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The controversy that surrounds the transformation between Clueless directed by Amy Heckerling and Emma by Jane Austen is immense. Critics argue that Clueless is a ‘dumbing down’ of Emma, reducing a timeless classic to a degrading, superficial and hardly distinguishable adaptation, taking away from it’s historical, cultural and social significance. I feel that Heckerling has turned this classic into not only a multi layered social and cultural commentary in relation to our context but has added an extra dimension by using film as her text base. During Austen’s day film was non-existent and the written word was the only form of text. It was a time where compulsory education wasn’t present and books were expensive to purchase and hence her target audience were people of a middle class who could afford her writings. As technology has evolved to the present day, film has become an influential part of soci