Pitch Perfect

This is kind of embarrassing, but not only did I watch Pitch Perfect on my day off last week, I became obsessed with it. I watched it twice before my rental expired. I'm considering buying it. I've been watching outtakes on YouTube. The songs have been stuck in my head all week. I even learned how to do the cup song.

Despite my unexpected love for this movie, its depiction of minorities and especially Asians really bothers me. There's the roommate who refuses to talk to Beca, refers to her as "white girl," and only acts like a human being to other Koreans. (Then again, considering that Beca's first words after "hello" are "Do you speak English," maybe her behavior is warranted.) And then there's the lone Asian-American girl in the a cappella group, who has the "Chinese doll" look (bright red lipstick, thick bangs, eyes always looking off to one side) and never speaks above a whisper. It's ironic that the love interest in the movie fetishizes the 80s Brat Pack movies, because the portrayal of Asians in those movies was also incredibly offensive. Think Long Duck Dong. At least Pitch Perfect didn't play a gong every time the Asian characters appeared.