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"'Animal House' At 40: 'Toxic Showcase of Racism, Homophobia, and Jokes About Sexual Assault"

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phdhorn

phdhorn 6224

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In the era of #MeToo, is it still OK to laugh at ‘Animal House’?

Hannah Yasharoff, USA TODAYPublished 10:43 a.m. ET July 27, 2018 | Updated 4:37 p.m. ET July 27, 2018
AP FILM FIVE MOST A FILE ENT USA

(Photo: UNIVERSAL PICTURES)

National Lampoon’s raunchy frat house comedy "Animal House," which celebrates its 40th anniversary Saturday, is widely regarded as an all-time great movie. But four decades later, it feels less like a comedy classic and more like a toxic showcase of racism, homophobia and jokes about sexual assault.

While parts of the film are still genuinely funny and enjoyable in 2018, the crueler moments beg the question: In the era of #MeToo, is it still OK to enjoy "Animal House"?

There's a clear reason why this movie became an instant favorite: It's hilarious. Spit-your-beer-out funny, even, when Dean Wormer (John Vernon) tells the Delta brothers: “Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son." Or when John "Bluto" Blutarsky (John Belushi) tries to inspire his frat brothers by asking if it was "over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor." (Hint: It very famously was not the Germans who bombed Pearl Harbor.)

Every fraternity on every campus in the country has a guy who looks, sounds and can throw back a handle of Jack Daniels just like Bluto. Many of them still don his generic “College” shirt.

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This is a movie widely credited with pioneering the "slobs vs. snobs" genre (making way for "Caddyshack" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," among others) and introducing the toga party to a new generation. It's even been immortalized in the Library of Congress, joining an elite group of film greats like "Casablanca," "Gone With the Wind" and "Titanic."

But rewatching it in a time of hyperawareness about issues of sexual abuse, there are a handful of parts that don’t sit well and make appreciating the movie as a whole frustrating and troublesome. There’s a scene where Bluto climbs a ladder to watch a group of sorority girls engage in a half-naked pillow fight. There’s the fact that every woman in the movie exists to have sex with one of the main male characters.

And then there’s the plot where shy freshman Pinto (Tom Hulce) debates taking advantage of the girl he invited to a party after she passes out topless. Theirs is framed to be the most pure love story of the movie — until the punchline reveals that she’s only 13, and jokingly introduces Pinto to her father as “the boy who molested me.”

The final scene features freeze-frames to give a glimpse into the future for each character. Among frat brothers ending up as a sensitivity trainer, gynecologist, public defender or U.S. senator, Greg Marmalard (James Daughton), a member of the rival frat Omega, ends up getting raped in jail. (The underlying joke here is that the sexual assault is funny because it happened to a man.)

James Widdoes (as Robert Hoover, far left) and John

James Widdoes (as Robert Hoover, far left) and John Belushi (Bluto, right) in the "Animal House" party scene. (Photo: UNIVERSAL PICTURES)

Sexual assault is a huge issue on college campuses. The problem here isn’t that it’s a part of the story; plenty of stories include difficult situations as a way to shine a light on how society needs to change. The problem is how it’s a part of the story: The main characters are presented as good people who do harmful things – like rape – without any trace of consequence.

This wasn't a movie meant to be taken seriously, but that's an issue in itself when it comes to toxic young male culture: Things found seriously offensive by some are deemed “just a joke,” and those who find it hurtful are berated for not understanding comedy. Using sexual assault as throwaway humor perpetuates the idea that the destruction these people leave in their path is meaningless simply because they didn’t intend to destroy it.

The brothers of Delta Tau Chi pose outside their fraternity house in "Animal House."

The brothers of Delta Tau Chi pose outside their fraternity house in "Animal House." (Photo: UNIVERSAL PICTURES)

It’s in the nature of raunchy comedies to touch on taboo subjects. But there’s a stark difference between commenting on a taboo topic in a funny way and using something terrible as the punchline for a character the audience is supposed to hate.

A movie can be funny without suggesting that a guy won’t be accepted to a fraternity because he’s Middle Eastern, or that the cute love story was actually statutory rape or that the ultimate punishment for a male villain is sexual assault.  

The hard part of discounting this movie is that so much of it is funny without being harmful. But the era of #MeToo calls for an in-depth shedding of the parts of our culture that make assault seem OK.

By today's standards, "Animal House" would have a tough time getting greenlit by any studio, and would face inevitable wrath on Twitter if it did. That doesn't necessarily mean that we need to ban this movie from being watched ever again, but we do need to become more mindful about the entertainment we consume and be especially cognizant of what it's telling us about acceptable social behaviors. For now, we'll just put "Animal House" on double secret probation.

