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Vice Condemns Comedy Classic, Insults Fans: 'Animal House Will Never Die...Should It?'

posted 6 years ago by TMC-4 (20130)
7 replies | jump to latest

https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/clay-waters/2018/07/29/vice-condemns-comedy-classic-insults-fans-animal-house-will-never

By Clay Waters | July 29, 2018 12:54 PM EDT
From the “Liberals Spoil Everything” department, where everything is a problem, here’s Vice writer Harry Cheadle: “Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of 'Animal House' by Tossing It in the Trash -- Drunken frat boys don't seem so charming anymore, and the film's gender politics are fucked beyond repair.” From his 2018 perch, Cheadle tears into the offensive, vulgar, and extremely hilarious college comedy hit of 1978 for its general un-wokeness:."Animal House will never die. The question is, should it?"

[–] Retromogul (1082) 6 years ago

Such condemnation of a simple film from so called progressives is a damn shame. Another example of a "progressive" thinking like a reactionary right winger - and there's already enough of the latter which makes a progressive thinking like a conservative so depressing. A petition to ban a Netflix series for "fat shaming" also comes to mind.

In regards to the article that slams the film - it completely misses the point that the film's message was simple anarchy and free spirit against the country club Nixonian establishment. So it doesn't reasonate as well today because there's a slob in the White House...Well so what? It still captures an understanding and reprensents a time and place.

The peeping Tom Belushi scene. Well it's intended to be so over the top in cliche male fantasy that's it's funny. And Bluto/Belushi is unable to witness the whole show of a women about to pleasue herself - comically oblivious to his presence right outside her window - because I presume his erection lifts the ladder up and causes him to fall therefore being punished for his actions.

[–] Retromogul (1082) 6 years ago

As for the Black bar scene, that's somewhat of a mixed bag. By the end of the scene it is the White Frat boys that end up looking like fools after wandering in and trying to act like they're right at home and are hip with the band - the look Otis gives is hilarious. The girls return safely home and are only shown expressing their disgust towards the White frat boys - although the disgust is from being abandoned by them at the Black bar and being left to hulking black men, reflecting on the stereotype of Black men threatning women and racist anxiety.
So yes it's a mixed bag.

[–] strntz (12238) 6 years ago

I don't see it as a mixed bag at all. My buddies and I went to see this when it came out, and we thought it was hilarious, particularly the Dexter Lake Club scene.

If you consider that there weren't many bars in the early 60s that would welcome black patrons, then the appearance of some privileged white boys in a black bar would kind of be insulting (we can go to your bars, but you can't go to ours) to the black patrons.

That they only tweaked the white boys a bit without harming them or their girls shows them in a positive light if you think about it. My dad was a WWII veteran and couldn't even get a decent apartment when he got back home because of his color. Things weren't much better in 1962. We often had to have our own entertainment and places to live.

[–] Satan2016 (25525) 6 years ago

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/d3e7ww/celebrate-the-40th-anniversary-of-animal-house-by-tossing-it-in-the-trash

More SJW: https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2018/07/27/animal-house-turns-40-can-we-still-laugh/822642002/

In the era of #MeToo, is it still OK to laugh at ‘Animal House’?

National Lampoon’s raunchy frat house comedy “Animal House,” which celebrates its 40th anniversary Saturday, is widely regarded as an all-time great movie. But four decades later, it feels less like a comedy classic and more like a toxic showcase of racism, homophobia and jokes about sexual assault.

[–] ecarle (14979) 6 years ago

Welcome to 2018.

Animal House would not be made today. Blazing Saddles would not be made today. MASH(the movie) would not be made today.

Irony: Animal House postulates a tough-but-welcoming house that will take "anybody" -- including overweight Flounder and wimpy Pinto(and, I think, one black student who admittedly is more of an extra) -- whereas the villainous house up the block is for "the elites only". The coded idea is that the guys up the block are uptight rich Republicans and our Animal House guys are hard-partying, all-inclusive, fun-loving Democrats -- at least in terms of how such characters USED to be coded (with Neidermeyer as the military branch of the Reps.)

None of that matters today.

As for the scene at the black bar...part of how comedy USED to work was that it made folks uncomfortable enough to laugh and took a look at things like race relations in a funny but significant way(Boon THINKS he's simpatico with his black brothers and Otis -- but he isn't.)

And this scene follows the "set up" of Otter exploiting the death of an arty Beatnik-type college co-ed "in a kiln explosion" so as to get a "sympathy lay" from the dead girl's roommate and "dates for my friends." A certain amount of offensiveness was EXPECTED from the National Lampoon comedy factory.

As for the sex stuff in the movie...well, enjoy it, because its gone.

PS. The people who write these articles today against Animal House will never matter as Animal House did...to multi-millions across all political parties(and NO political parties) and several generations.

[–] Otter (24464) 6 years ago

I just want to point out that both liberals and conservatives can have zero sense of humor.

If you want to find a conservative with zero sense of humor to prove my point, look at any of the DC fanboys on the DCEU film boards.

[–] ecarle (14979) 5 years ago

I just want to point out that both liberals and conservatives can have zero sense of humor.

---

I agree.

Its up to those of us with a sense of humor to cover all bases!