Easy A

I recently watched Easy A, and I was left with one burning question: why does Hollywood insist on casting twenty-somethings as high schoolers? Emma Stone-22, Amanda Bynes-24, Dan Byrd-25, Penn Badgley-24. None of those actors played a convincing teenager. In fact, I haven't seen a less convincing teenager since 59 year-old Luke Perry graced us with his character Dylan on Beverly Hills 90210. It's not that I wasn't willing to get over the age of the actors-I tried. It's just that when everyone in the movie plays a sarcastic, jaded, and cynical know-it-all, well, it gets a little tired. It's like everyone of the actors was asked to reprise the role of John Cusack in Better Off Dead...except they all missed the mark. The movie was topped off with every possible stereotypical role that is found in most modern teenage movies. There was the overly judgemental Christian group which behaved in the typical anti-Christian manner. Lord knows what would happen if Hollywood actually portrayed Christians displaying Christian ideals? And of course there was the gay teenager who couldn't reveal his true sexual orientation for fear of bullying (because all gay teenagers are persecuted). Finally, we had the stereotypical "cool teacher," who was able to connect with his students by trading sarcastic barbs and dropping pop culture references with the most cynical of the bunch. The only character missing was the nerdy girl who turns out to be really hot after a makeover. Maybe they're saving that stereotype for the sequel: Easy A-The College Years. Thanks Hollywood, for another teen comedy that was totally worth watching.

I just saw a horrible commercial. Worse yet, it was a PSA. Even worse than that, it featured Wanda Sykes...noooooo! Has there ever been a less funny comedienne? Better yet, has there ever been a less funny comedienne that has managed to extend the shelf life of a horrible career by becoming a mouthpiece for some social issue? I would argue "no" for both of those questions. But Wanda Sykes's lousy acting and grating voice are not what prompted me to dust off my neglected blog. It was the message that her lousy acting and grating voice were trying to convey in her PSA that compelled me to action (such as it is). In the commercial, three teenage boys are sitting at a booth in a restaurant and laughing at the cheesy decor of the place. One of the kids points at a small statue of a Chef Boyardee-esque Italian cook and says "That's so gay!" Another kid responds with "that's really gay!" Enter washed-up comedienne. Upon hearing the offensive language of the boys, Wanda strides over to the booth and implores the young boys to "Please don't say that." "Don't say that something is gay when you mean that it is dumb or stupid...it's insulting." She further illustrates her point by using "sixteen year-old boy with a cheesy mustache" to describe something she thought was stupid. Well played Wanda, well played. I guess no one ever pointed out to Wanda that the word gay meant "in or showing a joyous mood" long before it was used to describe homosexuals. And yet, I don't see people in joyous moods telling Wanda "Please don't say gay when you mean someone is a homosexual...it's insulting." Maybe Christians should run a PSA in which they could tell Wanda "Please don't use the rainbow as a symbol for homosexuality, it's a sign of God's covenant to mankind and when you do that it's insulting." The point here is not whether you think homosexuality is right or wrong; rather, as soon as you have the speech police running around telling us what we can and cannot say, we lose our freedom of speech. Furthermore, get over it! Nowhere in the founding documents or current laws of this country does it say that we have the right to never be insulted or offended. Hey Wanda, language evolves, words and symbols get co opted by groups for various reasons and causes, if you don't like it...tough. Maybe you can construct some Orwellian world in which you decide what words can and cannot be used, but until then I guess you'll just have to see if your agent can book you for some more PSAs. Maybe next time you could film one on something that actually matters? When it comes to acting and comedy just take the advice you gave at the end of your PSA and "knock it off." We'll all be a little less insulted.