You may really love this movie, you may think it's one of the funniest films of all time, but you can't deny that some of these moments are pretty problematic.
We're going to dive into those moments, so get ready to cringe the entire way.
You may really love this movie, you may think it's one of the funniest films of all time, but you can't deny that some of these moments are pretty problematic.
We're going to dive into those moments, so get ready to cringe the entire way.
Let's start with the big one.
The internet was... different back then. No one really knew its true power.
But these days we know that broadcasting a nude teenager on the internet is highly illegal.
(They were in high school, going to prom, there's no way she was 18), but spreading a person's nude image over the internet is a big no-no.
Jesus, Oz. You're supposed to be a cool guy.
You're supposed to be the one that everyone looks up to. Don't be going all sexist on us like that, man.
Read this:
"No longer will our penises remain flaccid and unused. We will fight for every man out there who isnāt getting laid and should be. This is our day. This is our timeā¦we will not stand by and watch history condemn us into celibacy. We will make a stand. We will succeed. We will get laid!"
No, it's the speech that is given before they all make a "pact" to get laid.
Not only is this totally cringey, but it's super problematic as well.
There's a scene where Kevin says... well, it's hard to translate into "PG speak" but essentially he says:
"I'm sick of this B-J B-S, I need to have S-E-X already."
Not only does Jessica teach Kevin how to manipulate Vicky sexually, but we find out that Kevin has never once done oral on Vicky.
Way to be a reciprocating boyfriend, Kevin.
What, you've got too little of an attention span to listen to what these girls are saying?
Or you just don't care about what the women you want to have sex with have to say?
It's treated totally casually, too.
They talk about it like it's nothing when in reality, it wasn't funny then, and it isn't funny now.
Wait, isn't Finch supposed to be a teenager? Like he's in high school? This woman is taking advantage of him!
Imagine if the roles were reversed, people! How creepy would that look?
The whole movie is ripe with it. All these boys want is to get drunk, get girls drunk, and have sex with them.
They don't care about these girls (at first, thank you Oz).
The whole dynamic between female and male masturbation in this movie is problematic.
Female masturbation is treated as sexy, whereas male masturbation is treated as something ugly and something you should be ashamed of.
Ah, Stifler. You knew that you would be on this list, didn't you?
Where do we start with the Stiff-Meister... for starters, his frat boyish behavior is just downright not funny.
He treats women like they're objects and tries to get a girl drunk so he can take advantage of her.
He doesn't even remember her name!
So the worst part about them putting Nadia's naked image online is that once her sponsor sees the video, she gets deported!
I don't know whether to be angry at Jim or the sponsor.
At one point in the movie, they're talking about getting to first, second, or third base.
This is just another instance of toxic masculinity and misogyny, comparing their conquests of women to a game.
Not only is she supposed to be a Disney character, but isn't she also supposed to be young? I know they're in high school, but... hold on a sec...
Yeah, she's 16.
After complaining about how he's only getting oral sex from a '90s era Tara Reid (his life is so hard, I know) Kevin goes on about how "[He] put in months of quality timeā¦" so he deserves sex.
Yeesh.
At the end of the day, they put sex on such a high pedestal it starts to sound like stuff an incel would say.
Seriously, it's the whole point of the movie.
This is the movie that really brought the word "MILF" into the mainstream.
A word that, might I remind you, once again objectifies women and turns them into conquests.
It's not the incident with the pie that's problematic.
If you want to put yourself in a pie, more power to you (just make sure to let it cool first).
Where does it stop after pie? All sorts of other foods?
You're ruining the desserts of the future, American Pie.
Another one of those lines that just shows how important sex is to these boys.
I get that they're teenagers and hormonal. But once again, it's setting the precedent that women are just sexual objects.
Laxatives, if used to a bad extent, can be really dangerous. Showing off dangerous pranks like these are problematic because it teaches people watching that it's harmless!
Stifler could've killed Finch!