Illustration: Chris McGonigal/HuffPost; Photos: Getty Images
From 1982 to roughly 1996, Amy Heckerling had the sort of career that comedy directors dream of. One of the few female filmmakers employed in Hollywood, she made “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” “Johnny Dangerously,” “National Lampoon’s European Vacation,” “Look Who’s Talking” and her now-25-year-old masterpiece “Clueless.” Three of those movies spawned primetime spinoff series, which Heckerling also worked on. Altogether, that winning streak should have granted her the run of the industry.
Instead, Heckerling found herself on the receiving end of studios’ unforgiving machinations. Her next movie, the 2000 college rom-com “Loser” starring Jason Biggs and Mena Suvari, faced the jurisdiction of Columbia Pictures’ marketing department, which reportedly ordered the film to be sanitized to avoid an R rating because PG-13 comedies performed better at the box office. That’s nothing compared to the drama behind 2007’s “I Could Never Be Your…