American Pie

To Like or Not to Like
American Pie

Laura Laytham

llaytham@yahoo.com

Fall, 2001

Prof. Robert Sklar

Adv. Seminar: Film/Theory/Culture: Criticism

Since the summer of 1999 a new set of teenage cultural icons have taken stage and dominated the outlets of teen media. This new nationwide, if not worldwide, imagined community shares as its common knowledge and point of reference the film "American Pie." This film has created a group of teen celebrities who were virtual unknowns before its release but who are now the essential ingredients to popular teen culture. Creating a dynasty from a single film, the stars and icons of American Pie have evolved in the likeness of other great media dynasties like John Hughes’s "Brat Pack" and Frank Sinatra’s "Rat Pack." Despite this, however, the film, the "Pie Pack" and its imagined community suffer perhaps more than any of the earlier dynasties from a lack of critical acceptance. Although easily maintaining a dominating presence in mainstream teen culture, the importance of American Pie and its viability as a culturally significant contributor have been and remain fervently debated.

The contention over American Pie appears to be divided along generational lines. Teen magazines and teen programs focus consistently on the set of stars that emerged from the film while mainstream media continues to downplay their celebrity and the film’s continued popularity. Since American Pie’s release almost every significant teen-marketed film has included at least one of the "Pie Pack" in its list of credits. Jason Biggs, American Pie’s main star, continues to purvey his goofy-good-guy image in films like Saving Silverman, Loser and Boys and Girls. Seann William Scott, who plays the party animal in Pie, has since headlined alongside David Duchovny and Julianne Moore in Evolution, costarred in Dude Where’s My Car? and in Tom Green’s Road Trip. Tara Reid, who played the sweet long-term girlfriend, is one of the three leading ladies in Josie and the Pussycats and has a role in Dr. T & the Women. Even 1999’s Oscar winning American Beauty included a "Pie Pack" member with Mena Suvari playing the teenage seductress who captures Kevin Spacey’s eye. Marketing films, particularly to teen audiences, now seems to demand inclusion of at least one member of the Pie dynasty. Part of the fun of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, for example, is the repeated cameos of American Pie stars in satiric, Pie-reflective roles. Ironically however, the inclusion of these same stars in adult targeted films also seems successful at also drawing an adult audience. This success, however, seems contingent upon the teen stars’ secondary status to more recognizable adult stars, as if to say these kids are all right as long as they are under the proper Hollywood adult supervision.

This type of treatment of American Pie’s stars mirrors the treatment of American Pie upon its release. Critical reception of Pie was quite varied. Without a doubt the film reached blockbuster status, most visibly recognizable by the summer 2001 release of its equally successful sequel, American Pie 2, but at first glance, the critics were sharply divided. Was this a Porky’s of the new millennium or was this something more classic like Sixteen Candles or American Graffiti?

Despite many "serious" critics’ condemnation of American Pie for its overtly juvenile behavior, box-office audiences cast their votes differently. American Pie, after achieving summer blockbuster status, is now also credited with bringing back the teen movie genre. Not since the super popular John Hughes’s films of the 1980’s has a single film managed to uniquely revive a genuine interest in teen-themes and its stars beyond the usual smalltime teenage fanclub. As Chuck Schwarz, an online critic, said in his review, "American Pie connects like the great teen flicks of the past."

It was, however, a rocky road that American Pie traveled to achieve this distinction. The original reviews were divided between what can be seen as the distempered "serious critics" and the ecstatic "popular critics." The "serious critics," marked by their publication in mainstream newspapers with an older audience, deplored the film and dubbed it childish rubbish. Stephen Holden from the New York Times said, "American Pie is unable to transcend its own dirty mind." Jack Garner of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle said in his review "American Pie definitely qualifies as one of those adolescent comedies that parents don’t want to know about, and most viewers over 25 should avoid." Chuck Rudolph of Matinee Magazine called it "the most egregiously offensive film released this summer" and then went on to toss in words like "irresponsible, boneheaded and gut-wrenchingly repulsive" to describe Pie.

