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So I finished this movie that some people are calling 'the new classic' of teen movies, and is often featured in articles of "movies like Mean Girls". Well, I don't like it and it's mid af.
Easy A is the perfect example of the teen movies that were tryna chase the success of Mean Girls. Like all of its genre, it doesn't really get the satire (imo it was hard to tell the sincere parts. The scene where Marianne cries on her made me wonder if the film was still joking or not), the dialogue was way too on the nose sometimes (in that kinda quirky "hey look at me, or another character, doing this obvious weird/unexpected thing! Pointing it out = comedy!"), and the jokes were written in such a way like they were shooting for an 'iconic line' instead of having the convo flow naturally. And they even have a black character and make a few race jokes! (Just like the MC of MG with her being African). The parents repeating words joke was repeated too many times, when it was never funny after the first few secs of TTTTTT.
But the thing I dislike most about the movie is it's politics. Sure slutshaming is bad, but it's the focus on Marianne as the main villain that's off putting to me. DISCLAIMER: While I'm not saying the movie makers are MRAs, it's a common talking point amongst them that women make up the vast majority of misogyny because we do it to eachother, if they say it even exists at all. Like why make a Christian girl the face of slutshaming? It's really the men with power over her and society who made up these rules, which Marianne then passes down onto other girls due to messed up Serena Joy type female socialization. It's like saying being a racist politician is the equivalent of a black girl that shames other BGs with natural hair. Do both of them cause harm? Sure, but let's not pretend that one is as worse as the originator, or to use her as the face of the argument. The men of her worship group/clique aren't even highlighted as much as Marianne, when they follow her lead doing her bidding too! (And another thing about Marianne? Her clothes literally make ZERO sense. A girl as conservative& Christian as she is would not be wearing minis and show cleavage, like we saw in the locker room scene. Heck, in her other appearances I saw female background charcters wear more than her! It really makes no sense. L stylist.)
Let's be honest: the majority of liberal men only care about the part of women's sggsual liberation (and the women's movement/feminism as a whole) as the "freedom to be openly seggsual". Made by a male director [who I'm assuming has similar mindset] doesn't really seek to grasp the concept of women being sl*tshamed or the Scarlet Letter. In contrast to Marianne, Boys in Olive's HS are never really shown to be as cruel and seggsually aggressive as they are irl. Even the attempted SA scene was resolved like it was nothing! She never told Rhiannon about her longtime crush attempting 🍇!!!!! In the beginning, the HS boys come up to her and ask her questions in a way that's clearly meant to antagonize her, but that's pretty much it 4 the male social backlash. Idk if porn culture had risen to the heights it has now, but they mention FB being popular so clearly most the schoolboys had access to internet +the scene where the whole school rushes to the supposed corn site. Her treatment would've been far, far worse irl. I didn't grow up in that era, but from reading accounts I know that she would have her bra straps snapped, had obscenities yelled at her across the hallway, number leaked then harassed for seggs, Messenger blown up, etc maybe even have some boys throw a wad of paper at her butt or 🍒 randomly. But these realities of being given a Scarlet Letter are never shown that honestly. Sure the gay boy(who we never see again) is shown being congratuled at the party by dudebros while she has pointed looks given to her literally seconds afterward, but....that still doesn't encapsulate the true ♀️ experience. (Also let's not think about the whole plot unraveling by a single boy telling his BFF about her arrangement.) Meanwhile, there are multiple shots satirising Marianne's views & demonizing her and making her out to be the worst. The coverage of who truly controls and starts sexism and which seggs is truly on the offensive when it comes to matter like that is just plain false.
The gratuitous shots of nekkid women + the completely unnecessary locker room scene doesn't help the director's point at all. Just goes to show you how these 'sl*t pride' liberal male activists think. Like the pendulum has swung the opposite way from whenever the Secret Letter was written: we had to cover up and be chaste, and now we have movies demonstrating the injustice of it all by sexualizing us further. (LOL just like the remake of SL from the 80s🤣)
The ML romantic interest is just so lame. 1st my brain can't picture him as anything other than that stalker from YOU, 2nd the part where he agrees not to kiss her is just...performative and lowkey cringe. Like she's clearly crying and you still ask her to make the most columination kiss of her life, and it feels like the writer and filmographer are patting themselves of the back for him accepting her no. Like no HVM would ask to kiss then in the first place.
As a side note, I think it's funny how much the culture has changed since 2010. Olive's "risqué" outfits are literally a trend now. Like if a corset was in my size I would be rocking them lol. I was surprised when the partiers thought it was gay 4 him to enjoy doing a woman's 🍑, but I guess that's just my Gen Zness talking😂.
I admit I haven't seen this movie and a large part of why I haven't seen it is because it looks like a film that sexualises teenagers and even before FDS, those kinds of films gave me the "ick". I really feel like those kinds of films and TV shows are brainwashing teenage girls into thinking that they should be having casual sex or else there's something wrong with them.
The movie was based off of the book, “The Scarlet Letter”. The reason why Marianne was dressed so provocatively while being Christian is because it represented the church’s hypocrisy with morality.
I loved the movie when it first came out. My teachers at the time used it explain to explain members of society when they have been outcasted.
However, I do agree with you about the male silence. There’s a lot to be said with discourse when it comes to what’s being said and what is not being said. The film does miss its mark and opportunity for men to take advantage of the situation. I think that it could have gotten much more serious, but producers chose to go for a lighter tone.
Also, I grew up in that era , and what you’re describing is over the top lol in terms of she would have been treated. With sexually promiscuous girls like Olive, what would happen is that she would have been solicited by HS boys from all over the city. There was no bra strap snapping, or mass inundated messages. Back in the day, your phones were expected to be in your locker. You could not have it out to so work.
As for Olive’s love interest, I can explain this very well. Penn Badgley during the 2010’s was the IT guy to play the awkward highschool boy role since he nailed it perfectly in Gossip Girl. If you look at his acting experience, you’d see that he’s in every chick drama, and films that involve school. He has been type casted to play these roles. Granted, now that he’s older, he no longer looks like he could past as a student so he plays a professor or teacher.
You made a lot of valid points. As a millenial woman looking back at this movie I watched and liked in my late teens, I've had mixed feelings about it over the years. So I appreciate your fresh take as a Gen Z.
Sadly, at that time there weren't a lot of movies that tackled topics like slut-shaming effectively or were truly were driven by women's voices. This is what we got, and we were okay with it. Watching A Promising Woman shook me to the core, and not only because of the difficult subject matter. It was so visceral because these were hidden truths I subconsciously dismissed due to socialization and to keep the peace with people around me.