As the preceding chapters have illustrated, Amy Heckerling's work as a writer and director of feature films and television shows has been diverse and important, and these concluding essays reflect on that work in broader terms, presenting a somewhat auteurist perspective on a woman whose extensive creative output is not always recognized for its sophistication and distinction.

Using the film Heckerling is most often associated with, Clueless (1995), as their foundation, Stefania Marghitu and Lindsay Alexander consider the director's oeuvre in terms of its vital status as a collection of statements about female empowerment. The two authors uncover, in the commemoration of Clueless, how audiences continue to embrace the underappreciated attitudes of women in Heckerling's texts, as they trace the evolution of spectatorial experiences with the film over the past two decades. Their attention to fashion, music, and speech, along with interviews from industry professionals, bolsters their study of Heckerling's special treatment of female characters.

Kimberley Miller then lends further validity to Heckerling's reputation through a comparison with one of her contemporaries, John Hughes, who similarly wrote teen and family comedies in the 1980s and ‘90s. In fact, Hughes wrote the script for Heckerling's most lucrative film of the 1980s, European Vacation (1985), which Miller considers alongside other Hughes movies such as Sixteen Candles (1984) and Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986). While Hughes would have somewhat greater glory through the broader profitability of his films until his death in 2009, Miller argues that Heckerling's continuing output of films and television shows that continue their challenge to gender and genre standards—such as Vamps (2012) and Suburgatory (2011–14)—is well worth further analytical assessment.

We conclude the book with an updated and expanded revision of an essay by Lesley Speed, who provides a comprehensive coda for our study of Heckerling's productions by relocating her films within the pantheon of other female directors and popular comedy conventions. With attention to movie industry traditions and critical reception, Speed celebrates the stylistic and political accomplishments of Heckerling as a director in a field that has often limited women's creative control and dismissed the merits of comedy as a genre. Speed specifically argues for the unique contributions of Heckerling to the concepts of body humor and youth transformation, while she ultimately conveys the enduring significance of Heckerling within American media.