Rumors and pretenders run amok in the movie “Easy A,” a high school comedy filled with nerds, quirky adults, jocks, outcasts and Jesus freaks.
Lets get this straight: teen movies focus around the main character being an epic loser by having no boyfriend or girlfriend because of their poor social skills. The main character undergoes a transformation to become what he or she always wanted to be only to find out-at the school prom-that being yourself is what really matters. Roll the credits.
Don’t get this movie wrong; it does have cliché elements because high school is cliché and filled with melodramatic moments like those problems actually matter. But what gives “Easy A” its unusual spark is the development of the main character. The pressure she undertakes is not to become popular but to help those who aren’t.
Meet Olive, played by Emma Stone, a down to earth teen who couldn’t care less about her social status, but wishes she had a few stories to tell her sexually adventurous best friend Rhiannon, played by Aly Michalka. Desperate to impress, she tells a little lie that she lost her virginity.
Unbeknownst to Olive, Marianne the school’s biggest Christian played by the scene – stealing Amanda Bynes, heard what she thought true and spreads the rumor. Of course, like a good game of telephone, by the end of the day, Olive is said to be more promiscuous than a porn star.
Oddly enough during the fiasco, Olive’s class is studying the Scarlet Letter. Remember that book? It was required reading at most high schools. “Easy A” is loosely based on the book giving students a better incentive to read it.
Anyway, Olive, being the laid-back chick she is, accepts the rumors and even garnishes the letter “A” on all of her clothes, even her gym clothes, causing jaw drops and raised eyebrows.
At a party, a fan of Olive’s scheme, who everyone knows is gay, but doesn’t want to be an outcast, approaches her for pretend sex.
This situation carries on with nerds who hire her with payments of coupons because they want to be saved from the social outcast abyss. All is well until she is approached for real sex.
The message it leaves the audience exposes what’s plaguing schools today. Students feel as though they need to be someone they aren’t and succumb to peer pressure. This movie teaches that the age old saying “fake it til’ you make it” eventually comes with consequences. Awkwardly clichéd, the lesson alone earns “Easy A” a solid B.