Booksmart: The female Superbad? A dangerous view

Since the John Hughes takeover of Hollywood there have been countless teen experience stories told in film. Some, such as The Perks of Being a Wallflower, choose to focus on the serious and dark themes of growing up. However, the easy choice is for a cheap comedy that is easy to make, raunchy enough to make a 12-year-old giggle and make the studios millions. When there is actual care invested in a project, you get an authentic creation that can perfectly encapsulate a generation. There are two comedies within this genre that are often compared, unfairly in my opinion. These are Superbad and Booksmart. Both are fantastic films, but only one gets the recognition it deserves… I wonder why that is?

Booksmart is a fun, unique film that really captures the essence of teenage culture today. The film utilises rising stars in the film industry to pay homage to the teen experience. The two main characters decide to see what they have been missing out on their whole high school experience. That is where the similarities with Superbad end (oh, and Binky Feldstein is Jonah Hill’s sister). The film certainly draws influence from Superbad, along with many other teen films including clueless. The film is an homage for sure, a lover letter to the genre. However, the Superbad comparisons are often used to dismiss this film and that is where I take issue. If you watched this film and your only take away was “that was like superbad but with girls” then you have significantly missed the point. To dismiss this film as merely Superbad with female leads is so short minded and harmful. It is a sexist mindset and completely puts the film down, ignoring the merits this film has. It only seems to happen to female led films; no one was calling Spiderman the puberty years of Batman. Both run around rooftops, wear a mask and are orphans… same film, right? Except this is a stupid comparison that completely ignores what makes both of those characters and those films special. The same can be said about Booksmart and Superbad. There is no harm in acknowledging the influence Superbad undoubtedly had on Booksmart, but dismissing it is a sexist take that dismisses the work of female filmmakers and discourages voices from putting their vision on the big screen.

Now this is not to say that all discourse surrounding this film is negative, and I certainly do not intend to talk about negativity surrounding this film for the rest of this article! Let us talk about why Booksmart is a great film. I do not want to say too much to ruin the plot as I would highly recommend watching this movie. The teen film genre has been reduced to a cash cow for Netflix to churn out about 15 versions of each year. Booksmart is a breath of fresh air in a thoroughly stale genre. It is a story told with genuine care and attention. The two lead characters have great chemistry, and you buy that they are lifelong friends. This is due to the excellent performances from Beanie Feldstein as Molly and Kaitlyn Dever as Amy. The great dialogue and writing give them so much to work with and they smash their performances, elevating the fun level of the viewing experience. The two teens are success driven and have spent their entire high school career focussing on building their college application with extra curriculum activities. They are both going to top Universities, and this gives Molly an air of superiority. This bubble is hilariously burst when she finds out all her classmates that she looks down on for messing about and partying are also going to top schools. This causes a crisis and a last-ditch attempt for the girls to experience the party scene before college. It is a classic fish out of water tale but is told in a unique way. There is nothing wrong with using tropes if you have a unique twist and well-crafted story to build around these tropes. This is where Booksmart excels. It does not reinvent the wheel when it comes to high school films, but it does add all sorts of shiny bells and whistles to make it a worthwhile story to be told.

The casting for this film was a home run. Beanie Feldstein has real star power and proves she can carry a film with her natural charisma. Her chemistry with all the surrounding cast is great and I am certain she will go on to have a fantastic career. Although her character is quieter than Beanie’s, Kaitlyn Dever also turns in a fantastic performance. She brings a lot of emotional depth to her character’s love life story line. She plays off the strong personality of Molly and together they produce countless hilarious scenes. The goodbye at the end is a powerful scene that the duo act to perfection. The supporting cast is stacked with up-and-coming talent. Nico Hiraga, Diana Silvers and Noah Galvin are just a few names that help make this film so spectacular. Perpetual stoner Eduardo Franco basically confirmed his show stealing role as Argyle in this performance. Skyler Gisondo is as watchable as ever and Billie Lourd’s Gigi is a great wild card.

Olivia Wilde’s first venture into the Director’s chair is a successful one. She is a talented storyteller and is not afraid to take some risks. She trusted a young cast in her first film, and it paid off by adding vibrancy to her fresh tale. This vibrancy was built up on with some fantastic cinematography. The backdrop is bright and lively, and the shots are unique and energetic. The water balloon intro is a fun visual experience but also is a clever way of framing the shock and bubble bursting revelation that Molly has just discovered. Olivia Wilde continues the risk taking with the soundtrack. Never in a million years when I first watched this film did I expect to hear Death Grips in this film, but it fits perfectly.

After the opening paragraph, it only feels right to discuss Superbad. Superbad was the quintessential teen movie when I was growing up. It perfectly captures the awkward reality of being in your late teens but still a child. Michael Cera, Jonah Hill and Christopher Mintz Platz fit the uncool, socially unaware teenagers perfectly it almost seems like they are unaware they are being filmed and are just conversing as they normally would. This is down to some brilliant writing. Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg based the two main characters on themselves and drew from real life stories from their teenage years for scenarios in this film. This makes the language and humour match up with the viewers experience and feel authentic. The language is crass and incredibly sexualised, but rarely does it feel forced (bar maybe the drawings bit). The film swings between crass and wholesome but does not cross the line into unnecessarily vulgar. Whereas films such as American Pie display criminal acts and plays them for laughs, this film does not cross this line. I was a bit apprehensive to rewatch this through a more modern lensed or fear of rape culture being played for laughs as has happened in many teen films from the late 90s and early 2000s. Luckily the film draws a strong line where Michael Cera’s character Evan does not take advantage of his drunk date and Seth makes a fool of him self trying to get Jules drunk to sleep with him.

Like Booksmart, the supporting cast of this is perfect. Emma Stone showed her early star power in a small role here with her charisma and humour, Seth Rogan and Bill Hader bring their experienced comedy chops to ease the burden on the rookies and Mintz Platz has cemented himself in cinema legend as Mclovin, the Hawaiian organ donor.

What really makes Superbad stand out is how iconic it is. It has some of the funniest scenes in comedy films that stand the test of time. The McLovin fake ID scene is forever hilarious and the perfect level of teen idiocy and absurdity. It is written to perfection and never fails to make me laugh. Michael Cera singing for the coked-out party goers is another highlight of the movie as well as the cops and McLovin adventures. The wholesome moments in the film set it apart from the general teen dross. The scene in Evan’s basement after the party where both guys have a heart to heart about their fears of moving on and how they love each other, followed by the awkward next morning is what being a teen is all about. This film and its creators know that and have that at the heart of the film’s purpose, despite all the ridiculous hijinks. The escalator scene to close the film would not be out of place in most high art films and is a genuinely beautiful moment.

These are two films that do a brilliant job of showing the teen experience for two generations. They have been made with such care and crafted to perfection. A great amount of care has been put in and the viewer gets so much joy out of the films in return. Give both films a watch and I think, whilst similar in theme and tone, the individual voices that shine through from each film will speak to you in their own unique way.