Image credit: Sony Pictures Classics

Now here's a worthy education for all of you young girls out there:

There are types of men who are just... selfish. They want candy, they want cake, they want ice cream, they want it all. They'll say anything and do everything to get what they want. Beware of these men for they will clip your wings and leave you for dead once he's done with you.

Set in 1961, An Education presents us with the two most basic archetypes of women: Jenny (played by Carey Mulligan, who's Shia LaBeouf's current squeeze btw :O) is the smart, educated one; and Helen (played so gorgeously by Rosamund Pike) is the pretty, airheaded one. Jenny was raised under pressure by her father to be the best in school. He has her future mapped out in a series of perfect A's and literary extracurricular activities, with one endgame: OXFORD. All she does is study, study, study, study and study under her father's short leash. Thanks to this, she bloomed into a very intelligent, literary and cultured girl (almost borderline pretentious, actually). But not just that, she is also bored.

Jenny then meets David (played by the ever so charismatic Peter Sarsgaard), an older man who introduced her to an entirely new world of liberation from her chronic boredom. She is fascinated by this whole new world of fun and spontaneity, and sees that there is an entirely different choice on how she chooses to live her life: Helen, who is with David's friend, Danny. Now, this Helen is the complete opposite of Jenny. Helen doesn't care about classical music, art, or literature. All she cares about is getting expensive things from her boyfriend Danny, and looking fabulously pretty. For Helen, there couldn't be anything worse than to be drab-looking. Helen doesn't question what Danny does, and she doesn't mind being told to sit out of a man's business to "go and have tea or something". As long as Danny takes care of her and buys her expensive things in return for her armcandiness.

What happens next is that Jenny is faced with a choice that could change her life forever. I shall not go into great details on the events that occurred in the movie, but it tells me this one very important message (aside the also equally important message of STAY IN SCHOOL!): NEVER EVER LOSE THE ESSENCE OF YOURSELF. Don't throw your entire identity away for another human being. Never let your identity and personality as a woman, as a human being, be dulled and dampened by a far more domineering character up to the point where the last drop of your essence had vaporized into thin air.

You may or may not encounter these kinds of people at some point in your life, but if it so happens that your wings get clipped off, get out while you can still grow them back. Women back in the day didn't have the choices we have today, so never ever let anyone tell you that there are certain things you shouldn't be doing because you're a woman. And I have suddenly turned into a raging feminist.

This movie scored three nods at the Oscars this year: Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay. All very well-deserved. It would be my choice for Best Adapted Screenplay, as the script is absolutely brilliant. I guess we'll just tune in to see how it fares on March 7, eh?