It’s messy, it’s unpredictable, and it’s one of the surest ways to have fun and get in trouble all at the same time. The food fight is a rather hilarious way to vent your anger at someone without actually having to take the trouble of causing them any serious bodily injury. Some of us might be old enough to remember when the words “Food fight!” in the cafeteria were punctuated by the sudden emergence of several different food groups being flung through the air to land wherever they may. Some call those the good old days, while others don’t mind admitting that they might be a bit of nostalgia that is best left in the past. Ever try getting chocolate pudding out of your hair? Yeah, that’s why.
Here are a few films where food fights were more than a good time, they were an absolute necessity.
5. Matilda
Question: how do you get rid of a nasty principal without causing her bodily harm and involving the authorities? Answer: pelt her with an entire student body’s worth of lunches of course. After a harrowing experience that involved being slapped with chalkboard erasers and spun around on a larger than life globe, the Trunchbull was finally defeated and sent packing when she was summarily pelted with everything from banana’s to some type of sauce-like concoction that looked rather disgusting as it hung from her greasy black hair.
4. Fried Green Tomatoes
So it’s just two good friends spending some time cooking in the kitchen. What possible harm could they do? Well, by the time they’re done, Idgie and Ruth both look like they tripped in the kitchen and fell face first into, well, everything. A good lesson here is that you should never tell Idgie how to cook.
3. Blazing Saddles
And the fourth wall is not just broken, it’s demolished and smothered in various types of cream pies! For such an oddball movie it’s no real surprise that Mel Brooks decided to break through the fourth wall and get the rest of the audience involved in the food-slinging debacle just to make it even more hilarious. Seriously, what other direction could this film have taken that would have been any more interesting?
2. Hook
Ah the food fight that might not have been. Thankfully Robin Williams has a very strong imagination. Can you imagine throwing a handful of air at someone and trying to fake an effect? This one escalated very quickly thanks to the antics of the Lost Boys and their amnesic leader, Peter Banning, Pan, Banning, well, you know. The only thing better is flinging the multicolored foods to the sound of “Bangarang!”
1. National Lampoon’s Animal House
It’s got to be said, I’m a big Belushi fan and Bluto was the MAN. While this wasn’t the biggest or even most dynamic food fight on record, it was instigated in a very iconic manner. Who else would imitate a zit just to get a reaction? Ah yes, those were the days of the classic food fights and utter hilarity. The food fight wouldn’t have been nearly as memorable without figures such as Belushi and his supporting cast leading the way.
So there you are, food fighting at its best. While it’s the least sanitary way to fight it’s definitely the most interesting. Just watch where you step once it’s all over.
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