Clueless Just Turned 25 & I Still Have A Major Bone To Pick With That Creepy-Ass Ending

Like most teen rom-coms from the nineties and noughties, Clueless has been prime fodder for pop culture Instagram pages for its iconic one-liners and to-die-for lewks.

But you’ve probably noticed more Clueless pics popping up in your feed over the past week than usual and that’s because the quintessential coming-of-age flick is turning 25.

Not to poo-poo the movie, ‘cos it’s honest to god one of my all-time faves, but I think now is as good a time as ever to discuss the absolutely batshit plot-twist that Cher (Alicia Silverstone) ends up with her step-brother, Josh (Paul Rudd).

This aspect of the film has been a topic of contention literally since the release of the film.

That being said, some people are more than happy to look past the creepy storyline for three reasons:

  1. Because Cher and Josh are not blood relatives.
  2. Because, well, they’re both hot and it’s a movie, not real life.
  3. It’s based on the Jane Austen novel, Emma.

I understand these arguments but the fact of the matter is that they literally share a dad and both share his home and financial benefits and therefore, it’s pretty much incest and pretty much gross.

In fact, it was once voted the creepiest kiss in cinematic history and I couldn’t agree more.

Refinery29 recently spoke to a licensed marriage and family therapist and interestingly, the incest aspect of their relationship isn’t the main thing she took issue with.

Moraya Seeger DeGeare, MA, opined that the most cooked part about it is that she’s literally in high school and he’s a college student hitting on a teenager.

“She’s 16, he’s in college. Why is a college student in general wanting to hang out with a 16-year-old?” she said. “I think it’s thinking about the age difference a little bit more than the ‘incest’ piece of it. It’s not really incest because they’re not related.”

Their relationship is not just creepy, it’s illegal. According to California State Law, if a person is 18 years or older, and they have sexual intercourse with a minor, that person breaks the age of consent law and can be prosecuted for a crime — which, in Cher and Josh’s case, could lead to a some problems, especially when you remember that Mr. Horowitz is in the legal business himself.

Look, it’s still a cute movie and the incest storyline obvs hasn’t damaged its legacy too much, but just sayin’, it’s something I think about often…

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