Pitch Perfect
Saturday, August 15, 2015
“You guys are the best. Even though some of you are pretty thin, you all have fat hearts, and that’s what matters.” –Fat Amy (Pitch Perfect, 2012)
“But
if you think this is just some high school club where you can sing and dance
your way through any social issue, or confuse sexuality, you have come to the
wrong place. There is none of that here. That’s high school. This shit is real
life. Now, don’t just bring it. Sing it, and let’s do this.” –Tommy
(Pitch Perfect, 2012)
“Nothing
makes a woman feel more like a girl than a man who sings like a boy.”
–Gail (Pitch Perfect, 2012)
Title : Pitch Perfect
Director : Jason Moore
Starring : Anna Kendrick, Skylar Astin, Rebel
Wilson, Anna Camp, Brittany Snow
Genre : musical, comedy
Distributor : Universal Pictures
Release
date : 28 September 2012
Running
time : 112 minutes
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| "Pitch Perfect" movie poster - source: imdb.com |
Life
is indeed a never ending journey of process. So when you think every quest for
self-identity, life purpose, and even a place to stand, is over in high school,
then you’re wrong. Because when you graduate high school and enter college,
that’s just the beginning of the quest in another level. Some things might be a
lot easier to face than before, while some other things might be a lot harder.
Entering college means entering a whole new world that requires us to start
adapting again, though maybe not from a zero, but the challenges we will face
are definitely different. Some people already know what they want and need to
be when they enter the phase, but some others don’t know yet. And college life
plays a very significant role in redefining who we are and what we need to be;
it’s a quest for glory, and in order to get to that, we need to keep growing
strong. So here I am, presenting the first movie review for Growing Strong; it’s “Pitch Perfect” for
you, pitches.
 |
| source: imdb.com |
“Pitch Perfect” follows the journey of Barden University’s all-female a cappella group, the Barden Bellas. At a national a cappella competition, the Barden Bellas perform well until Aubrey Posen (Anna Camp) vomits on stage during her solo. They are publicly humiliated, losing any chance of winning. Four months later, newly arrived Barden freshman Beca Mitchell (Anna Kendrick) has no desire to attend college, but she is forced to do so by her father, a professor at the university. Wishing she could instead pursue a career as a music producer, Beca spends her time making mash-up mixes of songs and takes up an internship at the school radio station, where she gets to know fellow freshman Jesse Swanson (Skylar Astin), who is immediately attracted to her. After some persuasion from her father and Chloe Beale (Brittany Snow), the co-leader of the Bellas along with Aubrey, Beca reluctantly joins the audition for the Barden Bellas. Though Aubrey doesn’t initially approve of recruiting Beca, because she thinks Beca is too ‘alternative’, she yields nonetheless due to a desperate need for members and Beca’s talent. Beca joins alongside a group of other women who do not fit the Bellas’ typical mold: Cynthia-Rose Adams (Ester Dean), Stacie Conrad (Alexis Knapp), Lilly Onakuramara (Hana Mae Lee), and Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson).
In
the meantime, Jesse is also revealed to have joined the Bellas’ all-male rival
group, Barden University’s the Treblemakers. While his roommate Benji Applebaum
(Ben Platt) is not chosen to join the group which he has been a great fan of,
just because the Trebles’ leader Bumper Allen (Adam DeVine) and his right-hand
man Donald (Utkarsh Ambudkar) think that he’s weird and irritating,
particularly Bumper. The Bellas participate in the southeastern regional
competition at Carolina University where, at Aubrey’s insistence, they perform
the same medley that helped the Bellas advance to the finals the previous year.
In spite of their old set list, the group manages to place second, which sends
them to the semi-finals. For the semi-finals, Beca suggests to the Bellas to
try to be more daring with their songs’ arrangement, but Aubrey insists that
they will win with the repertoire the group has always used in the past,
unaware that their spectators start to get bored with the Bellas’ same-old
performance. And when the semi-finals take place, the friction between Beca and
Aubrey is getting at its peak. Beca’s furiosity drifts her apart from Jesse and
the Bellas, with Aubrey’s stubbornness stands between her and the girls.
