Help with my English speech on Emma/Cluess - Comparitive study (1 Viewer)

[Kozak92]

Good morning/Afternoon class of Year 11. As you all are aware I am the phenomenal movie director Amy Heckerling who directed the highly rated ‘Clueless’. As all of you would know for any movie to be worthy of an audience of the likes of such an English class as this it must be based on a timeless piece of classic literature. In the case of ‘Clueless’ the basis was decided to be of Jane Austen’s ‘Emma’.

Clueless is a 20th century movie based on the 19th century book, ‘Emma’. I have used the themes introduced in Emma relating to the quality of relationships and transformed them to a more suitable 20th century setting and through comparative study showed how the ideas of a quality relationship has changed through a hundred years.

While examining ‘Emma’ the ideas about the quality of relationships in 19th can be concluded. In my study of ‘Emma’ I came to the conclusion that ideas of a quality relationship wasn’t defined by the amount of love and devotion the partners carried each other but the wealth both carried. The Females worth was determined by the dowry she carried while the Males worth was determined by his wealth and the amount of employment he was involved in. Family name was also a deciding factor when it came to relationships in the 19th century. Someone with a relatively new and unknown family name weren’t as important as someone with a family name that went back generations despite their wealth. A perfect example of marriage and a quality relationship in the 19th century was the marriage between Mr. John Knightley and Isabella Woodhouse. Mr. John Knightley was of considerable wealth being a lawyer and despite being quite a new name was well respected. Isabella obviously had quite a large dowry being part of one of the oldest and richest families in Highbury. Shockingly Mr. John Knightley also loved Isabella and his children. Throughout the book he makes it known that he’d rather be at home with the family than at social functions such as picnics and parties.

Theres my lame attempt at a speech. Its only a small part. How can I improve this?

 

[krissy7]

i suggest maybe talking about the characters?
e.g
cher=emma
tai=harriet
mel=mr woodhouse
josh=mr knightley
travis=mr martin
christian=mr churchill
elton=mr elton
amber=mrs elton
ms giste=ms taylor
mr hall=mr weston

 

[MaddiEcstatic]

talk about status and hiearchy with reference to relationships. thats the easiest thing to argue for these texts.

think about the context
Austen was writing in the an era of neoclassicism but on the cusp of romanticism. you see that reflected in the text as Emma is all about matchmaking and finding love etc. but it is in favour of order. people end up "in love" (or at least get married) but its still based oon status ie emma and knightly, elton couldn't marry harriet because sh'es too below him so he marries that lady from bath (sorry, forget her name), harriet with mr martin etc

clueless give the illusionof social equality by creating a stereotypical afro-american girl to be best friends with the stereotypical blonde haired blue eyed beauty, then having the outcast tai in their little circle of friendship.
if you look at the wedding scene in clueless you see that all are with their social equivelent. the bright Cher (she is actually clever in a ditzy way) is with the smart Josh, afro-american Dionne and Murray, Dorky/Stoner Travis and Tai, Teachers Mr. hall and Ms. Giest, which is what makes the 'social equality' in clueless and illusion-its still based on status

Christian is gay instead of having him engaged; having a 16 year old boy engaged in the 90's doesn't suit the time/context at all (quote: CHER-you can guess what happened next...*wedding image* AS IF! i'm sixteen! and this is Claifornia, not Kentucky!")

Father/daughter relationships: compare cher and mel with emma and mr. woodhouse.
there is this role reversal thing; cher and emma both look after their fathers like a mother should look after their child, which supports this sense of control that the women must always have. Emma's relationship with her father stays the same throughout the text whereas after cher's epiphany she show character development by starting to look and act her age (from make-up, high heels and short skirts to ponytails, tee shirts and sneakers) and comes to her father for advice instead of patronising him.

[these images of cher juxtapose with "growth in character" because though shes has become less ignorant of everything, she looks younger.]

the omniscent narrator* in emma and voiceover in clueless give the responder the satisfaction of being morally superior to the characters. REsponders are given the advantage of knowing something that Emma/Cher don't know (throw in quotes EMMA at the ball and mr. elton is constatntly asking about harriet. she see's he has a love for harriet but responders know that mr. elton's just trying to get in with emma//opening of clueless "i actually have a way normal life for a teenage girl!" juxtaposed [yes, i love that word] with images of everything that is abnormal to us as "way normal" teenagers. Responders think "she's such an oblivious idiot")
the composers aren't trying to say the heroines are dumb, they're trying to show the responder that, through the sheltered, comfortable and financially secure environments they've grown up in Emma and Cher are both very very naive and unaware of a life outside their own.

