The construction of this movie is kind of bad. - Easy A (2010) Discussion

[–] JR541 13 years ago

The structure of your post is also quite "kind of bad". You don't say just what it is that doesn't make sense to you.

He's taking the knife out of the Cheese!
Do you think he wants some cheese?

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[–] ds1313 13 years ago

What doesn't make sense:
1. At the beginning, people don't really know at her school, so why would people freaked out when they found out she had sex?
2. Also, a lot of high school kids have sex, so why would anyone care if she had sex?
3. Unless she went to a high school where people don't have sex?
4. In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Hester was forced to wear the red letter A, it was meant to be humiliated, did Olive not understand that? Why does Olive want to humiliate herself?
5. Olive wear a lot of clothes with A on it, looks like she sewed them on, so what, she just sewed so many tops with the letter A on it? That's just plain weird.
The list go on.

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[–] Goodbye_from_Fox_In_A_Box 13 years ago

Do you seriously not understand these points you brought up? How old are you, if I may ask?

"I hardly know, which way is up, or which way down" - "I Feel Possessed", Neil Finn

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[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] joedogboy68 11 years ago

1. At the beginning, people don't really know at her school, so why would people freaked out when they found out she had sex?

People know her, she's just not popular or "interesting" enough to be at the center of attention. She probably isn't ever getting asked out because guys assume that if she was interested in dating, she'd have a boyfriend already.

2. Also, a lot of high school kids have sex, so why would anyone care if she had sex?

Even though it isn't uncommon for people in high school to have sex, it is a popular topic for gossip. This is especially true if someone who is not known for being social or interested in dating suddenly becomes sexually active. A stoner chick who has been hooking up with random guys in return for pot isn't going to get the same amount of attention as an honor role girl who has always seemed too preoccupied with academics to date, who suddenly starts having a reputation.

3. Unless she went to a high school where people don't have sex?

She goes to a high school where "the right people" don't admit to having sex.

4. In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Hester was forced to wear the red letter A, it was meant to be humiliated, did Olive not understand that? Why does Olive want to humiliate herself?

Olive is the one who created the rumors about herself, and is the one who is promoting the rumors, so it makes sense that she would be the one to place a mark of "shame" on herself. She is clearly not humiliated by the rumors and reputation, and wearing the letter allows her to further the scandal surrounding herself, and keep her at the center of attention. By wearing the letter, she is not only drawing attention to herself, but to the parallels between the society int he book, and the society she lives in. Like the community in [u]The Scarlet Letter[/u], the "purest" members of the school community are actually among the most immoral. The "pure" girl who leads the religious group is a malicious gossip who revels in the misfortunes of others, and who is petty and mean-spirited.

5. Olive wear a lot of clothes with A on it, looks like she sewed them on, so what, she just sewed so many tops with the letter A on it? That's just plain weird.

There is a scene that shows her very deliberately cutting out those "A"s and sewing them on her clothes. The letter is symbolic of her rebellion against the "rules" of school society. She is, on the one hand, mocking her society for their ridiculous puritanical moral code, and drawing attention to the parallels between the judgmental students and the judgmental society in [u]The Scarlet Letter[/u], while at the same time, punishing herself a but because she is a little bit ashamed of her dishonesty (but not of her "sexuality").

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[–] My_Name_Is_Lydia 13 years ago

Are you 13 now or when you started your IMDB account 4 years ago?

Georgina: Are we safe here?
Michael: Does Albert read?

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[–] yusef-ghanima 9 years ago

are you a focking piece of crap, is that your smell!

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[–] michahardy 13 years ago

I also didn't find it very funny. I laughed out loud for maybe two scenes, one of those I was forcing myself. I also thought not much happened in the movie, if that makes sense. I enjoyed the first half of the movie, but not so much the second half.

Still it is the kind of movie I like to go back and re-watch parts of while I'm eating lunch or something (lol). Just because I didn't find it funny doesn't mean I do not think its good.

