We currently live in an era where many upon many people love to point back at the movies of the 80s and 90s and state ‘that wouldn’t fly today’ in regards to various scenes in movies that are considered to be controversial and in many ways kind of creepy. The scene in American Pie in which Shannon Elizabeth, aka Nadia, was in Jim’s room undressing and pleasuring herself while the camera on Jim’s computer caught everything, is one of those scenes. What’s really amusing about this, other than the fact that Shannon doesn’t regret doing the scene, is that millions of people were laughing and taking the movie for what it was, a comedy that didn’t imply that in real life that this would be okay. The howls of laughter rang out in the movie theaters during this movie’s release and to be quite honest a lot of those pointing the fingers now were those that were laughing the loudest. What’s sad is that some folks actually feel guilty for their laughter now that ‘they know better’ and have come to think that comedy isn’t exempt from political correctness or common decency. In a way they’re correct, common decency can and has been used, but the PC culture is a bit of a joke since far too often humor is taken as something serious while the intent is usually to parody a part of life that would otherwise be depressing and possibly horrific.
Of course, broadcasting something like this online would be terrible if anyone did it without consent, but the comedic nature of it was meant to dull that edge and keep people from thinking that ‘oh my God, this is wrong on so many levels’. Of course it was, but taking it for something dramatic and serious kind of kills the funny aspect of it, as PC culture appears poised to do to anything that doesn’t fit its agenda or narrative when it comes to what is ‘okay’. Those that want to ask things like ‘what if this were your daughter’ or ‘what if this were your sister, or family member’ are missing the point. The whole idea of comedy is that it takes what would normally be sad, depressing, and otherwise unbearably creepy and puts into perspective by making it funny and light when in reality it’s obvious that such a thing would be entirely too pervy and would be a punishable offense that would land Jim in a world of trouble and possibly get him labeled as a sex offender. See how that goes from being funny to depressing in just a few words?
Shannon didn’t mind doing it as she felt that it would further her career, and while she hasn’t done a whole lot since then she’s still shown up in several movies and been around long enough to have participated in another American Pie movie and several others along the way. She wasn’t exposing herself just for the heck of it, she was following the script and making the moment a bit funnier thanks to the way she played it off. Plus, and people will probably hate this too, the whole idea of Jim getting a little too excited, twice no less, is something that PC culture might see as problematic. I can just see a sign saying “Premature ejaculation is no laughing matter” when trying to explain why it’s a condition and not a comedy routine. If those that follow PC culture had their way it feels as though we’d be stuck back in the 40s and 50s and anything that stepped out of the carefully manicured little box they want everything to fit in would be dealt with immediately in order to keep peoples precious sensibilities safe. It’s enough to wonder just how many that love PC culture has enjoyed various shows and movies and even music that is considered to be problematic over the years. How many of them are hypocrites that don’t want to admit that they like something that their peers might vilify them for? It’s true that Nadia was the only woman in the movie that showed full-frontal nudity, but it’s also true that Nadia was the only truly exotic woman in the movie, or at least was made to represent one since the other young women were more or less situated in the high school hierarchy. As an exchange student, Nadia was made to be far more alluring.
But look at it this way, if Shannon didn’t have any trouble performing in the scene and even Jason Biggs went through it, then what in the heck is so bad? People can say that it wouldn’t fly today as much as they want, but this only reaffirms that the 90s were funnier by far when it came to comedy since there weren’t as many restrictions.
Follow Us
