The House Bunny

The House Bunny is a bland, formulaic entertainment that falls in the vast wasteland of films that earn "two stars." What fascinated me about it was its subtext, which could fuel a spirited discussion in a women's studies course.

Anna Faris stars as a "bunny" (as a Playboy aficionado since I was thirteen years old, this is an immediate misnomer--bunnies are waitresses at the Playboy Clubs. What Faris is can be more accurately termed a Playboy model) who lives in the Playboy Mansion and waits to be upgraded to Centerfold. She loves the lifestyle, and wears the standard uniform of bippie shirts, short-shorts, and platform sandals. She is also completely vapid, so much so that when's called vapid she thinks it's a compliment.

After her 27th birthday, she receives a letter from Hef (who plays himself and apparently has no problem letting himself and his empire be mocked) that she has to leave. Forlorn, and apparently without savings, she lives in her car and stumbles upon a college campus. She learns about the job of sorority housemother, and ends up getting a job at the worst sorority on campus, where there are only seven pledges, all social misfits, who are in danger of losing their charter. Of course Faris uses her knowledge of style and sexy behavior to transform these sad sacks into popular girls.

That's roughly the first half of the film. The film does not rest on this, because that would be so overwhelmingly anti-feminist that it wouldn't bear scrutiny. The girls realize that there's more to being popular than just being hot, and Faris learns that getting a little book learning will help her land the guy of her dreams.

The film was written by Kirsten Smith and Karen McCullah Lutz, who also wrote Legally Blonde, which I think is interesting. Both films depict a heroine who is outwardly a bimbo (although Legally Blonde's Elle Woods was smart enough to get into Harvard law) who defies expectations. In some ways, both Woods and Faris' Shelley Darlington are some kind of role models.

I'm sure one of the reasons House Bunny got made was the popularity of The Girls Next Door, a reality show about Hugh Hefner's three "girlfriends." With the decline of Playboy's magazine division, which has seen advertising pages plummet (and this year will publish only eleven issues rather than twelve, which means one month may be missing a "Miss") the brand has relied on this sort of exposure. From what I've read, The Girls Next Door was most popular with young women and teen-age girls. Playboy merchandise now consists mostly of apparel for young women with the ubiquitous rabbit logo on it. What exactly appeals to girls about the Playboy brand? That they too can one day pretend to be the paramour of an octogenarian and use him and his company to become stars?

As I said, I've been reading Playboy for over thirty years. I understand all objections to it (although it is not pornography--those who call it pornography probably haven't seen much real pornography). It appeals to a certain reptilian part of the male brain that hasn't progressed much from puberty. Once upon a time it was a great magazine, with fiction by great writers, but today it's pretty much a relic for middle-aged men like me to use to fuel our pathetic fantasies.

So what are we to make of a film that has a vapid Playboy model as a role model for young women? I'm not sure, but even a guy like me finds it unsettling.

As for the qualities of the film, as stated, it's a formulaic bit of frippery. Faris is receiving a lot of attention as some sort of great comedienne, and she's okay. The character is really nothing more than something you might see in a sketch on SNL. I saw Faris today in Observe and Report, and I'll write more about her tomorrow, but I don't find her as talented as Amy Poehler or even Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde. She has a nice way of making her eyes big and projecting a lack of brainpower, but let's not starting elevating her to Carole Lombard status, not yet.