It has now been nearly 11 years since 'American Pie' came out. Since I was eight at the time, needless to say, it has been fewer than 11 years since I first saw the movie. Back then it was fresh, funny and ludicrously edgy. The 90's were a different era, with conservatives running Washington, turning the movie industry into a censored, un-masogynistic world, far from the frat-party nature of the comedy films that littered the 1980s. That all changed when a group of men decided that they would build a movie about the all-to-real pressures of high schoolers trying to lose their virginity before they graduate, because, you know, everyone else is doing it. They then decided that, as a way to add to the fun, they would make a kid have sex with a pie, show a kid, lets say, letting loose early not once, but twice (sadly same kid), and then have other kids crap in a women's bathroom, and go after one of their friends mothers. All of this was packed into a 90 minute bundled, causing teens and college-aged kids to finally flock to the theatres (for something not related to a galaxy far, far away), and the middle-aged mothers to lose their cool. The page was turned. 'American Pie' was here, and it was not leaving.
Sadly, the two sequels were quite bad, with 'American Pie 2' delving into the category of utter crap. 'American Wedding' slightly redeemed the franchise, but essentially 'American Pie' had run its course. The game was over. There was only so many ways you can use one man and his constant ability to get caught naked doing embarassing, and sometimes illegal, things. However, a recent announcement was made that Universal was ante-ing up, giving the thumbs-up for an 'American Pie 4' (an actual movie, not those direct-to-dvd 'versions' of American Pie), one that would, they hope, feature all of the original cast in their roles at some reunion (I assume). That got me thinking about one questions and one realization: 1.) Is there really a need for another movie and is anyone going to care? and 2.) 'American Pie' may well be the most important movie of the last 12 years.
First, I'll answer the question. There probably is no need for another slice of Pie. It is intriguing that they signed the writer's of the original Harold and Kumar to write the movie, leaving the first acclaimed then criticized Adam Herz out in the cold. However, it has been seven years since we have seen the gang, and 9 since we saw some of the characters. There is no doubt that some of the cast will be itching for work, as the lives of Chris Klein (by far the WORST actor I have ever seen on a movie that was succesful), Mena Suvari, and Thomas Ian Nicholas haven't turned out the way they all hoped. God knows Tara Reid thought she would have some relevance other than her breast implant horror story a decade later. The only three people that have done anything are Eddie Kaye Thomas (Finch), Seann William Scott (Stiffler) and Alyson Hannigan (Michelle), who unsurprisingly are the best three characters in the movies anyway. This is where the problem exists. Are Scott and Hannigan going to do the movie? Scott, who at least is in movies (unlike the rest of the cast, not counting Hannigan) that are popular (Role Models, Cop Out) has already said that he would do it, but Hannigan is the wild card. In reality the character of Michelle is probably something Aly Hannigan doesn't want to revisit, unless the character matured tremendously in her 7 years of marraige. Aly is a mother now, and she might not want the fact that she once said 'I stuck a flute up my pussy' to be rediscovered and brought out into the limelight. Aly has said in the past she said no to other movie parts and auditions because she wants to concentrate on her family, and the 'How I Met Your Mother' schedule is already long enough and lucrative enough that she probably has no need for American Pie. I will say this, they cannot make the movie and have any hopes of being successful if one of its only two marketable stars does not sign on. A Michelle-less movie will not go well, especially since Michelle became a lead in 'American Wedding'.
Now, for the more debatable and exponentially more controversial realization. 'American Pie' (and I stress 'Pie' not its sequels) is the most important, influential movie of the last 12 years. No, its not all that great (although to its credit, the original 'American Pie' movie was and still is funny and watchable), and no it will never get acclaim from the "critics", but damn is it important. The answer lies in one word: Apatow. Apatow is famous, and worth millions, for two reasons. One is Will Ferrell, and the other is 'American Pie.' If 'Pie' never gets made, I doubt '40-Year Old Virgin' or 'Knocked Up' or 'Superbad' do. Those three movies are Apatow's magnus opus, they are his masterpeice. Those are the movies that he directed/produced/wrote, unlike Anchorman, which technically is an Apatow production, but Judd had little to do with it. Those three movies revolve around sexual humor, cursing and lewdness. Hell, there is a scene where they depict a 10-year old kid addicting to drawing cartoon phalluses. Cursing is in alot of movies, but not to the extent that it is in an Apatow (at least for successful comedies). No one cared. There were no protests, no wives of Senators creating a 'committee' to make sure children did not see this 'smut' like there was in the 80's. Nothing but millions of kids ready to see what Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill and Steve Carrell would say and do next. Why is that?
It all goes back to 'American Pie.' 'Pie' made it okay to curse, it made it okay to show nudity, to show sexual-oriented situations and ideas (the 'penis drawings' in Superbad can probably be tied back to the 'book of oral sex' in American Pie). 'American Pie' was the first movie since the early 90's to say, "screw you Congress Moms and your taste, we're releasing something kids want to see" and see it they did. Without 'American Pie' breaking that ground, rebelling against the iron curtain restricing movies sexual humor, Apatow is never able to make '40-Year Old Virgin'. Sure, Apatow's movies were better and funnier (although Judd has produced his fair share of clunkers like 'Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story' and 'Drillbit Taylor' and 'Year One'), but they were not the original, they tied themselves to the universal acceptance of 'American Pie'. Judd was able to see that America didn't care if a movie's premise was teens going to all odds to have sex, featuring a foul-mouthed teenage gigolo with a hot mom. If America would accept that, why wouldn't they accept a movie that has a scene with a laundry list of sexual acts and another with a whole conversation about a box of porn ('40 Year-Old Virgin), or a movie where the leads run a web-site that lists all the nudity in movies ('Knocked Up').
'American Pie' was a cultural phenomenon. It turned the comedy movie industry all around. 'Austin Powers' is the only other movie I can think of that aided the direction comedies took as much as 'American Pie.' Sure the two sequels were bad, and of course it is hilarious that all but one of people 'American Pie' introduced to America as its stars actually became one (Stiffler - unfortunately for American Pie, many people knew Aly Hannigan before it because of her work on 'Buffy'), but it is an oversight to not mention what the movie meant to the industry. In some ways, Judd Apatow would have had to rely on his other comedic abilities (riding cottails of Will Ferrell, creating shows that while good were cancelled - Freaks and Geeks, Undeclared - or producing bad not-sex comedies like 'Year One' and the un-funny 'Funny People'). I'm sure many would not believe this, or think that Judd Apatow's brilliance would have shown out anyway. Fine, we can all agree on one thing that 'American Pie' allowed to become mainstream: the MILF.