At the same time and despite their declarations, these same "serious critics" seemed bound to note that their own screening audiences were busting out in laughter. Despite its offensive nature and adolescent humor, the film certainly appeared able to entertain. Chris Vognar in his Dallas Morning News review noted just this when he said "that laughter might come from coarser places than many might prefer, but it is genuine." In light of that, if the film’s goal was pure entertainment, surely American Pie met its intentions.

Pie’s fans, however, and the more tolerant "popular critics" have argued that its intentions were not so elementary. While the film may certainly leave taste and sophistication at the door, it does so explicitly in order to appeal to its intended teen audience. More importantly, looking beyond the bathroom humor and as its title "American Pie" seems to allude, the film is simply a slice of life.

More than just a precooked scary movie or half-baked teenage nudie flick, American Pie has been recognized, particularly by the "popular critics," as a successful reinvention of a complicated teen genre. "As a high school sex comedy American Pie does a much better job than, say, Porky’s or Fast Times at Ridgemont High of portraying its characters as people instead of stereotypes," says Robert K. Elder of the San Jose Mercury News. By explicitly acknowledging these strengths, the "popular critics" have helped elevate American Pie to some sort of filmic viability and thereby granted it some well-deserved critical consideration. If an easy laugh was all the film was meant to be it certainly would not have managed to revive Hollywood and audience’s interest in a new teen dynasty and likewise initiate a return to the adolescent but also heartwarming teen-sex-comedy genre of the 1980’s. Many teen targeted films have come and gone since then (Cry Baby, Rock and Roll High School Forever, and Dazed and Confused, for example) yet none have managed to achieve the long-term staying power of American Pie.

What the "serious critics" missed and what the "popular critics" seemed to grab onto, however unintentionally, was the meaning and morality of the film. American Pie offers more than just sight gags, bathroom jokes and a fascination with masturbation. Steve Rhodes, a reviewer for the IMDb (Internet Movie Database) explains that it "manages to put both extreme sexual humor and delicate romance in the same movie." A prime example of this is in the film’s relationship between Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas) and Vicky (Tara Reid). While Kevin is having serious thoughts about going all the way, Vicky wants to first hear him say "I love you," the three words that Kevin personally feels should not be thrown around lightly. At the same time, Vicky continues to argue that her virginity should not be thrown around lightly either and their eventual rendezvous follows only after the two reach a mutual understanding about their relationship and what going-all-the-way will man for them both. Tackling this serious topic is handled delicately but also warmheartedly in a way that conveys a valuable message to its teen audience while at the same time humoring and entertaining them as well. "The matter-of-factness with which girlfriend and boyfriend talk about taking the final step — while routinely doing everything else but — has the ring of truth" says Mike LaSalle in his San Francisco Chronicle review. In this way American Pie balances desires for sex and love in both responsible and engaging ways.

This lesson about the importance of a balanced relationship is mirrored in the ways in which American Pie balances the quest for sex of its male stars with the needs and desires of its female stars. This typically unusual consideration of the female (for a teen-sex-comedy genre film in particular) was perhaps one of the most often highlighted items noted by the critics in their reviews. In the Philadelphia Daily News, Gary Thompson says Pie is the story of "four teenagers learn[ing] important lessons in how to treat women respectfully." He goes on to say, as the film goes on to show, that "the lessons are usually taught by the women themselves, who turn out to be wiser and more with-it than the boys." The Vicky character, her role as the assertive woman and her need to hear her boyfriend say "I love you" parallels the film’s view on relationships. At its core, American Pie sticks to the old adage that there is more to love than sex. In fact, as noted in the E! review, "the film’s underlying message that love is better than sex (or at least sex is better with love) is pretty conventional."

