Examples like Easy A show how The Scarlet Letter has had a lasting affect on generations to come and how it will always be of relevance to society.
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Easy A
When we first got our The Scarlet Letter novels, I had never even heard of the book before. I assumed it would be a boring book set in the 1700's, but as I started to read it, I realized that the story seemed very familiar; it was like I had heard it before. In the very beginning of the novel they spoke of the letter "A" stitched to her clothing and the first thing that came to mind was the movie Easy A which is based off of The Scarlet Letter, but set in a modern high school.
The main character of the movie, Olive, has many similarities to Hester, both in their offenses to society and their treatment from society. Olive, who is modeled after Hester, is shamed for the publicity of her sexual life, which causes society to avoid her and treat her differently. This is similar to Hester, who is also shamed for her sexual life and deals with the same problems that Olive does. However, because of the year and the different circumstances that they both deal with, they react in very different ways from each other. Olive, who is living in the modern era, embraces her actions and use them to her advantage to gain popularity, wearing the scarlet "A" proudly, unlike Hester who only sees it as a mean of reminding her of her sin, wearing the "A" in agony. However, Hester and Olive face people that do not approve of their actions like the people that "Need to pray for her, but also need to get her the hell out of here. Amen" (Easy A, Trailer)(Amanda Bynes is really the person that needs to be prayed for but lets save that for a different blog). This opposition is comparative to the religious people of Hester's era that pray to cleanse her of her sin, but nevertheless do everything in their power to shame and oppose her.
Examples like Easy A show how The Scarlet Letter has had a lasting affect on generations to come and how it will always be of relevance to society.
Examples like Easy A show how The Scarlet Letter has had a lasting affect on generations to come and how it will always be of relevance to society.
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Devin,
ReplyDeleteI remember you making this comparison in class! I think it is really cool that you made the connection and your post made me realize that there are many similarities. I like the quote too :)
One of the big things that bothers me about The Scarlet Letter is how even though the townspeople claim to be trying to "save" Hester, they actually are slandering and hurting her with their shaming. Nice job talking about that in your blog.
ReplyDeleteI like how you were able to relate this post to a movie a lot of us have seen. I agree that there are many similarities between Hester and Olive
ReplyDeleteAlthough there are similarities I think later on they will vary later on.
ReplyDeleteNice comparison. Now I'm wondering what motives Hester had - if I understood the trailer correctly (I couldn't hear it totally, I'm stuck next to a loud vacuum cleaner), Olive made a choice for the sake of someone else, not herself. Might Hester's motives also be unselfish?
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen Easy A but that was a very good connection. From what you have said, Olive and Hester are very different in personality, but some of their actions are similar. The fact that Hester makes her A beautiful and pleasing to the eye, Olive wears her A without fear of degradation.
ReplyDeleteBefore reading TSL, my only prior knowledge of it came from Easy A. I like how you pointed out that Olive is proud of her "A" while Hester is not. While in the end Olive eventually resents the whole act, will Hester eventually learn to be proud of hers? And PLEASE can we all take a moment to pray for Amanda Bynes.
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