Thursday, April 3, 2008

American Pie: Wholesome Monogamy?

After watching American Pie: Beta House, the sixth American Pie movie, and third to go straight to DVD, American Pie looks a bit more wholesome.

There are two reasons for this shift in viewpoint. First of all, the gross out gags with bodily fluids that were so out of control ten years ago now look relatively tame by comparison.

The second, and more interesting reason, is the prevalence of monogamy through the series, and especially in the last movie. For the most part, each character only has sexual relations with one other character. There is next to no infidelity on the part of anyone in the major cast of the movies. Despite all of the nudity and high school/college antics, each character remains true to his or her sweetheart.

Aside: The other interesting thing about the movie is that the traditional frat boy's nemeses are not the administration. They are the members of the geek fraternity. However, this is the non circa 1990s geek as seen in Saved by the Bell. These are geeks with a better house, more money, and more attractive girls. Perhaps in a 21st century era of Google, hedge funds, private equity, being a big geek isn't so bad after all.

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