American Pie: 25th Anniversary- The Apple Pie Doesn’t look So Appetizing Anymore
Quick Take: we all think we grew up in the best of times. For me, I look at how many films directed clearly at teen audiences we had, theatrically, in my window when I was in high school. technically, I wasn’t old enough to see American Pie in theatrical release without a parent, but that never stopped me before. But in 1999, American Pie was part of a cluster of teen classics, including Varsity Blues, She’s All That, Cruel Intentions, 10 Things I Hate About you, Never Been Kissed, and the similarly themed The Wood. When I was this age, I wasn’t thinking a lot about how the content at the time would age, and man, American Pie has not grown up well. I know some believe that comedy is dead, because they don’t know how to creatively not offend everyone, but the jokes in American Pie don’t work in the current state of cinema, making for a hard rewatch for a film I used to adore. The first two American Pie films were once staples of my diet, but with age comes maturity, and as I’ve come to reflect on being comfortable in my own sexuality, watching films with homophobic characters and jokes, is getting really hard. Still, the high school version of me, who didn’t know what the hell was happening with his sexuality, wasn’t bothered by a character like Stifler. Now, he’s really hard to watch. Yes, there are still some jokes that work. yes, parts of this are objectively funny. Eugene Levy is still a great film dad. But, times have changed, and a group of straight white high school boys losing their virginity just isn’t what it used to be. What once felt like warm apple pie, now looks like the apple pie after Jim is done with it. it certainly isn’t what you remembered, this clean and tasty looking treat. now, there’s clearly something fucked up here, and you hate yourself because there’s a part of you that still wants that pie. Nothing beats warm apple pie, after all, and sometimes the illusion of what once was, and a trip down memory lane, is what you need. But the rest of the time, it really shouldn’t be consumed. For more, check out my video. Also, for my YouTube, I took a second look at American Pie 2, American Wedding, and American Reunion. they are not celebrating anniversaries, but if you want to know my thoughts, there are videos of those as well.
