3/14/2024 0 Comments First time lesbian girls gone wild![]() ![]() In films like Pitch Perfect, Pitch Perfect 2, and Mean Girls, the writers depend on the audience to pick up on the absurdity and laugh at social constructs. ![]() Pointless racism passed off as comedy is dangerous. Flo also has a couple of bright spots of the #FirstWorldProblems variety. When Chloe makes hyperbolic statements about how “we have never faced anything so difficult” and “this day is so hard,” Flo is quick to point out that she has faced much tougher things, such as having “diarrhea for seven years.” Other than those two moments, however, Flo’s character shares nothing that could possibly be construed as critique but continues to speak through racist comments that literally have no point. John makes a joke about border hopping concerning Flo and her being a “Mexican,” and Gail immediately calls him out for it, noting that she is from Guatemala. There were moments of racial comedy as satire in Pitch Perfect 2 that were spot on. The point of satire is to critique, not merely to say absurd things that play on existing biases to get a laugh. Whether it is the awkward Jewish jokes, the treatment of Kimmy Jin, Beca’s first roommate who is Korean, the characterization of Lily, the beatboxer, through a “silent Asian” stereotype, or the Latinx jokes played off as true life, most of these jokes simply aren’t funny, and honestly, are pretty fucked up. ![]() The Pitch Perfect films fall into similar pitfalls. The stereotypes of Asian women are hard to swallow, as is the characterization of the principal, the only Black character of consequence whose most memorable line is: “I did not leave the South Side for this!” And I get it…it’s a joke, but it’s a bad joke with little point and the potential for devastating consequences. Though I love Mean Girls, it is difficult to get through at this point of my life. The result was a generation of youth thinking about their own high school environments as they volleyed quotes to one another.īut one area where the humor of the youthful satirical genre too often fails is around issues of race. Like Pitch Perfect, Mean Girls served up an addictive critique that holds up the mirror to our assumptions regarding gender and relationships, and does so rather successfully. Tina Fey deconstructed the stereotypes of high school and some of the messed up ways young people, particularly young women, interact with one another. The Pitch Perfect movies are just one example of the kind of female-centric, quick-moving, reference-laden, coming-of-age comedy that has become popular in recent years and is perhaps best epitomized by Mean Girls. When it comes to gender, there are many people successfully making fun of it. Jesse’s role is mostly supporting Beca in her awesomeness. Men don’t save the day the Treblemakers are barely even present. The sequel is entirely about the Bellas and their journeys individually as well as collectively. Overall, some of the best moments of Pitch Perfect 2 revolve around deconstructing gender or empowering women. At one point, she tells him to “Crack a book,” and it’s simply delightful. Pitch Perfect 2 continues this trend, with Gail, the woman commentator, increasingly calling John out throughout the movie. At one point in the first film, John says, “Women are as about good at acapella as they are at being doctors,” and while the sentiment of sexism is certainly not humorous, the way he says it clearly conveys how ridiculous it is that some people actually believe that women aren’t good doctors simply because they’re women. This is especially accomplished through the commentary provided by John and Gail, played by John Michael Higgins and Elizabeth Banks respectively, that pokes fun at the prejudice in the acapella world. Pitch Perfect excels at some of this comedy, particularly around gender stereotypes and inequities. The beauty of this method is that we, as viewers, get a spoonful of sugar with our medicine and are often left with a lot of laughs and quotes that keep on giving. The point of satire is to critique through exposure, using humor to reveal everyday circumstances as absurd. Pitch Perfect and the sequel both aim to poke fun at stereotypes and society at large through satire. After a while, though, the humor wears off and I’m left with some problematic “ish”. Surprising myself, I ended up loving it, and to this day have seen it close to 100 times. So with low expectations, I sat down to watch this film after weeks of being hounded by my players. I had never heard of the movie, but I loved music and acapella, so I was on board. The first time I watched Pitch Perfect, I was surrounded by twelve 14-year-old girls who comprised the 9th grade girls’ basketball team I coached. ![]()
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