"A is for Awesome." -Olive Penderghast from the movie "Easy A"
"Easy A" earns an A in my book for a hilarious teen comedy! Surprisingly quirky and clever, the movie is a loose 2010 adaption of the famous literary novel "The Scarlet Letter". And when I say loose, I mean loose in every sense (wink wink).
Essentially, the story is about this young girl (Olive) who lets loser boys around school tell people she had sex with them, in exchange for gift cards. She does this a) because she feels sorry for the losers and wants them to stop being picked on and b) because she went from a nobody to a talked-about-somebody after she lied and told her friend she lost her virginity. I suppose she was going for the idea that 'Bad publicity is better than no publicity at all'. At least she was a somebody now.
Now, the Scarlet Letter (which I remember reading in high school) is about a young maiden who committedadultery and was forced to shamefully wear a red A on her chest to symbolize her impureness. Olive, who loves the attention her bad reputation is getting her, ends up sewing a red A on all the scandalouslingerie-like tops she bought to over-emphasis her promiscuity. You can just imagine Joan Jett'sBad Reputation playing in your head, can't you? (rock out your limbic minds by clicking on the link!
"So, what's with your new look? It's very whore couture."
--Olive's friend Brandon from Easy A, commenting on Olive's new taste in clothes.
If that explanation of the movie wasn't enough for y'all, check out the "Easy A" trailer below.
The format of the movie is interesting. As you can see from the trailer, Olive is vlogging about her story via webcam in a movie! Oh convergence, you sneaky tactic you. It certainly was a clever way to narrate the story.
In the movie, cultural shift is certainly represented for privacy to surveillance is a define issue. Within seconds of Olive telling a lie, the rumor spread like wildfire in a sequence of texting teens. I suppose high school wouldn't be the same in my memory without high tech ways to spread rumors and information! There was actually a very funny part in the movie where a teacher complains about facebook status updates, stating:
"I don't know what your generation's fascination is with documenting your every thought... but I can assure you, they're not all diamonds. "Roman is having an OK day, and bought a Coke Zero at the gas station. Raise the roof." Who gives a rat's ass? "
--Mr. Griffith, "Easy A"
haha, hilarious! Now, I don't want to give too much of the movie's plot away in this blog post, so I'll just say this: Some things went down, some lessons were learned and in the end I left the movie satisfied. There was a little romance, a random song and dance sequence (in which the limbic brain appreciates), and a lot of humor. In my mind, that is the makings of a great movie, in terms of brainless entertainment. Time just seemed to fly by when I was fully engaged in the movie from the moment I sat down, popcorn in hand---and I have Flow to thank for that!
---Brittany S. Peirce one-liner from the hit show Glee referencing the famous opening line to the song "gimme more" by Britney Spears
Picture to the right: Cameo of the Glee's Britney Spears episode featuring the pop diva herself--->
Glee has always been a fun, quirky, pop cultural phenomenon of a television show where the fictional students of McKinley High deal with their issues by breaking out into random song and dance. As if high school wasn't hard enough!
Of course, the students who perform the show-stopping tunes are part of their school's glee club, so the singing and dancing makes sense...some of the time. It's a very limbically pleasing experience none-the-less!
However, not all of the students in high school appreciate the random spurts of show tunes and contemporary songs from their classmates...in fact glee club is on the bottom of the latter when it comes to social coolness. More than once, a slushie has been thrown in a "gleek's" (glee geeks) face, a gleek has been pushed into a locker or something nasty has happened to one of the glee club's members as a result of bullying.
However, when dental anesthesia induced fantasies of the gleeks begin to feature pop diva Britney Spears, the confidence levels of the gleeks begin to rise, despite how uncool they are in the eyes of their peers. Each character finds their own individual meaning in a pop sequence. One character Brittany, a soft-spoken blonde, finds her inner diva by dancing and belting out "Slave 4 u".
Brittany: I would just like to say that from now on I demand to have every solo in glee club. When I had my teeth cleaned I had the most amazing Britney Spears fantasy. I sang and dance better than her. Now I realize what a powerful woman that I am.
Racheal, a talented control freak, learns to let loose by reenacting Britney's "Hit me baby one more time". However, the most inspiring would definitely have to be when Artie, a crippled boy who wants to join the football team, sing's the 90s hit "Stronger"
Who'd have thought Britney Spears lyrics would be able to pull at your heartstrings? Can you say emotional transfer?
The Glee Britney Spears episode would definitely have to be one of my favorites from the series so far. It was certainly an upbeat show, reflecting songs and dances I remember growing up with being a 90s child. I especially loved how between each scene it was edited so they played a short musical beat from "hit me baby one more time", a brittney spears classic.
It was good to see in the end of the episode when the gleeks performed at the school pep rally that they were actually receiving a positive response from their peers, even though it got a little ridiculous, turning into a "sex riot" (their dances were so sexy and reptilianly stimulating that the crowd was starting to go wild haha). I think the reason their performance was received so well was because the songs were so contemporary and the audience members were teens who could relate and remember the Brittney songs like I could. Pop music is a defining part of our generation so it was fun to see that represented in this episode of Glee. As it is stated by Kurt, a member of McKinley High's glee club:
"This club regularly pays tribute to pop culture and Britney Spears IS pop culture."
1. I am from South Windsor Connecticut, though for the first 9 years of my life I lived in East Hartford Connecticut.
2. I traveled to France for a graduation present and it was so interesting to see how another culture lives. I'm not sure if that qualifies for a media experience so I'd just like to add that traveling was a very new and enjoyable experience for me. I hadn't been on a plane in years and it was very interesting to see the working technology up in the sky, seeing as every seat got their own personal television where they could watch a bunch of new television shows, movies or listen to any mainstream music.
The Picture to the far left is me in front of the eiffel tower in France. It was a fabulous time! ---->
3. One thing I like about 21st century media culture is our instant connection to the people in our lives and the connection we have to the endlessly knowledgeable internet. If we have a question about something we can always just "cha-cha" it or "Google" it. One thing I don't like is how addicting the internet and television is. I've spent countless beautiful days in front of the dim glow of my laptop or television screen.
4. I honestly have no idea what I want to do with my life, career wise. I suppose that's what college is for, right? Right now, I'm exploring my options in the communications major. I could see myself as a professional writer, PR or digital film making major as well. I really liked working on my high school's literary arts magazine and yearbook when I was a high school student and could see myself working at a magazine of some type.
Whenever I think of working at a magazine, I think of the lighthearted chick flick "13 going on 30" One of my favorite scenes from the movie is the montage sequence of a magazine photoshoot where the main character Jenna is reconnecting with a childhood sweetheart.