This type of redeeming social value, which was most acknowledged by the praise-bearing "popular critics," is occasionally matched by the reviews of the less-favorable "serious critics." Jack Garner of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle noted that "along the way, a few lessons are learned, and at least a few of the boys’ questions are answered, balancing most of the film’s vulgarity." Kevin and Vicky’s relationship continues to exemplify this. Kevin’s lesson learned is that while his girlfriend performs fellatio but won’t "go all the way" he simply needs to reciprocate and meet her needs as well. Although the film does reward him in the end when she finally consents to intercourse, it explores the awkwardness of the first time and everything that includes along with a greater theme of love, respect and maturity. This exploration is considered on both sides of the gender wall. Kevin talks as much to his guy friends about his first-time concerns as Vicky does with her own gal-pals.

In a very sweet way, the film confronts modern pressures to have sex at a young age while combining them with the classical lessons of true love. While the story is set in motion on the pretenses of sex, the film truly evolves as it explores love’s more innocent tendencies. Roger Ebert notes exactly this when he says in his review "I did not know Hollywood still permitted high school seniors to be virgins." In his Dallas Morning News review Chris Vognar says, "it’s nice to know that their innocently juvenile spirit is still alive in this day of calculated stupidity on-screen." Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times says American Pie "uses its surface crudeness as sucker bait to entice teenage audiences into the tent to see a movie that is as sweet and sincere at heart as anything Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland ever experienced." Even Stephen Holden noted in his New York Times piece that in many ways "American Pie portrays a teen-age culture that harks weirdly back to the 1950’s." The teenagers in the film are "as naïve, gawky and embarrassed about sex as high school students were 40 years ago."

Of course along with retaining these sweetly classical love stories, American Pie uncompromisingly also includes the more modern and perpetually offensive characters. With a nod to Fast Times at Ridgemont High’s Jeff Spicoli, played back then by Sean Penn, American Pie offers up the lacrosse-playing, party-throwing, playboy Stifler character, played by Seann William Scott. Described by Orlando Weekly reviewer Steve Schneider, Stifler is "as charming as a case of date rape." Interrupting almost all of the sincere moments of the film with some sort of verbal or physical equivalent of a belch, Stifler reminds the other characters repeatedly that they are playing in a comedy as much as a romance. The inclusion of a character like Stifler serves two purposes. First, it relieves tense emotional scenes with his well-timed foul humor which keeps audiences entertained as well as away from being overwhelmed by sentimentality. Secondly, Stifler serves as the "other" who exemplifies how not to succeed in relationships. Although portrayed as a playboy, at the end of the film Stifler is not only left without a female companion of his own but is also seen suffering from the embarrassment of his own mother’s sexual prowess.

In a similar fashion, the film’s narrative gets its initiative through the unwelcome revelation that super-nerd Sherman (Chris Owen), a.k.a. the Sherminator (as well as a callback to the Revenge of the Nerds films), has had sex before any of our more attractive leading men. Upon hearing this unbelievable news, the guys make a pact to all lose their virginity before graduation. The Sherman character, like Stifler, demonstrates how not to succeed in love as the film ends with his lie about having sex exposed and his prom pants duly soaked through with evidence of his own embarrassment.

Beyond these two despicable guys, the leading men of American Pie otherwise seem to take their roots from the classic, sympathetic characters of American Graffiti , The Breakfast Club and Fast Times at Ridgemont High. They are, however, taken a step further and somehow appear more real. Ian Freer of the United Kingdom’s Empire says, "refreshingly these kids are not John Hughes stereotypes — nerds, jocks, brains etc. — but recognizably average kids merely anxious for action." Part of American Pie’s success stems from its placement as eons away from the safe teenage flicks bestowed upon us by the great John Hughes.

