Thursday, December 3, 2015

The Beauty of Sisters and Trying Something New

On December 18th, the movie Sisters, starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, hits theaters, the same day Star Wars is released. It's a pretty bold move to try to follow Show Off- er I mean Star Wars but this movie has already shown itself to be one that's not afraid to try something new.

According to the Sisters' website the movie is about "two disconnected sisters summoned home to clean out their childhood bedroom before their parents sell the family house. Looking to recapture their glory days, they throw one final high-school-style party for their classmates, which turns into the cathartic rager that a bunch of ground-down adults really need." However this time around it's not Poehler who's playing the instigator of these bad acts. While usually the one to play the good to do responsible adult, Fey now takes on the role of Maura, the wild child of the two sisters who has never really grown up; Poehler plays her foil, Kate, a responsible recent divorcee who needs to learn to spice up her life. It's a new territory for both actresses, most noticeably Fey who from 30 Rock to Admission to Baby Mama has more or less played the same fuddy duddy adult nerd. Watching her in this role might at first be uncomfortable for audiences but important for Fey's development as an actress. Interestingly enough it's her co-star, Poehler, who has been quoted as saying "great people try things before they are ready" advice I took to heart when deciding to take on the huge project that was and is Show Off.

I think this project will introduce both Fey and Poehler as new types of characters to audiences in America and probably for the better. Women, specifically in comedy, are often pigeonholed into roles audience's have decided they feel comfortable digesting. But awesome ladies like Fey and Poehler are changing that standard and making it a little easier for the rest of us to follow suit!




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