Comedy is a bit of a lost art. While there are tons of releases on a weekly basis for the genre, I find it hard to really dive in and truly enjoy what I am watching due to how my own tastes have changed to most comedy as a whole. Truth be told, I can go into a television show that isn't even made for laughs and find more humor watching its general nature and minor nuances than viewing anything like Deadpool or a lot of modern comedies laced with fart jokes and overproduced scenes that really only exist to provide a gif for social media. If you love those films, that's great and please don't take it as an insult, they're simply not really something I am fond of.
There are funny films though, and when I find one, I grow attached to it and it becomes sentimental. Getting older doesn't just age your body, it ages your mind. Things that were once funny lose their value and for someone who has always loved comedies, that sucks. I do however love sharing my own odd, offbeat sense of humor with others however, which is exactly what I am going to do today. For this post, I will be going over one of my favorite comedies of all time, which continues to be a regular watch yearly.
To quote the first title's opening words...
"Let's begin now...."
When Scream came out, it changed horror. I was a fan of the genre, but this film managed to inject itself into pop culture, revive a genre, and create a new formula with the film industry that lasted for years. It's still my all time favorite film, and while speaking to my love of Scream is for another post, it is relevant to comedy just as much as it is with horror. With the popularity of Scream came parody that would cash in on the same market. Scary Movie was a flick from the mind of Keenan Ivory Wayans and just like Scream, became wildly successful itself, giving a fresh start for satire with flicks that became a regular routine for theaters for the next decade. I love Scary Movie to this day. There is so much it does right, even if not every scene has perfectly aged. The sequels are a bit hit and miss, but honestly, I am straying from my original point, which is to speak of the lesser-known release that this hit spawned.
Not Another Teen Movie has no excuse for being as funny as it is. To date, there is no parody flick that has been able to provide the same appeal, as it truly was lightning in a bottle for a moment in time that could never be replicated in the same way again.
Instead of modern horror movies, this title, borrowing many of the same crew from Scary Movie would take a jab at teen comedies. Yes, innocent teen flicks that we all grew up with at the time. Not Another Teen Movie bases its plot on more modern films for its era such as She's All That, 10 Things I Hate About You, American Pie, and Can't Hardy Wait, weaving those parodies into films from a prior generation of "Brat Pack" cinema such as 16 Candles, Pretty In Pink, and The Breakfast Club to create a perfect marriage that lead to formulaic comedy gold.
Truth be told, I was happy, but not elated seeing the film as the DVD she went with. I mean, if the notion of me liking Scary Movie was why she bought it to start with and I owned no DVDs to that date, I kind of figured that would be what I got instead. Either way, I was very grateful as this one film changed the way I looked at an entire genre
Not Another Teen Movie follows the young, naive, and comically poor Janey Briggs as she is unwillingly put into the center of the plot from She's All That, where the popular and rich Jake Wyler and his jock friends try to make her into prom queen via a bet. There are other characters with their own sub-plots as well, such as Janey's little brother, Mitch, who is in love with the mystical Amanda Becker and is desperate to give her a letter that will be his key to losing his virginity. Jake's sister Catherine is in love with her brother, following the themes from Cruel Intentions with a bit of a comedic, if not incestuous twist. Then you have the antagonist, Priscilla, a cocky cheerleader and ex-girlfriend of Jake, who is simply the jealous bully who assists in tying more characters in the loop.
There is a Wiki article on the film that lists all the characters, so if you want a full list or who they are based on, I would go there as there are over twenty characters that have some kind of focus in this film, and with over 40 movies as reference points for the script, it would be hard to list each one without changing the entire theme of what I am writing here. Despite having so much going on in one movie, Not Another Teen Movie manages to somehow create its own plot, becoming essentially a teen movie in and of itself that feels original overall despite its large pool of parody on the subject matter. This film is one I feel like I can watch hundreds of times (which I probably have) and find something new. The pacing, the editing, and so on just create such a well-built machine, bursting with nostalgia that never seems to offend the films it parodies, yet instead pay a touch of tribute to each one in different ways.
