The Film Experience

A series by Christopher James looking at the 'Gay Best Friend' trope

You had me at "nice stems."Clueless is a perfect movie. The more time passes, the more the film is solidified as a bona fide classic. Writer/director Amy Heckerling turns Jane Austen’s Emma into an addictive and heartfelt tale of high school relationships and finding one’s impact on the world around them. Alicia Silverstone’s Cher is a pitch perfect heroine whose big heart is only outmatched by the size of her closet. Heckerling’s loving wit doesn’t just apply to our leading lady. The entire high school is filled with big personalities (and bigger wallets). One of my favorite characters has always been Christian (Justin Walker), an old soul who becomes the first (and likely not last) gay man that Cher falls for.

While mostly a supporting player, Christian isn’t solely defined by his sexuality. He gets to be a fully rounded connoisseur who seamlessly moves from a romantic interest to a gay best friend...

Only a "friend of Dorothy" could've managed such a spectacular entrance.Christian shows up 47 minutes into the film with a true movie star entrance. Cher has already lamented the disgusting nature of high school boys, only to be proven immediately wrong. His hair blows in the wind as he breezes into Cher’s homeroom and immediately catches her attention. She’s immediately smitten and sets her sights on losing her virginity to him. With his tight black shirt, khakis pulled high up and hair impeccably coiffed, Christian is clearly not like the other boys. Cher has to have him for herself.

Our “gay best friend” isn’t introduced as a “gay best friend,” which is rare. Some 90s movies (see The Object of My Affection or The Next Best Thing) will eventually find the leading ladies trying to seduce their gay best friend. However, Cher’s journey is one many women have gone through. She initially spies a good looking boy who puts as much effort into dressing for school as she does. Immediately, she’s attracted, not even thinking about what about him could be coded as gay or straight. Christian is first and foremost a dreamboat on his introduction. That was pretty grand for the time.

Every Father's worst nightmare... a wannabe "rat pack" member.

Mel: What's with you, kid? You think the death of Sammy Davis left an opening in the Rat Pack?

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Mel: You drink?

Christian: No, thanks. I'm cool.

Mel: I'm not offering. I'm asking you if you drink. You think I offer alcohol to teenage drivers taking my daughter out?

Christian: Hey man, the protective vibe. I dig.

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Mel: Anything happens to my daughter, I got a .45 and a shovel, I doubt anybody would miss you.

There’s not a bad performance in Clueless, but Dan Hedaya is particularly spectacular as Cher’s irascible litigator Father, Mel (“the scariest kind of lawyer”). The comic timing between Silverstone, Walker and Hedaya as Christian picks Cher up for a dance is perfect (which is why I had to include so many lines).

In the grand scheme of the movie, Christian’s involvement is so smartly handled. A lesser movie would’ve established Christian as gay right away and made both Cher and Christian fools for not recognizing the intentions of the other. However, what the scene with Mel only further reinforces is that Christian passes for straight. He’s primarily concerned that this goofy “rat pack” esque kid doesn’t take advantage of his daughter. Christian also hilariously conveys the unearned bravado of a Beverly Hills kid trying to take the piss out of his date’s Dad.

By all accounts, Christian seems pretty interested in Cher throughout the night. Sure he listens to Billie Holiday, drives a vintage car, describes a girl as “hagsville” and chats up a male bartender. Yet, all seem more like yellow flags than red flags (both are colors Cher looks great in, so she never notices). We never get Christian’s perspective on his dates with Cher. Yet, if I were to read into Walker’s performance a little bit (which duh, I am), I would say that Christian comes off more confused than closeted. It feels less like he’s trying to stifle a part of himself and more like he is trying to figure out what he wants. Cher is beautiful, fun to talk to and clearly attracted to him. What’s not to like?

Don't bend over backwards, Cher. He's more into Tony Curtis.

Cher: Christian had a thing for Tony Curtis so he brought over "Some Like it Hot" and "Sporadicus".

The macho bravado dissipates on their next date, when Cher is determined to lose her virginity. When she invites him over, Christian appears to have the upper hand. Cher is embarrassed that the big wad of cookie dough she stuck in the oven is burnt and doesn’t quite know how to keep up with Christian’s conversation about her Father’s art. Once they make it to the bedroom, Christian is the awkward one on the defense. Giving him an obsession for Tony Curtis is as genius and Cher’s mispronunciation of Spartacus. Once it becomes clear that Cher is interested in sex, Christian excuses himself, saying he’s “tired.” He hadn’t quite put all of Cher’s overt signals together and was confronted with the fact that he did not, in fact, want to sleep with Cher. The awkward moment isn’t played for laughs. It’s just played as awkwardness. Amy Heckerling doesn’t want us to laugh at a gay character refusing sex, she wants us to recognize how uncomfortable a moment that must’ve been for both Christian and Cher.

Murray: Your man Christian is a cake boy!

Cher, Dionne: A what?

Murray: He's a disco-dancing, Oscar Wilde-reading, Streisand ticket-holding friend of Dorothy, know what I'm saying?

Cher: Uh-uh, no way, not even!

Murray: Yes, even; he's gay!

Dionne: He does like to shop, Cher. And the boy can dress.

Christian doesn’t get a proper “coming out” moment in Clueless. Like in high school, news travels via the rumor mill. It’s Dionne’s boyfriend Murray who breaks the news right before the trio get traumatized by freeway driving. This outing could feel a bit cruel by today standards, as it takes the agency away from the gay best friend. Yet, what’s fantastic about how the movie handles this moment is Cher’s reaction causes her to have a better relationship with Christian. Even in this initial conversation, the joke is on Cher for trying to sleep with a gay man, not Christian for being gay. In the 90s, gay characters were often used as a mincing punchline. Not so here.

Cher immediately abandons her romantic sights for Christian and forges a close friendship with him. They shop, discuss art and become each other’s confidant. One day at the mall, Christian and Cher catch Tai talking to some boys by the Foot Locker. As a joke, they start hanging her from one of the upper floor railings, causing Christian to whip into action and rescue Tai from the asshole straight boys. This speaks to the way Amy Heckerling gives each character dignity by subverting the traditional stereotypes. Cher can be vapid, yet caring in the same beat. Tai can be clueless, yet perceptive. In this case, Christian is a gay teenager who is allowed to be heroic, confident and a protector. He’s not “one of the girls.” Instead, his personality is informed by old movies, classic art and Billie Holliday music. One can imagine Christian in a few years being a great Palm Springs gay with a sugar daddy where they regularly talk about scandals from the studio system of Hollywood.

Who wouldn't want to be best friends with Cher and Christian?

As Cher is putting her social life back together, she reflects on the wide array of friends she has cultivated over the years. While self interest had fueled lots of her actions, she had genuinely also wanted peace and harmony between all of the people she loved the most in high school. Her matchmaking and meddling were just occasionally off. Tai clearly belonged with Travis, not Elton. Yet, Miss Geist (Twink Caplan) and Mr. Hall (Wallace Shawn) were a match made in heaven (and not just for everyone’s grades). Christian and her were meant to be friends, not lovers. When she reflects on him, she says, “He always wants things to be beautiful and interesting.” She doesn’t define him by his sexuality, like so many token gay characters were at the time. Instead, Christian is a discerning friend who just wants things (and people) to be the best versions of themselves. One could say Amy Heckerling wanted the same thing too. She managed to write characters who were far from perfect, but who journeyed to be the best versions of themselves by the end.

Previously in Gay Best Friend

pre stonewall

post stonewall

1990s and the 2000s

The Now

Is there another “gay best friend” in the movies you think we should cover? Let us know in the comments below.