Written by Sarah Butchko for Autostraddle

Pitch Perfect, directed by Jason Moore and written by Kay Cannon, hit theaters in 2012 and has remained an iconic pop culture staple since. The movie follows the Barden Bellas, an all-girl acapella group trying to make a comeback after an embarrassing performance at the ICCA Finals the year before. While the group used to be composed of basic, white, acapella girls, the Bellas have become desperate to recruit a new team and end up taking in a group of misfits as the new Bellas. This could be a whole other discussion on the fatphobia, racism and plain bitchiness rooted in the recruitment of the Bellas, like how they have to “settle” for people who do not fit their prior standards of: white, skinny, and conventionally pretty. Back to the plot of the movie; the Bellas rival the Treblemakers, the all-male group on campus, and beating them at the 2012 ICCA Finals fuels their fire. Pitch Perfect takes the audience through the reinvention of the Bellas and the trials and tribulations of college acapella. There are many subplots in the movie, Beca and Jesse’s relationship, the enemies to lovers trope of Fat Amy and Bumper, and the not so subtle will-they-won’t-they of Beca and Chloe, to list a few. The movie has a cliche happy ending, Beca gets her man and the Bellas win the ICCAs. 

Although at first glance, the story is inclusive of different people and identities, with further consideration it uses these different identities as the butt of the joke and perpetuates harmful stereotypes. Comments and off color jokes about lesbians are heard throughout the movie. In the specific scene I am focusing on, the Bellas are going around and telling each other something that the others do not know about them. As Cynthia Rose is standing up to share, Fat Amy says, “I think we know where this is going, lesbihonest,” insinuating that Cynthia Rose is going to come out to them. Instead, she shares about her gambling problem that started when she broke up with her girlfriend. Fat Amy reacts saying, “Whoomp there it is,” as if it is such a huge deal that Cynthia Rose is gay. Prior to Cynthia Rose officially coming out to the Bellas, the group constantly makes comments suggesting that Cynthia Rose is lesbian. This pressure on Cynthia Rose to label her sexuality for the comfort of the others in the group relays a message to the audience saying that it is necessary to have a defined identity that others must be aware of. This continues the pressure of coming out in society and the idea that if you are anything but straight you must define it and let everyone know. This becomes harmful as the assumptions and judgements of Cynthia Rose from the Bellas may cause someone watching who is unsure of their sexuality and their definition of it to feel pressure to come out or define their identity. It can also create fear for the person watching that others are judging them and making assumptions about them. 

The first time the audience meets Cynthia Rose is at the audition for the acapella groups where she is misgendered because of the clothes she is wearing and the way she looks. The character who misgendered her, corrects himself saying “Whoop not a dude!” which is a joke that is supposed to entertain the audience. However, this “joke” perpetuates the gender binary in clothes, making it out of the ordinary when a woman expresses her gender in a way outside of the norm. The fact that the comment comes from a man makes it even more frustrating. 

Cynthia Rose, in her own words from Pitch Perfect 2, is “black, gay, and a woman.” This intersectional representation taken at face value can be seen as progressive and positive for the community, however, throughout the movie, Cynthia Rose is portrayed as a sexually aggressive black butch lesbian that keeps up a harmful stereotype about lesbians. She makes sexual comments and innuendos, and borderline sexually assaults Fat Amy, Stacy, and other characters. She repeatedly grabs Stacy’s boob and stares at her ass. When Fat Amy is hit by the burrito, Cynthia Rose jumps on her and attempts to give her “mouth-to-mouth” resuscitation which the audience can tell is not her true motive. These aggressive instances contribute to the butch lesbian stereotype that make hetero women wary- that the lesbian wants to get with you even if you are not interested. With the additional fact that not only is she an angry butch lesbian, she is an angry black butch lesbian, this representation becomes even more dangerous. My guess is that the producers did not intend to create this harmful character that perpetuates harmful stereotypes in society but with more attention paid to how this representation would come across could have made this movie a little less problematic. While it is important to have inclusive representation in media, representations that are not done well can be more damaging than not. 

Comment (Shea Bonacci)

I have watched the Pitch Perfect Movies so many times since they first came out. These are issues I never noticed or picked up on as a kid in the 5th grade. Reading through your post allowed me to walk through the movie with a completely different lens as a 20 year old. I like how you highlight that on the surface, most people view the movie as inclusive of different people and identities, but the irony is that those people are the butt of the joke. Assuming and expecting people to come out about their sexuality, the fatphobia present within the movie, the misgendering present, and the unrealistic representations of certain “stereotypes,” are all very present issues within the movies. Overall, great job!