Easy A

Teen movies reached iconic status in the 80s, when John Hughes ushered in his legacy of teenage escapades. Ever present in popular culture, they are inescapable now. So much so, that a teen movie today can’t get away without an homage or a reference. It’s kind of annoying. Make your own damn teen movies! Let Hughes rest in peace already. “Easy A,” makes many references to teen movies of the 80s, but its most overbearing allusion is to “The Scarlet Letter.”

Here’s the gist of the movie: Olive is an invisible girl at her school, but when she makes up a lie to help a friend she is labeled a whore. She embraces her new status with gusto, until it spirals out of control (the moral of the story: honesty is the best policy? I don’t know, fuck it). Now, I don’t claim to know a lot about feminism. I love my mom, my sister and my girlfriend, and if anyone ever told my daughter she wasn’t worth the same as a man I would punch them in the face. Clearly there are many post-feminist ideas in play here in this movie, mostly about sexuality. I will leave that to a smarter person to interpret. As far as the parallels to “The Scarlet Letter,” it’s really only superficial. It’s been a long time since I took American literature in high school, but I remember the story being more about how guilt will ultimately destroy you (I should probably read it again). Anyway, here’s the bottom line with this movie: it was decent.

You have all these allusions interplaying with themselves. In the age of YouTube and text messaging it’s a little too much. The structure of the movie and the ending are too contrived and subtracted from what is at least an interesting idea. Emma Stone has to carry the film which is not easy and she does well. All the other actors do a fine job, I guess, for what small parts they have. Stone is one of those girls who in real life is probably exquisitely beautiful but in the “Hollywood kaleidoscope of perfection” is just normal looking, which makes her relatable. I do think it’s a little weird that five years ago she played someone in high school and here she is, still playing someone in high school. The best part of the movie for me was Olive’s parents. They have some of the best jokes and funniest lines; although the film sometimes thinks it’s wittier than it actually is. Overall, I have seen a lot worse teen movies come out than this recently. If you’re like me you might get a few chuckles in, and although it’s not without its flaws, it’s not a bad little movie. At least it doesn’t treat the audience like they are complete morons which more than I can say for most movies.