Skip to main content

The Meaning of Headlines: 'Brownie points' - film




The Weekend section of The Washington Post published an article on 7 April 2016 with the headline: ‘Melissa McCarthy wins no Brownie Points in ‘The Boss.’ What are Brownie points?

The Free Dictionary defines ‘Brownie’ as ‘a member of the Girl Scouts (Girl Guides in England) from 6-8 years of age,’ who perform good deeds for people and receive a badge to wear on their uniform. So do the Boy Scouts.

Lord Robert Baden-Powell (1857-1941), who established the scout movement for children in England in 1907, used the term Brownies because a Brownie was ‘a small sprite’ who helped around the house or with any tasks, usually at night when no-one was looking. The Brownie was like a secret helper. The British writer, Juliana Horatia Ewing (1841-1885), wrote about helpful brownies in her 1865 children’s book called The Brownies.

A Brownie is also defined as ‘a bar of moist … chocolate cake, often with nuts’ or ‘a brown trout (fish).’ The Brownie box camera is also just referred to as a Brownie. The Phrase Finder defines ‘Brownie points’ as ‘a notional mark of achievement or kudos for performing some creditable act.’

Why doesn’t Melissa McCarthy get Brownie points for the movie? The article says that McCarthy plays ‘yet another selfish, cluelessly narcissistic character’ – Michelle Darnell, the 47th richest woman in America – in her recent movie, the comedy called The Boss. The author describes the movie plot as ‘predictably schematic’ and concludes with: ‘although her charisma is still undeniable, there’s also no denying that McCarthy is capable of much more…’

Now, the plot of the movie is about Michelle Darnell – rich businesswoman – helping a group of school girls make a profit selling cookies, instead of just earning badges like the Girl Scouts. Darnell’s friend’s daughter has a recipe for Brownies and it is intended to be the start of a get-rich-quick scheme.

The Scorecard for The Washington Post headline is 99%. Although the term ‘Brownie points’ is not used in the article, it is nevertheless implied in the movie’s Girl Scouts group, in which the girls sell Brownies. It is therefore a reference to both the Brownies (the girls who do good deeds in the Girl Scouts) and the Brownies (chocolate cakes) they sell. When the girls sell the Brownies, they are making money instead of points that go toward a badge for their uniform. So no points for Melissa McCarthy and no badge of merit for the movie.







MARTINA NICOLLS is the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh  (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. That

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing