Some movies are misunderstood when they first come out, and it takes years before they get rediscovered and achieve a kind of cult-hit status. That’s not the case with Clueless, however: when this movie came out in 1995, it almost instantly became part of our collective pop culture knowledge.
Some fans have spent so much time quoting the film’s iconic lines (such as Alicia Silverstone’s iconic “as if!”) that they missed some of the wildest details in the background of this film. Are you one of them? Keep reading to discover some of the weirdest details in Clueless that you missed the first time around!
Cher is a terrible baker
As a film, Clueless gets a lot of humor out of the fact that Alicia Silverstone’s Cher character doesn’t have very many skills outside of looking pretty and flirting with boys. When she gets a bit more serious about Christian, she decides to seduce him with her baking skills. Unfortunately, she’s a terrible baker, something that eagle-eyed viewers will notice right away.
In an attempt to make cookies, Cher throws an entire log of dough into the oven without making any attempt to slice it. Most viewers notice the visual punchline of her pulling the burnt remains of the cookies out of the oven, but check out that dough next time you watch. It’s still in the tube shape, paying off the visual gag that Cher just didn’t know what to do with it while baking!
The grade improvement scheme didn’t really work
Part of Cher’s character is that she just isn’t very good at academics. Accordingly, she gets some very bad grades on her report card that she is meant to take home to her dad. Through a combination of charm and manipulation, she’s able to get the bad grades changed to A’s. If you look closely, though, it’s obvious that her scheme wouldn’t have really fooled a parent who is paying attention.
The grades are changed, but the report card still features the negative comments her teachers left. This includes comments about how she is “Ill-prepared” and “undisciplined” and “must try harder to pay attention to current events.” Not exactly the comments that usually go with an “A” grade!
Cher’s house isn’t actually in Beverly Hills
One of the most prominent details about Cher is that she lives in Beverly Hills, California. Her zip code is supposed to explain her entire personality and lifestyle. After all, when you live among the rich and the famous, you can be forgiven if you grow up to be vain and vapid.
However, you may be surprised to know that the real-life house used as Cher’s home in Clueless isn’t in Beverly Hills at all. Instead, it’s located in the nearby San Fernando Valley (or just “the Valley” to those on the West Coast), the same place that Cher hilariously thinks Kuwait is located in.
The painting of Cher’s mom was based on Alicia Silverstone
We don’t see much of Cher’s mother in Clueless for the simple reason that the character previously died due to “a fluke accident during a routine liposuction.” However, we do get a good look at dear old mom thanks to a beautiful painting. Most audiences assume this was a painting of a real-life woman, but this art has a very unique and surprising history.
Director Amy Heckerling had her friend Victor Renaldo create the painting, and instead of basing it on someone else, Renaldo tried to make the art look (fittingly enough) like an older version of Alicia Silverstone. As for Heckerling, she was quite pleased and held onto the painting after production wrapped.
Travis uses his skateboard as a lunch tray
In the world of Clueless, Travis is a very laid-back guy, and the fact that he’s a skater is a perfect character detail. Pay close attention during his lunchroom scene and you’ll see just how serious Travis is about this hobby!
While everyone else is pushing lunch trays as you’d expect, Travis is actually using his skateboard (flipped upside down) like a tray. Narratively, most fans remember this as the scene where Travis first talked to Tai. Now, though, you’ll always remember this as the scene that confirms Travis takes that skateboard wherever he goes!
Paul Rudd honored his real-life college in the film
It’s particularly fun for Marvel fans to rewatch Clueless because we get an early appearance from Ant-Man actor Paul Rudd as Josh, a character who attended the University of Kansas. One easy way to tell where he went is that Rudd’s character is rocking a very prominent “Kansas University” (or KU) hat in the movie.
As it turns out, Rudd himself attended KU and wore the hat with the permission of the Clueless costuming team. He later regretted doing so because the hat got lost during production, and now, not even the Avengers can help Rudd find his favorite headwear.