Pitch Perfect is a movie about a college freshman, Beca, attending Barden University who joins an all-female acapella group called The Bellas. Beca is an outcast who likes to DJ and mix tracks so in her free time she stacks cd’s at the university’s radio station with a guy from the rival acapella group The Treblemakers. The Bellas are trying to get back to the ICCA’s after disgracing themselves the year before but the challenge this year is that they only have two remaining members because the rest graduated the year before.
This movie deals with big issues that face college students everyday like gender roles, stereotypes, and not feeling like you fit in. The big disadvantage that women have when it comes to acapella is the fact that they can’t hit the same low notes as guys can and being able to hit high and low notes is a key factor when it comes to scoring from the judges. Because of this an all-female group has never won the ICCA’s as stated by Gail, one of the announcers, who used to be in an all-female acapella group herself called The Menstrual Cycles. And The Bellas typically sing older songs made by powerful women like “turn the beat around” and “I saw the sign” while The Treblemakers sing hit songs like “I’ve got the magic in me” and “don’t stop the music” so that also hurts them because their songs aren’t as current and well known by the audience. Leaving the acapella world and talking about gender roles around the university, in the beginning of the move as freshman are arriving you briefly see girls walking by a group of guys in chair with papers with the numbers 1-10 on them so you clearly see that they are rating the girls that go by them. Stereotyping is an issue that you see throughout the entire movie from beginning to end. The Bellas are typically thin, good looking girls so when they were looking for new members those were the ideal type of people they were looking for but didn’t necessarily end up with. They even said that Beca was too “alternative” for them when they saw her walking near their recruiting table. A couple weeks after the new Bella members were selected they got a gig to perform for a fraternity but were kicked out halfway through the song because they weren’t the “hot” Bellas that the guys are used to. And when they showed up for Regionals, which was their first competition for the year, the crowd and the announcers were surprised to see the Bellas they had this year because they weren’t the typical thin and good-looking group they have always been. So, when they showed up wearing the same Bella uniforms it didn’t really work for them but later when they find their own style even though they don’t have the typical thin figure they are still good looking because they are rocking their personal look. It teaches you that no matter what you look like you’re beautiful when you’re in your own skin. Another big part of the movie was the concept of fitting in. Beca is an alternative girl at a more preppy school so it is hard for her to fit in with the different people there. Strolling through the activities fair she didn’t see any organization that interested her except for a table with information about being a DJ and the campus radio station. There is a point when Beca is sitting by herself in the grass and looks around her and she sees a group of jocks and next to them is a group of nerds. But she isn’t the only outcast, there’s Benji, a guy who really wants to be in the Treblemakers but it’s exactly given a warm welcome when they meet him at the organization table because he is a little weird and likes to do magic tricks. But as Beca spends more time with the Bellas she begins to feel like less of an outcast and more like a team player. Overall I think the movie was well directed, structured, and executed by the cast. I like that it isn’t just Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson) who’s the funny one, though she is the one who is cracking jokes throughout the movie. Girls like Lilly (Hana Mae Lee) and Cynthia Rose (Ester Dean) are unknowingly funny because of their expression and replies to people’s comments to them. And Anna Kendrick does an amazing job portraying Beca’s character of an alternative DJ who finds the place where she belongs on campus. And Rebel Wilson definitely lives up to her comedic reputation, Fat Amy is by far the funniest one in the group saying things like “I’m horizontal running” and “prepare to be pitch-slapped”. One of the most important things in the movie is the music, and in my opinion that was the best part of the movie. They sang hit songs as well as older songs and were all sung greatly by the cast and a couple of the versions they did I would say are better than the original songs. This movie is a classic and I think that if you haven’t seen it it’s worth watching, especially if you love music. -Dominique McCormick |
Overall I think the movie was well directed, structured, and executed by the cast. Anna Kendrick as Beca
Rebel Wilson as Fat Amy
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