Introduction to the blog: You know, I reckon Easter is a great time for reflection - and a lot of that reflection centres around faith (particularly true with multiple religions starting their celebrations this year at the same time - a 1 in 33 year event apparently!) family and the like. Yet - there's also more to the date. Every year on Easter, I feel fat. I overeat chocolate - chocolate in abundance! I can't help myself, it stems from a lack of self-control - but it got me thinking about films about Easter - and that rabbit. And the truth is, it's not like Santa Claus films, where you get a new Santa film every five minutes - there's not a lot of Easter-Bunny content.
And then it hit me, The House Bunny (2008). Want to remember it together?
Here's the plot: Shelly (Anna Faris) has big dreams. She lives in the Playboy Mansion - and wants to be the bunny of the month. She even made this her birthday wish, as her oversized cake was wheeled into her over-the-top party. Everyone in the mansion loved Shelly - owing to her kindness and generosity, and her ability to take on the 'mother hen' figure.
Life was perfect - until she received a note offering that now she'd turned 27, she was too old to live in the mansion and that she must leave. This became devastating news for the young woman whose entire existence was bound up in the house - and in finding a collective identity as one of 'the girls'.
How fortunate then, that she would end up passing a college sorority house - and the opportunity presented itself for her to move in as the 'house mother'. It became a match which would allow Shelly to maintain her sense of self and sense of purpose.
The issue? These girls were unlike any she had ever met before - and so, she set out her own purpose: to make them sexy! This is largely where the comedy lies, as none of the girls in Shelly's new house would identify like this.
In pursuing this purpose, it becomes part of the wider plan to save the sorority house. The house itself was in danger of being closed down due to lack of new young women wanting to join them, and a lack of philanthropy which all sorority houses must do.
Cue the 'sexy' carwash:
So the Cinderella narrative then kicks into gear, as Shelly must teach the girls how to transform themselves - yes, their appearance, but also their confidence and self-value - transforming their self-talk too!
Here's the before and after of Shelly's 'fairy godmother' transformation:
The shot from above mirroring an opening shot from the mansion:
Alongside the sorority girls' transformation, Shelly is transformed too - she learns that she's more than a body and that she should be respected for her brains. Her sorority 'daughters' help her out by dressing her up in a conservative and 'smart' fashion and teaching her facts. The humour of this scene is Shelly is determined to use her facts, but they don't fit into the conversation at all!
And in the end, everything works out well - as the sorority becomes a house where everyone wants to be, including Shelly, who learns the value of her new family, deciding to stay on, rather than return to her former life in the mansion.
But how is this pin-up like the Easter Bunny? That's easy, aside from the bunny ears, she brought hope to a group of people - who came to have faith in the impossible: that they were valuable people, and they developed a positive self-concept and self-esteem. That's far more valuable than any chocolate egg.
This film got really bad reviews when it was released - but it didn't deserve these. Yes, it's a dumb film, No, it's not a masterpiece - but it's good Easter entertainment!
This post is in response to the Twitter prompt, get on it:
All images are associated with the film discussed, which is distributed by: Columbia Pictures, Relativity Media, Sony Pictures Releasing
