The greatest high school film of all time, according to Seth Rogen
The American high school comedy is one of the most enduring film tropes of the last 40 years or so, and with good reason. To the millions of kids in the United States who pour into these centres of education on a regular basis, it’s a reflection of their day-to-day lives, while for those of us who live in other countries, they provide a fascinating window into the bizarre world of enormous sports halls, lockers and whatever bleachers are.
Seth Rogen is a name synonymous with high school comedies, mainly because he was at the forefront of the genre’s revival with 2007’s majestic Superbad, which sparked dozens of quotes and launched the careers of Jonah Hill and Michael Cera.
Rogen and his friend Evan Goldberg co-wrote the film when they were teenagers, basing many of the events in the movie on their own time spent at high school, and the pair were influenced by the likes of seminal teen comedies, such as Dazed and Confused and American Graffiti.
Aside from being one of the best comedies of all time, Superbad is notable for being Emma Stone’s debut film; she went on to star in another great high school comedy in 2010’s Easy A, which was a huge success and sent her on the way to winning two Academy awards.
For Rogen, however, the undisputed title of best high school comedy movie goes to 1995’s Clueless starring Alicia Silverstone and Paul Rudd, who has collaborated with the Canadian on several films over more than 20 years.
Clueless, based on Jane Austen’s classic novel Emma tells the story of Cher Horowitz, a glitzy teen who sees herself as all-powerful at school until she gives a nerdy classmate a makeover only for the new girl to become more popular. Silverstone was so impressive in the lead role that it landed her a multi-picture, $10million deal with Columbia TriStar and the role of Batgirl in 1997’s blockbuster Batman & Robin.
Filled with buzzwords of the ‘90s, Clueless director Amy Heckerling studied actual Beverly Hills High School students in order to learn how they behaved and spoke and commented, “…one thing I observed was these girls in a constant state of grooming”.
Some 30 years on, Clueless has become a musical on the West End, and Cher Horowitz’s yellow plaid outfit is an iconic look, beloved of fancy dress goers the world over. Plus, a sequel is in production, a series with the now 48-year-old Silverstone reprising her role.
Rogen raved about the film to Letterboxd, saying, “It’s just so good. It’s brilliant. It’s funny. It’s an iconic film—the costumes, the look of it, the jokes, the lines, it still holds up. When me and Evan made Superbad, we were always, like, if we could make a movie that stands the test of time as well as Clueless, then we’ll have really done something.”
Rudd also spoke fondly about his time filming the movie, noting, “It was such a new experience, and it was a magical kind of a few months. I kind of couldn’t believe I had a pass. I got to drive onto the Paramount lot. Just that kind of stuff was so foreign to me that I didn’t take any of it for granted, and I just loved everyone involved, and I really loved Amy Heckerling. It was great, all the way around.”
