Review: Easy A

#67 - Easy A

Easy A is a modern take on The Scarlet Letter. Olive, an intelligent high school student, gets roped into a scandal that overtakes her life. She feels sorry for her friend, Brandon, because he is constantly bullied for being gay. She agrees to make the entire school think she slept with him, so that he can convince the other kids that he is straight. This begins a huge issue for Olive. She continues to pretend to perform sexual favors for guys in exchange for money, and it ruins her reputation and her life. She finally has enough, and she broadcasts a live webcast for all to see. She lets all of her secrets out, and it clears her name and her reputation. She then gets to run off into the sunset with her long-time crush, Todd. The film ends with Todd and Olive riding away on a lawnmower, Can't Buy Me Love style. 

I really loved this movie when it first came out. It was a great adaptation of The Scarlet Letter. However, the more I watch this film, the more I'm over it. Don't get me wrong - Emma Stone is fantastic in it, but some of the choices on the writer and director's parts leave me unsatisfied. For instance, I was a high school student once, and I now teach in a public school. When someone had sex with someone, the entire school did NOT make a big deal about it. Yeah, depending on what circles you ran with, there would be some people talking about it, but most people just didn't care. Why? Because everyone starts having sex in high school...so it's not that big of a deal. Olive's bedroom antics "spreading like wildfire" would never happen the way that it does in the film. It's unrealistic and a little over the top. It makes the film seem cheesy. I mean, a Christian group rallying outside the principal's office with signs to get rid of Olive? Yeah right. 1) The principal or an SRO would've put an end to it and 2) A group of teenagers would never put that much effort into something so ridiculous. It is true that Christian groups go a little crazy sometimes, but I don't think that they would get away with chanting "slut" on public school property during school hours. There are just little things in this film that bother me each time I re-watch it. 

One thing I will say that I LIKE about the film is the dynamic between Olive and her parents. Usually, if parents take the friendship approach with their kid it backfires, but in this case, I think it has made Olive a more well-rounded person. I believe that that is why Olive feels the need to help out Brandon and all of the other "loser" guys at school. She feels sorry for them, and that shows that she has been raised to be a compassionate person. Her parents are absolutely a riot, and I love them.

I also love that this film is such a great tribute to the late John Hughes. Even though he didn't create this film, his influence can be found throughout. Olive confesses that her life isn't a John Hughes film, but that she would love to have John Cusack standing under window with a boombox above his head, or ride off into the sunset on a lawnmower with Patrick Dempsey, or have Judd Nelson thrust his fist in the air because he knows he finally got her. It's a wonderful way to pay homage to such a great director. And then to have Todd, Olive's long-time crush, be standing under her window holding speakers, standing on a lawnmower...it was great.

Overall, I think that this movie is cute, as well as creative. It brings a classic book to life through film, and it does it very well. 

I give Easy A 3 out of 5 stars.