At first, Easy A might seem like just another teen comedy, following the chronicles of a teenage girl and her troubles in high school. This film takes the typical themes of a teen movie and gives it a spin with plenty of fun, humor, charm, and a message that all teens can relate too.


In this film, Olive (Emma Stone), a sarcastic and witty teenager, lies to her best friend that she lost her virginity. Naturally, this little white lie quickly spreads like wild fire and becomes an overblown rumor. Olive is labeled the school s***, and soon enough, this once unknown girl is notorious. Instead being upset about her false reputation, Olive instead decides to go with the flow. She uses her new found fame to help boys increase their popularity. This in turn increases Olive’s bad reputation. Eventually, things begin go downhill and Olive has to contemplate between or feeding her growing bad rep or coming clean.


Inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlett Letter, this movie parallels the classic novel in many ways. The obvious one is that Olive places a red A, which stands for adulterer, on everything she wears. Olive also lets her “sin” become a part of who she is but struggles with overcoming it. Additionally, Olive, like Hester Prynne, is a very charitable and good person despite her reputation. Finally, both characters are outcasts of their societies because of their sins.


Overall, Easy A is highly enjoyable, has a great script and cast, and presents themes of rumors, self respect and identity in a manner that all teens can understand. Emma Stone is very engaging and entertaining in her role and gives a great performance. This film also stars Alyson Michalka, Penn Badgley, Amanda Bynes, Thomas Haden Church, Stanley Tucci, Patricia Clarkson, Dan Byrd, and Lisa Kudrow.