Too Old for Superbad

Let me just say, I LOVED American Pie. And South Park, especially the first episode I ever saw, Cartman Gets an Anal Probe. There is something really funny to me about cartoon characters that swear, and I still laugh when I hear the words, "and one time? at band camp?"

But, 3 minutes into Superbad, I knew that whatever magic this genre once had for me is utterly gone, and I'm so sad!

I had really hoped that Michael Cera might be the redeeming feature here, high hopes based on his awesome character, George Michael Bluth, in Arrested Development. But no.

And now, even Ben has shut it off. He actually called it "super bad."

So, I will come up with a few favorite moments from movies that totally cracked me up:

Spaceballs, when Dark Helmet is playing with the little Star Wars action figures and makes Leia say: "Oh, Dark Helmet, I hate you, I hate you! And yet, I do feel a strange attraction..."

In Fletch, he tries to speak into a little tape recorder but inadvertently presses play instead of record, and a woman's voice says "oh yeah, oh Fletch, ooooooh - are you recording this?"

My favorite Seinfeld episode ever: The Contest, in which the 4 main characters each bet $50 that they can go longest as "master of their domain" - and Elaine is the first out, because she took an exercise class with JFK Junior and can't resist the temptation to go home and... I'll let you figure it out.

In When Harry Met Sally: "I'll have what she's having..."

My point is, I'm not a prude. I'm happy to laugh at funny, bawdy jokes, but I think what bothers me about Superbad is the message behind the humor. It's like somebody said, "let's figure out how many insults we can come up with about women and sex, plan every sentence of dialogue in this whole movie to include at least 3 of these, and call it funny."

Because that's really the problem for me; to be considered a joke for this movie, the dialogue must insult women. And my other problem: every girl or woman in the whole movie is thin, pretty, and dressed sexily - but the two main characters are totally geeky.

It really bothers me that pop culture gives the message that it's okay for guys to be sub-par, but we women must look our best all the time or else we're not worthy.

How many young, unshowered guys with Cheeto-stained shirts watch Superbad and think, "hey, I'm all right - anyone would want me, just the way I am!"

Now, how many young women watching would get that same message? Not many, I'll bet.

And this concludes my rant about Superbad, a really awful movie.