Image Credit: Adam TaylorDespite having a certain susceptibility to teen movies — not that there’s anything wrong with a grown woman being able to quote most of Bring It On — I was genuinely surprised at how much I enjoyed this weekend’s Easy A. Emma Stone kills it as Olive, a high school student who traps herself in an extremely slutty lie, and as her potential romantic interest, Gossip Girl‘s Penn Badgley evokes the above-it-all cool of, well, Jesse Bradford in Bring It On. (Yes, I am aware that other movies exist.) Hooray, also, for Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson as the weirdest, warmest movie parents in a long while. I walked out of the theater feeling like maybe, just maybe, the kidz are gonna be all right.
But we are gathered here today to discuss the strange case of Amanda Bynes, as Easy A marks her first major film appearance since Hairspray in 2007. (I’m not counting Sydney White, since apparently no one did at the time.) Playing a tightly-wound evangelical Christian goody-two-shoes on a rampage against Olive’s alleged behavior, she isn’t given much to do but shoot Jesus lasers from her eyes and blast aggravated steam from her ears, but she slapped on a prissy headband and went for it anyway. Bynes has always exhibited less vanity than her fellow teen stars, a willingness to go for the punchline (even if she’s the punchline) that evades lesser comediennes. So I gotta ask: Amanda, what is up with all this retirement hoo-hah?
It was back in June when Bynes took to her Twitter to announce she’d retired from acting because she no longer loved it. It was one month after that when Bynes tweeted that she’d unretired. And about a week ago, Bynes deleted her Twitter feed entirely. I’m trying not to read too much into that — maybe she and John Mayer (who also pulled his tweeterplug) had some sort of secret pact — but I hope it doesn’t mean that she’s un-un-retired. I think that would be a shame.
Especially in this weekend of Yet Another Disappointing Headline Concerning Lindsay Lohan, I find myself respecting the way Bynes has conducted her transition from child star to young adult: no scandals, no arrests, no embarrassing boyfriend drama, just the one Maxim cover (on which she’s practically swaddled in fabric) and a very select smattering of well-played parts. I’m fairly certain she still lives with her parents, which I find adorable. And while it is her right to decide what to do with her own future — especially after nearly two decades of the Hollywood grind life on screen [better, readers? - WP] — I wish she wouldn’t give up on making people laugh. We’ve got waaaaay too many generic ingenues around here already.
What do you think, PopWatchers? Should Amanda Bynes go ahead and retire, or would you prefer that she stick around? If you could fantasy-manage her career, what advice would you give her? And did you see Easy A? OMG did you love it?
Read more:
EW’s ‘Easy A’ review
I loved Easy A. I also hope Amanda Bynes doesn’t go away, “She’s the Man” remains my go-to feel good, laugh and look at hot guys movie. I hope she continues to act because she is just so different from all the other young actresses.
I should also mention that Emma Stone was awesome too and is also a refreshing breath of fresh air in Hollywood. They are the reason this movie was awesome. The actors just played their parts well and not with the fakeness that seems to be the Hollywood norm.
Emma stone rocks. Loved her since superbad and i dont really like that movie.
amanda I hope you keep making movies
My friend went to the world premiere of “Semi-Pro” and she ran into Amanda Bynes in the bathroom and she said she was sweet and very down to earth and took a picture with my friend… in the bathroom so that shows how cool she is!
Amanda was hilarious in She’s the Man and What I Like About You. Her deliveries were priceless. I really hope she doesn’t retire cause she has great timing. She never fails to make me laugh.
On that note, Emma Stone is another hilarious young actress. I would literally watch her in anything. These two women really know how to carry themselves and hold their own, even in supporting roles with big name actors (Emma=Zombieland, Superbad; Amanda=Hairspray).
I think Amanda Bynes is awesome. I loved her in She’s the Man, Sydney White, and What I Like About You. She should definitely stay unretired!
I think she is truly funny. She has great comedic timing. I also loved her in She’s the Man, Sydney White, and What I Like About You. I would also throw in What a Girl Wants. She is just refreshingly funny.