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[–] bsharporflat 13 years ago

The movie was good because of Emma Stone. The rest of the movie, including the writing, supporting cast and direction had high and low points. But Emma was nearly perfect.

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[–] Kuato_and_George 13 years ago

I was looking forward to her first movie as the main star, but was very disappointed in this movie. I didn't like it much at all.

For my latest movie reviews and news:http://www.hesaidshesaidreviewsite.com/

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[–] ds1313 13 years ago

"My_Name_Is_Lydia", just because I have a 13 in my username and you think I'm 13? What kind of thinking is that?!
"mullane-1", I'm being serious, if you can answer these questions please do, and I did not assume you're 1 year old just because you have a 1 in your username, right? I'm in college.

I don't know if I think this movie is not very good cause I was very sleepy when I was watching it, but really, there're a lot of little things in this movie doesn't make sense.
Oh and how about that 21(or 22? not sure) years old guy who's still in high school? It's kind of weird. OK it makes perfect sense if he dropped out of high school and went back to finish it, but in the movie it doesn't seem like the case, it seems like he's been going to high school since normal age and can't graduate form school, there're a lot of kids around the country don't study at all and they can graduate from high school, I think if you just showed up in classes, even your grade is horrible the school will eventually let you graduate. Maybe 1 year or 2 years late? But 3 years? Really?

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[–] CaptHayfever 13 years ago

Not every school does social promotion; some still actually require you to earn the passing grades.

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[–] Twisted_Utopia 13 years ago

The movie didn't try to pretend it was normal for a 22 year old to still be there. In fact, it was a point they leaned on very heavily.

On the topic of the A, do you understand irony? I don't mean in the Alanis Morissette sense but in the actual meaning. It's a common misconception but in actually irony means to do or say something in such a way that it conveys the opposite of the meaning. I hate to dictionary.com you but a technique of indicating, as through character or plot development, an intention or attitude opposite to that which is actually or ostensibly stated. THAT is why she wore the A; more or less sarcastically.

Now about the highschool kids having sex thing - yes, at least in my school there were lots of people that had sex. A few of them had reputations, a few dropped out pregnant, and lots of people I was even mostly friends with had sex and I never knew about it. BUT I'm more than willing to accept that other highschools are probably different than mine based on LOTS of variables like neighbourhood or even country. My highschool was large and pretty new. Our sports teams all sucked and the two feeder junior highs were from drastically different towns, one very poor with mostly trailer parks and lower-middle-class suburbs, the other from a beautiful and wealthy town full of lakefront properties and cops. Well, and lots of people growing pot but not shady people. These two groups of kids came together and resulted in many things I'm sure never happened in all other highschools.

"5. Olive wear a lot of clothes with A on it, looks like she sewed them on, so what, she just sewed so many tops with the letter A on it? That's just plain weird."

...I read this after I wrote all that other stuff. I might not have bothered, you seem like a lost cause...Ah screw it. I don't imagine the audience is expected to think all these highschool kids understand the purpose of the A and if they do whatever. She sewed it on symbolically for herself.

Seriously have you had so shallow an understanding of every movie you've seen? I haven't seen Mean Girls yet and you seemed to like that so I really couldn't guess I suppose. I suppose many cultures are different and maybe the language barrier lost you on a few of the points which could hardly be your fault. What is your first language?

"Ah. Multiple exclamation points, the true sign of a deranged mind."

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[–] ds1313 13 years ago

I don't have problems understanding movies, just this one. If Olive was meant to do the whole thing in a ironic way, it seems that none of her classmates understand it, then why doesn't she explain it to them?
And why did she go out with guys or pretend to make out with guys? Is it just for the money? Or coupons?(really?) Or just for fun? What exactly did she do that for?! Is she just bored? I don't think the movie really explained it.
You haven't seen Mean Girls yet? I thought everyone has seen it!(at least for girls) It's quite old now. Well, I'm not saying Mean Girls is amazing, but at least it's the same type of movie as Easy A and it has better script than Easy A does.
I used to live in the US when I was little, I live in Taiwan now.

