Will Gluck’s Film Easy A

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This film expresses the double standards that women are confronted with in today’s society. A man can typically have multiple sexual partners without being frowned upon, whilst women are discouraged for sleeping with numerous men. Women are punished for behaving in sexually permissive ways by being stigmatised or isolated, whereas men are rewarded through popularity and admiration for identical behaviours. This exact same phenomenon occurs to Olive. An example of this is when Olive pretends to have sex with a boy who is at odds with his sexuality at a party. After the fake sexual encounter, Brandon walks out to an applauding audience, whereas Olive is confronted with negative judgements and sour looks. Being a woman and sexually promiscuous leads to negative perceptions in today’s society. As Olive comes to find out, her peers are quick to judge her based on the rumours about her sexual exploits, while the social status of men she was supposedly sleeping with is heightened.[pic 3][pic 4]

The mood of a film is set through the film techniques that the movie has to offer. Fifteen minutes in, with a stunning Californian citrus town setting and a cracking soundtrack that nods at many of those cliché high school films, Easy A had the audience hook, line and sinker. Bright colours, with splashes of red, making reference to ‘The Scarlet Letter’ where a woman is forced by her people to wear a Scarlet A on her clothing for she had committed adultery, are used in the colour pallet, with this sure to attract the teenage audience. Easy A used natural lighting, and a variety of low-angle and eye level shots to show the emotional connection between character and audience. Easily one of the greatest scenes of the movie, with by far the most promising film techniques, is established through the fake sex scene. Throughout the shots, there are numerous edit cuts showing the party goers reactions to things heard and said in the bedroom. Olive, intelligently, makes use of the sense of hearing as that is the only thing people outside the door can use, vision is taken out through the camera angle of the covered peep hole. With Olive and Brandon moaning and grunting, jumping on the bed, and proceeding to punch one another to provide the surreal sounds of an actual sexual experience. [pic 5]

Sassy but sincere, Easy A is an immensely likeable high school comedy powered by an outstanding lead performance by Emma Stone. Will Gluck intertwines all the elements of plot, setting, characters and cinematography together with the use of influential themes. The fact that the film incorporates ‘The Scarlet Letter’ as inspiration, allows it to explore themes not normally found in this genre such as sin, redemption, adultery and slander. Easy A embodies all the ingredients of a typical high school film and then takes it to the next level. This movie doesn’t fail to entertain.

★★★★✰[pic 6]