[Music]
when it comes to highschool comedies
you've got a lot of different options
there are the few genuinely great films
that use the end of high school as a
backdrop for asking some of life's
bigger questions some make a point at
commenting on larger cultural issues or
what it means to be yourself and some
just want to make you laugh Superbad is
one of the few that does all of those
things even though Superbad was released
more than 10 years ago it still stands
as one of the greatest high school
comedies of all time because first and
foremost it's still really funny due in
large part to its all-star cast many of
whom got their first big breakthrough
super bad they shot the film digitally
and would let the cameras roll for hours
so the actors could improvise as much as
they wanted some of the funnier bits of
dialogue only exists in the film because
of an improvised moment like this
conversation here with Seth Rogen and
Bill Hader I first joined the force I
assumed it was semen on everything and
there was some like huge
semen database and every bad guys seemed
it doesn't exist I often go to sleep and
dream of waking up in a world where
everything is covered in semen I mean
who doesn't that's the only way you can
find DNA by the way so you have it's in
the jizz it's the best DNA's and they
always had the great script to fall back
on when all else failed it also helped
that many of the actors meant to portray
high-school students were actually the
appropriate age or at the very least
close to the appropriate age as opposed
to something like say Greece where I
honestly don't know what they were
thinking there's also the added benefit
that many of the films most iconic
scenes happened in real life like the
now infamous period blood scene Oh
other [ __ ] throw-up so when period my
[ __ ] late since they started writing
the script in middle school they had
more than a decade's worth of true
stories that could find their way into
the film but it was always a
collaboration between the producers and
the director and the cast and the
writers to make sure that they were
telling a story that felt honest even
when certain the scenes would escalate
to in the same Heights something else
that always stood out to me about super
bad is its lack of cashing in on
nostalgia and what I mean by that is
that there are obviously certain
comedies that were made after the time
that they take place in so just by the
nature of it being a reconstruction of a
certain setting is going to end up
taking advantage of the nostalgia of
that time to help tell their story but
even the different teen comedies that
were set in their own present day still
tend to rely on a lot of pop-culture
references to guide the humor and more
often than not the soundtrack is
comprised of all of the biggest hits of
the time I think Shrek is a perfect
example of what I mean I know it's not
my school comedy but bear with me it
makes so many references to other
popular films from that era and ends up
losing a lot of its own agency as a
result I have a hard time imagining new
generations of kids flocking to that
movie the way that my generation could
because we understood every reference
and it came out during a time when
people still thought smashmouth who were
cool but super bad doesn't make this
same mistake there's very little that
cements it as a movie that came out in
the mid-2000s obviously things like the
clothes or the cell phones are dead
giveaways but take a listen to that
soundtrack the film's soundtrack is
soaked in funk soul and classic rock and
its original score by Lyle workman
maintains that same sort of groove
throughout and outside of what I
mentioned earlier or a few scenes like
the one with the videogame or something
like the Coen brothers reference almost
every joke still works regardless of if
you grew up with the film or not the
comedy comes from a place that's
familiar to just about anyone the film
would be marketed to teens getting drunk
and trying to get laid is hardly a
foreign concept to American audiences
trying unsuccessfully to buy booze
trying to find the right clothes to wear
to make the right
impression that one friend who doesn't
really belong in the group all of these
concepts could exist within a film set
today or even back in the 1950s and
having an eclectic soundtrack that spans
several decades and several genres
allows the film to stand on its own two
feet without having to pander to whoever
was 17 when the film came out films end
up as a sort of time capsule teen
comedies especially because they don't
revolve around spies or war or action
heroes but just regular people living at
least mostly regular lives and while it
can be cool to create something that's
effectively time stamped into a certain
era either for those trying to relive
their youth or for those whose time came
long after I think there's something to
be said for a film like super bad to
form its own style by mishmash ings so
many others into one movie but at the
end of the day it depends on the story
you're trying to create and there's no
denying that some films were made better
by going in the other direction but what
stands out to me more than music or
costume choices is how problematic some
of the behavior or language starts to
look upon rewatching certain movies yes
but what about something a little more
recent for those who didn't grow up in
the early 2000s when the American Pie
movies were still relevant it's pretty
hard to describe just how wildly popular
these films were the franchise has
grossed over a billion dollars worldwide
people everywhere were quoting the
movies non-stop and it spawned a whole
