Talkin-Typewrita.
- Critique Talk
The House Bunny
Sunday, October 5, 2008, 15:42
With exams and quizzes cramping up on my “colorful” calendar, I procrastinated for a few hours and de-stressed with a newly released comedy – The House Bunny. 
Movie plot as below:
When Playboy bunny Shelley (Anna Faris) is tossed out of the mansion, she has nowhere to go until she falls in with the sorority girls from Zeta Alpha Zeta. The members of the sorority - possibly the seven most socially clueless women on the planet - are about to lose their house. They need a dose of what only the eternally bubbly Shelley can provide - but they will each learn on their own to stop pretending to be what others want them to be and start being themselves.
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Young teen girls need to know that although this fluffy comedy is supposedly about how it is important “to be yourself”, it has some doubtful messages for them who likely want to see it - mainly that women need to doll themselves up to attract the men.
According to the movie, to be able to attract the guys, a girl has to be popular. Stereotypically, to be popular means that a girl should be beautiful and sexy (to begin with), and then maybe wits and humor can come later. Since main character Shelley is a Playboy bunny, sex inevitably becomes the general theme of the whole movie (without too much being revealed fortunately). Scenes were set around the constant Playboy references like the mansion, the magazine and Hugh Hefner himself, showing scantily clad ‘bunnies’ with tiny bikinis, parties and booze. The whole story plays around with the stereotypic views of popular people, especially in a college environment.
On top of that, Shelly is like a person prototype that most people relate to as a ‘bimbo’. Being responsible for the laughs, she definitely brought out that funny streak with thick-witted lines like “Oh my god, my heart is going to fall out of my head”. A big part of the movie was on how Shelley taught and transformed the Zeta’s ‘ugly ducklings’ from disgusting freaks to hot babes. Like how she dolled herself up with thick make-up, midriffs and mini skirts, the girls at Zeta followed suit. I felt that the makeovers were pretty drastic for them as it was more like impersonating Barbie then being yourself.
So, personally, I feel that the moral of this sexy comedy “To be yourself and it’s what’s inside that matters”, is not being delivered effectively. The storyline is not solid enough to bring out that moral as the story is just stitched together with hilarious lines and typical ‘chick flick’ make-over montage, which, contradicts most parts of the movie in the end. Families can really talk about how good a role model Shelley is by asking questions like, “What do the Zeta girls really learn from her? Gain popularity by “being yourself?”
Oh well, however, being a comedy, it is always good to have some laughs and The House Bunny would really do nice for a “DVD afternoon” with a bunch of girlfriends. Like ice-cream, it works just as well in de-stressing for the mid-terms.
:)
Labels: Aretha
Come Home to 5, er you mean Singapore?
Sunday, September 28, 2008, 11:15
Besides clinching the rights for the 'live' telecast of the world's first street night race (I'm not complaining!), MediaCorp TV's Channel 5 is trying very hard to help in 'nation building' with the newly created drama serial Sense of Home.Here's abit of the synopsis:
'Sense Of Home is a unique drama anthology. The first English drama series filmed entirely overseas, it is a collection of four stories about Singaporeans abroad: living, working, traveling … or simply lost.'
(More of it can be found Here)
The last sentence, "stories about Singaporeans abroad: living,working, traveling...or simply lost." I think the show attempts to draw an ugly picture of locals living overseas by illustrating the negativities of 'staying away from home' like in its pilot, "Chris and Linda, two Shanghai-based Singaporean newlyweds find their lives turned upside down when Linda discovers she’s pregnant, and they can’t agree about whether to have the baby in Singapore or China."
It is pretty clear that the show wants to:
1. Influence Singaporeans to set up their families back home and eventually work in Singapore for good.
2. Encourage young Singaporeans to continue staying in Singapore.
3. Convince locals who are studying overseas to come back home to work when they are done with their education.
I feel that yes it is good that our Government recognises the problem of its talents (sad to say that it's our only resource) leaving the country for good and should be given credit for taking steps to stem the outflow of Singaporeans. However, they are not going to accomplish that with just some speeches and a TV series.
