The advertising of this film would suggest that this is in fact an exploitation film that revels in objectifying female bodies and the world of partying. However, I heard from a few movie podcasts I listen to, whose opinions I do trust, that the film delivers some surprises that make this a movie more interesting than the advertising would suggest.
The film follows Faith (Selena Gomez), Brit (Ashley Benson), Candy (Vanessa Hudgens) and Cotty (Rachel Korine) on Spring Break. Faith seems to be the innocent of the group as someone who attends church group. She is a quiet girl who seems a vulnerable and easily influenced by the others, with Candy and Brit being very wild and careless. The girls were all trying to raise money so they could afford the Spring Break they wanted, but despite their best efforts they still were way off their target. This is an example of the film's analysis of the effects of the economy on these young women; no matter what they do or how hard they worked they wouldn't have been able to raise the money they needed. The recession has left young people behind, with a turbulent future ahead, unable to secure a job (with very little opportunities available to them).
Brit, Candy and Cotty decide to rob a restaurant so that they can afford Spring Break. Before they go, they try and encourage each other by saying to imagine themselves in a video game or a movie. They are so immersed in popular culture they can make themselves the stars of their own movie (which is what they are in a way). It is one of the more direct comments on popular culture and their glamorisation of violence, crime, drugs and alcohol. The film develops this further with the examination of Spring Break. All four girls want desperately to go to Spring Break, as they have idealised it as the perfect place, a place where they can be free and discover their own identity. They feel suburban life is claustrophobic and want to break free of the boring life that surrounds them. When they get there they feel that this is the perfect place and yet they rely heavily on drugs and alcohol whilst they are there. Their experience isn't the pure one they make it out to be, they have to live to an excess in order to feel like they are living at all.
Spring Break is also made out to be a hollow experience by the desire for it to last forever. This theme is reiterated throughout with Alien (James Franco) even saying 'Spring break forever' on a loop. The characters want this experience, where they feel young and free from rules, to last forever. This links them to the idea explored in J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan. In the novel there is a dark undercurrent. Peter does not want to grow up or leave Neverland. This leaves him reluctant to take responsibility for his actions, with him being an incredibly arrogant character that even kills others without feeling the weight of his actions. The girls in this gang are very similar to Peter, they are violent and aggressive, they don't take responsibility and they don't think of the long term effects of their behaviour. When they end up in jail, the only one who seems to suddenly realise the impact of what they have done is Faith. The others still act as if they don't care about anything, the cool exterior of the surely teenage is forcefully in place. Faith does see herself as morally superior to the others, even though the film does not. She thanks them for committing their crime and says that she is glad they did it; she is seen to enjoy the benefits of their crime. However, reality settles in when Alien bails them out of jail, she is able to see the world around her as it is and not with rose - tinted glasses. She is very uncomfortable with the attention this strange man is putting on them and manages to get away and go back home.
The way in which women are portrayed in the scenes at the beach and at the parties illustrates them as objectified both by the slow motion shots of their bodies and the way the male characters treat them and get pleasure out of watching them. The film is guilty taking pleasure out of this misogynistic gaze, however it does make a few interesting points about it. These girls have been taught by society that they are less than, they are there to be subjected to the male gaze. Therefore, their indifference to the world around them, their violent acts as well as their participation in drugs and alcohol, are their reaction and way of dealing with this.
The film explores the idea of the American dream and exposes it as a nightmare. The party scenes show the characters living their dream of indulgence and at first these scenes may seem great fun to a few of the viewers, but the film reveals the darker side of this life pretty quickly. The film is subversive through its use of colour tints and exaggerating colours, as well as active camera movements. It is also subversive by casting ex - Disney princess, bubble gum popstars Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens in roles where they are seen to be taking drugs and getting drunk. Harmony Korine (the director) makes the film's messages clear in a rather blunt and direct manner, but manages to discuss them with intelligence. Korine is at times guilty of enjoying the spectacle of female bodies and the indulgent lifestyle he is trying to criticize. It is an interesting film, it has a lot of things to say about society and is definitely worth watching.
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