An Education That’s Nearly a Drop-out

WARNING: EXTREME SPOILERS ON “AN EDUCATION”

Once upon a time in the little town where I lived I dated the high school star. He was the all American type, clean cut, and as honest as they come. He was my age, and my parents liked him, despite his more secular upbringing. So that said, one night in high school we took the liberty of staying out a little later than my curfew. As a result, you would have thought a meteor had hit my little town, on my little block, in our little house. So all I have to say to the parents of Carey Mulligan’s character, Jenny, from the movie An Education, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? Were 16-year-olds more mature in the 1960s London than the 1970s My Town, USA? (Yips #1). I want to preface this blog by saying that the only thing I knew about Carey Mulligan before seeing An Education was that she was British, and the only thing I knew about the movie was that it was a “coming of age” story. (Yips #2). I’ve already talked about Yips #3 in my Carey Mulligan and her Cello Education blog and finally, Yips #4 goes to the predictable and silly stuff movies are made of.

Yips #1: Why is it that in some movies the 16-year-old or any “child” is smarter and more mature than any adult in the film? Jeff Foxworthy reminds us daily that adults aren’t smarter than 5th graders, but why rub it in? Mr. and Mrs. Jenny were so manipulated by their daughter, David the Cassanova, and his pretend aunt that my head was spinning. The mother turns a blind eye when Jenny ignores her curfew. Why? Because she approves of Jenny’s relationship to a man twice her age (marry up) who charmed the apron off of her too. At the very least, Jenny should have apologized to show a little respect for her parents but that didn’t happen. Manipulative kid, stupid mom.

Yips #2: A Coming of Age story? COME ON! As charming as Carey Mulligan is, the closest she got in representing a normal 16-year-old was having her hair in pig tails. The hairstyles changed with her level of suggested sophistication. One day she’s Jenny from the Hood and the next she’s Audrey Hepburn storming Paris. I thought she was acting about 25 when she was first introduced. Just compare Jenny to her two squealing school chums. They acted their age. Jenny’s education, composure, self assuredness, and comfortable handling of her nights out with her boy-toy screamed someone who needed no education. She was just looking for a good time. Yes, Carey Mulligan is charming, but that charming little smile was on her face from the first day of class, and it was only wiped off with a bit of humble pie in the end. I was completely unconvinced.

Yips #3: See previous blog.

Yips #4: Silly stuff. Jenny is standing out in the pouring rain with her cello (by the way she carried it, it was probably an empty case). What is she waiting for? They never tell us! Her father? A bus? She lives around the freakin’ corner! WALK! The cello isn’t that heavy! It’s hollow! I’ve walked home from high school with heavier instruments. So it’s raining and David charms her into his sports car and by the time he drives her around the corner, it’s sunny! Other problems abound. Jenny’s hand on her papers from one angle, Jenny’s hand off her papers from another angle. A banana gets thrown across the room in one direction but is miraculously picked up on the couch in the other room. Someone shaking hands from one camera, not shaking hands from another camera, and then back to shaking hands. Silly stuff like that.

Um, and don’t get me started on the glove compartment. I knew the minute that the glove compartment was introduced that it would be a focal point for future drama. It was like being hit by an unpublished Nancy Drew mystery: The Clue in the Glove Compartment, by Carolyn Keene. The writer had to find some way for the protagonist to have a V-8 moment, so let’s throw some letters in there! Yes, of course! Everyone throws their mail in their glove compartments! Why, that’s where I keep all my bills and circulars! I’m surprised they weren’t in David’s trunk. He keeps everything else in there. Stupid Jenny, it didn’t bother her at all that David and his tag team were robbing and conning people left and right, but she was stunned that he was married? I could swear I heard Jenny saying, “Why that CAD! Why didn’t he tell me before the banana?”

Sigh. Why does every teacher and librarian in the movies wear mousy glasses? When I was 16, my English teacher was a former Radio City Rockette. Every young man in school hoped to be assigned to her class. And, wasn’t that a hint of a moustache on Headmistress Thompson? Jenny is damn lucky Emma Thompson didn’t grab her with her giant angel wings and carry her off (by the look on Meryl Streep’s face, a better time than the banana for sure), but she gave her a second chance, thanks to Miss Stubbs (the mousy one).

Who wrote this screenplay? A man? You didn’t have to go to Oxford looking for a teaching degree. Just ask Antonia Fraser, Amelia Fletcher, Barbara Castle, Indira Gandhi, and Dame Emma Kirkby. Even Telebobbies like Bobby Jindal got into Oxford.

Okay. My rant is over, but don’t despair. An Education is an imperfect movie that’s worth seeing but you can wait for the DVD. Carey Mulligan may get an Oscar nomination in a year the Academy is searching for some good female performances. Her performance was good but not convincing. She’s young and her talent will grow.

P.S. I’m sorry that Sunshine Cleaning got such an early release. I much preferred Emily Blunt’s performance in that movie over Mulligan’s in this, although Blunt’s would probably be considered a supporting role.

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