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.