Easy A is a romantic comedy film written by Bert V. Royal and was directed by Will Gluck in 2010. The journey follows the story of Olive Penderghast, as she becomes a victim of the rumour spread around high school after lying to her best friend, Rhiannon, regarding a weekend affair. The screenplay is partially inspired by The Scarlet Letter, a novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, as well as containing various intertextual references from a series of 80’s films. Examples of these intertextual references include allusion to Say Anything, Pretty Woman, Can’t Buy Me Love, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Scarlet Letter. The techniques used in these range of films, enhance the audience’s understanding regarding
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One example of this is demonstrated through Olive looking for a man to save her, by playing old fashion. The huge montage of love and life existing as an 80’s film are directly referenced and set to Olive’s voiceover, which feature the ironic line of, “Just once, I want my life to be like an 80’s.” The intertextuality links consist of, “I want John Cusack holding a boombox outside my window” presented in Say Anything as well as, “I want Richard Gere climbing up my fire escape with the limo waiting downstairs” featured in Pretty Woman. Furthermore, “I want to ride off on a lawnmower with Patrick Dempsey!” which is highlighted in Can’t Buy Me Love when he stands on the lawn mower below his love interests bedroom window playing music with the intention of trying to win her over. Moreover, “I want Jake from Sixteen Candles waiting outside the church for me” emphasised in Sixteen Candles and, “I want Judd Nelson thrusting his fist into the air because he knows he got me” conveyed in The Breakfast Club. Therefore, Olive draws upon well-known romantic comedies to portray the idealistic cliché’s, by comparing them to real life circumstances which simply do not
One example of this is demonstrated through Olive looking for a man to save her, by playing old fashion. The huge montage of love and life existing as an 80’s film are directly referenced and set to Olive’s voiceover, which feature the ironic line of, “Just once, I want my life to be like an 80’s.” The intertextuality links consist of, “I want John Cusack holding a boombox outside my window” presented in Say Anything as well as, “I want Richard Gere climbing up my fire escape with the limo waiting downstairs” featured in Pretty Woman. Furthermore, “I want to ride off on a lawnmower with Patrick Dempsey!” which is highlighted in Can’t Buy Me Love when he stands on the lawn mower below his love interests bedroom window playing music with the intention of trying to win her over. Moreover, “I want Jake from Sixteen Candles waiting outside the church for me” emphasised in Sixteen Candles and, “I want Judd Nelson thrusting his fist into the air because he knows he got me” conveyed in The Breakfast Club. Therefore, Olive draws upon well-known romantic comedies to portray the idealistic cliché’s, by comparing them to real life circumstances which simply do not