Easy A, 10 Years On

In 2010, Will Gluck’s sophomore feature Easy A came out as a fantastic tribute to 80’s teen movies, becoming one of the few romantic comedies of the decade to criticize society and praise the power of women without shame. Easy A has a deep concern with sexual double standards between men and women and the shunning that awaits those who don’t conform to them. It has outlived its theatrical life because it has a unique voice.

Easy A centers around under-the-radar high school student, Olive (Emma Stone) who, after a piece of ill-pieced untruth picks up steam, finds her life-changing for both the better and the worst. With the spread of these rumors, Olive learns that the only real perception of herself that matters is that of herself and those closest to her Themes of promiscuity and moral judgment paint Easy A as a modern version of Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 novel The Scarlet Letter, placing the novel’s themes of hypocrisy, humiliation, conformity, social cowardice and individual goodness inside of a Californian high school.

Though appearing as another coming of age comedy, Bert V. Royal’s witty screenplay which contributes to the success as it is very smart, snappy writing and has mature wit. An excellent performance from Stone elevates Easy A to something that exceeds the stereotypical teen comedy. Stone is an especially remarkable leading lady who brings such charisma and love to her performance, uplifting the whole film. From the scenes of her singing Natasha Beddingfield’s Pocketful of Sunshine, to her helping guys in need of a reputation refresh by telling people that they were sexually involved, Stone gives a performance that shows her at her very best. She infuses Olive with a delightful blend of innocence, sincerity, and growing social confidence, leaving audiences craving her next utterly charming appearance. So it is no surprise that the actress would receive a Golden Globe nomination for her charismatic performance. 10 years since the film’s release and Emma Stone has gone from strength to strength. Most notably her Oscar-winning performance in La La Land, which led her into other projects such as period drama The Favourite and her unforgettable strong performance in Birdman but her performance in Easy A is one that is reflected on the most as it was a character that defined teen comedy.

Teen romantic comedies tend to center around a girl who wants the guy such as To All The Boys I Loved Before, but with Easy A it is more about Olive’s development as a woman and not taking everything her classmates may say about her to heart. This eventually leads to confessing her feelings to Todd (Penn Badgley). He never judges her for her actions and continues to support her through all the high school hardships, even letting her get involved with his mascot routine to make a statement to the school. Nowadays, most people know Badgley for the role of the obsessive serial killer Joe in Netflix’s You, but his role of ridiculous mascot Todd will always be one of his most loved and remembered. 

By far the two most beloved characters are Olive’s parents, played by Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson, who are maybe the greatest on-screen parents of all time. They shine as being so understanding and affirming parents, telling Olive to “Give Em’ Hell’, as she starts to worry about her reputation at school. With nearly every motion picture family displaying the deepest, seediest forms of dysfunction, it's a breath of fresh air to find a daughter who has a great relationship with both parents. She can be openly honest with them, even when admitting that she had to go to detention for name-calling, her parents did not look down on her but supported what she said.

Director Will Gluck and screenwriter Bert V. Royal explores the comic potential of Easy A, intertwining the film's inherent comic value with a surprising and satisfying degree of heartfelt moments that help to turn the film into an emotionally resonant, intellectually stimulating, and downright entertaining experience. Without the comedic side, the film would have been a much darker experience. This includes a pretend "sex scene" between Olive and her gay friend, to help establish him as heterosexual in the eyes of his classmates. Her classmate Brandon (Dan Byrd) is desperate to hide his true sexuality so wants to create this rumor that he slept with a girl to make the student body oversee his more camp exterior. Although this isn’t as organic as some other jokes used in the film, it represents her enjoying the notoriety before she learns that the negatives associated with popularity are greater than the benefits. Despite the jokes being orientated around the pop culture at the time, they still land just as well a decade later. For example, Marianne (Amanda Bynes) says to Olive “There’s a higher power that will judge you for your indecency” in which Olive responds, “Tom Cruise?”. 

10 years later, it’s clear that Easy A was ahead of its time by throwing away the feeling of conforming to the social norm and representing promiscuity in a less judgmental light. The film does a great job of using high school as a microcosm of the world at large as they dissect what popularity has become and what it represents. This is as important as ever with how the world has developed, especially the way the internet can cause people to attract attention for a single post. Nowadays the way someone portrays themself on social media creates a persona of themselves which can be quite false, similar to the way Olive portrays herself. It provides a cinematic snapshot of the current technology-fueled speed of the rumor mill, when something tweeted or texted is automatically true, even without a shred of evidence. It is a fairly realistic look into adolescent life, as it is a time where a teen would be trying to identify themselves, and this is something that Olive is trying to do within this film, as she discovers she was starting to become someone she isn’t as she finds her solution to broadcasting her story through a webcast to her classmates.

There are talks of an Easy A spin-off, but this is a film that should be left alone. The cast is perfectly picked, and this off-beat work could not be remade in the same way. Especially not Olive’s parents, as they brought a unique performance and so much enjoyment into the film, anyone else would be a one-note caricature, but in the hands of Tucci and Clarkson, they become the kind of parents you hope you're going to have in that situation. Easy A works as it was fresh, avoided annoying clichés, and took a different direction to your typical romantic comedy. Not only that, the script was clever and sly with an excellent cast to keep up with it, copying that same formula now just would not flow and would ruin a cult favorite rom-com. I am happy knowing that Olive got to ride off on a lawnmower with “Woodchuck” Todd.