"Easy A" has been dubbed the" modern-day 'Scarlet Letter,'" but don't watch it as a substitute for reading the actual book. Olive Penderghast (Emma Stone), the misunderstood protagonist of the film, recommends the original "The Scarlet Letter" movie as a replacement (not the one where Demi Moore "fakes a British accent and takes a lot of baths"). But while "The Scarlet Letter" is about a young woman who would do anything to lose her scandalous reputation, "Easy A" follows an "average" teenage girl who does everything she can to get one.
It all started with a camping trip. Olive isn't exactly thrilled with the idea of spending the weekend camping with her overbearing best friend Rhiannon (Aly Michalka) and her hippie parents. So she does what any teenage girl would do to avoid hurting someone's feelings: she lies.
During their annual Monday morning meeting in the ladies' room, Olive tells Rhiannon she spent the weekend with a college guy named George (who, according to Rhiannon, "can't be sexy, because George isn't a sexy name") when in reality she jammed to a musical greeting card's version of "Pocket Full of Sunshine" in her room the entire time. Rhiannon immediately assumes she lost her virginity to George and Olive, flustered, reluctantly admits to a tryst she never had. Marianne (Amanda Bynes), the leader of the Christian group on campus, overhears this exchange and spreads rumors about Olive's fictional rendezvous all over Ojai High School.
As we know, Olive is innocent. But when she realizes that no one, with the exception of her longtime crush "Woodchuck Todd" (Penn Badgley), believes she is pure, she decides to add fuel to the fire. She sews a red "A" on her clothing similar to "The Scarlet Letter" protagonist Hester Prynne's and pretends to take the virginity of various boys in exchange for gift cards and coupons. Her reputation dwindles, but she is flattered by the attention.
Olive gets a wake-up call when boys mistakenly think she will actually sleep with them for money and begin to blame her for their STDs. Her lies have isolated her from almost everyone in her life, including Rhiannon. But a spunky heroine isn't complete without a love interest to fall back on, and Todd is always there for Olive when she needs him. Her eclectic family is usually around to give her wacky yet surprisingly helpful advice as well. Who is a girl without parents to embarrass her, after all?
Stone nails her role as Olive. She's witty, sarcastic, and even endearing when she needs to be. The film's dialogue is cute but manages to be even cleverer; the characters' comedic timing is spot-on. The addition of Olive's wish for her love life to resemble an 80s movie, complete with clips from classics such as "Say Anything" (from which Todd recreates the iconic boom box scene for her) and "The Breakfast Club," and her English teacher's biting remarks about the modern teenager's tendency to record every moment of their life on Facebook, could result in the film becoming a cult classic. I walked into the theater with reasonable expectations, but "Easy A's" stellar cast and outrageous humor deserve an A+.
Emma Stone channels Hester Prynne from "The Scarlet Letter" in "Easy A"
