Female staffer takes on “Fast Five”

By: Lucy Oyer

Photo by: Wendy Qiu

When it comes to watching movies, I prefer romantic comedies and dramas with the occasional superhero film thrown in. I detest gross humor and have never seen a true horror film so I was a little wary when it came to selecting a masculine movie. After a long search I finally found a suitable film and ponied up $4.99 to purchase the fourth film in the Fast and the Furious franchise, which is deceptively titled “Fast Five” (a naming decision most likely attributed to the brilliant minds who penned the dialogue for the film). I shall now summarize the film: Vin Diesel, some hot girls, and The Rock shoot at each other and some other people too. Cleavage. Racially diverse team members arrive. Cleavage. A bunch of fancy cars are driven around. Cleavage. They steal some money. Cleavage. Everyone dies but the protagonists. Cleavage. Vin Diesel ends up with a hot babe. The end.

I have no problem with a little degrading sexism here and there, but the degree to which it occurred in this movie was a bit over the top. It seems that the only thing women are capable of in this film are taking off their clothes, driving fast cars with a pouty expression and getting pregnant. Gifted screen writer Chris Morgan developed an entire story line about a necklace so the camera could show numerous close-ups of a hot Brazilian policewoman wearing said necklace that just so happens to fall directly between her breasts. While it is obvious the people who created this movie geared it at a male audience, it doesn’t hurt to show respect for the female gender. After all, it isn’t as if films geared at women tend to degrade men.

What was most confusing about this film was the fact that it featured very few fast cars. I was expecting lots of car racing and was disappointed to only see one real race. Instead, I was treated to a cinematic masterpiece of gunfights and romantic subplots (for instance, I think Vin Diesel’s sister was pregnant with the baby of one of the cops that had tried to apprehend her in the previous movie). As it turns out “Fast Five” was intended to be a comedic action film and the wonderful Chris Morgan did not disappoint with great jokes like “This just went from Mission: Impossible to Mission: In-freaking-sanity.” LOL. Oh, Chris!

Despite its many shortcomings, I have to admit that “Fast Five” achieved its goal: I was thoroughly entertained. While not emotionally changing, as the first thing I did after watching the movie was google “do people actually find Vin Diesel attractive?” (the answer is shockingly yes, by the way),  the film was still fun to watch. And yes, I cannot wait to find out what Chris Morgan will come up with for “Fast and Furious 6”.

Male staffer takes on “Easy A”

By: Solomon Kim

All guys have their feminine tendencies whether they admit it or not. That is why I don’t have a problem saying that I enjoy watching romantic comedies. That’s why I leaped at the chance to write an article on the highly acclaimed and supposedly hilarious chick flick called “Easy A,” which stars Emma Stone and Penn Badgley. In this movie, a socially invisible high school girl, Olive Pendergast (Emma Stone), gains notoriety by spreading a fake rumor about having sex with her gay friend to keep him from getting bullied.

Throughout the movie, I was continually in awe. To be honest, it was one of the best movies I have seen in a very long time. There were so many great one-liners such as: “Seriously, a coupon? Twenty percent off of Bath and Body Works—is that how much our imaginary tryst meant to you? I fake rocked your world!” It was particularly amusing since it takes place when a guy pays Olive with a coupon for pretending to have sex with him. The whole movie had me laughing at the situations Olive found herself in, and by the end of the movie, I couldn’t keep from smiling.

However, there were many scenes in “Easy A” that were extremely uncomfortable, especially as I was watching it in my journalism classroom. I can safely say that watching “Easy A” at school will lead to massive embarrassment for all guys, regardless of whether or not they enjoy watching chick flicks like I do. Despite this, I do believe that these scenes are inevitable, since the movie’s plot focuses on a girl telling everyone that she had sex when she didn’t.

But even if I were watching this movie in the safety of my home, one thing I didn’t approve of was the portrayal of the typical stereotypes that show up in almost every chick flick. I don’t understand why there is always a mean girl in opposition to the main character, or why the main character always has to have a sarcastic, loud best friend. I am sick of the cliché of watching main characters going through ordeals and being attacked by the mean girls.

Besides this, I believe that “Easy A” was successful in entertaining its audience, including me. Though it was a classic chick flick, it was very comical and even managed to appeal to a male viewer.