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Tired of watching movies that don't depict women the way the ought to be portrayed? Pitch Perfect will charm your socks off!
How often do we get an all-women team as the centrepiece of a movie that also manages to bust stereotypes and double as incredible cinema? Here are 4 reasons why Pitch Perfect is just that – pitch perfect!
Imagine a Hollywood coming-of-age movie that does not talk about boy-girl relationships, parent-child relationships, kids trying to deal with drugs and alcohol and sex, school strife; a movie that doesn’t feature any intimate scenes and does not focus on a character’s discovery of a sense of direction in life a.k.a. nirvana. Surprising? Well, that’s what the Pitch Perfect franchise is.
Starved of sufficient movies in Bollywood to keep the movie buff in me happy (I like to stay away from the ones that make me cringe), I turned to Hollywood a couple of years ago. My exposure to Hollywood was limited to the old classics that we used to watch on TNT as kids on Friday night. Since then I have been making my way down IMDB’s top charts for Hollywood slowly and steadily. Coming back to Pitch Perfect, I discovered the movies through the famous ‘Cups’ song, which randomly showed up on my YouTube playlist one day. I watched both the parts of the movie back-to-back and loved them. And here are the reasons why they bust stereotypes and are still so cool.
We all talk about role models for girls, and here’s one more. Beca Mitchell, the protagonist knows her mind, knows what she wants from life and college or no college, is planning ahead, just like any college kid in real life. This is a refreshing change from other coming-of-age movies, where we are mostly treated to girls still figuring themselves out (Thirteen, Perks of being a wallflower, etc.), or those who have gone overboard. Beca comes across as the normal, slightly adamant, ordinary looking, talented teenager, who makes a better role model for teenage girls.
While that is reason enough to fall in love with a movie, this is a musical that is unlike most other musicals. It is not romantic, it is not a fairy tale and does not even talk about war and heroism. This is a musical that is just about music, and the love of an all-girls a-capella group for music. Yes, there is the subtle rivalry between the college a-capella groups, but in the end one is treated to loads of amazing music by all the different college groups.
The central-to-the-story all girls a-capella group Barden Bellas is a “refreshing mix-up” of characters, even though a tad “displeasing to the eye”. Once you look beyond the looks, the group is pure talent – a closeted lesbian colored rapper, an Asian beatboxer whom no one has ever heard speaking and an oversized Tasmanian with a tenor unmatched. Unfazed by the snide comments that come their way, they work their way through tough competition purely on the basis of their talent to win the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella. Goes to show young girls that looks can take them only so far, while real talent will always stand by them.
Well, we can’t really call them the lead pair, since their relationship barely commands 10 minutes of screen time in the whole movie, and most of it is spent creating or listening to music. But it is everything a relationship in real life is. They laugh, watch movies together, fight, and kiss and make up (Spoiler alert: the last scene will definitely set you smiling and make you fall in love with this couple). Their relationship is relate-able and a better example for teens watching the movie than most other movies.
The movie is not without its own flaws, but those are minor compared to the overall message it conveys – Be yourself, know what you want, be ready to take disappointments, and there’s a lot that you can achieve. If you have a teenage son or daughter, do watch this movie with them. You’ll both love it!
Image via Playbuzz.
Founder @Tell-A-Tale - I gobble stories and spit out new ones everyday; travel addict, software engineer, storywriter for brands, mentor, Renaissance woman in-the-making. read more...
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Being a writer, Nivedita Louis recognises the struggles of a first-time woman writer and helps many articulate their voice with development, content edits as a publisher.
“I usually write during night”, says author Nivedita Louis during our conversation. Chuckling she continues,” It’s easier then to focus solely on writing. Nivedita Louis is a writer, with varied interests and one of the founders of Her Stories, a feminist publishing house, based in Chennai.
In a candid conversation she shared her journey from small-town Tamil Nadu to becoming a history buff, an award-winning author and now a publisher.
Nivedita was born and raised in a small town in Tamil Nadu. It was for schooling that she first arrived in Chennai. Then known as Madras, she recalls being awed by the city. Her love-story with the city, its people and thus began which continues till date. She credits her perseverance and passion to make a difference to her days as a vocational student among the elite sections of Madras.
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