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| Poster artwork for the musical drama comedy film Pitch Perfect. |
A cappella Achievement by
Linh
Pitch
Perfect is a comedy musical drama about breaking with tradition,
not pushing away those who care about you, and not being afraid of other
people’s differences. The film also depicts moments where we are reminded of
gender inequality in the area of competitive a cappella performance in college that highlights sexism and
misogyny. This film could be the first to depict the world of competitive collegiate
a cappella singing at a very high
standard and the quality of singing is diverse. Perhaps the interest of a cappella singing can be attributed to
the popularity of the American reality television show The Sing-Off that screened on NBC since 2009.
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CA-BREATHING: Aubrey (Anna Camp) teaches Fat Amy (Rebel
Wilson) proper breathing techniques in singing in the film Pitch Perfect. Image: Universal Pictures, Gold Circle Films.
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Pitch
Perfect follows the first year of college for Beca Mitchell
(Anna Kendrick) at Barden University and the moment she arrives on campus, she
is given a rape whistle. Beca is ignored by her Korean room-mate Kimmy Jin
(Jinhee Joung) and only another first year student named Jesse (Skylar Astin)
shows a genuine interest in her. At the campus activities fair, Chloe (Brittany
Snow) asks Beca to join The Barden Bellas, an all-women a cappella group, but she declares an inability to sing.
Later in the ladies’ showers, Chloe hears
Beca singing and encourages her to attend the auditions. Beca makes it into the
group but she is at loggerheads with lead singer Aubrey (Anna Camp), who never
strays from tradition. Meanwhile, the all-male a cappella group named The Treblemakers, also from Barden
University, look set to defeat The Barden Bellas at the finals unless the girls
make serious changes. However, Aubrey keeps insisting the girls stick with the
same songs they have sung over the past years.
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A CA-AUSSIE: Fat
Amy (Rebel Wilson) introduces herself as an Australian from Tasmania who can
sing and dance with a specialty in Mermaid Dancing in the film Pitch Perfect. Image: Universal
Pictures, Gold Circle Films.
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The film concentrates on the competition preparation for
the female singing group rather than the male group or both. It seems the focus
on all-women groups reflect the assumption that women will fight, disagree or compete
with other women even when they are on the same side. The bitchiness factor is
seen mostly between Aubrey and Beca, sometimes even between Beca and Kimmy Jin.
However, there seems to be very little rejection of males from other males
except when Benji (Ben Platt) is not chosen to join The Treblemakers because
the group’s lead singer Bumper (Adam Devine) thinks Benji is weird and nerdy.
Of course, following the women’s singing group fits in with the narrative of
Beca starting university and trying to fit in while creating memories and
friendships, as she pursues her love of music.
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CA-SHOWER: Beca (Anna Kendrick) is caught singing in the shower
after claiming she can't sing in the film Pitch
Perfect. Image: Universal Pictures, Gold Circle Films.
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The misogyny is depicted when a commentator named John
Smith (John Michael Higgins) who comments on competitors at the competition
finals, makes denigrating remarks about women such as, “Women are about as good
at a capella as they are at being
doctors.” Bumper makes equally misogynistic comments such as, “You girls are
awesomely horrible. I hate you. Kill yourselves.” Although, these comments can
be understood to be relative only to competitive a cappella singing, it seems plausible they also refer generally to
male attitudes towards women’s status in society.
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CA-ROMANTIC: Jesse (Skylar Astin) persuades Beca (Anna
Kendrick) to watch the ending of the movie The
Breakfast Club in the film Pitch
Perfect. Image: Universal Pictures, Gold Circle Films.
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Pitch
Perfect can be seen as a battle of the singing sexes between an
all-female group and an all-male group, but the women are the underdogs who
battle not just against the males but also among themselves. Therefore it is
interesting that the style of singing for the film is a cappella.
“To sing a cappella
is to carry a tune without instrumental accompaniment. It’s a high-risk musical
style as it is much easier to lose pitch when the orchestra isn’t providing a
familiar melody. You can lose your way without a strong rhythm section to keep
you on track. Young women today are living a
cappella and for the most part their song is not being heard” (Robertson
1990). Not only are women’s voices not being heard enough in society but also
some women are not listening to other women. A cappella singing involves harmonising and co-operation but there
are disagreements among the girls in The Barden Bellas. So it is triumphant
that eventually, not only do we hear women’s voices speaking in agreement but
also women’s voices successfully singing in harmony in the film.
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CA-REJECTED: Benji (Ben Platt) is a budding magician but
his magic skills contributed to his failure to be chosen for The Treblemakers
in the film Pitch Perfect. Image:
Universal Pictures, Gold Circle Films.
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The cast is wonderful and engaging with excellent singing
in all the musical sequences. The film is light-hearted and fun despite the
seriousness of the underlying sexism and misogyny relating to female a cappella singing. Pitch Perfect is not like the television programme Glee, due to the singing style and the
setting in a university instead of a high school. However, the similarities
include depicting people of different races, sexualities and social class. A
trend in the film, particularly among the female singers, is the use of the
prefix “a ca” preceeding words, such as “a ca-awesome, “a ca-believe it”, “a
ca-scuse me” that possibly is a way to endear a cappella itself as a passion among the singers.
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CA-WINNERS: The Barden Bellas perform in the finals at
the International Championship of Collegiate A cappella in the film Pitch Perfect. Image: Universal Pictures,
Gold Circle Films.
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Pitch
Perfect references films such as Mean Girls, High School
Musical, Clueless and The Breakfast Club, as well as featuring
some of the most popular songs from the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s that include hit
songs from Jessie J, Kelly Clarkson, David Guetta, Pitbull, Nicki Minaj and
Miley Cyrus. The target audience for
this film may generally be teenage girls, but the song selections and adult
themes provide some broad appeal to audiences of different ages and sexes. A sequel to this film is in production, with the cast yet to be confirmed and the release date will possibly be in 2015.
Director: Jason
Moore
Writers: Kay
Cannon (screenplay), Mickey Rapkin (book)
Cast: Anna
Kendrick, Skylar Astin, Brittany Snow, Anna Camp, Rebel Wilson, Ester Dean,
Alexis Knapp, Hana Mae Lee, Ben Platt, Adam Devine, Jinhee Joung, John Michael
Higgins, Elizabeth Banks, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Producers:
Scott Niemeyer, Elizabeth Banks, Max Handelman, Paul Brooks, Jeff Levine,
Jonathan Shore, Sian McArthur, Michael P. Flannigan
Cinematographer:
Julio Macat
Original
Music Composers: Christophe Beck, Mark Kilian
Film
Editor: Lisa Zeno Churgin
Production: Barry
Robison (Production Designer), Jeremy Woolsey (Art Director), David Hack (Set
Decorator)
Costume
Designer: Salvador Pérez Jr.
Reference:
*Robertson,
Heather Jane, (1990), A cappella: A
Report On The Realities, Concerns, Expectations By Adolescent Women In Canada.
Canadian Teachers’ Federation: Professional Development Services, Ottawa,
Canada, K2P 1B4.
