Pretty Persuasion
Popcornography has been running long enough for you all to know the truth. It is time to come clean and reveal my, not so secret, obsession with Evan Rachel Wood. Pretty Persuasion is 2005 black comedy satirical film that personifies Evan Rachel Wood like no other. Pretty Persuasion is my all time favourite dark comedy and deserves special Popcornography treatment.
Now before I begin to swoon shamelessly, Pretty Persuasion is about a 15 year old school girl who causes a fuss by accusing her drama teacher of sexual harassment. When Kimberley Joyce (Evan Rachel Wood) makes the above mentioned allegations she drags her friends, family as well as the media into her sinister plot. If you thought Mean Girls was twisted, then you have never seen school-girl evil quite like that demonstrated by Miss Wood. This film is upsetting and truly dark whilst concurrently managing to be utterly hilarious. Pretty Persuasion will have you on a roller coaster ride of emotions, all of which will be intense. But please, I would hate you to be fooled, Pretty Persuasion is no regular teen comedy and Kimberly Joyce is certainly no Regina George. In fact, Evan Rachel Wood makes Regina George seem like a Care Bear. And that is no easy feat.
Traumatizing the new girl 101
Besides the twisted, evil and methodological plotting of a 15 year-old, Pretty Persuasion has so much more to offer. The director, Marcos Siega, depicts an upscale 90210 high school as a metaphor for everything in contemporary American life. However, this is not new as we have seen this many times in film such as Heathers or Election. Screenwriter, Skander Halim, goes all out and focuses on a vast amount of issues in his satirical writing i.e. race, sex, gender identity, materialism, blackmail, intolerance, sexual harassment, discrimination, the war in Iraq, ignorance, suicide, celebrity and homosexuality. Pretty Persuasion embodies a tremendous amount of depth which lifts it above the regular teen comedy. To enhance the themes of materialism and moral decay, the film does not feature any popular music and does not feature contemporary branding of any kind. Social commentary sneaks in everywhere and we love it.
The epitome of family dysfunction
Consequent internal troubles
Evan Rachel Wood is scary good in this film. Emphasis on the scary. Her affinity towards challenging and daring material is awe-inspiring. Let’s not forget her role in Thirteen or more recently her part in Mildred Pierce. OBVIOUSLY, Evan would play a vampire queen in Trueblood. Evan loves to shock people. There is no one that makes interesting film choices quite like Evan.
Kimberley Joyce, an angst-ridden teen with a razor sharp mind and cruel agenda, is played almost too perfectly. Beautiful, evil geniuses excite me and the best of these is undoubtedly Kimberley Joyce. Evan’s portrayal of the troubled teen was praised by critics and these daring roles have lead to her mainstream success. Marrying Marilyn Manson did not hurt I am sure, but the gorgeous and incredibly talented Evan Rachel Wood can do no wrong.
Evan misbehaves in detention
Evan does what it takes to succeed. Women
Black comedies are rarely done well. And although Pretty Persuasion is often preachy, it delivers in shock-value, depth and genuine laughs. Besides this, Evan is perfect (as always). Lastly, Pretty Persuasion teaches us the importance of knowing whose boyfriend you are stealing. Do not miss Pretty Persuasion.
For more on Pretty Persuasion check out the trailer.
POPCORNOGRAPHY 