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Biff Tannen

Biff Tannen 45491

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Comedy is comedy for a reason.  No, you probably couldn't make Animal House today, but that doesn't mean it can't be enjoyed for what it is.  Comedy is meant to be politically incorrect.  If someone can't handle it, fucking riot.  We're Sonic fucking Deathmonkey.

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UTGrad98

UTGrad98 2257

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Looked up the author of the article. Seems about right. While I agree with the essence  of #metoo, articles like these tend to piss me off. I think Im too old white and male now for my opinion to matter anyway. It seems like #metoo has served it's purpose and now it's swinging the pendulum too far. Yes, bad mouthing Animal House crossed the line for me.

Edited by UTGrad98
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bad_teammate

bad_teammate 13132

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11 minutes ago, mchookem said:

comedy evolves just like everything else in culture. this article is dumb. 

Yep.

Comedy ages faster than other genres and ages more poorly than other genres. It's basically disposable culture, because it's so heavily referential and built upon transgressing existing social norms.

Think seriously about what Blazing Saddles is as a movie and ask yourself why the hell someone born in 1990 would give a shit about it.

It's a send-up Western (who cares) in a one-joke-per-nanosecond style (not the style these days) that has a boring ending sequence mocking 1920s/30s Hollywood (who cares). Kids these days won't be shocked by the n-word, they'll fall asleep.

I love Blazing Saddles and Animal House, but that's because I'm a product of its time. No way Blazing Saddles would be made today, not because the kids these days aren't cool and smart enough, but because its whole style is just old.

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triplehorn

triplehorn 2664

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An old buddy known for his own off color observations and humor rewatched Meatballs the other week and commented that there’s no way that content would fly today cast as humor - underage sex innuendo and at least one gratuitous scene that today would be regarded sexual assault.  

The subject of underage sex or sexual assault isn’t taboo - it’s using it for humor that has largely been relegated to the dustbin.  I guess in the 70’s and 80s, humor was one way these subjects appeared as they came to the fore of public awareness and discourse.  I don’t criticize the old films so much as take interest in them in the context of social change.  Same stuff still going on today, it just gets presented in film differently and usually more directly to the meaning.

Also, some humor is funny because it allows something inappropriate to appear in disguised form in our thoughts that we’d normally ward off.  Once you’re fully aware of and comfortable with thinking about the inappropriate content, it’s not as funny.

74948f7e7a245c4bf38636dbceb4cca8.jpg

Edited by triplehorn
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Guest

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Posted
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1 hour ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

I'm surprised @slorch didn't start this thread. Is Slorch ok?

AOK, brother.  Big fan of both Animal House and Blazing Saddles.

 

I still watch the hell outta In Living Color, Chappell, etc, etc.

 

I am a believer in laughing at ourselves.  It don't make a shit to me who is targeted until someone decides to start keeping score.

 

 

Edited by slorch
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Mole

Mole 4320

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Posted
1 hour ago, Hanrahan said:

People who use the word “cognizant” instead of “aware” are not to be taken seriously.

The same people should be cognizant of the difference between "begs the question" and "raises the question."

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2 minutes ago, 6th Street said:

What about the beginning of Eddie Murphy Delirious - "I keep moving so no fagets can look at my ass."

As if...

 

 

Is that any different than someone pimping bitches and hoes?

 

That's just it.  Some are so mindbottled that there's an offensive term in the humor, that they never get to  the funny part.  They are stuck right there...clinging to their outrage.

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Degenerate Gardner

Degenerate Gardner 4081

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11 minutes ago, TexArcher said:

Comedy and humor will be completely dead by 2020.  Attempting to make another human being laugh will be considered assault.

Humor won't die but you can be sure that's what's funny will change.  Always has, just like culture.  It's the tension with inappropriateness that makes the funny, and the line for appropriate shifts.

Edited by Degenerate Gardner
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Clob94

Clob94 121

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Posted
1 hour ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

Have you ever seen the original Bad News Bears?

Tanner Boyle: “Jews, spics, niggers, and now a girl?”

 

maxresdefault.jpg

Dang dude..... Papa John just lost his company for allegedly quoting someone using that word. Just saying......

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FondrenRoad

FondrenRoad 4378

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42 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I refuse to believe there is anything more pure about movies like The Hangover and Bad Santa.

I was also thinking the Hangover is nearly as bad. Old School too.  They're movies. 

Edited by FondrenRoad
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RomaVicta

RomaVicta 29775

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2 hours ago, Hanrahan said:

People who use the word “cognizant” instead of “aware” are not to be taken seriously.

And the now constant misuse of "begs the question" which should be "raises the question." Begs the question has a specific, difficult to understand meaning that likely shouldn't be tossed away. But it will be because copy editing is a thing of the past.

edit to add: I see Mole beat me to it.

Edited by RomaVicta
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