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[–] yellowgum900 13 years ago

Honestly I think the red A is pretty self explanatory. Most of those kids would be familiar with what the A represents, having read the Scarlet Letter, so for her to strut around school in her skimpy outfits and her bright red A is just like a giant eff you. It's basically like she's wearing a sign that says "Yeah, I know what you think of me and I couldn't care less." She doesn't have to explain it to anyone.

As for the lying, she lied about sleeping with "George" for a very silly, yet understandable reason. Understandable for a teenager anyway. She was getting attention and she felt interesting, so she lied. After that she lied out of pity. Brandon, her gay friend, was being bullied and asked for her help. She didn't want to do it initially but she realized how hard it was for him being gay in their high school, so she did it. Pity was what fueled most of her lies, she felt bad for the overweight guy and she felt bad for Mrs. Griffith. They didn't really show the circumstances of the other boys since it was done in a montage but I assume that she felt bad for them as well. None of them really seemed like studs. She asked for money and stuff though, because even though she felt bad for them, it was still her reputation taking a hit so honestly she deserved something for it.

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[–] Ceryli 13 years ago

Ah, you live in Taiwan now. Comedy doesn't always translate culturally very well. Or you may just not have liked it. As for why there was a 22 year old still in high school, the FAQ says it was an in-joke because that cast member was in his mid-20s during filming and some fans didn't like that.

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[–] Ithilfaen 12 years ago

Sorry to ask but when you say you don't "have problems understanding movies", you mean Mean Girls and Legally Blonde? Because there are several levels of complexity for movies and obviously, Easy A was a little over your head. It's ok, not every movie is for everyone. Just don't assume the movie's bad because you don't get it. Maybe you should read more and understand concepts of irony, sarcasm and second degree better then give it another try.

For every lie I unlearn I learn something new - Ani Difranco

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[–] MikeStvns 12 years ago

Yeah, I'd say the beginning premise is bad: that she decided to randomly lose her virginity to some college guy and wanted it to be a one-night stand thing and didn't even seem to like the guy.

How believable is that? Most people would assume that guy simply used her.

And then she goes for gay guy and has sex with him at a party? Even less believable.

And then she 'does stuff' with a hairy fat guy who apparently for some reason instantly told everyone that he actually paid to do that.

Back to the premise, Olive lied because she didn't want to hang out wit her best friend's parents when Olive's one parents seem to be 'hippies' as well.

And her best friend Rihannon seems to be popular, so that would mean that Olive would be popular as well. And yet she complains that no one knows her. And, in a town of less then 10K people, she's one of the most attractive girls in school and she's smart. It's about impossible that she wasn't known.

Plus, this didn't seem to take place in a socially conservative town, so why would the gay kid feel tormented? And why would Olive feel sorry for a fat guy? That guy being fat is his fault. And the guidance counselor cheated on her husband with a student and Olive feels bad for her just because she likes the teacher. That guy has a right to know his wife cheated on him and that she has an STD.

This was like the worst supposedly 'good' teen comedies that I've seen. Heathers and Clueless are far better and more culturally relevant and even with its problems, even Mean Girls is better.

The latent causes of faction are thus sown in the nature of man [...] views

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[–] CaptHayfever 12 years ago

Yeah, I'd say the beginning premise is bad: that she decided to randomly lose her virginity to some college guy and wanted it to be a one-night stand thing and didn't even seem to like the guy.

How believable is that? Most people would assume that guy simply used her.

Point being that Rhiannon is easy to fool, & almost nobody else knew Olive well enough to realize that was out of character for her.

And then she goes for gay guy and has sex with him at a party?

He wasn't "out", it was just "obvious". Their fake sex was just to fool people so they'd stop beating the crap out of him for a few more months.

