Sister Bunny

The House Bunny seems like a simple, funny, sexy movie. The idea was that a Playboy Bunny meets a group of nerdy college girls and they improve each other. The Bunny develops her mind and the college girls develop their femininity. Laughs, a little sap, and some sexy Playboy Bunnies should make for a light-hearted film. But it all goes deeper than that.

My heart was broken during the opening titles. Turns out the Bunny, played by Anna Farris, was abandoned at birth and grew up in an orphanage. She longs for a home and family. And when she becomes a beauty contestant at 17 and catches the attention of the Playboy corporation, she thinks she's found the family she always wanted. And the bunnies do seem like friends or sisters, shopping together, getting manicures, and dancing at parties. Right away, the filmmakers want to show how shallow and empty the Bunny's ambitions are. All she wants is to be Miss November. So far all she's done are pictorials, like Girls with GEDs. The filmmakers want you to get the message that beauty and a socially acceptable appearance are rather empty, and what matters is the content of your soul. But when you make a movie in concert with Hugh Hefner and his corporation, that message doesn't really stand a chance.

Of course the pretty Bunny is not only beautiful and sexy, but she's kind, open-minded, and innocent in a way. Which is quite a feat for a girl who showers with the photographer before her photo shoot. When she's kicked out of the Playboy Mansion for being too old, she lands near a sorority house full of misfit girls who are very smart but very dumb when it comes to social skills and push-up bras. So she gives them lessons in party-planning, cosmetics application, and how to wear revealing clothing. And they teach her how to read. The most important lesson she teaches them, of course, is about friendship, acceptance, and sisterly support. What matters most to Bunny, after all, is finding a home with a loving family. And she insists that that's what she had at Hefner's mansion.

It struck me was that, yes, those girls living at the Playboy Mansion probably do support each other. But not while picking out halter tops at the mall. Centerfolds already know how to look pretty sexy. And that can do wonders for your career, but what about your life? Seems to me that those Playboy Mansion shenanigans could wreck havoc with that. After spending time in the orgy room or hottubbin' in the grotto, what might happen? And this is where friends come in. You need your sister bunny's support when she has to take you to the clinic for another pregnancy scare or to pick up a prescription for another infection.

When you follow this train of thought, you begin to hope The House Bunny was right. You hope life for the Playboy Bunnies is full of real love, love that lasts, the love of good friends. I suspect they need it.