Although the Electric Fountain near Wilshire and Santa Monica rarely gets called by its actual name, one long-running way to refer to it is: “the fountain from Clueless” or “the Clueless fountain,” if you prefer. In the aftermath of social media, many a savvy girl has taken a pilgrimage to that fountain to attempt to recreate the “light bulb” moment (or, in this case, the “fountain triumphantly spraying” moment) Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone) has about being in love with Josh Lucas (Paul Rudd). Which, yes, has incestuous overtones thanks to him being her ex-brother-in-law. But hey, more incestuous things have happened in L.A. than that. In any case, because of the iconicness Amy Heckerling imbued that scene of Cher in front of the fountain with, many have simply forgotten all about the fact that The Go-Go’s were the first to truly immortalize it in pop culture.
Specifically, with the video for “Our Lips Are Sealed,” released in 1981—the same year as the debut album it hailed from, Beauty and the Beat, came out. Not to mention the same year MTV was born. In fact, members of The Go-Go’s were hard-pressed to make a music video for the song, having no concept that this medium was to be the wave of the future. Directed by Derek Burbidge, who had also directed a number of videos for The Police at the time (indeed, some of The Police’s music video budget was funneled into the slapdash “premise” for “Our Lips Are Sealed”), the video opens with The Go-Go’s hanging around outside a shop with a giant poster of their own album in front of it.
From there, the five members of the band run to their 1960 Buick LeSabre (in some reddish-brown shade) and proceed to drive around Beverly Hills like proverbial “mad women.” Or rather, girls who just want to have fun (granted, this was two years before Cyndi Lauper released that particular jam, and one wonders if The Go-Go’s weren’t some inspiration to her for it—even though a New Yorker would never admit to being influenced by Californians, unless it’s Lana Del Rey). Interspersed with scenes of the band performing, the height of the “production value” in the video (apart from the Buick) doesn’t arrive until the end, when they stop off yet again (after already doing so to pop into Trashy Lingerie on La Cienega) to cool themselves off in the fountain that Clueless and Cher H. would, fourteen years later, commandeer as “their thing.”
Despite being arguably the most iconic and memorable thing about the video, The Go-Go’s dip into the fountain was improvised. For the group was motivated solely by how hot it was on the day of the shoot, only adding to their disdain for having to make this video in the first place. The band was also hoping their little jaunt might incite the police to appear and arrest them so that they could catch it on camera and add to the “drama” of the scene. Alas, police aren’t generally wont to arrest white girls in the Beverly Hills area. Something Cher H. knows all about as well. After all, this is the virgin who can’t drive…to the point where she’s nearly mowing down bicyclists and clipping the parked cars she veers too closely to. Though, surely, if a Black man did the same in B. Hills, a siren would a-blare.
In any case, despite The Go-Go’s “performance” in the fountain being much more dynamic than what Cher gives viewers, part of what makes the fountain more well-known for its star turn in Clueless is its coloring and lighting. Shot at night, when Cher passes it, the fountain is suddenly backlit with a purple-pink neon tone (aesthetically, this is peak 90s L.A.) to elucidate Cher’s a-ha moment. One that comes at the cost of now having no idea how to act around Josh. While she would, as she says, ordinarily strut around in her skimpiest outfits and send herself flowers and candy to get his attention, she knows she can’t do that with Josh. He’s too “smart,” too “intellectual” for such things. She has to try a different approach…one that basically means not being herself. Case in point, trying to watch CNN (something Josh has trouble believing she’s actually interested in).
And all this awkwardness from a simple instant of clarity—an “electric” epiphany at the Electric Fountain, if you will. In contrast, The Go-Go’s interaction with the fountain likely resulted in far less (read: none whatsoever) of a philosophical rumination on matters of the heart. In their orbit, the fountain represents pure levity and freedom, as opposed to the bonds of monogamous (and slightly taboo) love.
Although the Electric Fountain has been at that spot in Beverly Hills since 1931 (a gift from a silent movie actor’s mother), only The Go-Go’s and Amy Heckerling have managed to give it such proper screen time. If anyone else comes along and decides to, they’ll have some stiff competition to topple, memorability-wise. Even though it often seems no one remembers The Go-Go’s were at that fountain first, long before Cher H. unwittingly staked her claim.
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