This evolution is evident in the way American Pie moves beyond the traditional rules and incorporates a consideration for the sexuality and desires of its female characters. This tendency is best seen in American Pie’s original working title "The Secret Life of Girls." The women of American Pie are "not typed as saints, bimbos or objects of ineffable mystery but as fellow humans going through a similar period of turmoil and adventure" explains Mike LaSalle in his San Francisco Chronicle review. Beyond the usual teen-sex-comedy fascination with women as sexual objects, American Pie gives us teenage girls who move past the hyper-sexualized stereotypes. These girls are empowered with the ability to fight back and rise above their male counterparts. "Instead of the usual sexist bilge, it has female characters who get the last laugh" explains Peter Travers of Rolling Stone. Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com also mentions this when she says, "In American Pie, boys, who in previous teen comedies have so often been made to seem like the rulers of the free world, are constantly the butt of the joke. It’s the girl’s who know what’s what." Likewise Kenneth Turan explains that "If there is a wrong or awkward thing to be said or done, one of these guys will say or do it."

It is important to note, however, that each female character is narratively defined by her relationship to sexuality and to the male characters who desire her in the film. Vicki is the long-term girlfriend who keeps saying no to her long-term boyfriend. Heather (Mena Suvari) is the priss that Oz (Chris Klein) targets in his plot of glee-club faux-sensitivity. Michelle (Allyson Hannigan), the band geek, only seems to come into her own after Jim (Jason Biggs) agrees to take her to the prom. Even the key maternal figure, Stifler’s mom (Jennifer Coolidge) is represented as the mother all the kid’s would like to "get with" and that one eventually does. "The ladies are a bit more developed than in the old traditional sex comedy, but don’t take that to mean that all of them have been moved too far off the sex pedestal." Nadia (Shannon Elizabeth), the Czech exchange student, exemplifies this the most. Her character, notably the least developed female of the film, is the foreign sexpot playmate student ideal who Jim pines over endlessly. Embodying sexual fantasy, Nadia does not say much through the film and serves more as eye candy than anything else. Of course despite this traditional portrayal, Nadia is eventually somewhat liberated from her complete objectification when she turns the tables on Jim in one of the film’s most memorable scenes (as shall be considered later).

While the men in the film may posit women as their pact’s targets and subsequently attempt to treat them as mere objects to suit their libidinous needs, the women are empowered and quickly rise to the occasion to defend their own needs and sexuality. Stephanie Zacharek says that "American Pie is unflinching about the ways in which men (particularly young men) so often fall short of their own expectations and of women’s." The film allows the female characters both outlets for revenge as well as proves them the victors in the battle of the sexes despite their narratively subjective roles.

In fact, most of the humor and fun of the film comes from this very same empowerment. Throughout American Pie the male characters are frequently caught up in laughable and embarrassing circumstances as a consequence of their own objectification of their female counterparts. When Jim walks in on Nadia naked in his bedroom, for example, Nadia quickly turns the tables on him and demands that he strip for her. Of course, lacking any alternative way to relate to Nadia, Jim submits and proceeds to dance about while removing his clothing in a most outrageous fashion. To add further insult to his already injured spirit, his strip tease is caught and broadcast across the Internet to all his peers via the very same Webcam he had originally setup to catch Nadia stripping on. As Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly asserts, Jim "becomes the very thing he was pining for — a piece of meat on display." In this way, as Roger Ebert notes, American Pie’s "humor happens when characters are victims, not when they are perpetrators." The male characters may be intent on acting as perpetrators but when they actually confront the women, they clearly become victims of both their own adolescence and of the unexpected empowerment of their female counterparts.

Beyond their narrative ability, the female characters of American Pie, as many critics noted, are far more developed than their male costars. This depth of character development parallels what psychologists and medical professionals have been saying about female teenage development for years. This type of fuller depth is most vibrantly seen in the Jessica character played by Natasha Lyonne. Jessica’s role in the film is to serve as the learned, experienced and more together advice-giving peer. Both the male and female characters seek out Jessica for advice and she assists both sides in getting what they want. In earlier teen films this role is typically reserved for the older brother character (which American Pie gives a brief nod to with Casey Affleck’s quick cameo as Kevin’s older brother) but Jessica clearly stands in with a more balanced hand as the evolved counselor in American Pie. Where the older brother would have exclusively set about helping his younger brother achieve his sexual goals, Jessica balances her advice and directs both the male and female characters into compromises that better suit both parties.

