Commonalities exist between adolescence and a good vacation. People spend a lot of money on trips. They are always too short and elicit nostalgia. A good trip questions the legitimacy of society’s structure. Spring Breakers greets viewers with a combination of images and sounds synonymous with vacation – youthful college kids in bikinis lighting bongs, drinking beer and blasting EDM on the beach. The movie’s advertising painted the same picture, showcasing a cast featuring James Franco, Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens.
However, upon seeing the movie, many were disappointed. It did not live up to their expectations, taking a left turn early into the plot. Directed by the decidedly non-conformist Harmony Korine, the film hit the mark for his faithful who have come to expect oddly-paced work capturing often missed behavior. He used advertising as inspiration and explored self-image through youthful characters’ attempts to transition into adulthood and navigate the influence of societal expectations.
Guns and Glory
A series of vignettes reminiscent of Smirnoff commercials tell the story of Candy (Hudgens), Brit (Ashley Benson), Faith (Gomez) and Cotty (Rachel Korine). Lamenting the boring and uninspired nature of their hometown, the group of college friends robs a local fried chicken restaurant to fund their trip to St. Petersburg, Florida.
The scenes are flashy – whether accomplished editorially or environmentally – built with bright colors and utilizing repetitive dialogue, providing a memorable tagline for each segment. They show the girls dancing, people snorting coke and college freshmen in tiny bikinis, but then it is over. There is no point – no beginning to the moment and no thought of the action afterward.
The drug dealer and rapper, Alien (Franco), is a representation of momentary temptation. When he takes the girls back to his house for the first time, he displays the wealth and comfortable life his unruly employment affords him. He repeatedly exclaims, “Look at all my shit!” to the chorus of the girls’ giggles. They throw cash in the air as he touts automatic rifles, standing on his bed complete with a LED-lit headboard. It is all material, and it is all he has to show. Later he mutters, “I’m a big, ol’ fuckin’ scaredy pants” in their ears as he tries to work up the nerve to actually do something.
Alien’s exciting lifestyle matches Candy and Brit’s ignorant expectations of girls with new found freedom. It makes them want to stay permanently. It is the first time the girls are conveyed as truly dangerous. When they rob the diner, they do it with squirt guns and put on a show. Their excitement about the guns and gangs they meet introduces the potential for more reckless behavior.
Faith
Faith illustrates modern youth’s fantasy of replicating ultimately problematic behavior portrayed through advertising. She begins to entertain the more carnal aspects of her personality. Unlike her friends, she believes in God, does not curse as much, and refrains from drug use. The church she attends tries to attract college kids in town by being “hip” taking a page out of the handbook of tactics alcohol companies use to sell to underage kids – a multi-billion dollar industry. Her youth leader uses words like “swagger” and asks the patrons if they are “jacked up on Jesus.” The movie frames a 40-year-old with bleached tips in a Tap Out t-shirt leading church hymns the same as Alien sporting a grill and shoulder-length dreads while singing, “Hangin’ with them dope boys.” They are both selling something they want Faith to buy, and Korine does not give either one of them a pass on their ridiculousness.
After they pull off their robbery and hesitantly tell Faith where they got the money for the trip, her youthful selfishness accepts their actions and she gladly boards the bus to Florida. She quickly experiences the consequences of giving into temptation, which advertisements do not usually show, and returns home. “This isn’t what I signed up for,” she cries.
Cotty also exits the story after facing her own mortality. Being shot at snaps her out of her youthful bliss – no more stints of alcoholism, one-night stands or stealing. Cotty realizes she has one life to live and decides to go back to school, doing things for herself as opposed to simply passing time. Her early twenties caught up with her much like Faith.
That is Korine’s point: believe the painfully obvious. Part of this theme plays into managing expectations. Faith is heartbroken after the vacation turns out differently than she had hoped. She wants to believe her friends are the same as they were in grade school despite warnings from members of her youth group at church. However, she is also enticed. Faith muses, “I’m tired of seeing the same thing every day,” impressed that her friends took matters into their own hands. The similarities between what she is sold at church and at spring break paint the moral differences a neutral shade of grey.
FOMO
With the advent of social media and instantaneous communication, everyone, especially the younger generation, develop a FOMO, or “fear of missing out.” A feeling of regret develops upon seeing pictures of friends or family on Instagram or Facebook. It seems like everyone is constantly out doing something important or fun when in reality, they are as bored as everyone else.
Faith, Candy, Cotty and Brit are no different. They want to travel during their week vacation because everyone else on campus left already. “This is more than just spring break. It’s our chance to see something different,” according to Faith.
“Cause trouble. Live life to the fullest,” is Alien’s advice. He refers to Candy and Brit as his “soul mates,” for they want to cause trouble, too. Being older than they are, he confirms that giving into their temptations can make their life comfortable. “I like doing the wrong thing,” he says, smiling. They had fun robbing the diner earlier, and they are having fun with him now. What could go wrong?
They do not have any fear of missing out because they take everyone moment as it comes, and honestly, it works out for Candy and Brit. They do not hesitate, especially in dangerous situations, and seem oddly secure in their decisions. Life has no plan, and, sometimes at least, actions do not matter.
Bad Girls Gone Wild
Part of the movie’s poor reception with general audiences was a lack of plot, however, the movie’s structure of vignettes only gives that impression. People said it was flashy and boring, and “all you see is boobs and naked butt.” It shifts between looking like an advertisement to an episode of Cops. The realistic scenes of the girls partying in a small, crappy apartment while they lay on the floor, almost throwing up are uncomfortable. People wanted to see Spring Breakers because they thought it looked fun. The gross scenes are the conveniently omitted side of the advertisements that inspired Korine.
If the main characters had been boys accomplishing roughly the same goals, people would have more willingly bought into Korine’s weirdness and abrasiveness as a director – “boys will be boys,” after all. The movie portrayed young women in a non-traditional way. They talk Alien into attacking his competition and making plans – not the other way around – and taunt him for his hesitation. Spring Breakers makes a point of showing women can be as destructive and hotheaded as men.
The tale begins with them writing notes to each other in class and ends with them blowing up a house with rifles. Seemingly unconcerned with their lack of innocence, they are relentless in their youth. For instance, the soundtrack shifts from them singing “Hit Me Baby, One More Time” after illegally buying some drinks at a gas station at the beginning of the movie to “Everytime” by Britney Spears while they cross the bay dressed for a raid. They go from appreciating a party anthem symbolizing their vacation to choosing a sentimental ballad by the same singer as the score to cold-blooded murder.
In the final scene, Candy and Brit both call their parents and assure them of their well-being. “I’m going to be the best I can be,” says Candy. “Yeah, mommy. I think that’s the secret to a happy life – being a good person,” says Brit. Viewers then watched Candy and Brit kill a gang leader and steal his money, and afterward judged the film as nonsensical and unbelievable. The girls “pretend like it is a video game” when they rob the diner early in the movie before the plot turns, and the audience keeps pretending through the film’s remainder in an attempt to deal with its discomfort, which continues through the final frame. It is easier than suspending disbelief and accepting that young women can be that malicious and egregious.
Candy and Brit express no regret or turmoil about their actions. The movie does not reveal much of their backgrounds though, which raises questions about why they have their attitudes and tendencies. However, the lack of background puts the focus on the plot giving credence to the thought they are doing things simply because it is possible. They are young. They are free in Florida with no one asking them for explanations. They can do whatever they want, and they make a point of it, good or bad.
Welcome to adulthood. “Spring break forever, bitches.”
