Pitch PERFECT

The only reason I had any fun in college was because I was in an a cappella group.  The only friends I still have from college, aside from my roommate and my sister (who actually was in my a cappella group for a year), we in a cappella groups.  So, when I heard about Pitch Perfect, a motion feature about an all-girls college a cappella group, I was naturally very very excited.  Unfortunately, it waited to come out in theaters until I was in Seattle, where I don’t know anyone who would go see this movie with me.  In New York, I could find a million people, though Lindsay would have been my go-to.  In California, I would have found several Counterpoint (that was my group!) alumnae to go with me.  But in Seattle??  Ken already refused.  I don’t think my aunt or 16 year old cousin, Max, would be very into it, and my only friends who I am not related to didn’t do a cappella in college.  This movie might not be their jam.

To my surprise and extreme joy, Theresa mentioned that she and Lauren (these are my two friends) wanted to see it!  Ecstasy set in.

This movie was so hysterical!  Rebel Wilson? Hysterical.  Elizabeth Banks? Hysterical.  Anna Kendrick and Brittany Snow? Hot. 

Best of all, the movie was mostly accurate!  ICCA’s is a real thing (I watched them.  We were not good enough to participate).  Three Members were completely forgotten about.  (I know we referred to someone in our partnering guys group as “The Lost Mendicant” because we didn’t realize he was in the group for half a year.  I also distinctly remember leaving Stephanie out of role call and regularly forgetting to assign her parts.)  No member of the guys group was hot.  (What? You thought the main guy actor was cute?  So did I, but that is only because he sang well.  That’s exactly how it was in college, wasn’t it.)

I only had 3-4 objections, and that is amazingly low as far as my objection counts for movies go. 

1. The “Riff Off”: A group would have to be incredible to be able to make up arrangements on the spot.  It’s easy to pick up parts when singing along with a recording, but what are the odds of everyone in the group knowing the song, for one, let alone recalling the various parts and chord progressions?  Highly unlikely.  These girls weren’t music majors, and totally sucked performing at the frat party the week before.  I don’t buy it, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying it.

2. Their ICCA winning performance: It was good, but I wanted more.  I didn’t think that they were that much better than the guy group.   (And why didn’t the guy group incorporate more magic?)  Also, The Bellas “new improved” outfits that reflected each and everyone of their personalities just reflected sluttiness.  Of course, that is true to form.  All all-girl a cappella groups aspired to be desired and would slut-it-up to get the lame guys or girls from other a cappella groups to hook up with them after any performance.  Counterpoint (CPT) totally did that.  

When Bear (Stanford Counterpoint member) visited Ken and I in NYC a year ago, we reminisced and watched old CPT videos.  We had a couple of “sexy” numbers, such as Chicago’s “Cell Block Tango” and the Pussycat Dolls’ “Loosen Up My Buttons” for which we were scantily clad and performed alluring synchronized dances.  We thought we were pretty hot.

Ken watched the videos with us.  Then said, “You thought that was hot?”

This is Ken, my fiancé, who “strongly reveres” me (his words, just now. We thought “worships” was a bit strong) and thinks I’m hot now, when I am significantly less fit than I was in my college days.

This was news to me.  I still thought we were hot.  Sometimes women have a very different idea of what is hot to men than men do.  This was recently covered on “The Mindy Project”.

Fortunately for Counterpoint, and the Bella’s in Pitch Perfect, the guy groups we targeted were nearing the bottom of the barrel and had pretty low standards themselves, especially after a night of beer pong with Coors Light and mixed drinks of Smirnoff, SoCo and Diet Coke.  (We never bought regular.)

2b.  I wished they started singing “cool” songs earlier.  Given Becca’s clear tendency toward “mash-ups”, I was expecting some more sweet a cappella arrangements throughout, but given the very plausible power-struggle story line, I see why the creators waited until the end to bust out their masterpiece.  I just wish it was a little better.

3. The Lesbian: I thought we were passed making the kind of joke where the gay person is all over all the poor straight people every chance he/she gets.  What has Modern Family taught us if not to accept all types of people?  And not to fear the gays because they might hit you. 

However, these are small complaints.  I loved this movie, and it totally made me want to be 10 pounds lighter, drunk more regularly, and back in college.