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