We are often taught to let go of the past in favor of focusing on the future. With advancements in science and medicine, the future holds endless possibilities for change and progress. There is nothing to be done about the past, especially one that does not seem like our own past. The 1920s are a period that holds almost no significance to recent generations. It is a time so far in the past that all we have left are the remnants of its existence—faded pictures, entertainment, and norms that are deemed outdated by the modern world.
In 2010, Will Gluck directed the film Easy A. Inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the film follows Olive (Emma Stone) as she pretends to participate in sexual encounters with several boys in her high school class in order to lessen their unfavorable reputations as gay, geek or freak. However, once the rumor mill starts turning, Olive can do very little to prevent the degrading remarks from her female classmates and the lascivious intent of her male classmates. 39 years before this film, Elia Kazan directed Splendor in the Grass, a film that deals with the issues of teenage love, morality, and budding sexuality as it was presented in the late 1920s. In Kazan’s film, we find Natalie Wood’s wholesome Deanie Loomis fighting an irrepressible desire for Warren Beatty’s all-American Bud Stamper in a time where women become social outcasts for sexual exploration and men, while told to respect a lady’s limits, are also encouraged to release their sexual frustrations on the types of women society outcasts.
In 2012, we like to believe that we have progressed to a level of understanding about a majority of society’s rules on sex and love and what those ideas mean to the teenage mind. In 2012, it is easy to disregard ideas and events of the past because they did not happen in the context of our modern world. But the truth is that the issues of sexuality, gossip, and gender are relevant to every age because they are still issues dealt with by modern culture. As Easy A demonstrates, the double standard between women who are sexual active and men who are sexual active remains an issue. Splendor in the Grass presents Bud’s sister Ginny, played by Barbara Loden, as the pariah of the family and the town for delving in sex and alcohol during her short college career. It is suggested that Bud participates in similar activities during his college years as his roommate comments, “I’m beginning to think you want to get kicked out of school,” after Bud lights a cigar and tosses everything off of his desk. However, their father, Pat Hingle’s Ace Stamper, continues to support Bud’s college career while refusing to lend any sort of helping hand to Ginny. Ginny has the potential to be a woman ahead of her time. She speaks freely and bluntly, always dressed in the brightest costume in rooms often filled with dark browns and grays. While the Stamper home looks like a cross between a mansion and a ski lodge, Ginny’s room looks like something out of Barbie’s dream house, full of pastels and color. However, Ginny is unable to cope with the adversity against her character, resulting in her acting out further and fatally.
What I do feel is greatly different nowadays is our acceptance that we will never have control over what people say about other people. People will gossip and infer until the end of time and while there is nothing that we can do to control it, we can still embrace our individuality, including our triumphs and missteps in love and sexuality. As Olive concludes in Easy A, “I might even lose my virginity [to him]. I don’t know when it will happen. You know, maybe in five minutes, or tonight, or six months from now, or maybe on the night of our wedding. But the amazing thing is, it is nobody’s goddamn business.”
Amanda,
ReplyDeleteThough sexuality through the eyes of society is the major focus of both Splendor in the Grass and Easy A, I thought that you brought up a more interesting point about gossip and rumors. You touched briefly upon the subject mentioning that it would always be a relevant issue and I completely agree with you. I also think that examining how these movies depict the function and purpose of “gossip” within society is worth looking at.
Splendor in the Grass gives us a world where gossip is still very “hush-hush.” Civilized men and women certainly participate in their fair share of rumor sharing, but it was all done behind closed doors. For example, during the New Year’s Eve scene of the movie many of the party guests turn their back on Ginny, presumably to make a terrible remark about her behavior. Similarly, the character of Juanita is talked about frequently, but never out in the open. Splendor recreates the era of the 1920’s, a time when gossip was still considered a negative form of communication, only intending to tarnish a person’s reputation.
Now, cut to Easy A, a film that completely flips the idea of gossip on its side. No longer are rumors used to blacken a reputation, but in this case help create one. This film depicts a teen that understands the power of buzz and manipulates it in her favor (well, starting out in her favor until she learns the hard truth about gossip). Emma Stone’s Olive is completely aware of the importance our society places on ultimately talking behind one another’s backs. Our society dedicates television programs, films, books, magazines, and websites solely to the purpose of “gossip.” The reality is that humans will always talk about others. This is just a fact that will continue on for all eternity. But we are no longer living in the 1920’s of Splendor, when gossip was never challenged or debunked – this is a contemporary society where people can stand up for themselves.
Splendor in the Grass gives us a glimpse into a world in which rumors where a form of social destruction, tainting a person’s character. Easy A depicts the modern world that we know. This is a world that, if celebrity culture has taught us anything, rumors and gossip can always be used to our advantage.