Amy Heckerling

March 18, 1996

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This week, I will be profiling my first female director. Amy Heckerling's biggest claim to fame is her directing of such films as Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), a inane study of southern California teenage life in the 80's. After this sleeper hit she made two highly criticized bombs, Johnny Dangerously (1984) and National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985). Afterwards, her first big box-office hit Look Who's Talking (1989), her only really good film, about first-time parenthood, became a instant hit.

Recently she has done the sequel to Look Who's Talking and her most recent hit Clueless, in which she returns to making films about really dumb teenagers. As a director, she's only OK, though she handled the issue about raising a child and the angst that comes with it really well. But, when it comes to teenagers, she simply gives us blatant stereotypes of what adults think of teens. The stories she tells are also remarkably sexist towards women, considering that it's a woman directing the story. So, sad to say, Heckerling is not one of my favorite directors.

My rating on a scale of 1 to 10: 5

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