 |
| Left: James played by Jesse Einsberg. Right: Em played by Kristen Stewart. |
Since watching Adventureland for the first time, the movie's biggest fan, Aidan, has been persistently asking me to review the film on my blog. Eventually, I told Aidan that he was welcome to write the review as a guest post because I didn't have the time to do it myself. I'm assuming that because of his adoration for the film, and his passionate hatred for his student job in catering, Aidan's post became a bizarre hybrid of a synopsis of the movie and a rant about summer jobs. For the sake of being appropriate, I had to edit his post slightly, but I can assure you that his original piece was a spectacularly morbid spiel about dead-end student jobs that left me in fits of laughter.
I hope you enjoy reading it anyway.
Lots of love, Ang
Not many people have heard of Adventureland, but many of us have worked there.
This 2009 film starring Jesse Einsberg and Kristen Stewart depicts a typical summer job undertaken by numerous students across the developing world. Adventureland begins after James, played by Einsberg, has graduated college and is about to embark on a trip to Europe for the summer before he begins further education. However, after the graduation ceremony, his parents inform him that their financial situation has changed, meaning that can no longer fund his summer trip. Consequently, their pretentious yet overly anxious son is forced into temporary summer employment in order to fund his future plans. After an unsuccessful scour for jobs, James settles for working at Adventureland. Significantly, the job gains him an understanding of how the world really works for middle and lower classed students, causing him to be considerably less ignorant towards the end of the movie.
The reason I think myself and many others enjoy this film is because it is relatable. Most of us students would have had a shit summer job at some point or another, in which we have made great friends and learned some new skills. If you're lucky, like me, a job in catering will leave you with the ability to bake and cook. But regardless of where or what the job is, we will all share the same experience: shit customers, shit bosses, and shit pay. Although, I suppose it is a good way to prepare for the next circle of employment-hell that comes after university?
Considering Adventureland isn't widely heard of, I’ll save you the bother of watching it if you haven't already and
summarise the film into a set of (unadvisable) rules to help survive a summer job:
1)
Drink plenty of alcohol before and after work to drown the droning of annoying customers and colleagues.
2) Take drugs, if you'd like, as long as you
don’t get caught.
3) See point 2 if you'd like to date a colleague.
4)
Working with annoying colleagues is inevitable, so you will have to deal with it.
5)
Never say no to a party
with your work friends; it is team bonding 101.
6) You get paid peanuts, so you might as well spend unwisely.
7)
Never give a shit about
your job.
Following these 7 Adventureland themed rules should allegedly save your summer from complete boredom.
Written by Aidan and edited by Angela
Written by Aidan and edited by Angela
No comments