LOL (Laughing Out Loud) Director: Liza Azuelos Starring: Miley Cyrus, Demi Moore, Douglas Booth, Ashley Greene Released: 2012 Country: United States Language: English | LOL (Laughing Out Loud) Director: Liza Azuelos Starring: Sophie Marceau, Christa Theret, Jérémy Kapone Released: 2008 Country: France Language: French |
The French film LOL and the American remake were directed by the same person. Liza Azuelos directed both films which is why both films are exactly the same. The French actors are replaced by American actors that are widely known and appeal to the average American teenager. The only difference are the French names which are changed into common names in America (e.g. Mael turns into Kyle). Lola and Anne are fairly common names and can be used in France and America. The hollywood remake uses the French film's success to bring about the same success to America. Even the actors resemble each other. Miley Cyrus has dyed orange hair that resembles the original Lola played by Christa Theret. The themes surrounding the film are focused on Lola's coming of age, individualism vs. conformity, and the sexual double standard between men and women. Compared to the The Game of Love and Chance directed by Abdellatif Kechiche, LOL has a hopeful ending unlike Kechiche's film. My interpretation of this is that the teenagers in LOL are of wealthy or middle class families. They are allowed to do almost anything they want. The french film shows a different social class than that of Kechiche's film, it shows us the other half (wealthier half) of teenagers living in Paris.
Scenes in which the characters defy their social condition and break out of older generation ideals is when Kyle (Mael in French version) and his band play at battle of the bands. Kyle's father at first rejects the idea of his son becoming a musician and entering a career in the arts. This is the typical scenario of the older generation as not allowing their children to venture out into the world and make decisions for themselves. Kyle's father attends the music show and there he is in awe to find that his son has a huge crowd of fans and is a good musician. This leads to the acceptance of the newer generations value for individuality and freedom to choose ones future as opposed to conforming to their social conditions. Lola's mother is one of the most influential parents. She is modern and recently divorced. Although she reads Lola's diary she still respects her daughter and realizes that Lola's teen years are not insignificant moments of life. She allows her to experiment within the boundaries of being a teenager. She allows her daughter to have a free spirit and become her own person rather than trying to mold her into a perfect kid.
There is also the theme of gender biases and double standards that are presented throughout the film. The girls of the film are teen girls who talk about the boys they like and go out to music festivals. Throughout the film Anne, Lola's mother, states her ideas about women and how they don't need to be emotionally attached to a man to have a sexual relationship with them. The father of Lola is seeing another woman and also still seeing Anne. Anne meets a man who likes her and suddenly her ex-husband is jealous and claiming that she isn't a good role model for Lola. He claims that Lola does the things she sees her mother doing and therefore emulates her. The double standard between men and women and sexual relationships is broken down as we see that both men and women can have relationships without being shamed for those relationships. This idea is also presented in the beginning of the film when Lola's boyfriend reveals that he had sex with a girl over break. Lola then lies to him and says she had sex with another boy. She does this so that her boyfriend doesn't think he hurt her, which we find out really does hurt her. As soon as he hears that she had sex with someone that wasn't him he begins to call her a "whore." He even blames her for Kyle/Mael becoming distant. Lola doesn't react in the same way her ex-boyfriend reacted, she tried to be nonchalant and cool about the situation. There is also the case of women blaming one another and further perpetuating the double standard. Lola and her friends call one of the girls a slut and they often refer to her as a "post it" due to the fact that she sticks to the guys of their close knit group. There is a scene in their biology class where the girls defend each other and call Arthur out on his misogynistic views. This scene shows the double standard of gender roles and the breaking down of that double standard. This is resolved when they all begin to hang out and be a group of friends again. They drop the insults. The girls begin to get along and are no longer being governed by their jealousy towards one another. There is a scene in their biology class where the girls defend each other and call Arthur out on his misogynistic views.