Often dismissed as a candy-coated time capsule of 90s teen culture, Clueless is (as any true fan knows) a classic comedy of manners and social critique inspired by Jane Austens Emma. Let Heathers have the psyche-scarring and in-fighting; Clueless takes awkward, hormonal, status-obsessed interactions to sublime levels through heightened dialogue and a startling clarity of ideas. Many of the best comedies want to make sure youve seen their dark underbellies, but as Mean Girls and others have proven, laugh-out-loud films arent required to vibrate on a frequency of cartoon violence and subtle (or not) misogyny to make their marks.