And then she 'does stuff' with a hairy fat guy who apparently for some reason instantly told everyone that he actually paid to do that.

If he told everyone, the whole thing would've fallen apart immediately. He only told people who were just as desperate as him.

Back to the premise, Olive lied because she didn't want to hang out wit her best friend's parents when Olive's one parents seem to be 'hippies' as well.

Olive's parents are ex-hippies at worst. Sure they're open-minded, trusting, & rather goofy, but they don't walk around naked in front of guests or offer drugs to minors like Rhi's parents do.

And her best friend Rihannon seems to be popular, so that would mean that Olive would be popular as well.

Logical fallacy.

And, in a town of less then 10K people, she's one of the most attractive girls in school and she's smart. It's about impossible that she wasn't known.

What school did you go to where intelligence leads to popularity? It had quite the opposite effect for me.

Plus, this didn't seem to take place in a socially conservative town, so why would the gay kid feel tormented?

A) A town where the student-run Christian club has enough influence to change the public school's mascot is DEFINITELY socially conservative.
B) The gay kid felt tormented because he was literally tormented; he was on detention with Olive that day for defending himself in a fight. Regardless of whether or not a town is conservative, there is at least one dumb strong guy at a high school who will react violently towards an effeminate gay guy, given the chance.

And why would Olive feel sorry for a fat guy? That guy being fat is his fault.

Being fat is his fault, yes. Being bullied is NOT his fault, & that's what she felt sorry for him about.

And the guidance counselor cheated on her husband with a student and Olive feels bad for her just because she likes the teacher. That guy has a right to know his wife cheated on him and that she has an STD.

This one I agree with.

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[–] renegade916 12 years ago

People who didn't understand the film or especially Olive's overall demeanor and sardonic personality are probably too stupid to understand the films humor. In a big way her character is far beyond all her peers in maturity, but she does however still have a lot of growing up to do herself, which she learns the hard way. I mean really? Mean Girls was had "great" writing? Don't get me wrong I love Tina Fey, but that movie had simple humor and simple writing compared to this.

I'm always dragging that horse around...

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[–] gotmyorangecrush 9 years ago

I hate to say it, but this is spot on. This was not a complicated movie to understand, not in the least. If people are seriously having a problem understanding this film then they have either never been in high school, didn't pay attention during the film, or clearly aren't very bright when it comes to understanding very basic premises in films. There really wasn't a single aspect of this film that was difficult to understand. You may not agree with everything and might think that some aspects were a bit unrealistic, but actually understanding the film and what it was saying.....its about as straight forward as straight forward gets in films.

Honestly, if you found this film hard to understand....well, my advice would be to stay away from films that actually require some level of thinking. Films like Memento, Inception, Shutter Island, The Prestige, Mulholland Drive, Primer, Donnie Darko, etc. Those films will leave you drooling at the TV screen if you found Easy A difficult to comprehend.

Still Shooting With Film!

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[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] paulski-98155 9 years ago

And the guidance counselor cheated on her husband with a student and Olive feels bad for her just because she likes the teacher. That guy has a right to know his wife cheated on him and that she has an STD.

She clearly states that although she was right in the information that she gave she was totally wrong in the way that she did it. He had a riaght to know - he didn't however need one of his pupils blurting it out to him because she was angry.

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[–] ab-cashew 9 years ago

I think the poster meant to ask why Olive lied for Mrs. Griffith in the first place, claiming that the plot is incredulous and Olive's behavior illogical. I'd argue that Olive is a teenager in the movie, thus some of her reactions to things may be a bit impulsive.

She covers up for Mrs. Griffith because she doesn't want to ruin the marriage of her favorite teacher, without thinking of the consequences of that action to herself (being ostracized as an STD-carrier, for one). As you pointed out, later in the movie, she does a complete 180 and blurts out her anger and the information to the teacher, exposing the very thing she was trying to cover up for in the first place.

