Sunday, November 25, 2007
It's like American Pie
...only a million times raunchier!
I guess that would mean that it's not like American Pie at all.
On Friday night, we had some friends over for supper, a game of The Da Vinci Code: The Quest for Truth, and a movie. Quite a few people have told me that Knocked Up is a really funny movie and worth renting. I remember seeing the trailers for the movie and thinking that it looked silly but cute. I'm a sucker for romantic comedies. This movie was totally not what I was expecting.
Katherine Heigl plays Alison Scott, a bright and responsible young woman who works for E! Television. She and her sister go out to a bar one night, to celebrate Alison's promotion. She meets Ben (Seth Rogen) at the bar and they both get extremely intoxicated and have a one night stand. The two have very little in common. Alison is a successful TV personality with a rising career and Ben is a chronic pot smoking slacker/party animal. He and his friends plan to launch a website that lists famous actresses and all their nude shots in movies.
Alison discovers she is pregnant and contacts Ben. He says he wants to support her and be there for the baby. Can Ben rise to the challenge and become the man Alison needs him to be?
I won't spoil the ending for those of you who haven't seen this movie yet. I was just a bit shocked at:
A) the number of times the F-word was used in the movie
B) the number of tasteless jokes and stereotypes were in the movie
C) the vulgarity
I'm not a prude, nor to a pretend to be prissy. I have no problems with being open about any topic (when I'm with close friends) and I have to admit that I try not to use coarse language (I'm with my nieces and students a lot and I think it's very inappropriate to swear like a sailor... especially when in front of children). I do say bad words every now and then, but in the past few years I've been really making a conscious effort to refrain from doing so. I just thought that this movie was way over the top. It worries me that so many people I've spoken to have said that this is the funniest movie they have ever seen. The movie was basically just a bunch of toilet humour with some nudity, sex scenes and the inappropriate words for the female anatomy. I appreciate some good slapstick humour, but this was pushing the limits. I loved American Pie. I thought American Pie was hilarious and I howled throughout the entire movie. I laughed so hard all through Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. I even thought The 40-Year Old Virgin was cute.
I think that this movie could have been well done and even successful without all the crass jokes, vulgarity, and negative stereotyping. The storyline itself had the potential for a very good movie. A lot of scenes were unnecessary and the Stephen Hawking imitation was just plain wrong. There were a few moments in the movie that were funny, but for the most part it was very uncomfortable to watch.
I felt badly for my student, who was clearly disturbed by the movie. Culturally, Knocked Up was a surprise for her. Almost everything about this movie was taboo for her. At the end of the movie, all six of us just sat in silence and in total disbelief at what we just saw. We then started laughing because we were in such shock and disbelief.
I guess that would mean that it's not like American Pie at all.
On Friday night, we had some friends over for supper, a game of The Da Vinci Code: The Quest for Truth, and a movie. Quite a few people have told me that Knocked Up is a really funny movie and worth renting. I remember seeing the trailers for the movie and thinking that it looked silly but cute. I'm a sucker for romantic comedies. This movie was totally not what I was expecting.Katherine Heigl plays Alison Scott, a bright and responsible young woman who works for E! Television. She and her sister go out to a bar one night, to celebrate Alison's promotion. She meets Ben (Seth Rogen) at the bar and they both get extremely intoxicated and have a one night stand. The two have very little in common. Alison is a successful TV personality with a rising career and Ben is a chronic pot smoking slacker/party animal. He and his friends plan to launch a website that lists famous actresses and all their nude shots in movies.
Alison discovers she is pregnant and contacts Ben. He says he wants to support her and be there for the baby. Can Ben rise to the challenge and become the man Alison needs him to be?
I won't spoil the ending for those of you who haven't seen this movie yet. I was just a bit shocked at:
A) the number of times the F-word was used in the movie
B) the number of tasteless jokes and stereotypes were in the movie
C) the vulgarity
I'm not a prude, nor to a pretend to be prissy. I have no problems with being open about any topic (when I'm with close friends) and I have to admit that I try not to use coarse language (I'm with my nieces and students a lot and I think it's very inappropriate to swear like a sailor... especially when in front of children). I do say bad words every now and then, but in the past few years I've been really making a conscious effort to refrain from doing so. I just thought that this movie was way over the top. It worries me that so many people I've spoken to have said that this is the funniest movie they have ever seen. The movie was basically just a bunch of toilet humour with some nudity, sex scenes and the inappropriate words for the female anatomy. I appreciate some good slapstick humour, but this was pushing the limits. I loved American Pie. I thought American Pie was hilarious and I howled throughout the entire movie. I laughed so hard all through Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. I even thought The 40-Year Old Virgin was cute.
I think that this movie could have been well done and even successful without all the crass jokes, vulgarity, and negative stereotyping. The storyline itself had the potential for a very good movie. A lot of scenes were unnecessary and the Stephen Hawking imitation was just plain wrong. There were a few moments in the movie that were funny, but for the most part it was very uncomfortable to watch.
I felt badly for my student, who was clearly disturbed by the movie. Culturally, Knocked Up was a surprise for her. Almost everything about this movie was taboo for her. At the end of the movie, all six of us just sat in silence and in total disbelief at what we just saw. We then started laughing because we were in such shock and disbelief.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
From Our Farm to Your Table
Farmers Feed Cities
You Can Find Me Here!
