Easy+A+(Film)


 * Caitlyn Polz**

** Easy A (Film) **


 * Background**

//Easy A// is a film that was released in September of 2010 starring Emma Stone, Amanda Bynes, and Penn Badgley. It was directed by Will Gluck and written by Bert V. Royal (//Easy A//, n.d.). Emma Stone was nominated for a Golden Globe in 2011 for best performance by an actress in a comedy or musical (Nominations & winners, n.d.). Roger Ebert gave the film 3 ½ stars out of four, and claimed “it’s a funny, engaging comedy that takes the familiar but underrated Emma Stone and makes her, I believe, a star” (Ebert, 2010). //Easy A// has been compared to other teen films such as //Mean Girls// and //Juno//, both for its humor content and themes. The film even references several 1980s teen classics, such as //The Breakfast Club// and //Sixteen Candles//, and even ends with a tribute to //Say Anything//.

**Plot Summary**

Emma Stone plays Olive Penderghast, a high school student who lies about her sexual experiences to appease her best friend, Rhiannon (played by Alyson Michalka). Once the story of how she ‘lost her virginity’ spreads around the school, Olive quickly becomes the talk of the campus, and soon begins lying about other sexual experiences to help out the ‘uncool’ kids. In exchange for money and gift cards, Olive lets boys tell everyone they hooked up with her, and she eventually becomes ostracized by her friends and most of the school. She even dons a scarlet letter A in reference to __The Scarlet Letter__, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The film draws on many themes present in Hawthorne’s book, including social ostracism. The film is narrated by Olive and periodically shows Olive talking to her webcam, which by the end of the film, serves as Olive’s way of finally telling the truth to the school about her embellished sexual experiences.




 * Family Communication About Sex In** //Easy A//

In the film, Olive has a very open relationship with her parents. This open relationship even extends to topics about sex. Olive is not only open with her mother, but her father as well (played by Stanley Tucci). Olive is able to talk to her parents about Sexually Transmitted Diseases, having sex, and her sexual orientation. Even though Olive talked more with her mother about sex than she did with her father, she still felt comfortable talking to her dad, unlike the statistics show in regards to children communicating with parents about sex. However, because Olive Penderghast is a female character, she was more willing to be open with her parents in regards to sex, which is consistent with findings presented by Carl D. Sneed. Sneed states that “females report more communication about sex with their parents than males” (Sneed, 2010, 78). Emma Stone spoke about her character’s confident personality in the film, and how that confidence helped her remain open with her parents. Stone was interviewed by Sheila Roberts regarding the role of Olive’s parents in the film, and she believed that the openness of the parents helped to make Olive the self-assured person she was. Stone stated “they made that character and the way she is and the way she makes decisions, how confident she is in knowing the truth herself, regardless of what other people believe…She knows the truth [about her sexual activity] and she’s fine in herself. I think that comes from her family base and having parents that are open and understanding and have raised her to be confident in herself” (Roberts, 2010). Humor is also used in the film to relieve tension, as is effective in discussing sexual topics with adolescents. So the film serves as a form of entertainment, but education as well.

**Connection to __The Scarlet Letter__**

Ostracism is a common theme present in the film, and is defined by Merriam-Webster as “exclusion by general consent from common privileges or social acceptance” (Ostracism, n.d.). In the film there is a constant theme of ostracism, which ties into the novel The Scarlet Letter Olive reads in literature class. In the book, the main character Hester Prynne is accused of adultery and is forced to wear a scarlet letter A. In the film, Olive chooses to follow suit and decides that because people are calling her a ‘whore’, she’ll be “the dirtiest whore they’ve ever seen”. (Easy A, 2010). Even though Emma Stone’s comedic timing is impeccable in the film, she still shows her sensitive side (like when she goes to church to confess her ‘sins’). This sensitivity mirrors Hester Prynne’s.



References:

Ebert, Roger (Sept. 15, 2010). Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved from []

Hollywood Foreign Press Association (2010). Nominations & Winners. Retrieved from []

Internet Movie Data Base (2010). Easy A. Retrieved from []

Merriam-Webster (n.d.). Retrieved from []

Roberts, Sheila (Sept. 11, 2010). Emma Stone Interview Easy A. Retrieved from []

Sneed, Carl D. (2008). Parent-Adolescent Communication About Sex: The Impact of Content and Comfort on Adolescent Sexual Behavior. Retrieved from []