In this same way, the Jessica character stands in as a representation of how American Pie liberates female sexuality in the teen-sex comedy genre. As Owen Gleiberman explains, "it reflects a major shift in contemporary teen culture that the girls in American Pie are as hip to sex as the boys." Even beyond that, putting the advice-giver role into the hands of a woman acknowledges her advanced development as well as the empowerment of the film’s female characters.

This empowered female identity drew praise from the critics as they time and again noted the performances of the female actresses of American Pie. In almost all the reviews, whether by the "serious critics" or the "popular critics," accolades are specifically lauded upon two of the film’s female stars, Natasha Lyonne and Allyson Hannigan. Lyonne, as previously mentioned, plays the experienced and advice-giving non-virgin Jessica who hands out wisdom along with witticisms, making her a modern-day version of Rhoda Morgenstern. Steven Schneider of the Orlando Weekly, who did not like American Pie, did manage to squeeze out praise for Lyonne when he says she gives "her usual knockout impression" and then continues to say that she delivers "her poorly written speeches with an aplomb that defies the surrounding idiocy." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone also credits Lyonne by saying that she "stand[s] above the fray."

Similarly, Allyson Hannigan, playing the nerdy band geek who comes out of her shell during the film and leaves Jim’s character feeling "so used," also elicits good reviews. Ian Freer of Empire Online from the United Kingdom says that Hannigan "manages to steal the entire movie" with her unexpected killer line of dialogue at the end of the film." Wesley Morris in his scathing review in the San Francisco Examiner recalls Hannigan’s Michelle as "the only one in the film worth remembering." With general nods to the women in the film, Stephanie Zacharek wraps up her review by saying, "they’re the key to what gives American Pie so much heart."

It is precisely this consideration of the needs of the female characters that seems to have helped bring American Pie so much of its popularity. Beyond the positive "popular critics" and the blockbuster box-office audiences, a strong teenage female population has embraced the film and its assertive female roles. In appreciation, these teenage girls have clearly helped perpetuate the film’s popularity by continuing to demand continued exposure to the American "Pie Pack."

In response to this demand, teen-targeted magazines have adopted, as have their female readers, American Pie and its new dynasty of stars, both male and female. Whereas earlier 1980’s teen films led to mainly glamour photos and fluff-interviews of the hot hunks from these films, American Pie has transformed the magazines into an ongoing journal of its stars’ lives. Including the latest gossip on at least one of the American Pie stars has become as essential as offering beauty tips and dating advice. Venues like Seventeen, YM, CosmoGirl and Teen Magazine, whose audiences are clearly and specifically young girls, continue to highlight American Pie eternally with at least one plug for an American Pie star’s new movie in their monthly entertainment wrap-up. The gossip columns in each also make it a point to note who’s dating who and how that may or may not relate to the American Pie stories. Despite American Pie’s release in the summer of 1999, its popularity continues as evidenced by the February, 2002 Seventeen issue that still consciously and prominently features and references the film’s young stars.

This continued demand for American Pie and its stars is also spawning copycat competition in the movie industry. A new film set to be released in December, 2001 is titled "Not Another Teen Movie" and blatantly repurposes the American Pie roles onto similarly fashioned but alternative teen stars. Its movie poster is designed in a manner reflective of the original American Pie poster as it includes a strict white background covered over by a colorful montage of the teen stars in self-consciously posed stances and bright, block red letters. The film’s tagline, also displayed on the posters, clearly references American Pie as it states "They served you Breakfast. They gave you Pie. Now we’re gonna stuff your face."

