She's the Man

In the midst of all this craziness surrounding Amanda Bynes and her blonde wig, I thought it might be nice to look back on the positives of her career. I really have no commentary on her emotional state or her Twitter wars, but I do have commentary on one of my favorite movies of all time...

She's the Man!

This movie came out in 2006 and has remained one of those movies I randomly watch, always suggest to people and frequently quote. A lot. I feel very shocked by how many people I talk to who haven't seen this movie. I could practically be a walking ad agent, promoting it at every turn. I care about it that much. Does someone want to hire me to do this? So go out and find it somewhere, somehow and watch it asap. I have two copies! I will mail them to you! Please return them in pristine condition! I have an immense and pretty serious DVD collection to take care of!

For those of you who have seen the movie and are fans, yay! I love you. Let's be friends and quote the movie together: "My favorite's gouda!" And for those of you who are not fans -- GET OUT OF HERE! Not really, I'm here to respectfully convince you to change your mind.

She's the Man is a loose adaption of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. A sister pretends to be her brother, there are romantic entanglements, Shakespeare is quoted, the same names from the play are used and that's pretty much the extent of it. If you're looking for a CliffsNotes version of Twelfth Night, watch this and you'll be all set! Just kidding! Don't! I mean, yes, watch this movie and enjoy every morsel of it, but don't expect to ace a quiz on the Bard after. Just expect to feel really fulfilled.

Here are some super great things about the movie:

1. This was basically Channing Tatum's debutante ball, in the sense that She's the Man provided a forum in which Tatum could be presented to teenage girls in all his sexy manliness glory. He's shirtless quite a bit and that is something to be thankful for. Chan Man plays Duke Orsino, the cute guy on campus (what else?) who has a major crush on Olivia to start with, but falls for Violet (Amanda Bynes' character) in the end even though everything he knew about her he learned when she was a boy acting as her brother. DOES THIS MAKE SENSE TO EVERYONE? Because it really isn't that confusing. Clearly, it's the classic tale of dressing up like a boy to save your family and then falling in love with someone while you are pretending to be a member of the opposite sex. Happens all the time. Oh and Channing actually has some decent humorous timing in this role.

2. Amanda Bynes dressed up as a dude. I swear, she looks exactly like a guy I went to high school with....who shall remain nameless.

3. Amanda Bynes' facial expressions throughout the entirety of the movie. They're priceless. I could watch them in slow motion and never stop laughing. I wonder if it is possible for my face to do any of these things? I hope that I make faces like these at some point in my day. I think to myself as I make faces in the mirror. Do I really do this? You'll never know. Below are some of the greatest ones, in GIF form of course.

P.S. this was me when I saw a cockroach at yoga this morning.

4. More generally, the comedic presence of Amanda Bynes carries the movie. She IS the man. The movie would be nothing without her and it makes me sad to think that those days may be behind her. But with some support from a community of fans and hopefully, her family and friends she could move past whatever it is she is going through. Britney did!

On that note, I leave you with one of my favorite scenes from the movie.