Easy A

Easy A

I needed to wean myself from the 20 films I saw at the Film Festival. My plan was to see 1 film the day after the festival ended. I wanted to start catching up on regular playing films that had opened during the week.

I remembered reading the Scarlet Letter as a teenager. It made quite an impression. This film was supposedly based on the same idea but with a modern touch. Easy A was shown during the Film Festival. I can’t imagine who would pick this film to be part of the renowned International Film Festival.

Olive Prenderghast is a pretty young teenager. She lives with her very liberal parents. I adore Patricia Clarkson. I think she plays the part well as the mother. I just didn’t like the part. Stanley Tucci is the father. The parents are ‘over the top’ liberal and think that anything is alright for their daughter to do. At the beginning Olive is just one of the run of the mill kids at school.

Trouble brews with the catty, very religious, right wing Marianne. She is seen throughout the film singing Christian songs and touting her moral virtues. Some of the religious singing is quite humorous. Of course it is overdone and is supposed to be funny. I found the whole film to be rather insulting and very juvenile.

Olive is hardly noticed until the day her good friend Brandon announces his homosexuality. Olive offers to help him by pretending they are a straight couple. They even simulate sex in a loud bedroom scene during a party.

The school kids then looked at Brandon with respect and awe. They also looked at Olive in a different way. She became a ‘harlot’ to them.

It was interesting to note that the Scarlet Letter was being studied in class. Rumors begin to spread about Olive and she becomes known as the school ‘slut’,

She plays into their beliefs. She wears a large letter ’A’ on her clothes and dresses in a most provocative manner. No student would ever be allowed into a school wearing those outfits.

Many boys solicit her and offer her cheap ridiculous rewards because they don’t have any money. It all gets out of hand.

There is a parallel story with the guidance counselor who is caught playing around with someone other than her husband. At first she is thoughtful and kind to Olive. When Olive discovers what she is up to she becomes vicious and mean.

I was amazed to read the good reviews for this silly film.

I think it had a good idea. Self fulfilling prophecy can lead one into trouble. Olive had good intentions to help out her classmate. It went way out of control.

Perhaps I saw too many worthy films at the festival and this just didn’t compare. Perhaps I have no sense of humor. Perhaps I find it hard to relate to the woes of a teenager.

Whatever, I did not think this film was worthy of the festival and I just plain didn’t enjoy it.