Interesting to consider, however, is that this copycat film, like American Pie and its sequel, have all been given an "R" rating. While this rating should indicate an adult-intended film, it proves otherwise as teenage audiences continue to flock to and get into American Pie, its sequels and now to its copycats. As an R-rated film it seems to force itself upon adult audiences (especially considering it took it four tries to get down to that R rating from its original NC-17) but the themes, topics and even the stars of the film are wholeheartedly adolescent. "American Pie is a film where teenagers talk and act like teenagers," explains Robert K. Elder of the San Jose Mercury News. Yet the R rating was issued as a result of "strong crude sexual content and humor, language and some drug content." Considering this combination of teenage behavior and the rating of this behavior as suited only for adult audiences, American Pie seems to pose a conundrum for reviewers, perhaps explaining the divided views of the "serious critics" and the "popular critics." In what capacity is American Pie, an obviously teen-targeted film, actually suited for the adult audiences that its rating recommends (or, on the other hand, limits it to)?

As Steve Schneider of the Orlando Weekly says "teen sex comedies perform two vital functions. They offer young audiences a cathartic release from the fumbling awkwardness of their own carnal forays. And they allow oldsters to laugh nostalgically at the mistakes they made." As Schneider explains, nostalgia appears to be the only route to American Pie for adult audiences. The willingness of these audiences to embrace the nostalgia offered perhaps best serves as an explanation of the clear divide that occurred between the "popular critics" and "serious critics." While watching American Pie some critics admitted to experiencing a battle between their inner child and their more mature desire for respectability. Lawrence Toppman of the Charlotte Observer wrote, "the 14-year-old in me snickered" while "the 44-year-old recognized that the story was primitive." Likewise, Stephen Holden, although decrying the film for its childishness, explained that "the runaway success of There’s Something About Mary suggests that you don’t have to be an adolescent to appreciate such shenanigans." Roger Ebert explains "Teenagers used to go to the movies to see adults making love. Now adults go to the movies to see teenagers making love." A willingness to revert back to adolescent pleasures seems to drive, in American Pie’s case, "popular critics" to praise the film while inspiring "serious critics" to at the same time scorn its childishness.

Holden’s comparison of American Pie to There’s Something About Mary is not alone and actually connects to an important consideration of the differences between the issues and humor addressed in each. In almost half of the reviews Mary is recalled and compared to Pie. While a working comparison in some ways (most evidently in the consideration of both films’ crude humor), it misses a key ingredient that enables more critical consideration for American Pie. The key difference between Mary and Pie is that Mary portrays adult sexuality behaving as if it were adolescent. American Pie, however, reverses that idea and explores adolescent sexuality in ways that are deemed more adult. While Mary is humorous in its grown-up reenactments of teen life, American Pie forces its adult audiences to confront the very real grown-up realities of modern adolescence. Allyson Hannigan, who plays Michelle in the film, defends Pie’s position in this way when she says in an interview "a teenager’s life is NC-17 rated."

While confronting these serious issues, the film does not take them and their grounding in teen life lightly. While the teens in the film may drink beer and focus all their energy on talk of sex, health related issues are not completely dismissed from consideration. As the online journal CinemaSense states "preaching to teens has never been nearly as effective as showing the integration of what is good for them (and us) with what is cool or funny." American Pie makes a concerted effort to teach by example rather than preach. Throughout the film there is a very deliberate effort to make sure that all of the characters preface sexual relations with talk of condom usage. When the main lead character Jim is about to finally score with band-geek Michelle, she even tells him to put on two condoms. Likewise, none of the teenage characters smoke throughout the film. Only the "Mrs. Robinson" inspired Stifler’s mom character is seen with a cigarette.