Another thing that makes it so special is how meticulously detailed each scene really is. Each set is full of minor props that are so easy to go unnoticed, yet still build the movie as a whole into what feels like a visual encyclopedia of teen cinema. For instance, there is a the famous detention scene from The Breakfast Club, even featuring Paul Gleason, which hits its mark beautifully with Mitch and friends suddenly donning attires from the film. Sure, their hairstyles and clothes randomly change, but the direction is so well crafted as the characters still manage to fit within that one scene, despite being caught up in a revolving door of film satire. There are also fantastic nods to Pretty in Pink with Randy Quaid playing the drunk father who has been sensationalized to the max, with other scenes capturing the feeling and aura of Varisty Blues, Rudy, and so many other famous films that it can be hard to keep up if you are trying to keep track.
I guess that is what makes Not Another Teen Movie so different from other satire, though. It has so much thought and detail applied to creating satire for so many different movies, yet never allows the characters to really change who they are at their core. Janey may be based on a combination of Laney Briggs and Katerina Stratford, but she still feels like nothing other than Janey Briggs, her own character for the entirety of the film. Every character manages to do this, despite how one-note they may be when it comes to their contribution the overall plot. The execution of nuance is also superb when it comes to the jokes in the film. As an example, Areola (The foreign exchanged student) changes her accent in every scene, and is completely naked throughout with subtitles that space out so viewers take in that brief shock of full frontal nudity every time she comes on screen.The random extras also contribute some of the best background audio in the film as well, such as one yelling "THAT'S GONNA STAIN!" as Janey, who just jumped into a pool, has water poured on her by the evil Priscilla. It's this ironic yet detailed comedy that keeps the film consistently funny throughout, and makes it an absolutely joy to view time and time again.
Listen, there are horrible movies that came out after this that didn't understand what made this movie or even Scary Movie work in the first place. Satire doesn't need to be loud, it can be shocking, but it doesn't need to be the forefront of the joke, otherwise it comes off as cruel to the films its parodying - therefore slightly alienating the audience. There is also no "quick pop culture" nods, that are so effortlessly forgotten by time. I am talking about bringing up William Hung, or the subway guy - you know, those scenes that are in a lot of latter satire flicks that may have been fun for a trailer, but held up weak against the test of time. For some reason Not Another Teen Movie gets locked into the same grouping as Meet The Spartans, Date Movie, or Epic Movie, and it just could not being anything father from it. Much like The Brady Bunch Movie before it, this film is a pure tribute to the films it parodies, tying its jokes with a silk bow as it lashes out without ever stepping on the feet that gave it legs to start with.
With all its absurdity, Not Another Teen Movie will always be the perfect compliment to the entire genre of teen angst, as underneath all of its smut and silliness, it has its own heart that keeps things well-meaning and fun. The soundtrack is also fantastic, so if you liked the music for anything within either era, you are probably going to enjoy hearing those licensed tracks that go along just as nicely with each scene to further build to this fine feature. I still remember the nights I would boot up my Playstation and watch the only DVD I had to my name for about two to three months, and the passing years that followed where I eventually would collect every single one of these titles, as if this massive catalog of parody acted as some kind of essential list that I needed to have for my own physical media collection.
Not Another Teen Movie is rather accessible these days on streaming platforms and very cheap on secondhand DVDs, but do yourself a favor and steer clear of the "Unrated and Extended" version that has the orange backdrop. There are jokes that are lost due to the additions of extra scenes, and the standard DVD does fine in covering all of those extras within the special features if you do need to see them. Not Another Teen Movie is one of the best satires of all time as it takes the youths of two generations of cinema, adds its own uniqueness, and manages to deliver humor in nearly every scene that is both impactful and clever. This type of comedy isn't for everyone, but it certainly gave me a lifetime of quotes and enjoyment that I have no issue revisiting time and time again. It could happen...it could happen...at the prom...tonight....
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