host of other raunchy movies that tried
to capture the success of the films but
nowhere did anyone seem to mention a
really troubling scene for some context
jim has a crush on the foreign exchange
student Nadia who asks for his help with
studying so he invites her to come over
to his house after she finishes with
ballet practice his friends proceeded to
tell him to get some balls and live
broadcast webcam footage of her
undressing on the internet skipping past
the fact that if she's in high school
she's likely a minor making the
child pornography even if she's a legal
adult no one seems to have a problem
with violating her consent or privacy in
fact they question his very manhood for
his reticence to the idea so of course
he does it and because it's a movie of
course she ends up just laying around
naked and of course ends up finding his
dirty magazines and begins touching
herself and then obviously when he comes
back she's totally into it but uh-oh
turns out that he sent the link to the
whole school and the only logical
follow-up is obviously for her to fall
in love with him and continue a
long-distance relationship of sorts when
she moves back home it's literally porno
logic presented in a movie targeted
towards teenagers telling guys that it's
totally fine to set up a secret webcam
to spy on naked women and it's totally
fine to share that footage with all of
your friends and don't worry if she
finds out she won't be mad she'll be so
flattered she'll want to have sex with
you and to make things worse there's a
very similar scene in the sequel where
they literally break into someone's
house and watch them undress from their
closet while their friends spy through
the window the point being that the guys
think that they're hot lesbians and want
to watch them in action the women use
this chance to get revenge which feels
like an improvement on the problematic
scene from the first film until you get
to the end of the movie and what happens
oh right now compare all of that to this
scene from super bad Evan has had a
crush on this girl for a long time and
they've shared some small flirtation
throughout the movie leading up to the
party but when he gets there she's
already hammered so he asks the question
and if I could get with her and I'm not
drunk isn't that like unethical oh not
if you're drunk
Kathlyn nervously not trying to screw up
his first real chance with her he starts
pounding liquor as fast as his stomach
can handle to try and catch up
she's obviously lucid and more than
giving of her consent but it would still
be taking advantage of her so he
awkwardly resists most advances and
tries to slow the situation down even
when she criticizes him for doing so
he's call me [ __ ] yes I scared God and
while he may have been thinking he
screwed everything up it turns out to be
quite the opposite when they run into
each other the next day at the mall she
apologizes and even thanks him for being
a nice guy that's okay
despite all of the foul language and
often misogynistic dialogue they're
actually decent guys that understand the
difference between right and wrong
they understand that consent is
important and so is the context of that
consent really it's all about following
one simple rule the film sets itself up
like any other dumb comedy about teens
trying to get laid and there's plenty
going on in the earlier parts of the
film that suggests it is just as sex
obsessed as any other high school movie
but what's made clear by the end of the
film is that all of this is really about
their own anxiety at going to separate
schools for the first time in their
friendship and this is their last-ditch
effort to find a girlfriend for the
summer to make that transition easier I
mean there's a reason that the most
emotionally vulnerable scene in the film
is between the two leads as they profess
their love for each other why don't we
say that every day why can't we say it
more often
I just love you I just want to go the
rooftops and scream I love my best
friend Evan we should go up oh my she
wants the world to know it's it's the
most beautiful thing in the world
something else that you'd blow hard
pressed to fartin in any other teen
comedy until Superbad came along despite
the hard r-rated language it
a surprisingly wholesome film that
dismantles some of the more unfortunate
symptoms of masculinity that says a
woman is a prize to be won or that any
intimacy between two men must just mean
that they're gay and it's all hidden and
they're enough dick jokes that it
doesn't feel like a preachy after-school
special either making it actually stand
a chance at reaching the audience that
needs to hear it most
so while Superbad may not be my favorite
comedy of all time that spot would
belong to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
which I might cover at some point if
there is enough interest I think that
Superbad gets so many important things
right by not relying on parody or
pop-culture for its laughs by not
reinforcing troubling behavior of men
that sees women only as objects for sex
and by allowing two men to show each
other
genuine affection it sets it above most
of its peers and in my opinion hasn't
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nature I felt like it was the right time
to make this video but I hope you guys
liked it I know it's a little bit
different than what I normally do and I
feel like I've been saying that a lot
lately but I constantly try and
challenge myself to cover different
subjects from different points of view
and so I hope you guys are okay with me
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