|
Move over "Animal House"? |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Written by HOWIE RUMBERG, asap
|
|
Thursday, 17 August 2006 |
|
|
|
|
Ever since Bluto Blutarsky and the boys of Delta House ran amok at Faber College, filmmakers have been trying to capture the frivolity of “Animal House” for the next generation of movie fans, with varying degrees of success.
On Aug. 18, Gen Y gets its version with “Accepted.” This time, the ragtag bunch of misfits attend a school of their own creation, and the fake college ends up being a much better learning environment than the psuedo-Ivy next door.
Looking at a selection of cinematic campus romps, two things become clear. First, “Animal House” is by far the best of the bunch; it’s the benchmark that all others try to emulate. Second, while the other movies all contain the essential elements found in “Animal House,” those elements change to reflect the times the movies were made.
In 1978 “Animal House” broke from the staid college movies of the ’50s and ’60s with a Me Generation twist. The geeks had their fun in the button-down 1980s with “Revenge of the Nerds.”
“PCU” was conceived in the early 1990s, a time for the culture clash between grunge-loving slackers and campus political correctness. And in 2003, college grads who gave up their carefree 20s for the go-go Internet boom got a second chance in “Old School,” forming a fraternity as 30-somethings.
Now Gen Y gets its own installment, “Accepted,” which does a commendable job of showing that for this hyper tuned-in generation, there is no original content left. To see how “Accepted” stacks up, asap broke the genre down to its basic elements.
———
THE NEMESIS
The laid-back students, trying to do their own thing, face conservative authority figures and their student cronies.
Animal House: Dean Vernon Wormer; ROTC tormentor Doug Neidermeyer and the tie-wearing Omegas.
Revenge of the Nerds: Football coach (John Goodman); jocks in the Beta house. Telling of the establishment-worshipping 80s, the Tri-Lambdas try to join the establishment, but face bias.
PCU: Politically correct administration run by President Garcia-Thompson; Reagan administration wannabe played by David Spade.
Old School: A tightly wound Dean Pritchard, played by Jeremy Piven (leader of the slackers in “PCU”).
Accepted: A Wormer wannabe, Dean Van Horne, and a tie-wearing frat brother who does his dirty work.
———
REASON FOR TROUBLE
All these students want is to be left alone to have a good time. But something gets in the way.
Animal House: Poor grades, serving alcohol at fraternity parties, insolent behavior. Name it, the Deltas probably are guilty of doing it.
Revenge of the Nerds: Being nerds, of course.
PCU: Violations of the political correctness code.
Old School: Dean Pritchard, or “chee-eese,” holds a grudge against Mitch (Luke Wilson), Beanie (Vince Vaughn) and Frank (Will Ferrell), who locked him in a dumpster when they were teenagers.
Accepted: Real estate. What else would it be in 2006?
———
ANSWER TO TROUBLE
When the administration comes down, the students fight back -- usually after an inspirational speech (see below).
Animal House: Toga party; sabotage homecoming parade.
Revenge of the Nerds: Use their superior intelligence to win fraternity competition.
PCU: Hold’s the first campus party in years to raise money.
Old School: Take’s the dean’s tests. Cheat.
Accepted: Make a speech in front of the accreditation committee.
———
INSPIRING SPEECH
Inevitably, it takes a compelling oratory from one of the brothers to get things done.
Animal House: “What? Over? Did you say ’over?’ Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the ... Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell No!” -- Bluto (John Belushi)
Revenge of the Nerds: “I just wanted to say that I’m a nerd, and I’m here tonight to stand up for the rights of other nerds.” -- Gilbert (Anthony Edwards)
PCU: “What’s going on here is about America. It’s about democracy. It’s about the bill of rights and basic cable, call waiting and free trips to the salad bar. It’s about everything that makes this country great. Our country. We can do something about this ... We’re not gonna protest! We’re not gonna protest!” -- Droz (Piven)
Old School: Beanie: “Like whose life is ruined?” Mitch: “Well let’s see: Blue’s dead, Frank’s divorced, I’ve lost my house, Nicole thinks I’m a total jackass and now we’ve got nine kids who are going to get expelled from school and you’re not going to help them out.”
Accepted: “It’s too bad you judge us by the way we look and not by who we are. You want us to look like them, and I’m damn proud we do not.” -- Bartleby (Justin Long)
———
OBJECTS OF DESIRE
Blond and beautiful. While it appears the ideal image of a coed will never change, the women of college-party movies have come a long way as characters.