Affiliates
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
Brand Ambassador for
For Fellow Bloggers
|
|
 |
 |
Proud Recipient
About the Blog Author
City girl moves to the country, falls in love, and marries a farmer. She tries to incorporate her city ways with her new country lifestyle and blogs to keep in touch with friends, family & students who live far, far away :) Can this city girl go country? Watch as she learns all sorts of exciting things about life on the farm and in a small rural community. *UPDATE* We are now parents! Our baby girl was born on Nov. 11, 2008 (at 28 weeks gestation- 12 weeks premature, but she's quite the trooper)!!!
Les Boutons!
Let's Connect
Subscribe To
Posts
Comments
Support
13 comments:
I loved Knocked Up! I was told by some 20-something year old guy co-workers that I had to see it, so once it was out on DVD we rented it. As I watched it, I was trying to figure out what a 20-something year old guy would find so amusing by this flick. A bunch of guys who can't fathom fathering a child and all that comes with it. Of course I later found out they were mostly amused by the guys trying to launch the website and all of the beard jokes. Of COURSE that's what they found funny. Not how this girl is freaking out about being pregnant and her career and such, which is the story line I was following.
Oh and when I saw the picture on your post... I thought you were trying to tell us something else entirely!
Cherry:
LOL! "Knocked Up"...I wish I were trying to tell you something! ;)
I can see how the movie could be funny. There were some funny moments in the film, but for the most part I was just concerned about the profanity, vulgarity...and I kept glancing over to my student to see if she was okay. She's from Korea and was totally aghast at what she saw. The sexist jokes, the use of the C-word to describe a woman's vagina, etc.
The funny (or not so funny) thing is that I had friends who were like "Ben" and his friends. They sat around smoking pot all day and used the F-word after every other word in every sentence, shrugged off all responsibility. I suppose that this plot could be realistic if one looks at it that way. I wonder what that says about our society and our views. LOL! OMG! I sound like a grandmother! ;)
I do know people who are "responsible" pot smokers. They don't let smoking interfere with their work or responsibilities. The movie seemed to focus on the negative stereotypes though.
A lot of people I know just LOVED this movie too.
i LOVEDDDDD this movie. In fact it was the last movie i saw in the theatre! (yeah it has been a while)
i just took the language and jokes as being part of the appeal. The movie wouldn't have been 1/2 as funny if they had been more politically correct and less crass
JMO...
Looks like from everyone's comments your outnumbered here Chris! But I'm going to have to agree with you.I thought I was going to enjoy the movie more than I did. I found that the movie was an insult to its viewers. very juvenile and in poor taste . when we walked out of the theater a bunch of teenagers were talking like Ben and his friends in the movie. That worries me tht teenagers think it's ok to talk like that. It's rude and disrespectful. but i did like Katherine Heigl in it, she's still my favorite in Grey's Anatomy.
I missed this movie when it was in Hong KOng - and I had so many people emailing me and telling me about it. It just wasn't popular here, and I was a tad too busy to get around to it. Glad you're recommending it too!
Oops, I didn't realize you didn't like the movie that much to recommend. My Bad.
well - that's good I didn't spend my hard earned dollars on it. Whew.
Dina:
I have to admit that I did find some of the scenes and jokes funny. The idea of the movie was funny. I don't know why I found it a bit over the limit though. I love comedies (especially with Ben Stiller or Adam Sandler!) and some foul language and twisted jokes are funny. For me, there was an excess amount of vulgarity. I get it though. It was intended to be that way and that's the humour of the movie. LOL! Am I becoming an old fart?
Hot Mommy:
Wow! I'm surprised! Someone finally agrees with me ;)
By the way, what's this I hear about you thinking of starting your own blog? I think you should do it! Do it! ;)
CK:
Hello, my lovely!
Hmmmm...Well, I wouldn't tell anyone not to watch a certain movie. This was just my opinion of the movie. If you see it, you may just like it! :) Rent it and let me know what you think.
i loved this movie, especially the outtake with dr. kuni (the Asian doctor).
this is the anti-romantic comedy. personally, i dislike most chick flick. most are sappy and watered down.this movie, on the other, had something to offend almost everyone.
fyi - judd apatow, the director of this movie also directed 'the 40 year old virgin' and one of my favorite (now defunct) tv shows, 'Freaks and Geeks'. incidentally, his other works also feature many of the characters in his movies (like seth rogen, jason segel, paul rudd, and martin starr).
knocked up definitely isn't for everyone, but i thought it was hilarious!
Canine:
I read somewhere that a lot of the dialogue was improvised by the actors or fed to them in the moment by Judd Apatow just before a take. That was kind of neat. I also thought it was fun to see all the cameo appearances by famous actors and TV personalities. Steve Carrell cracks me up.
I've been wanting to see this one too, basically on the strength of 40 year old virgin, and the lead actor has been really cute on the talk show circuit.
Glad I didn't see it in the theater, but I'll still probably check it out on DVD just to see what the hoopla was about -- but likely not in mixed company, and certainly not with my parents :)
I have to confess I laughed at Dodgeball even though I was dragged there by my little cousins. Haven't seen either Knocked Up or Superbad yet. Crude and vulgar doesn't bother me as long as it's funny.
I watched it and I think it was hillarious!! I loved this movie. The end part of the story made me want to cry - it was just so touching.