Today's focus will be discussing on feminist film theory. It stated in the 1920s, which looked at women's expression on their own subjectivity. According to Walsh (2010), the phenomenon of more women entering the workforce in the 1960s increased the dissatisfaction of women as they were treated unequally in terms of huge disparity in pay, sexual harassment and advancement opportunity (para.3). In addition, as films are viewed as a reflection of society, themes such as discrimination, stereotyping,objectification and etc are especially discussed in this theory. Therefore, this theory became matured in the late 1960s, after the radicalized feminist movement of sexual liberation and political debate of female representation.
Theory Discussion
Under feminist film theory, there are three perspectives of viewing the films. The first perspective would be the predetermined sexual identity to reveal the misrepresentation of women under a patriarchal society in film. The second perspective would be visualizing the various female representations and comparing them to get the final "preferred" female representations. The last perspective would be to look at the female representation of the film from a female spectator's point of view. In the film Easy A (2010), the second perspective is utilized in the filming. Follow by, the analysis will be discussing on the different females' traits within the film.
Synopsis
The female protagonist, Olive Penderghast, went from invisible to a most spoken student in the school due to the rumors of her losing virginity to a random guy. She was abhorred by Marianne, a religious student who was loyal to Christianity. Olive was then approached by Brandon, a homosexual guy who wanted to stop being bullied by requesting Olive to have a "fake" sex with him. Since then, Olive was well-known for her faking sex service. One day, she was paid for a real sex and this was when she decided to justify this "promiscuity" label. She then went for Internet webcam to clarify for herself and revealed her genuine affection for Woodchuck Todd.
Analysis
There are a total of five female representations in the film Easy A (2010) which include Marianne, Rhiannon, Olive's mother, Mrs Griffin and Olive Penderghast. Each of the female cast is distinguished from their unique personality traits.
Marianne, the film's antagonist, is a super-religious girl which emphasized on family value. According to Jordahl (2013), she is judgemental, hypocritical and people who likes to jump to conclusion. She insists on holding other to her own standards of behavior because she believes what she does represent "righteous". Whoever disagree or oppose to her standard would be judged by the higher power for their indecency (para.2&3). Marianne is the kind of representation when people say that they "don't like Christian". People like her do exist, which is very problematic as they always use their biases to judge people.
Rhiannon, Olive's best friend before Olive became really famous for her harlot fame, is the typical blonde-hair-girl: beautiful but stupid. Besides, she is obsessed with sex. She always urge Olive to give out her "V-card" so that Olive could be as slut as her. She was overwhelmed with joy when Olive cheated Rhiannon losing her virginity to a random guy. She always talk loud and immature which portrays her stupidity. Her jealousy towards Olive became intense as Olive's reputation grew. Rhiannon officially ended her friendship with Olive when Olive flirted her boyfriend right in front of her.
Olive's mother, a humorous character who always make fun of herself and her family members in conversation. Despite having a blonde hair, she is smart in solving issues. When her daughter confronts with problems in her high school life, she listens to them open-minded and share her experience she had while she was young, rather than being judgemental towards the rumors. Though she is concern of her daughter who dressed like a "stripper", but she gave personal space for her daughter to resolve her own difficulties. Overall, she is a supportive parent.
Mrs Griffith is another antagonist who has sexual affair with Marianne's boyfriend. She seems to be a nice counselor who listens to students problems, but in fact she is an immoral teacher who betrays her husband and her student. Though she initially wanted to admit her mistake publicly, but Olive sacrificed herself and claimed herself to have STD in order to save Mrs Griffith's image. When Olive wants to reveal Mrs Griffin's wrongdoings, she threatens Olive saying that nobody would trust a sexually active student. She fails to be a good wife and a role model to the students.
Last but not least, Olive Penderghast, the kind-heart protagonist who is bold and empathetic. A big part of getting Olive in the circumstances she is in is because of her desire to help people - whether being bullied, being mocked, or being revealed as a "slut". When unpopular guys seek for her help to boost their reputation, she could not seem to reject them (charactour, n.d., para.6). Moreover, she is intelligent just like her mother. She can make her own decision and be independent when it comes to resolve her bad reputation. She plans to counterattack all the people who refuse to justify for her innocence using webcam.
Conclusion
To conclude, in Easy A (2010), Olive is the best preferred representation of female throughout the film. The film shows the characters we could usually observe in high school life including the manipulative one, the attention-seeking one, the self-centered one or even the hypocrite. The film ends well with a quote from Olive, "whether to lose virginity to anyone at anytime, it is nobody's god damn business". People have every rights in deciding their own lives, and it is beyond the anybody's control. It is clear that the film's stance on feminism is to empower women in authorizing their own lives and being independent as their abilities are of them same as men.
References
charactour. (n.d.). Olive Penderghast. Retrieved from
https://www.charactour.com/hub/characters/view/Olive-Penderghast.Easy-A
Jordahl, M.M. (2013). Easy A. A Study in Slut-Shaming, Part II: Marianne. Retrieved from
https://mmjordahl.com/2013/04/01/easy-a-a-study-in-slut-shaming-part-ii-marianne/
Walsh, K. T. (2010). The 1960s: A Decade of Change for Women. Retrieved from
https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2010/03/12/the-1960s-a-decade-of-change-for-women
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