picture: Paramount)<\/p>\n![\"Editorial](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/SEI_256560470-9db4.jpg\")
\n\t\tFans have complained that the plot is incestual in recent years (Picture: Paramount)<\/p>\n![\"Editorial](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/SEI_139249609-c394-e1750686672875.jpg\")
\n\t\tClueless was released 30 years ago today (Picture: Paramount)<\/p>\n![\"For](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/SEI_256560465-ba3d.jpg\")
\n\t\tCher\u2019s original love interest was high school newbie Christian (Picture: Paramount)<\/p>\n![\"For](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/SEI_256560504-6b3e.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe film followed the popular students in LA (Picture: Paramount)<\/p>\n![\"Editorial](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/SEI_139242735-ef55-e1750686616371.jpg\")
\n\t\tCher\u2019s wardrobe will also go down in history (Picture: Paramount)<\/p>\n![\"Editorial](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/SEI_34500851-5c45-e1750686815750.jpg\")
\n\t\tStacy Dash and the late Brittany Murphy also made up the cast (Picture: Paramount)<\/p>\n![\"Editorial](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/SEI_131758575-658e-e1750686726654.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe film was an instant hit with movie lovers (Picture: Paramount)<\/p>\n
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