Motion Picture- Easy A

Bibliographic information:

Gluck, W. (Producer), & Gluck, W., Devine, Z. (Directors). (2010). Easy A. United States: Will Gluck Productions.

Plot Summary:

Olive Prendergast, a very smart high school student, lies to her best friend about having sex with a college guy and this lie is overheard by another student.  Olive’s reputation as a loose girl gets spread around campus and she is treated differently by almost everyone.  The conservative Christian students really give her trouble and she decides to promote this untrue reputation by changing her style of dress and pinning a red letter A on her blouse, as her English class is reading the Scarlet Letter.  Brandon, a gay teen, convinces Olive to say she slept with him so he can better hide his sexual orientation.  She agrees to say she has an suddenly she begins an industry of getting paid for saying that she slept with guys who are not very popular with girls. 

Olive’s reputation grows and she gets involved in a marriage dispute after she agrees to take the rap for giving a student a STD, when in reality it was the wife of a teacher that transmitted the disease.  The plot thickens and she is approached by a guy who really wants to have sex with her for money, and she sees the mistake of having everyone believe that she is promiscuous.  A relationship between her and the school mascot, Woodchuck Todd, slowly develops through the film and he turns out to be a nice guy who does not seem to care about the controversy surrounding Olive.  Because she can’t stand the lies and really likes Todd, she streams a live web cast to tell everyone the truth about what happened.   

Critical Evaluation:

            This is one of those films that I never thought that I would like, but went to see it and was very pleasantly surprised.  The humor of the film is apparent from the outset and there are times one would have a hard time stopping the laughter.  The acting was pretty good on the whole, with the main character Olive (Emma Stone) carrying much of the weight for some of the weaker actors in lesser roles.  Olive is one of those characters that tend to be remembered as she is ultra clever, yet is always getting herself into trouble.  I also particularly liked the Prendergast family atmosphere, which seems much more open than many.  Overall, the film had its moments and would probably be very attractive to people in high school, yet I thought it was great and have been out of high school for years. 
Author information:
Influenced by The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne  

Viewers Annotation:

A small lie marks Olive as an easy girl who perpetuates the gossip by agreeing to say she has been with a number of guys who are unlucky with girls.

Genre:

Comedy

Curriculum Ties:

N/A

Interest Age:

13+

Filmtalking Ideas:
1. The relationship between the film and The Scarlet Letter might be a good discussion.
2.  Discuss the subgroups in high school and how these behave toward Olive.
3. Focus on how Olive's family never seems to be intrusive but supports her no matter what.
Challenge Issues:

Sexual innuendo/Drinking/GLBT issues Rated PG-13

Challenge Defense Ideas:

1.  Watch the film.

2.  Be Familiar with the policy of the ALA and your institution.

3. Make a note of the contents of the work and how they fall in with the collection development policy of your institution and the standpoint of the ALA. 

4. Gain an awareness of the awards, reviews, and criticisms of the film.

5. Know the process for materials challenges at your library.

Why did you include this film? :

I went to see the film on a whim and thought that it was a good comedy for older teens.

Film Website/ Cast and Crew Information:

http://www.letsnotandsaywedid.com/