Author Topic: [Movie] American Pie  (Read 3927 times)

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Offline ohgar

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[Movie] American Pie
« on: August 14, 2012, 08:04:42 PM »
"In this society, the norm of masculinity is phallic aggression. Male sexuality is, by definition, intensely and rigidly phallic. A man's identity is located in his conception of himself as the possessor of a phallus; a man's worth is located in his pride in phallic identity. The main characteristic of phallic identity is that worth is entirely contingent on the possession of a phallus. Since men have no other criteria for worth, no other notion of identity, those who do not have phalluses are not recognized as fully human." -Andrea Dworkin

American Pie follows an all-male group who decide they must penetrate a woman before they graduate high school, regardless of who the woman is or how she feels about it. It is often described as a "coming of age story," which implies that a man has not "come of age" until he has copulated. In reality, this film is an anti-woman celebration of phallic power and a tool of patriarchal indoctrination.

The female characters in this story are archetypal male fantasies: the loving and submissive girlfriend, the sex-crazed foreigner, the crazy redhead, the horny housewife, etc. All of their actions are designed to induce either arousal or revulsion in male viewers. The men's discussion of sex is viewed as "normal," while any sexual expression by women is a result of poor societal adjustment. The male lead is encouraged by his friends to have sex with an apple pie, but when the female lead discusses penetrating herself with a flute, the characters are shocked.

Alcohol is prevalent, most notably in the final act at a prom after-party, during which copulation finally occurs, tacitly encouraging date rape. Much "comedy" is derived from the sexual assertiveness of the "crazy" and "awkward" red-headed female lead, whom the male lead had only begrudgingly taken to the prom because of his sexual failure with the sex-crazed foreigner.

American Pie has achieved much success in our patriarchal culture, spawning several equally reprehensible sequels that have been seen en mass by men and women. Many women, raised in a male society, have come to believe the stereotypes embedded in American Pie. Some might say it's "just a comedy" and that "women can laugh at themselves," and this would be fine if men could do the same. But when we look at similar stories of female sexual assertiveness and male objectification, like the series Sex and the City, we see that they are almost universally loathed by males. This is very telling of the unequal ground on which men and women stand in popular culture and grounds for further research.
« Last Edit: September 16, 2012, 07:38:07 AM by Nick »
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Offline Super Dude

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Re: [Film] American Pie
« Reply #1 on: August 14, 2012, 09:32:59 PM »
Sounds like someone needs to get laid.
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Offline theseoafs

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Re: [Film] American Pie
« Reply #2 on: August 15, 2012, 12:37:27 PM »
Sounds like someone needs to get laid.

Seriously.

Listen, if any of AP's protagonists had raped their women, I might buy that this tale is an "anti-woman celebration of phallic power and a tool of patriarchal indoctrination."  As it happens, they all end up having normal, consensual, one-night stands.  As far as I'm concerned, a movie that preaches that healthy consensual sexual activity is normal and good and fun can only do good things for females and indeed our youth as a whole.

The male lead is encouraged by his friends to have sex with an apple pie, but when the female lead discusses penetrating herself with a flute, the characters are shocked.

The male lead is told by his friends having sex is rather like penetrating an apple pie.  He does, and is very embarrassed when his father catches him in the act (because masturbating with an apple pie is indeed a rather odd thing to do).  The male lead isn't shocked to hear about the flute because the girl was "poorly socially adjusted"; he's just surprised to hear that she has a sexual side.



ohgar, you might be happier if you realized that some things that look 1-dimensional actually are.
« Last Edit: August 15, 2012, 01:17:57 PM by theseoafs »

Offline MasterShakezula

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Re: [Film] American Pie
« Reply #3 on: August 15, 2012, 02:53:09 PM »
I always thought it was a comedy about a bunch of horny teenagers hotdogging. 
« Last Edit: August 15, 2012, 02:59:45 PM by MasterShakezula »

Offline Perpetual Change

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Re: [Film] American Pie
« Reply #4 on: August 16, 2012, 06:41:40 AM »
Haha, fantastic.