This weekend T and I went on a DVD shopping spree. Among the movies I picked up was Emma. Emma, based on the famous 1816 book by Jane Austen, one of England’s most popular and beloved authors.

A year before the movie Emma came out, the utterly forgettable movie Clueless was released. Clueless is based on the story of Emma, but in a Beverly Hills 90210 setting. Imagine spoiled rich valley girls in convertibles, trying to match their friends up while sipping grande lattés at swanky coffee bars. Actual quote: “That’s Ren and Stimpy. They’re way existential.” It’s a bit of an abomination, but not totally unclever in its adaptation of the book.

What does it say on the back of the Emma DVD? “Based on the story that inspired the movie Clueless!!!” Appallingly, no mention of Jane Austen. How’s that for short-sighted marketing? Who will remember “My mother died in a freak accident during a routine liposuctioning” Clueless fifty years from now?