This impulsive and irrational quality in Olive's behavior only contributes to the pseudo-realism of the movie for me. After all, her character still has a lot of growing up to do. Other people in this forum seem to think that it doesn't make sense for her to do these things. Her doing things that don't make sense actually makes perfect sense.

"Now if any of you, sons of bitches, got anything else to say, now's the f-cking time!"

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[–] Ithilfaen 9 years ago

I don't have problems understanding movies, just this one

Maybe you should try watching movies when you're fully awake then?  because I wouldn't brag about not understanding this movie, it's pretty simple.

And why did she go out with guys or pretend to make out with guys? Is it just for the money? Or coupons?(really?) Or just for fun? What exactly did she do that for?!

Again, she explains why so maybe you should watch the movie before saying "the construction is kind of bad", which doesn't mean anything really

For every lie I unlearn I learn something new - Ani Difranco

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[–] mriley29 11 years ago

WOW! I hope you ARE 13!!
Nice post.

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[–] ZeeEnds 9 years ago

People are being really rude to you, but you've raised some valid points. I don't know if it's true in every state, but at the very least in the state where I went to high school you couldn't be old enough to buy liquor and still a high school student. There were a few people who couldn't pass if their lives depended on it, and they were kicked out at 21.

The person who wrote the screenplay was home schooled, and it shows. Teenagers don't talk like that or act like that. Are there really high schools (public high schools) that have a Jesus club?

There's another movie called "Saved" that this movie seems to draw some of its script from, with the rest coming from a hodge podge understanding of The Scarlet Letter. The biggest problem I have is its use of Mark Twain. Who makes a joke about two men dating, where you're comparing them to a relationship between a free man and a slave. That's beyond tacky, and I can't believe it wasn't cut from the final script.

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[–] gotmyorangecrush 9 years ago

I don't know if it's true in every state, but at the very least in the state where I went to high school you couldn't be old enough to buy liquor and still a high school student. There were a few people who couldn't pass if their lives depended on it, and they were kicked out at 21.

No, its not true in every state. There are some states that have the kind of age laws your talking about in regards to high school, but most states do not have them and many of the states that did have them wound up getting rid of them in recent years. Most states now allow people over the age of 21 to attend High School, if they so desire. Most people just wind up taking the GED at that point, but they are allowed to attend high school if they want to. Just because there are a few states that have such laws doesn't make this a valid point.

The person who wrote the screenplay was home schooled, and it shows. Teenagers don't talk like that or act like that. Are there really high schools (public high schools) that have a Jesus club?

You went to a single high school and as such your expereinces let you make statements based on that ONE school, nothing more and nothing less. To try and come on here and suggest that any type of behavior in this film is unrealistic becasue it didn't happen in your high school is really laughable at best. There are literally thousands of different high schools out there, many of them extremely different than others based on location, wealth, religious views, nationality of students, etc. If you want to say teenagers didn't act like that in your school then have at it, but to say that teenagers in general don't act like that is just pure BS as you have absoutely NO CLUE how the teenagers act in other high schools that you didn't attend. And yes, there are actually many high school have religious clubs. There are entire high schools that are religion based. Have you ever heard of Catholic school?

The biggest problem I have is its use of Mark Twain. Who makes a joke about two men dating, where you're comparing them to a relationship between a free man and a slave. That's beyond tacky, and I can't believe it wasn't cut from the final script.

Your biggest problem with this film was a single joke that was told? Wow, just wow! My advice. do yourself a favor and lighten up. Life is way too short to be that uptight. It was a joke for gods sake and the film was a comedy. Honestly, you should just stay away from modern comedies altogether if your wound up that tight as that is an extremely tame joke compared to a lot of the other jokes told in other modern comedies. If you found that offensive....well, chances are your going to have most of the comedies you watch ruined by jokes that you find distasteful.

Still Shooting With Film!

