Due to the unique way in which students pick which films to see, I recently found myself with my male flatmates watching a film about an a-capella band and their struggles in American varsity a-capella tournaments. I wasn't hugely psyched but honestly, _honestly_, Pitch Perfect is fantastic. Though it's little surprise I enjoyed it, as the movie has respect for one of my greatest loves: mash-ups.

The rest of this post contains spoilers. If you haven't seen Pitch Perfect yet, stop reading, go and watch it, then come back. Watching a film sucks when you know what's coming. Be surprised, then finish this post.

Right. Spoiler zone.

As with most American high school films, Pitch Perfect juggles the usual issues of how to gain acceptance in a society that is based around huge cliques when you don't fall into such a stereotype. However, there were some extra bits of knowledge that I gleamed from the film that I thought I'd share with you now.

You can tell a lot about someone by the headphones

Let's start with Beca's rival in this film, Aubrey. Boo! Hiss! Well, not really. She's not so much a baddie as misplaced. Aubrey doesn't try to destroy the Bellas, but its her lack of appreciation for modern music that screws her over. And what would you expect from someone who is only shown listening to music through a Bluetooth headset?

Taking a step up we find Aubrey's number two, Chloe. She seems to be open to the idea of pulling out some more modern tunes, perhaps because she has a better appreciation of modern music. Tellingly, Chloe doesn't listen to music on a Bluetooth device, but through real earphones.

And then at the top of the pile is Beca. She first arrives at college with a pair of Sony MDR7506 round her neck, and then later upgrades to a pair of Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO (which retail at almost £200). No wonder she wants to bring some real music to the Bellas!

Beca was never in it for the Bellas

The only reason Beca joined the Bellas in the first place is that, by joining a society, she fulfills her dad's criteria for moving to Los Angeles. Caring little for the group, she goes against their wishes by getting in cosy with Jesse despite being told to keep away from the rival Treblemakers. In her big move of the film, Beca suddenly throws a mashup into the Bellas' set and throws everyone off their game. It's as if she's toying with the girls, testing them to their very nerves.

At the end of the film, Beca goes for broke and works songs from The Breakfast Club into the Bella's set list, purely so that she can get Jesse to like her again. It's selfish really, and you wonder how Beca wasn't placed as the film's antagonist!

Mashups can be cool

This is a great result for Greg.