The unique and contrary representations of the adults in the film, Stifler’s mom and Jim’s dad, also play a role in the film’s exploration of teenage sexuality. Jim’s dad steps in as the awkward sex education instructor, often offering his son pornographic magazines and other paraphernalia as a method of teaching him about sex. (Hence, no wonder his character is so confused.) The more direct Stifler’s mom character steps in as the most hyper-sexualized woman in the film as she is first objectified by Stifler’s partygoers when they oogle at her GlamourShots photo and then later when she only materializes to help Finch meet the sexual goals of the guys’ pact in the film. In an especially controversial way, Stifler’s mom embodies the oedipal mother ideal. She is used both to cutely reference The Graduate as well as to represent the fulfillment of male desire for a more sexualized maternal love.

Although Jim’s mom does not play a significant role in the film, oedipal references to her are also made. While "serious critic" Stephen Holden of the New York Times begs "let’s not even think of the oedipal implications" it seems important to acknowledge the infamous shot of Jim getting to "third base" with his mother’s home baked apple pie as a representation of imagined mother fantasies. The fact that the pie scene seems to have given birth to the film’s title further confirms Duane Dudek’s sentiments, along with psychoanalytic film theory’s, that for American Pie "male gratification is the main theme."

One other nod to male gratification is picked up by Gary Thompson of the Philadelphia Daily News when he explains Kevin and Vicky’s long-term relationship: "Kevin has a girlfriend who satisfies him in ways that do not involve intercourse (presidential material?), but he still considers himself a virgin." Much as President Clinton swore on television that he "did not have sexual relations with that women," the character of Kevin, standing in for all virginal teenage boys everywhere as well as our boyishly handsome Commander in Chief, tells the same tale in the film. In his relationship with Vicky, Kevin repeatedly laments that they do "everything but have sex."

With such dubious references to mainstream political issues as well as long-standing oedipal issues, American Pie contains what Roger Ebert says is "a great deal of sexual content that is…too advanced for high school." In this way American Pie has a little bit of something for everyone. While focusing on adolescent topics, it incorporates some clearly adult issues, making an attempt, however, brief, to appeal across generational lines.

In many ways American Pie is a film that embraces taboos and pushes the limits of the MPAA’s R rating. Yet, while it is deplored for being overtly sexual, it screened in theatres alongside Kubrick’s sensationalist Eyes Wide Shut, which is both an explicit sexual presentation as well as ironically a favorite among the more "serious critics." Likewise, while American Pie is known for its raunchiness, it also plays alongside South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, which intentionally prides and advertises itself to have an even bigger shock value. All in all, American Pie is a product of this cultural moment and goes raunchy both for reasons of humor and, as Duane Dudek of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says in his review, because "the best way to charm teen audiences is to alarm adults."

What distinguishes and perhaps most redeems American Pie, however, especially for the "popular critics" who praised the film, is the way in which the story is told. Director Paul Weitz and writer Adam Herz aren’t going for anything remotely intellectual. American Pie descends into bad taste with its first scene and has the good sense never to rise above that level. At the same time, however, the characters are likable and worth caring about. Without the usual cliques or Cruel Intentions mean-spirited personas, the film clearly revels in the absence of an evil teen or teen group. Kenneth Turan called American Pie "one of the least mean-spirited of recent American comedies." Chris Vognar said American Pie "operates on the same wavelength as There’s Something About Mary, minus that film’s tongue-in-cheek mean spirit (and cruelty to dogs.)" Roger Ebert wrapped up his Chicago Sun-Times piece on American Pie with some quippy praise by saying that "Raunchy is OK. Cruel is not."

There’s no doubt American Pie has its raunchy moments, but in its treatment of characters and teen issues, it is not cruel. "In addition to being extremely funny, the film has a warm spirit and respect for the characters." In the end American Pie can be fairly summed up both by raving teenage fans and critics alike as "good dirty fun." This is the essence of American Pie and explains why it has outlasted its competition and revived the teen genre for serious consideration. When Peter Travers of Rolling Stone notes "having Pie in your face is the quickest route to gross-out comedy heaven" he explicitly mentions the "dirty" but, like most critics, has inadvertently overlook what should not be overshadowed: its "good."