Line #28 Film/JosieAndThePussycats2001


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Josie_and_the_Pussycats_film_poster.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:''[[TitleThemeTune ♫...long tails and ears for hats...♫]]'']]
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4	''Josie and the Pussycats'' is a 2001 film adapted from [[Comicbook/JosieAndThePussycats the comic of the same name]], starring Creator/RachaelLeighCook, Creator/RosarioDawson and Creator/TaraReid. It is about the titular all-female rock band getting the deal of a lifetime after struggling as an indie band -- a record deal with [=MegaRecords=], one of the largest music labels in the world.
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6	Within a week, the band has skyrocketed to the top of the charts, and a legion of {{squee}}ing fans is following their every move. Unfortunately, there was some fine print in the contract that they should've read before they signed... you know, some stuff about having [[SubliminalAdvertising subliminal messages]] put in your music to sell stuff, and "dying tragically" in a plane crash or from an overdose if you [[HeKnowsTooMuch find out]] and resist. That sort of thing.
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8	There was a ''huge'' legal brawl with Creator/ArchieComics over them getting residuals and/or royalties from the movie. In the end, the film was a BoxOfficeBomb, and its failure [[StarDerailingRole did lasting damage]] to Rachael Leigh Cook's film career[[note]](she's been relegated to DirectToVideo and {{Made For TV Movie}}s ever since)[[/note]]. In spite of all this, it has become something of a cult hit on VHS and DVD.
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10	----
11	!!This film provides examples of:
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13	* AdaptedOut: No other Archie Comics characters appear, though weirdly, the Pussycats' hometown is Riverdale (as opposed to the comics, where they lived in the nearby town of Midvale).
14	* AlphaBitch: The unnamed ringleader of the GirlPosse who harasses Josie, Melody and Valerie early in the film, only to show up as (likely brainwashed) fans later on. Alexandra isn't this, however, since she apparently has no friends other than her brother and only makes the catty remarks out of jealousy.
15	* AnAesop... [[SpoofAesop or several dozen]]: "[[LampshadeHanging So, what's the moral of the story here]]? Freaks should date other freaks?" "No, I think the moral of the story here is you should be happy with who you are. This whole time we've been spending all this money on expensive clothes trying to impress people, it never made ''me'' happy. No... no, oh my gosh, happiness is on the inside. I'm not ''this'', I'm not what I wear. ''I'm not what I wear!'' You should think about this."
16	* AndYourLittleDogToo: The Metallica fans even beat up [[spoiler:[=DuJour=]'s ''monkey'']]!
17	* ArtShift: During the short where Eugene Levy explains how the mass brainwashing works, it shifts into 2D animation to demonstrate.
18	* AsHimself: Creator/{{MTV}} [=VJs=] Creator/CarsonDaly and Creator/AriesSpears make a brief appearance where they try to kill Melody and Valerie on a fake ''Total Request Live'' set. The scene becomes funnier if you know that, at the time the film was made, [[invoked]] [[RealitySubtext Carson was dating Tara Reid]]. Creator/EugeneLevy also hosts the instructional video describing why SubliminalAdvertising is so important to the economy, and MTV News anchor Serena Altschul makes an appearance. ''Entertainment Tonight'' reporter Jann Carl also appears at the beginning interviewing [=DuJour=].
19	* BeenThereShapedHistory: Fiona implies that the countless musical acts who've retired, died, or left their bands are cover stories for the musicians finding out about the conspiracy and then being killed or otherwise taken care of to prevent them from spreading the truth. They even created ''Series/BehindTheMusic'' to explain the cover stories further.
20	%%* ConcertKiss
21	* CreatorCameo: Director Harry Elfont is Lex, Wyatt's pilot who ditched [=DuJour=]'s plane early in the movie, and is later seen piloting the jet taking Josie and crew to New York.
22	* CultSoundtrack: The soundtrack to the film, an affectionate pastiche of PowerPop, PopPunk, and BoyBand tropes, is nowadays arguably more famous than the film itself.
23	* CutAndPasteSuburb: Josie lives in one of these, though her house is painted much differently and appears to not have an actual driveway. [[EveryoneDrivesAFord Almost everyone there appears to have the same brown Ford Explorer.]]
24	* DeconstructiveParody: Not only of itself, but most notably of the entire music industry.
25	* ElaborateUndergroundBase: [=MegaRecords=] has one to determine all the latest trends and handle all the product placement. It's accessed when Fiona hits hidden buttons in her zen garden, causing her entire office to somehow travel down like an elevator.
26	%%* EvilLaugh
27	* FanserviceCarWash: The girls' first hit on the ''Billboard'' chart is "Three Small Words", which has an accompanying music video that shows them lathering up a nice car on a soundstage.
28	* InvisibleParents: No parents in sight for any of the band members. It seems the girls are out of high school at least, but it's not clear if the house they're seen living in at the beginning is in fact theirs or not.
29	* LargeHam: Creator/ParkerPosey and Creator/AlanCumming are practically ''dueling'' for this title, explicitly so in the scene where they ''duel'' evil laughs.
30	* LiveActionAdaptation: Of the Creator/HannaBarbera Saturday morning cartoon series, which is the AnimatedAdaptation of the teen comic book title.
31	* TheLoad: Alexandra, who doesn't do anything but tag along with her brother for unclear reasons; see MythologyGag below for her response. Josie ends up recruiting her to help after the PlotMandatedFriendshipFailure for lack of any other options.
32	* LogoJoke: Depending on the region, the Universal globe turns into a tongue piercing on a screaming fan, or the MGM lion turns into said fan.