I agree completely. She’s wonderful. And, in my humble opinion, I think she should continue to pursue the very noble career of comic actress–which requires a special set of skills and natural ability, all of which Amanda has to a great degree!
Yes thank you! What a Girl Wants is also one of her great feel-good romps. They aired that here on the weekend again and I fell in love with her, again.
I have admired how she seems to go there and doesn’t mind looking like the goofy idiot. She also seesm like a ‘normal’ girl opposed to so many screwed up child stars. However the past few years… the heavy make-up and dresses and dodgy boyfriends, I feared she was heading down the Lohan track. She seemed to be on the verge of a mess but so far so good. Perhaps that’s why she’s wanted to quit? She’s smart enough to stop it before it happens? If that’s the case – good on her, I hope she does quit for her own self rather than getting sucked into the vapid narcissistic world that she said herself she didn’t enjoy. Selfishly I enjoy her and I hope to see a few more movies but I’d prefer her to end it rather than ending up like so many washed up actresses before her.
I agree. She was GREAT in What I Like About You, and for my money her best movie was What A Girl Wants. I hope she sticks with it and gets better adult parts.
I truly hope she doesn’t retire. She needs another good tv series to co-lead. What I Like About You was under appreciated! Her are good clean feel good movies a nice change from what we’re normally given!
What I like About you was an amazing tv series and What a Girl Wants is a great movie. She should definitely stary unretired.
I’ve always loved Amanda. If I had to name the best teen movies since the year 2000 (and there aren’t many) she’d be in two of them (Easy A and She’s the Man)
Well we know she likes black dudes. She tweeted that much for us. Seems like the rest is kind of up in the air.
Not sure what that has to do with anything; but hey I’m a black dude, A married one though, with kids. Oh well………….
gay black dudes don’t count therealeverton, sorry.
Wow. You are just an ignorant piece of work, huh? The fact that she “likes black dudes” is of no importance to anyone but her and the “black dudes” she likes. If you are implying that you don’t like her as a person or as an actress or any of her movies because of who she finds attractive then your speaking volumes about type of pathetic, ignorant, racist, prejudice piece of crap you are! Amazing that in 2 little sentences you showed everyone that reads this exactly what type of person you are. You should write greeting cards for Hallmark, dude! Go back to the 1960′s south, they miss pieces of trash like you!
ahahaha are you serious? geez lady, calm yourself. someone’s got a little too much pent up anger.
Valerie,
Sam was merely pointing out that we can be certain that Amanda Bynes likes “black dudes” because she posted it on her twitter. It was meant to be facetious. I assume anyways. Calm down, please?
At least we can all agree that we all love black dudes.
No I wont calm down. How about you and Lee f*ck off kindly? That’s fine that he was just pointing out what she wrote on Twitter, but again, it had nothing to do with the story that everyone was commenting on. I have pent up anger and should calm down? Are YOU serious? Someone has pent up racism and im the A~hole here? I dont think so. Unbelievable. And Lee? Suck it! How’s that for a little too much pent up anger?? That enough for you? Cause I got more if you want it…..
I’ve always liked Amanda. She is talented and definitely down to earth. I hope she’s around for a very long time.
I like her, but I wish she would quit being so dramatic. I know, she’s an actress, but if you say you’re going to retire, then go ahead and retire. Don’t just say it because you’re mad on that particular day.
I think she was unsure about her decision and had to think it over again. Retiring is a tough decision to make.
She’s very young. I’m a 25 year old female, my sister is 18, and I have female cousins ages 32, 24, 23, 21, 19, and 18. Let me tell you, dramatic sweeping statements are very common in this age group. It’s something you mature out of. Things like twitter and facebook really put that aspect out there for everyone to see.
Like.
Exactly what I was going to say. I’m 20, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made life-altering decisions, only to have to retract them an hour, a week, or a month later.
Why does she have to announce that she’s retiring?
Really liked the article, but “nearly two decades of the Hollywood grind” sounded a bit long to me. I checked imdb and her earliest entry is from All That in 1996. I think she won a contest to become part of the cast.
About her retirement: I love watching her on screen, but if it doesn’t make her happy she should stop, even if we enjoy watching her do it.
