Not being one for scary movies, it took me quite a while to see this movie. The title really throws you and for the longest time I thought it was a horror film. After realizing that it is not a horror film, but more of a chick flick I decided to see watch it and ended up enjoying myself.
Now nobody actually dies in John Tucker Must Die, but I do think it is still a movie worth seeing. Yes, it is a stupid romantic comedy. Yes, the girls act like big bimbos. Yes, most of the guys in the movie act like chauvinist pigs. And Yes, some might think you’d have to be a teenage girl to enjoy it. But deep in all of the bimbo’s and chauvinist pigs, the creators of the movie push some underlying issues that I think are important to today’s youth, in a fun, comedic way.
John Tucker is the guy that all the girls in school would die to date and who all the guys would die to be. He’s that amazing guy who is a great athlete, knows just what to say to girls, and everything always seems to go his way. Three girls who belong to different crowds all find out that John Tucker was dating them at the same time from the ‘new girl’. They automatically befriend her and decide that “John Tucker must die!” Through various pranks and silly ideas these girls plan their revenge on John Tucker. Most of the time, the pranks don’t work and John Tucker just ends up with more girls and more popularity.
I feel that through the revenge these girls plot we can learn a few vital things. Most importantly I think that this movie teaches young teenage girls the importance of standing up for themselves. A young girl might strive for popularity by wearing the same clothes and doing the same things as everyone else is. This might include doing whatever it takes to date the most popular boy in school. A girl needs to realize that it is never ok for a guy to use her. I’m not saying that I agree with all of the stunts and revenge plots these girls pull in the movie, but it still goes a long way to showing teenage girls that it’s ok to go against the norm.
Brittany Snow, Kate in the movie, especially shows girls what can happen if you wind up moving too fast with the crowd. She ends up acting like a completely different person than she really is. She starts to dress differently, joins the cheerleading squad, and goes along with the revenge of John Tucker just because she finally thinks she’s found ‘friend’s’ in the other girls who are plotting the revenge. Kate finally realizes who she really is, and puts an end to the revenge. She still remains ‘popular’, but she is able to be herself. I think that is the kind of message that the gatekeepers need to be sending young girls—be yourself. If you are yourself, you’re still pretty, you can still have friends, and you will still find guys to date. I feel that Twentieth Century Fox and Betty Thomas do a great job of adding these underlying themes in a funny high school romantic comedy that most teens would enjoy! Even I enjoyed it and laughed throughout the movie and I’m not a teen!
Now nobody actually dies in John Tucker Must Die, but I do think it is still a movie worth seeing. Yes, it is a stupid romantic comedy. Yes, the girls act like big bimbos. Yes, most of the guys in the movie act like chauvinist pigs. And Yes, some might think you’d have to be a teenage girl to enjoy it. But deep in all of the bimbo’s and chauvinist pigs, the creators of the movie push some underlying issues that I think are important to today’s youth, in a fun, comedic way.
John Tucker is the guy that all the girls in school would die to date and who all the guys would die to be. He’s that amazing guy who is a great athlete, knows just what to say to girls, and everything always seems to go his way. Three girls who belong to different crowds all find out that John Tucker was dating them at the same time from the ‘new girl’. They automatically befriend her and decide that “John Tucker must die!” Through various pranks and silly ideas these girls plan their revenge on John Tucker. Most of the time, the pranks don’t work and John Tucker just ends up with more girls and more popularity.
I feel that through the revenge these girls plot we can learn a few vital things. Most importantly I think that this movie teaches young teenage girls the importance of standing up for themselves. A young girl might strive for popularity by wearing the same clothes and doing the same things as everyone else is. This might include doing whatever it takes to date the most popular boy in school. A girl needs to realize that it is never ok for a guy to use her. I’m not saying that I agree with all of the stunts and revenge plots these girls pull in the movie, but it still goes a long way to showing teenage girls that it’s ok to go against the norm.
Brittany Snow, Kate in the movie, especially shows girls what can happen if you wind up moving too fast with the crowd. She ends up acting like a completely different person than she really is. She starts to dress differently, joins the cheerleading squad, and goes along with the revenge of John Tucker just because she finally thinks she’s found ‘friend’s’ in the other girls who are plotting the revenge. Kate finally realizes who she really is, and puts an end to the revenge. She still remains ‘popular’, but she is able to be herself. I think that is the kind of message that the gatekeepers need to be sending young girls—be yourself. If you are yourself, you’re still pretty, you can still have friends, and you will still find guys to date. I feel that Twentieth Century Fox and Betty Thomas do a great job of adding these underlying themes in a funny high school romantic comedy that most teens would enjoy! Even I enjoyed it and laughed throughout the movie and I’m not a teen!
2 comments:
Interesting that you touched on gatekeeping and suggested this film could challenge imagery and messages of going with the crowd that most media promotes.
Is it better than Clueless? Mean Girls?
I wouldn't say that John Tucker Must Die is better than Mean Girls. I would have to say that I think it is better than Clueless, just because Clueless was produced so long ago. I think this movie caters more to today's young teens and they can relate to it better.
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