33	%%* MassHypnosis
34	* MusicIsPolitics: The movie in general parodies this -- not willing to go along with brainwashing America's youth, or at least discover the hidden subliminal messages in your music? You'll be [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident caught in a plane or car crash]], have your friends kidnapped, etc. And then, they'll make a ''Behind the Music'' documentary telling their version of your downfall.
35	* MythologyGag:
36	** Alex asks why his sister is even with them. She says it's because she was [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall in the comics]].
37	** The top of the billboard with the Pussycats on it in Times Square has Josie atop it, written in the same font as the pre-Pussycats Josie comics.
38	** Some of the ProductPlacement is for the Platform/SegaDreamcast (at the time [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Sega's mascot]] had a [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics long-running comic from Archie]]) and Creator/CartoonNetwork (which aired reruns of the 1970s cartoon).
39	* ObliviousToLove: Alan M.
40	* PairTheSpares: Alexandra with [[spoiler:[=DuJour=]'s lead singer Les]].
41	* ProductPlacement: Parodied by way of cranking it up to eleven. [[https://productplacementblog.com/tag/josie-and-the-pussycats-2001/ This blog]] that keeps track of this trope in different films and series counts '''109''' instances of product placement in this single movie. It turns out to be a major plot point because, as also (partly) explained in SubliminalAdvertising below, the United States government has conspired with the music industry to add subliminal messages as backing tracks to pop music in order to brainwash teenagers into buying consumer products (and other things, like how "there's no such place as Area51"), hence the over-the-top array of Product Placement throughout the film.
42	* ReunionRevenge: While no ClassReunion is featured in the film, when the girls who usually mocked Josie and her friends started worshiping them, Wyatt told them most people had to wait 10 years for [[ActorAllusion that kind]] of [[Film/RomyAndMichelesHighSchoolReunion revenge]].
43	* RockIsAuthenticPopIsShallow: The entire film is a TakeThat towards the music industry and manufactured pop music (and it some cases, ''itself''). The struggling Pussycats band gets the record deal of the lifetime but they have their music laden with subliminal messages and commercials. Ironic considering that the ''WesternAnimation/JosieAndThePussycats'' version everyone is familiar with is bubblegum pop through and through.
44	* RuderAndCruder: ''Josie and the Pussycats'' is cruder than the source material, with jokes relating to the word "pussy" heard in the film. It's a sharp turn from the comic, which was an all-ages title from ''Creator/ArchieComics''.
45	* [[HeKnowsTooMuch She Knows Too Much]]: Fiona and Wyatt do this to [=DuJour=] and prepare to do this to the Pussycats. When Fiona explains the mass-brainwashing scheme to her tour group, she states that the industry has been doing this for years -- they even created ''Series/BehindTheMusic'' to explain the cover stories.
46	* ShoutOut:
47	** To ''Film/RomyAndMichelesHighSchoolReunion'', which also starred Creator/AlanCumming. Here, when his character sees the girls who once hated Josie, Melody, and Valerie now worshiping them, he remarks that most people have to wait ten years for [[ReunionRevenge that kind of revenge]].
48	** "''[[Film/CharliesAngels2000 Barrymore, Diaz & Liu]] to play Pussycats in Josie Movie!''"
49	** [[spoiler:Wyatt and Fiona]] both attended "Huntington High School", the same school from the filmmakers' previous movie, ''Film/CantHardlyWait''.
50	** [=DuJour=]'s pet monkey is named [[Franchise/PlanetOfTheApes Dr. Zaius]].
51	** Wyatt's codephrases are shoutouts to classic songs - "take the chevy to the levy" from Music/DonMcLean's ''Music/AmericanPie'' and "smells like teen spirit" from the Music/{{Nirvana}} song of the same name.
52	%%* StealthParody
53	* SubliminalAdvertising: The record company is putting subliminal messages into music in order to sell consumer products.
54	** For example, in the scene where Fiona explains [[EvilPlan the goal]] of [=MegaRecords=], the message "''Film/CantHardlyWait'' was under-rated" scrolls by, superimposed in the foreground. Both this film and ''Can't Hardly Wait'' were written and directed by Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont. Other messages include "[[BreakingTheFourthWall This movie is brilliant]]" and "Are you thinking disposable?"
55	** The movie itself does this with one scene, where the words "''Josie and the Pussycats'' [[ShamelessSelfPromoter is the best movie ever]]!" are quickly flashed up on the screen and read out by Mr. Moviefone, with the words "Join the Army" in smaller print below.[[note]]That example is really more [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons superliminal]] rather than subliminal. Creator/RogerEbert took the film to task for calling the hidden messages "subliminal" when they are in fact subaural.[[/note]]
56	* TakeThatAudience: You know, it takes real guts to make a film where the ''whole freakin' plot'' is about how your audience is full of brainwashed idiots who are incapable of thinking for themselves.
57	* TokenRomance: Alan M. and Josie really do seem tacked onto the movie as an afterthought. It may all be part of the parody, though.
58	* VehicularKidnapping: After discovering a cynical girl in the record store that seems immune to [=MegaRecords=]' brainwashing, Wyatt none-too-subtly intones "[[Music/{{Nirvana}} smells like]] [[WaxingLyrical teen spirit]]" into his jacket sleeve. Moments later, an overhead door flies open, the cynical girl gets grabbed by nameless mooks and tossed into a waiting van, and is then driven away. She's later seen as an unwilling test subject for the headphones to be used during Josie's concert to brainwash the audience.
59	* WimpFight: Josie and [[spoiler:Fiona's]] fight at the end descends into this, the two of them harmlessly slapping at each other and squealing.

Context Film / JosieAndThePussycats2001