However, despite the rupture, the girls must gather up once again to prepare
themselves for the finals.
 |
| source: imdb.com |
The harmony of voices isn’t just popping out of nowhere. In the Barden Bellas’ case, Aubrey gather the girls and dictate them to do what she thinks is perfect, while in the process she has lost the true meaning of a harmony. An a cappella group, Bellas in particular, is more than just a group of people sing together for a trophy, but a group of friends sing in a harmony for having the fun and experience; Bellas are sisters, family. We can’t find a harmony with people unless we really know them, personally. And it’s not until they’re bound together that Bellas will be able to find their real harmony and soul. More than just a strict discipline, a harmony will lead to a great performance by the spirit and soul shared by the members. And to able to do that, each member must know each other’s personality and character first. Therefore, they can pin point what’s best of each and combine it into a group’s strength.
Everyone
has their own personality and character, and there’s no use of trying to turn
somebody into someone they’re not. If the reason is to be able to similize
their style in order to get a great harmony and perfect performance, then it’s
so wrong. Perfection doesn’t mean that everything is flawless, instead,
perfection is when we can turn the flaws into excellences. Take example from
the Bellas; the tomboy Cynthia-Rose doesn’t have to be girly, the eccentric Fat
Amy doesn’t have to be mannered, the alternative Beca doesn’t have to be
mainstream, etc., yet they’re great together. It’s not easy to open up
ourselves and share all of the flaws we have to other people. But, in order to
get to know other people, personally, we have to open up ourselves first. And
that’s what it takes to get a true harmony. The key is spending time together
and having a group heart-to-heart conversation, trying to know each other
better.
 |
| source: imdb.com |
When people know each other better and deeper, and they found comfort in it, there’s this irresistible sense of belonging between them that will naturally lead to a perfect harmony. This, will change them in some way, it’s true. But if the change is for a good excellences, then why not? Before joining the Bellas, Beca was an outcast. She didn’t have friends and didn’t seem to want to have friends. She pushed away everyone who possibly cares for her, including Jesse. “Yeah, well, I shut everybody out. Don’t take it personally. It’s just easier,” Beca said. But then, being in the Bellas changes her perspective of relationship. It turns out to feel so good having girl-friends, particularly the Bellas whom she spends her most of time with. It turns out to feel so heartwarming having a man like Jesse who always be there for her. And, it turns out to feel so bad being apart from them and thinking about the idea that she might lose them.
Sometimes,
we need to hit the rock bottom first, in order to be able to climb up to the
top. Therefore we can appreciate much when we finally get to it. Gail Abernathy
(Elizabeth Banks) said in the movie, “A
mistake can haunt you for the rest of your life.” It’s a downfall, but
don’t let it ruin your mind too much. Like in Aubrey’s case, for example, she
blames herself too much because of a mistake she once made, making her a total
control-freak over the Bellas’ and being obsessed with winning. In the end, if
we finally can embrace every part of the past, even the biggest mistake, that’s
when we can find ourselves again. And after that, all we need is growing strong
towards the future. Even the Bellas too, they were falling apart before they
finally can reform and become stronger than ever. Sometimes, all it takes is to
fight it out and speak it up. Never hold back your feelings inside, because it
can kill you slowly. Just let it out loud.
 |
| source: imdb.com |
After watching “Pitch Perfect”, I can’t remember there’s any musical movie better than this. Yup, that’s how powerful this movie is. It gives pleasure and satisfaction to all of my senses; the humor, the romance, the friendship, the songs, everything! The script is superb witty and clever and comical. The casts are just amazing and falling right into places. The a cappella rendition of the songs, well, what more can I say? Epicly wonderful! I’m not getting bored watching it over and all over again, repeating some of my favorite parts. For the first time from a movie, I love the cover versions much better than the originals. The film was based on a non-fiction book titled “Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate A Cappella Glory” written by Mickey Rapkin. And it turned out that the critics agreed with me, as this movie gained critical acclaims, as well as received commercial success and became a sleeper hit. Well oh well, a diamond is meant to shine, indeed.
Jesse:
“You’re
one of the a cappella girls. I’m one of those a cappella boys, and we’re gonna
have aca-children. It’s inevitable.”
Beca:
“You’re
really drunk right now. I don’t think you’re gonna remember any of this.”
Jesse:
“No,
I’m not drunk at all. You’re just blurry.”
(Pitch
Perfect, 2012)
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