As much as it hopes to influence the Singaporeans who are thinking of moving overseas, the show lacks the kind of impact that needs to get the right message across to Singaporeans. Like one of the show's slogans, "Is the grass greener on the other side?", might just make young Singaporeans think hard and go like, "Of course!" and that would be an opposite effect which the show failed to control. With so many new oppoturnities out there, young Singaporeans are definitely attracted to the idea of migrating to embark on their 'exciting journey of life' (yes the grass is really greener on the other side!) Unless they experience it for themselves, they are not going to believe that the stories of Sense of Home apply to all.
Despite the weakness of the show, I can say Channel 5 is pretty smart in creating a strong identity with their interstitial "Come Home to 5". Although we don't notice, it is actually stuck somewhere in our heads, along with the song sang by our very own Singapore Idol, Hady Mirza. Oh well, let's just say that it takes more than TV to convince Singaporeans where HOME should be.
Labels: Aretha
Animal Rights
Thursday, September 18, 2008, 21:20
I was surfing around on Yahoo and I caught this piece of news: Japanese Actress Naked for Animal Rights
AFP - Wednesday, September 17
"TOKYO (AFP) - - Japanese actress Aya Sugimoto has taken off her clothes for sexy movies and photo shoots, but for the first time Wednesday she went naked for animal rights."
"Holding a tiny sign reading, "Fur? I'd rather go naked," Sugimoto posed in the buff before dozens of photographers and television cameras in one of the first Japanese campaigns by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)"
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I was waiting for my page to load and was wondering in the meantime, what else is left to do to protect these helpless animals. Well, it is not the first time anyone has gone out to the extreme to defend and stand up for the rights of animals, and PETA has been actively protecting animals and their rights through public education, cruelty investigations, legislations, protest campaigns and even strongly using celebrity involvement now. Below is another effort done by a celebrity to stop animal abuse:
'Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles' Lena Headey Stars in PETA's Anti-Circus Ad
"Lena Headey wants you to know that animals in circuses are beaten, chained, whipped, and forced to perform against their will. That's why the star agreed to appear in a new anti-circus public service announcement (PSA) for PETA."
(you can view the ad here: http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/lena_headey)
'Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles' Lena Headey Stars in PETA's Anti-Circus Ad
"Lena Headey wants you to know that animals in circuses are beaten, chained, whipped, and forced to perform against their will. That's why the star agreed to appear in a new anti-circus public service announcement (PSA) for PETA."
(you can view the ad here: http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/lena_headey)
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Okay for a real animal lover like myself, I nearly cried when I saw how those animals were being treated. Seriously, this reminds me of the cat abuse that happened at Pasir Ris Street 21 in early May. The cats were cruelly abused, but whatever is it for? I think Singapore's SPCA and AVA should put in more efforts to protect these helpless animals like having a strong ad campaign going on for half a year. (since protest campaigns are quite impossible here) Celebrity involvement can be considered too, and out-of-the-mind advertisments would be pretty effective as well. Come to think of it, I have not really seen one yet. Check out this new one (by PETA) :
Milk spew and bathroom stalls go together like peas and carrots.
"You're welcome, schools! We're looking out for you."
"Since most kids visit the restroom at some point before lunch, we thought bathroom stalls would be the perfect home for our informative spoof of the infamous "Got Milk?" campaign."
- Posted by Carrie Ann Harris
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What an interesting way to reach out to the masses, especially er...kids. (I guess education starts from young!) Okay, anyway, if you could, would you take the first step and go the extra mile to help the animals? If yes, how? I think it is really hard to control things like that - they just get so controversial. Well, I'd most probably condemn the next evil person who abuses animals, complain and rant non-stop about how these people are sick in their heads and minds and maybe TRY to do some volunteery work for the animal organisation. Like sometime soon.
Labels: Aretha