Laura, according to her Wikipedia entry (which as we all know could easily be a bunch of lies), she started in commercials at 7, and is now 24. Thanks for being diligent!
that doesn’t constitute grind.
Snippity much?
Really Laura, read the post correctly. It said “nearly two decades.” And by your admission she started in 1996, that’s 15 years – nearly two decades.
Ok, for you and everyone: I was just saying I didn’t think it was the most accurate phrase, I wasn’t rude about it at all, and I still don’t think it would be the most accurate phrase. I believe it was a completley legitimate criticism, delievered politely.
WOW…you people really are a piece of work. So because 15 years isn’t 20, “nearly 2 decades” isn’t accurate? Get over yourselves. And Kudos to Whitney for the remark made after changing it (which I wish you hadn’t).
Sheesh people need to chill. I feel like a lot of people who comment on this website are mentally unstable. They get upset about the tiniest things.
Man people get cranky about Amanda Bines!! This is almost as vicious as the Twilight boards get on this site.
That’s because the average age of the posters is about 14.
I’m pretty sure commercials cant be considered part of ‘the Hollywood grind.’ Nice try though.
Tell that to the actors who work primarily in commercials for a paycheck. They’ll tell you how grinding it is.
You have to remember that for every role an actor gets, they audition for a lot more that they don’t. Not even the big stars get every role that they want. It is a business of constant rejection, which would be a bit of a grind for some. Just because all you land are commercials, doesn’t mean that’s all you audition for.
Can I just say that I read through an entire comment feed (albeit short so far) and was refreshed to see not one “I’m going to be a jerk and say something nasty because I can comment”? While it’s fine for people to have varied opinions, I’ve been wary of comment boards for awhile now because of that. So thanks.
As for Ms. Bynes, I absolutely adore “What a Girl Wants.” She has great comedic timing and shouldn’t give that up. I do agree, though, that she shouldn’t stay just because people don’t want her to go. If she’s unhappy, then go out. Go and find that missing happiness, I say.
I agree. I thought I’d have to defend her/What a Girl Wants/What I Like About You.
This is one of THE nicest threads I’ve EVER seen on this site. All of us followers really could use that. I myself am tired of saying enough nasty things & wanting to fight.
You know why? It’s because Amanda Bynes is a GENUINELY easy-to-like actress. No one can find fault with the girl who became a man and made audiences all over the world laugh at TAMPON jokes.
It is refreshing to read these things and not see the usual idiot comments, but can I just point out that you missed one? A particular touching one posted on
Sat 09/18/10 5:20 PM by Sam. Don’t mean to bring down the party but that comment by my buddy Sam is pretty much why I to avoid message boards! I usually end up wanting to snap someone’s neck like a damn potato chip. But, there’s one in every crowd, sadly!
True about the Sam comment. But that one’s tame compared to some of the things I’ve read on other boards in the past.
I like her, and she is very funny (although I still think Mandy Moore did the “over religious” thing better in Saved), but it’s her choice. She seems mature and responsible, so I think she’ll do what’s right for her.
I like her a lot myself – I knew she wasn’t gonna stay “retired”. I even like Sydney White & can’t wait for more.
she needs to be in a woody allen movie.
Yep – she could be more fun than Scarlett J.. And I still like Scarlett – I just think that Amanda should bring out more of her Kate Winslet or whatever.
I think that was her dilemma. She wants to do serious films but everyone sees her as the girl with great comic timing. Glad she’s sticking around while she figures it all out.
I would love to see that!
I love Amanda Bynes.. I sure hope she doesn’t go back to hiding.. and I was one of the few that saw Sydney White. It was adorable!
I thing Amanda Bynes is a very gifted, funny actress. My favorite thing of hers is What I Like About You. I have watched it for a long time, and i am dissapointed that it was cancelled. I hope Amanda doesn’t give up on her acting carreer, because it would make alot of people sad, including me, and i hope that she can see how much her fans enjoy her acting. She is great in every movie i have seen her in, and i hope she continues to make more, because she always puts a smile on my face!