*(its a lot like a voiceover; they're emma's thoughts. there is also an intrusive narrator which is Austen sort of like a third person. notice that Emma is narrated in third person but the narration follows Emma's opinion. thats omniscent. intrusive is when Austen seems to throw in her opinion without Emma really knowing. this is Austen's 'wit'. i don't like her but she's a clever writer)

thats all i could scrounge up for now, i might think of something later =)

keep smilin x

 

[MaddiEcstatic]

talk about status and hiearchy with reference to relationships. thats the easiest thing to argue for these texts.

think about the context
Austen was writing in the an era of neoclassicism but on the cusp of romanticism. you see that reflected in the text as Emma is all about matchmaking and finding love etc. but it is in favour of order. people end up "in love" (or at least get married) but its still based oon status ie emma and knightly, elton couldn't marry harriet because sh'es too below him so he marries that lady from bath (sorry, forget her name), harriet with mr martin etc

clueless give the illusionof social equality by creating a stereotypical afro-american girl to be best friends with the stereotypical blonde haired blue eyed beauty, then having the outcast tai in their little circle of friendship.
if you look at the wedding scene in clueless you see that all are with their social equivelent. the bright Cher (she is actually clever in a ditzy way) is with the smart Josh, afro-american Dionne and Murray, Dorky/Stoner Travis and Tai, Teachers Mr. hall and Ms. Giest, which is what makes the 'social equality' in clueless and illusion-its still based on status

Christian is gay instead of having him engaged; having a 16 year old boy engaged in the 90's doesn't suit the time/context at all (quote: CHER-you can guess what happened next...*wedding image* AS IF! i'm sixteen! and this is Claifornia, not Kentucky!")

Father/daughter relationships: compare cher and mel with emma and mr. woodhouse.
there is this role reversal thing; cher and emma both look after their fathers like a mother should look after their child, which supports this sense of control that the women must always have. Emma's relationship with her father stays the same throughout the text whereas after cher's epiphany she show character development by starting to look and act her age (from make-up, high heels and short skirts to ponytails, tee shirts and sneakers) and comes to her father for advice instead of patronising him.

[these images of cher juxtapose with "growth in character" because though shes has become less ignorant of everything, she looks younger.]

the omniscent narrator* in emma and voiceover in clueless give the responder the satisfaction of being morally superior to the characters. REsponders are given the advantage of knowing something that Emma/Cher don't know (throw in quotes EMMA at the ball and mr. elton is constatntly asking about harriet. she see's he has a love for harriet but responders know that mr. elton's just trying to get in with emma//opening of clueless "i actually have a way normal life for a teenage girl!" juxtaposed [yes, i love that word] with images of everything that is abnormal to us as "way normal" teenagers. Responders think "she's such an oblivious idiot")
the composers aren't trying to say the heroines are dumb, they're trying to show the responder that, through the sheltered, comfortable and financially secure environments they've grown up in Emma and Cher are both very very naive and unaware of a life outside their own.

*(its a lot like a voiceover; they're emma's thoughts. there is also an intrusive narrator which is Austen sort of like a third person. notice that Emma is narrated in third person but the narration follows Emma's opinion. thats omniscent. intrusive is when Austen seems to throw in her opinion without Emma really knowing. this is Austen's 'wit'. i don't like her but she's a clever writer)

thats all i could scrounge up for now, i might think of something later =)

keep smilin x

 

[kaz1]

Haven't studies Emma or Clueless but don't you think it sounds a bit too narrcistic when you say
"I am the phenomenal movie director Amy Heckerling"?

 

[School addict]

Hello,
One brief suggestion that I thought I could make for you is to use some quotes from both the novel and the movie. Our English teacher always emphasises the importance of them as they show knowledge and understanding of your texts. She also says that, with Emma and Clueless, you need to talk about technique a lot. For example, Heckerling uses the montage and fast editing to introduce Cher's lifestyle at the start - that is a technique.
Good luck!!