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[–] ZeeEnds 9 years ago

"You went to a single high school and as such your expereinces let you make statements based on that ONE school, nothing more and nothing less. To try and come on here and suggest that any type of behavior in this film is unrealistic becasue it didn't happen in your high school is really laughable at best. There are literally thousands of different high schools out there, many of them extremely different than others based on location, wealth, religious views, nationality of students, etc. If you want to say teenagers didn't act like that in your school then have at it, but to say that teenagers in general don't act like that is just pure BS as you have absoutely NO CLUE how the teenagers act in other high schools that you didn't attend. And yes, there are actually many high school have religious clubs. There are entire high schools that are religion based. Have you ever heard of Catholic school? "

^Yes. But this wasn't a Catholic High School. This is a public high school. It is illegal to have a Jesus Club in a public high school. If there are programs like this that exist in public high schools, they are violating separation of church and state.

Your biggest problem with this film was a single joke that was told? Wow, just wow! My advice. do yourself a favor and lighten up. Life is way too short to be that uptight. It was a joke for gods sake and the film was a comedy. Honestly, you should just stay away from modern comedies altogether if your wound up that tight as that is an extremely tame joke compared to a lot of the other jokes told in other modern comedies. If you found that offensive....well, chances are your going to have most of the comedies you watch ruined by jokes that you find distasteful.

^Do yourself a favor and stick to yahoo message boards. It's possible to have a discussion about a film without talking like a disgruntled high school student. Mark Twain's book is written as a commentary about race and society. There was no need to include anything about Mark Twain at all. It took away form the script to have something to tasteless and crass at the center.

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[–] ab-cashew 9 years ago

Good point about the Huckleberry Finn reference. Although for full disclosure I must say that I haven't read the book, but I understand how tasteless a reference to "a commentary about race and society" can be when talking about two homosexuals eloping.

The way I see it, that joke just reinforces Olive's general misunderstanding of literature even though she does appear to be smarter than average. She also misunderstood The Scarlet Letter, not just because she watched a mere movie adaptation instead of reading the actual book, but in giving the summary of the movie she also mistook it for having a happy ending where "Hester died a saint" (which she thankfully corrected later on). I think the crassness is simply a part of her character - the Tom Cruise joke (although I LOL-ed in that part) also comes to mind. But I agree that it might have been wiser to leave the Huck Finn joke out of the final script.

"Now if any of you, sons of bitches, got anything else to say, now's the f-cking time!"

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[–] kurtbrian14 11 years ago

I don't find Easy A funny or make sense, the construction of this movie is kind of bad.

This film was shown on college campuses later after it was initially released. The reason for that is because it was widely regarded by college students as funny and ironic as a script. All films about high school life come across as a little disjointed intentionally, because that's the way high school feels to many people that try to make sense of it.

It's one of the few times in life where people roughly the same age are put together into one work environment. The only other time would be in military service.

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[–] gotmyorangecrush 9 years ago

All films about high school life come across as a little disjointed intentionally, because that's the way high school feels to many people that try to make sense of it.

An extremely valid point. Many of the people that attend high school have a very hard time getting through it. Its a very confusing part of life and if your not in the right groups or clicks, it can be extremely challenging. Many people literally can't wait to get through high school, just so they can get away from all of the behaviors you see in many high school environments. So making these films appear a bit disjointed, due to high school itself being so disjointed, is a completely valid methodology.

Still Shooting With Film!

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[–] ab-cashew 9 years ago

One of my pet peeves in IMDb are posters who make statements when they should be asking questions. Instead of dismissing the movie as bad because you don't understand its humor, ask first if other people do understand, and then ask those people to try and explain it to you. When a majority of the audience understands, the fact that you don't is probably more your fault than the movie's (or its "construction").

The icing on the cake is when you admit you were sleepy watching the movie (in contrast to the movie making you fall asleep, of course).

"Now if any of you, sons of bitches, got anything else to say, now's the f-cking time!"

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[–] sirako 9 years ago

are you a Christian kid?

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