This Movie Gets the Litterbox Award (Josie And The Pussycats (DVD))

Member Name: Javelina

Product:	Josie And The Pussycats (DVD)
Date:	07/02/02 (120 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cute/funny

Disadvantages: Not creative, Mentally stagnating, Not interesting

After all the hype behind this film, I thought I would give it a try when it came out on video. Unfortunately, I did not realize that Josie and the Pussycats was simply a movie full of stupidity and complete mindlessness.

The film begins with a mockery (or at least it seemed) of the modern boy-band. A group of four singers, otherwise known as ‘Du Jour’ is shown being idolized by endless crowds of teen girls. Next thing we know, after a bit of bickering between the band members, Du Jour’s Target brand-name ridden airplane is going down in what we believe is an inevitable crash.

The band’s manager, Cummings, who is devious and sleazy, has jumped from the plane (along with the pilot) after desiring more money with the prospect of the band’s death and the advent of a newly solicited band.

Cummings finds himself in Riverdale, and almost literally runs into the three members of “The Pussycats” (with his car). With barely any question of the situation, the three girls sign into a contract with Cummings. Now, keep in mind, Cummings has not even heard the band play a single note. How… realistic (even in such a fake world).

So, Josie and the Pussycats becomes a famous band. Rachel Leigh Cook stars as the main singer, or Josie. Tara Reid plays the role of Melody, and Rosario Dawson plays Valerie. There is a decent attempt to make each character unique, although there is little character development. Josie seems to be the most sensible of the group, while Melody falls into the role of dumb blond, interested in things like kittens and rainbows. Valerie is a rather undeveloped character and is fairly boring.

The band first gets a makeover, in more ways than one. To begin, the band’s name is changed from “the Pussycats” to “Josie and the Pussycats”, which immediately stirs a tension between band members, who each want their share of fame and fortune. Then
there is the ‘hair and makeup’ sort of makeover, which actually does not do a whole lot in terms of changing the appearance of the band members.

The way this movie begins is quite shallow. We cannot compare Josie and the Pussycats to movies such as “Clueless”, which truly mock stereotypes such as these, and manage to make unrealistic characters come off as being funny. Instead, this film attempts, quite unsuccessfully, to make fun of an overly fake situation.

As the movie progressed, there was an increasing lack of humor, plot development, or anything meaningful. Additionally, we are bombarded with images of logos for a copious number of companies.

Now… for the plot revealer… and an explanation of all this marketing… so beware. As a side note, Josie and the Pussycats is completely predictable, with no need to have any sort of intellect to figure out the ending.

This takes barely any effort, thought, or lengthy writing to summarize the rest of the film. The band continues getting their makeover, and we see some girlish bickering, the girls are scheduled for their first large concert. To Josie’s amazement, she discovers that the band is being given subliminal messages. Not only that, but the general public is being fed subliminal messages through the company associated with the band’s manager. These messages tell the general public (but mostly the teen population) what products they should buy, including clothes and music.

I would have been humored had there been a different approach to hinting at the use of subliminal messages. Instead, from the very beginning of the movie, I was sickened by an excessive use of marketing. As mentioned before, within the first minutes of the movie, the band “Du Jour” steps into a private jet that is nothing but an advertisement for the store “Target”. In later scenes, such as a scene in the local Riverdale m
all, there are logos shown one after another. The camera zooms in on store signs and banners. Characters inside the mall comment on how they need to shop at “Steve Madden” or how they need a new pair of “Pumas”. The band’s room is covered with enormous, sometimes ‘wall-size’ logos of AOL, Revlon, and more. The walls of the band’s shower are covered in McDonald’s logos. Almost everywhere you look, there are logos.

How much more obvious could they have been?

Instead of being charmed by this “plot within a plot” scheme, I was sickened. I found it to be banal and redundant. Was it possible that Josie and the Pussycats was one big marketing advertisement? Or was it truly a movie within a movie? I wonder if the producers found themselves selling out to various companies, making some extra money. I also wonder if there was the possibility of creating this film by replacing real-life company logos with others, ones of the Riverdale world.

Here and there were some other additions to the plot, but nothing perplexing, mind boggling, stimulating, attention-grabbing, or otherwise vaguely interesting to me. Of the few other characters, there was a love-interest for Josie and a crazed woman who ran the programming of the subliminal messages and brainwashing.

I guess the only possibly less-predictable ending of the film was that Josie actually figured out that she and many others were being brainwashed through subliminal messages. Well, that and the fact that Du Jour sprang back into the picture, having survived their crash… and if I remembered the significance of this plot addition, I would write about it…

Upsides to Josie and the Pussycats … (amazingly enough, there are some). In one scene, Melody (Tara Reid) and Valerie are sent to the MTV studios for a taping of TRL (Total Request Live). I’m not sure of the timing of when Josie and the Puss
ycats was filmed, but in the scene, Carson Daly is sent to kill Melody- ironically, the two, in real life, had dated (or were dating?). Additionally, I found that the band ‘played’ decent music (although it was repeated a few times), and the producers did a decent job of making the singing and instrumentation appear realistic.

Josie and the Pussycats was a waste of my time, which was agreed upon by the friends I watched it with.

Summary: