Day 209: The Essence of ‘Pitch Perfect ’

TL;DR — it’s basically a Hegelian feminist story. If you haven’t seen the film or its sequel, spoilers ahead.
Why is Pitch Perfect great?
The story tests a young group of women’s ability to keep up with men in yet another milieu where they are marginalized. From the onset, we discover that the Barden Bellas are fundamentally deficient to the Barden Treblemakers. The rest of the film is an effort to subvert that relegated status, but in doing so, they must find a way to surpass their counter parts.
In Hegelian terms, the thesis of the films is that women can as good (if not better) than men at a capella, and the antithesis is that their same-school male counterparts are just too good.
To establish conflict, the exposition has to be … pitch-perfect…
The Premise
When we first meet the Bellas, we learn the following:
- They conform to restrictive notions of performing womanhood.
Showcasing flight attendant uniforms, rigid choreography, 30-year-old covers, and a maximum of 2 lead vocalists, the Barden Bellas perform like a group seeking to entertain some authoritarian bureaucrats at a private party. In contrast, the Treblemakers are fresh and exciting to watch. Leader Bumper may be arrogant, but his talent will not be denied. - They don’t have the nerves to execute a single song.
Incumbent Bella captain Aubrey vomits during her solo at the national competition, a moment that tarnishes the legacy of the Bellas. This moment reinforces the argument that women cannot handle pressure on the same literal stage that men can. It’s a nice way to set the tone for a longer cinematic struggle for the group. - They can’t hit the full range of vocals that men can.
The a capella commentary duo notes that prior to the Bellas, female group never make it to nationals due to their insufficient vocal range. Even at their best, the Barden Bellas are implied to perform with a handicap, unable to produce the same full-range of sound that the male groups can.
All three bits of key information are presented within the first ten minutes of the film, and they’re just enough to catapult us as viewers to…
The Transformation
The point of the Hegelian dialectic is not just that the thesis and antithesis exist in conflict with one another — it produces a subsequent change.
- Embrace their individual notions of womanhood.
Inspired by Beca’s alt-girl rebellious nature, they key pivotal moment for all the women happens when they come together as a group and admit that they all don’t fit a cookie-cutter notion of perfection. She’s a clear antithesis to Aubrey’s conservative inclinations, and the symbolic transfer of the pitch pipe starts a new era for the group. - Turning a strange curse into a gift.
In this scene (2:45 mark), they do their first mashup and come together as a group for the very first time. Almost immediately afterwards, a miracle happens — deputy Bella leader Chloe, who couldn’t sing for months due to nodes surgery, can now sing as a bass. Things may have gotten a little more interesting for the group…
- Working together in a flatter, inclusive format.
Both the Bellas and the Treblemakers sing a maximum of two songs in each performance, featuring a senior soloist (Aubrey/Chloe and Bumper, respectively) to anchor the entire song. While this is fairly traditional for any a capella group, it’s nearly as much fun as watching the Bellas’ final performance: a mash-up of seven songs including different vocalization (percussion, rap, bass, etc.).
By the end, we see a new, fun, proud group, one great enough to establish a general consensus (even among the Treblemakers) that they’re the top team in the country. Which leads to my final point…
Why the sequel fall a bit flat
Generally, most people don’t like Pitch Perfect 2 compared to the original, and I’d include myself in that camp. Much of the film’s plot is the same, with the new antithesis: Das Sound Machine (DSM), the main obstacle preventing the Barden Bellas from global stardom and redeeming themselves from an embarrassing presidential performance.
The problem with Das Sound Machine as the group’s antithesis is that it’s a weaker premise than the first film. DSM is a “perfect” group, one that would thrive under Aubrey’s old leadership style and make their German countryfolk proud. In other words, they’re fascists and they love it.
This move is a trite appeal to the American ideologies of individuality, freedom, and innovation. The solution: sing an original song written by newest member Emily that, personally, feels tired after the fourth time she keeps singing it.
Pitting German fascism against American innovation often works well for other films (too many to cite), but the protagonists of Pitch Perfect are an all-women American group — nationalism is a relative afterthought.
Their agenda, to me, should always be fundamentally feminist in order to rationalize why they — and only they — are best suited to emerge victorious again.
How the sequel could have been better
I’m not suggesting to change the Barden Bellas at all — we’ve fallen in love with them as individuals and as a functional diverse collective. I’d change their antagonists from DSM to an all-male Australian a capella group.
Hear me out.
Australian men are not-so-secretly taking over American notions of the masculine ideal, and they have been for quite some time. Originals such as Errol Flynn and Mel Gibson and more contemporary hunks such as Hugh Jackman, Heath Ledger, Eric Bana, and the Hemsworth brothers are examples of what many American women seem to want.
What if instead of DSM, they were the group that intimidated the Barden Bellas in ways the Treblemakers couldn’t: through raging sexuality? I hoped that the film would abandon the Treblemaker subplot entirely (aside from Bumper, he’s too good to exclude) and introduce some new love interests for Beca and the gang. Oh, the narrative possibilities.
The best joke of the entire film: Fat Amy is puzzled by her strong Australian heritage while being on an “all-American” female a capella team. What if they ran with that premise?
That’s a little why I’m nervous about the next film — it appears to double-down on the nationalist approach and forget what the Barden Bellas are really all about.
Thanks for reading, if you got this far. Share, recommend, and comment if you’re so inclined!
— Lee
