ABOVE: Actor Justin Walker as Christian Stovitz in the 1995 teen comedy “Clueless.” (Photo courtesy screenshot from YouTube)
“As if!” It has been 25 years since that phrase — and many more — were made popular in the mainstream with the release of the hit teen-comedy, “Clueless.”
“Clueless” not only expanded pop culture slang and fashion trends for 90s teens when it opened July 19, 1995, it also expanded LGBTQ representation in movies at a time when few studio films were including queer characters.
While the role of Cher Horowitz proved to be a breakout for its lead actress Alicia Silverstone, the character of Christian Stovitz would give actor Justin Walker his cinematic debut and his most popular role. In the film, Christian is depicted as a smooth, enigmatic figure with an affinity for vintage pop culture.
In a feature story from The Telegraph, director Amy Heckerling speaks further to Christian’s unique style and disposition.
“Christian was someone who has made a study of the Ratpack, he reflected the resurgence of the swinger mentality in the [’90s],” she said. “So he brings back jive talk vocabulary.”
Within the storyline of “Clueless,” Christian is a classmate of Cher’s and the object of her romantic pining. However, Cher’s attempts to woo Christian never seem to land. In a car ride with her two friends Dionne (Stacey Dash) and Murray (Donald Faison), Cher learns why her courtship has been unsuccessful: Christian is gay – or as Murray puts it, “a disco-dancing, Oscar-Wilde-reading, Streisand-ticket-holding friend of Dorothy’s.”
Walker felt a connection to Christian early on and recalls that this sense of kinship gave him confidence when he auditioned for the film.
“I really clicked with that role,” he said. “I was in New York, studying theatre acting, and when I read that material I just felt it. I was looking at the material and I just was walking up 8th Avenue to the Paramount building and I was like, ‘I’m getting this.’ I just knew it. And there was just a rhythm to it that I identified with and I felt that they felt it was in the room as well.”
After discovering the truth of his sexuality, Cher and Christian go on to remain good friends. This nonhostile portrayal of an LGBTQ character was a departure from film’s depiction of queer people in previous eras.
“[During the 1960s and 1970s,] gay characters were often represented as being dangerous, violent, predatory or suicidal such as in the films ‘The Children’s Hour’ (1961), ‘The Boys in the Band’ (1970), ‘Midnight Express’ (1978) and ‘Vanishing Point’ (1971),” Media Smarts, a digital and media literacy nonprofit wrote in an article.
Walker also acknowledged how Christian’s presence in “Clueless” served as its own watershed by reflecting on the implications that the character had for his career and LGBTQ characters as a whole.
“I knew then and there that Christian’s sexuality would change many things, for characters moving forward but in particular, for me. The fact is, when that is your first known role, people label you. In my case, I became the gay guy from ‘Clueless.’”
The inclusion of an LGBTQ character like Christian in a mainstream film – “Clueless” was by produced by Paramount Pictures – signified a progression within the realm of LGBTQ media representation, as queerness in film is often viewed as a potential financial liability.
“With Hollywood films designed to appeal to as large an audience as possible, producers fear that focusing on gay and lesbian themes may risk offending a significant portion of the audience, not to mention potential investors,” Media Smarts wrote.
The significance of Christian in queer representation is not lost in today’s pop cultural climate. Earlier this year, online content-maker MsMojo featured Christian as an honorable mention in its Top 10 list of LGBTQ characters in teen movies.
Walker continued acting in the late 1990s and early 2000s but eventually shifted course and entered the food industry, opening a Tacone Flavor Grill franchise in early 2006.
During a cast reunion interview with Entertainment Weekly in late 2012, Walker shared his own vision of what Christian would be doing with his life today.
“I think I’d be an aging backup dancer for Lady Gaga,” he said.
In May, Fathom Events and Paramount Pictures held a special screening of the film to celebrate its quadranscentennial, bringing “Clueless” to “approximately 700 North American theaters.”
“Clueless,” which also features before-they-were-stars performances from Paul Rudd and Brittany Murphy, is currently available to stream on Netflix and a 25th anniversary edition Blu-ray of the film will be released July 21 to various retailers.