Animal House: Mandy Pepperidge (Mary Louise Weller), a cross between Jackie-O and Marilyn Monroe.
Revenge of the Nerds: Betty Childs (Julia Montgomery), blond bombshell, who’s dating the quarterback.
PCU: Katy (Megan Ward), the closest thing to an everyday girl. Oh, she happens to look real good in jeans and flannel -- the uniform of the day.
Old School: Nicole (Ellen Pompeo), a charming, super-cute single mom looking for love.
Accepted: Monica (Blake Lively), a skinny blond who’s sassy. Her MySpace page is definitely cooler than yours.
———
DORM ROOMS
With “Accepted,” college-age students have taken a big step up in living conditions.
Animal House: The iconic down-and-dirty dilapidated frat house.
Revenge of the Nerds: A fixer-upper is turned into a home that could find itself in President Reagan’s “Morning in America” ad.
PCU: The Pit. What more needs to be said.
Old School: Mitch’s craftsman-style rental house on a tree-lined California street.
Accepted: Lovingly refurbished mental hospital with a half-pipe and pool. Bartelby’s dorm room looks something out of a Target ad.
———
BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE
The best actors embrace their antihero status as outcasts, but without becoming obnoxious louts.
Animal House: Belushi’s Bluto is the much-emulated but never equaled disgusting id of cinema.
PCU: It’s no stretch to see how Piven’s fast-talking slacker grows up to be Ari Gold on “Entourage.”
Revenge of the Nerds: Robert Carradine’s nasal laugh made it through three sequels.
Old School: Ferrell and Vaughn have gone on to land just about all the cush roles in recent comedies.
Accepted: Long proves he can carry a movie with his charming goofiness.
———
BANDS
Live music is an integral part of the college experience, and the soundtrack is an integral part of a studio’s ancillary income. The perfect match.
Animal House: Otis Day and the Knights.
Revenge of the Nerds: The nerds form a band, which includes an electric violin. The Harold Faltermeyer sound is iconic 80s.
PCU: George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic.
Old School: Snoop Dogg gives his own twist to Erik B. and Rakim’s old-school rap song “Paid in Full.”
Accepted: The Ringers.
———
Howie Rumberg is an asap reporter.
| Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register. |
|
|  | "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth." | |
|  | We're not that bright, even though in our own little world, we're geniuses. We like 80s hair bands and one-hit wonders, but among us we have respectable tastes, too. Metallica, Iron Maiden, U2. Pursuit of all things trivial is a lifestyle, not just a game. We like some sports, love other sports, and can find something to say about anything. We watch TV and movies and we've read a book or two, even a few classics (Yes, Classic Comics count!)
We call it insight, you call it what you will. | |
|  | Felix Wong is an outdoor enthusiast living in Fort Collins. A mechanical engineer by day, he is especially passionate about bicycling, running, and backpacking. | |
|  | Hola Amigos! I'm Sandra. I like to believe that people are 70 percent good and 30 percent dumb. I'm stickin to that story. Reading this blog might make you want to be good, but probably just dumb. | |
|  | Donovan Henderson is editor of NEXTnc. | |
|  | Here at Nextnc we have some characters. Get a sneak peak behind the curtain and find out what amusing antics our staffers get themselves into on a weekly basis. | |
|  | What is up FoCo?
I am a recent college graduate of Minnesota State University Moorhead. After recieving my B.A. in English and Mass Communications this past August I moved down to Colorado.
I enjoy long walks on the beach, candlelight dinners, and heavy metal. My hobbies include reading and writing, music, movies, and getting drunk. Some of my favorite contemporary authors include Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Palahniuk, and Kurt Vonnegut. My top movies are anything directed by Kubrick. I enjoy listening to anything that rocks.
Right now I am just trying to get to know Colorado and FoCo better. Mostly in order to find the best drink specials on each day that ends in Y. So if you know where I can get a cheap drunk on, let me know!
--Drew | |
|  | Life's little morsels of inspiration, observation and encouragement seen through the eyes of the Nextnc reporter.
| |
|  | Ms. Giles currently lives in Colorado where she stars in her own private reality show. She writes aphoristic accounts of her life, taken completely out of context, and embellished with characters and situations disguised to resemble something close to interesting. | |
|  | over and out | |
| |
